The Lives of Hans Luther, 1879 - 1962: German Chancellor, Reichsbank President, and Hitler's Ambassador

by Edmund C. Clingan

Overview

For the first time in any language, a book examines the life of Hans Luther, the German statesman whose career began at the tail end of the Second Empire and ended in the postwar years. Luther had a front-row seat for World War I, the Revolution of 1918, the Great Inflation, the Great Depression, and the rise of the Third Reich-serving as Hitler's first ambassador to the United States.

C. Edmund Clingan chronicles the life of this controversial German politician, diplomat, and banker. Luther served as mayor of Essen during the Revolution of 1918, the Kapp Putsch, and the occupation of the Ruhr Valley by the French. Rising rapidly in the political ranks, he served as finance minister and then, briefly, as chancellor in 1925 and 1926. Many criticized his policies as president of the Reichsbank during the Great Depression. Adolf Hitler then appointed Luther to serve as ambassador to the United States. After being recalled to Germany in 1937, Luther retired from politics until after World War II, when he served the Federal Republic well into the 1950s.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739136416
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	01/07/2010
Pages:	182
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

C. Edmund Clingan is associate professor of history at Queensborough Community College, City University of New York. He is author of Finance from Kaiser to Führer: Budget Politics in Germany, 1912–1934 (Greenwood, 2001).

Table of Contents

1 Contents
2 Tables
3 Abbreviations
4 Acknowledgments
Chapter 5 Introduction
Chapter 6 1. Berlin and Magdeburg
Chapter 7 2. Essen
Chapter 8 3. Berlin: Minister of the Reich
Chapter 9 4. Berlin: Chancellor of the Reich
Chapter 10 5. Interlude
Chapter 11 6. Berlin: President of the Reichsbank
Chapter 12 7. Washington, D. C.
Chapter 13 8. Traunstein
Chapter 14 9. Munich and Dusseldorf
Chapter 15 Conclusion
16 Selected Bibliography
17 Index
18 About the Author

Editorial Reviews

The author does his best to bring some drama into Luther's rather pedestrian life. He suggests that Luther and Gastav Stresemann were bitter rivals that Luther played a crucial and underrated role in negotiating the Treaties of Locarno.

The Journal Of Central European History

The Lives of Hans Luther provides a significant contribution to the field of Weimar political and economic history. Its treatment of the financial issues during the 1920s and of the banking crisis in 1931 is particularly helpful.

Raffael Scheck

The Lives of Hans Luther provides a significant contribution to the field of Weimar political and economic history. Its treatment of the financial issues during the 1920s and of the banking crisis in 1931 is particularly helpful.--Raffael Scheck, Colby College

The author does his best to bring some drama into Luther's rather pedestrian life. He suggests that Luther and Gastav Stresemann were bitter rivals that Luther played a crucial and underrated role in negotiating the Treaties of Locarno.-- (09/01/2011)

From the Publisher