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Matthias Erzberger
Matthias Erzberger (20 September 1875 – 26 August 1921) was a German Centre Party politician who served as the minister of finance of Germany from 1919 to 1920.
Erzberger was first elected to the Reichstag of the German Empire in 1903. During the early years of World War I he supported Germany's position enthusiastically but later became a leading opponent of unrestricted submarine warfare and proposed the successful 1917 Reichstag peace resolution, which called for a negotiated peace without annexations. In November 1918 he headed the German delegation to negotiate an end to the war with the Allies and was one of the signatories of the Armistice of 11 November 1918.
He was elected to the Weimar National Assembly in 1919 and served as a minister without portfolio in Philipp Scheidemann's cabinet. When Scheidemann resigned as minister president in protest over the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Erzberger – who supported the treaty because he saw no alternative to it – became finance minister and vice-chancellor under Gustav Bauer. He pushed through the "Erzberger reforms" that transferred supreme taxing authority from the states to the central government and redistributed the tax burden more towards the wealthy. Under attack for corruption from a member of the right-wing German National People's Party, he was forced by the Centre Party to resign in March 1920 but was elected to the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic later in the year.
Both his role in ending the war and his financial policies earned him the enmity of the political right. On 26 August 1921, he was assassinated by two members of the right-wing terrorist group Organisation Consul.
He was born on 20 September 1875 in Buttenhausen (today part of Münsingen) in the Kingdom of Württemberg, the son of Josef Erzberger (1847–1907), a tailor and postman, and his wife Katherina (née Flad; 1845–1916). In his early life he gained massive weight, which he lost in the course of thirty years. He attended the seminaries in Schwäbisch Hall and Bad Saulgau, where he graduated in 1894, and started a career as a primary school (Volksschule) teacher. While teaching, he also studied constitutional law and economics at Fribourg, Switzerland. Two years later, he became a journalist working for the Catholic Centre party's publication Deutsches Volksblatt in Stuttgart, where he also worked as a freelance writer.
Erzberger joined the Centre Party and was first elected to the German Reichstag in 1903 for Biberach. By virtue of unusually varied political activities, he took a leading position in the parliamentary party. He became a specialist in colonial policy and financial policy, contributing to the financial reforms of 1909. In 1912, Erzberger became a member of the leadership of the parliamentary party. He supported a significant military build-up in Germany in the years 1912–13. In response to concerns over a declining birth rate, Erzberger condemned birth control and advocated for the Bundesrat to ban trade in contraceptives.
In 1900, he married Paula Eberhard, daughter of a businessman, in Rottenburg am Neckar. They had three children (a son and two daughters).
Like many others in his party, he initially supported Germany's involvement in World War I and was carried along by a wave of nationalistic enthusiasm. In September 1914, he wrote a memorandum in which he laid out his view on Germany's war aims, advocating the annexation of Belgium and parts of Lorraine, among other territories. By this stage he was secretary to the Reichstag's Military Affairs Committee, and the "right-hand man" of the Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg. He was in charge of foreign propaganda, especially relating to Catholic groups, and set up a system of information gathering using the resources of the Holy See and of the Freemasons. Erzberger was also involved in some diplomatic missions. For example, he worked with Bernhard von Bülow in a failed attempt to keep Italy from entering the war in 1915. He wrote letters to leading military authorities, later published, with extravagant plans for German annexations. Seen as an opportunist, he was said to have "no convictions, but only appetites".
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Matthias Erzberger
Matthias Erzberger (20 September 1875 – 26 August 1921) was a German Centre Party politician who served as the minister of finance of Germany from 1919 to 1920.
Erzberger was first elected to the Reichstag of the German Empire in 1903. During the early years of World War I he supported Germany's position enthusiastically but later became a leading opponent of unrestricted submarine warfare and proposed the successful 1917 Reichstag peace resolution, which called for a negotiated peace without annexations. In November 1918 he headed the German delegation to negotiate an end to the war with the Allies and was one of the signatories of the Armistice of 11 November 1918.
He was elected to the Weimar National Assembly in 1919 and served as a minister without portfolio in Philipp Scheidemann's cabinet. When Scheidemann resigned as minister president in protest over the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Erzberger – who supported the treaty because he saw no alternative to it – became finance minister and vice-chancellor under Gustav Bauer. He pushed through the "Erzberger reforms" that transferred supreme taxing authority from the states to the central government and redistributed the tax burden more towards the wealthy. Under attack for corruption from a member of the right-wing German National People's Party, he was forced by the Centre Party to resign in March 1920 but was elected to the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic later in the year.
Both his role in ending the war and his financial policies earned him the enmity of the political right. On 26 August 1921, he was assassinated by two members of the right-wing terrorist group Organisation Consul.
He was born on 20 September 1875 in Buttenhausen (today part of Münsingen) in the Kingdom of Württemberg, the son of Josef Erzberger (1847–1907), a tailor and postman, and his wife Katherina (née Flad; 1845–1916). In his early life he gained massive weight, which he lost in the course of thirty years. He attended the seminaries in Schwäbisch Hall and Bad Saulgau, where he graduated in 1894, and started a career as a primary school (Volksschule) teacher. While teaching, he also studied constitutional law and economics at Fribourg, Switzerland. Two years later, he became a journalist working for the Catholic Centre party's publication Deutsches Volksblatt in Stuttgart, where he also worked as a freelance writer.
Erzberger joined the Centre Party and was first elected to the German Reichstag in 1903 for Biberach. By virtue of unusually varied political activities, he took a leading position in the parliamentary party. He became a specialist in colonial policy and financial policy, contributing to the financial reforms of 1909. In 1912, Erzberger became a member of the leadership of the parliamentary party. He supported a significant military build-up in Germany in the years 1912–13. In response to concerns over a declining birth rate, Erzberger condemned birth control and advocated for the Bundesrat to ban trade in contraceptives.
In 1900, he married Paula Eberhard, daughter of a businessman, in Rottenburg am Neckar. They had three children (a son and two daughters).
Like many others in his party, he initially supported Germany's involvement in World War I and was carried along by a wave of nationalistic enthusiasm. In September 1914, he wrote a memorandum in which he laid out his view on Germany's war aims, advocating the annexation of Belgium and parts of Lorraine, among other territories. By this stage he was secretary to the Reichstag's Military Affairs Committee, and the "right-hand man" of the Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg. He was in charge of foreign propaganda, especially relating to Catholic groups, and set up a system of information gathering using the resources of the Holy See and of the Freemasons. Erzberger was also involved in some diplomatic missions. For example, he worked with Bernhard von Bülow in a failed attempt to keep Italy from entering the war in 1915. He wrote letters to leading military authorities, later published, with extravagant plans for German annexations. Seen as an opportunist, he was said to have "no convictions, but only appetites".