Max Weber about Factors of “Worthy Peace” (1916–1919)

Abstract

The foreign and domestic policy was considered by M. Weber from the  national  point  of view. In 1916 he regarded  Russia  as the  main threat for Germany and sаw the way to peace in the agreement with England. The Russian February revolution changed  his position,  but only after April crisis he was inclined to conclude peace with Russia. At the same time, Weber sharply criticized the German submarine war, but did not support the pacifism of German students In 1916–1918 the scientist linked the issue of peace with the parliamentarization of German  government and the democratization in Germany.  He was sure that the government’s control  over the Kaiser could prevent  the catastrophe. Professor attributed the absence of a democratic political culture in Germany with the activities of Bismarck, who hampered  the development of parliamentarism. The scientist  was a member of German  delegation  at the  Paris  Conference.  Weber perceived the rejection  of the terms of the Versailles peace as a threat to the loss of Germany’s sovereignty, but did not consider the Treaty of Versailles as a “worthy peace”. Weber did not approve the project of this Treaty and perceived it as a prologue to the further disasters of Germany. In the summer of 1919 the scientist called for combination in “the ethics of responsibility” and “ethic of persuasion” in politics and considered those categories as complementary categories.