Gerald D. Feldman – författare

This history of the internationally prominent insurance corporation Allianz AG in the Nazi era is based largely on new or previously unavailable archival sources. Feldman takes the reader through varied cases of collaboration and conflict with the Nazi regime with fairness and a commitment to informed analysis. He touches on issues of damages in the Pogrom of 1938, insuring facilities used in forced labour camps, and the problems of de-Nazification and restitution. The broader issues examined in this study - cooperation with Nazi policies, the way in which profit, ideology, and opportunism played a role in corporate decision-making, and the question of how Jewish insurance assets were expropriated - are particularly relevant today given the ongoing international debate about restitution for Holocaust survivors. This book joins a growing body of scholarship based on free access to the records of German corporations in the Nazi era.

This book on the Treaty of Versailles constitutes a new synthesis of peace conference scholarship. It illuminates events from the armistice in 1918 to the signing of the treaty in 1919, scrutinizing the motives, actions and constraints that informed decision-making by the French, American and English politicians who bore the principal responsibility for drafting the peace settlement. It also addresses German reactions to the draft treaty and the final agreement, as well as Germany's role in the immediate postwar period. The findings call attention to diverging peace aims within the American and Allied camps and underscore the degree to which the negotiators themselves considered the Versailles Treaty a work in progress. A detailed examination of the proceedings from the point of view of the main protagonists forms the core of the investigation.

This book on the Treaty of Versailles constitutes a new synthesis of peace conference scholarship. It illuminates events from the armistice in 1918 to the signing of the treaty in 1919, scrutinizing the motives, actions and constraints that informed decision-making by the French, American and English politicians who bore the principal responsibility for drafting the peace settlement. It also addresses German reactions to the draft treaty and the final agreement, as well as Germany's role in the immediate postwar period. The findings call attention to diverging peace aims within the American and Allied camps and underscore the degree to which the negotiators themselves considered the Versailles Treaty a work in progress. A detailed examination of the proceedings from the point of view of the main protagonists forms the core of the investigation.

This history of the internationally prominent insurance corporation Allianz AG in the Nazi era is based largely on new or previously unavailable archival sources. Feldman takes the reader through varied cases of collaboration and conflict with the Nazi regime with fairness and a commitment to informed analysis. He touches on issues of damages in the Pogrom of 1938, insuring facilities used in forced labour camps, and the problems of de-Nazification and restitution. The broader issues examined in this study - cooperation with Nazi policies, the way in which profit, ideology, and opportunism played a role in corporate decision-making, and the question of how Jewish insurance assets were expropriated - are particularly relevant today given the ongoing international debate about restitution for Holocaust survivors. This book joins a growing body of scholarship based on free access to the records of German corporations in the Nazi era.

This study explains how businessmen in the German iron and steel industry managed their enterprises, dealt with their customers, and acted in their relations with state and society during a period of war, revolution, and economic crisis. Because this industry occupied a central position in Germany during the inflation, the author's investigation illuminates certain crucial aspects of the Weimar Republic that have hitherto been relatively unexplored. The author explains how heavy industry--and particularly the iron and steel industry-successfully took advantage of shortages of raw materials and of inflation to gain the upper hand over customers in the manufacturing industries. He notes that it proved able to resist government and consumer efforts to change and control policies affecting heavy industry and, finally, to lead the counterattack against labor's greatest gain in the Revolution of 1918, the eight-hour day.Although the importance of iron and steel to the German economy declined in relation to that of more advanced sectors of the economy, its highly concentrated character, able leadership, and importance to the war and reconstruction efforts gave it advantages in reconstituting its power within the business community and the Weimar state. Originally published in 1977. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This study explains how businessmen in the German iron and steel industry managed their enterprises, dealt with their customers, and acted in their relations with state and society during a period of war, revolution, and economic crisis. Because this industry occupied a central position in Germany during the inflation, the author's investigation illuminates certain crucial aspects of the Weimar Republic that have hitherto been relatively unexplored. The author explains how heavy industry--and particularly the iron and steel industry-successfully took advantage of shortages of raw materials and of inflation to gain the upper hand over customers in the manufacturing industries. He notes that it proved able to resist government and consumer efforts to change and control policies affecting heavy industry and, finally, to lead the counterattack against labor's greatest gain in the Revolution of 1918, the eight-hour day.Although the importance of iron and steel to the German economy declined in relation to that of more advanced sectors of the economy, its highly concentrated character, able leadership, and importance to the war and reconstruction efforts gave it advantages in reconstituting its power within the business community and the Weimar state. Originally published in 1977. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Finance and Modernization centres on a set of historical developments and problems typified by the long history of the Österreichische Creditanstalt and its successor organizations, and opens the way to compare and contrast experiences throughout Central and Western Europe and also on other continents. The structure of this volume reflects the changing role and nature of banks as economies become industrialized and modernized. Although banks adapt to the needs of an industrializing economy, at the same time, industrialization influences the manner in which banking systems grow and the structures which they adopt. Beginning with studies of the Austrian banks, their development and their crises, the volume then moves on to look at case studies of important aspects of financial activity - German stock markets, railroad investment, and information networks. This is followed by a section on country studies of banking modernization in Sweden, the Netherlands and Greece. Finally, the collection concludes with two chapters, one on banking in China and the other on banking in India, certainly both of intrinsic interest and of importance in an era of globalization. Professor Teichova, one of the great scholars in the field, concludes with reflections on the individual contributions and the general problems addressed in this book.

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This book is the English translation of Gerald D. Feldman's contributions to the multi-author, two-volume study Österreichische Banken und Sparkassen im Nationalsozialismus und in der Nachkeriegszeit, which was originally published in German by C. H. Beck in 2006. Austrian Banks in the Period of National Socialism focuses on the activities of two major financial institutions, the Creditanstalt-Wiener Bankverein and the Länderbank Wien. It details the ways the two banks served the Nazi regime and how they used the opportunities presented by Nazi rule to expand their business activities. Particular attention is given to the role that the Creditanstalt and Länderbank played in the 'Aryanization' of Jewish-owned businesses. The book also examines the two banks' relations with their industrial clients and considers the question of whether bank officials had any knowledge of their client firms' use of concentration camp prisoners and other forced laborers during World War II.

Finance and Modernization centres on a set of historical developments and problems typified by the long history of the Österreichische Creditanstalt and its successor organizations, and opens the way to compare and contrast experiences throughout Central and Western Europe and also on other continents. The structure of this volume reflects the changing role and nature of banks as economies become industrialized and modernized. Although banks adapt to the needs of an industrializing economy, at the same time, industrialization influences the manner in which banking systems grow and the structures which they adopt. Beginning with studies of the Austrian banks, their development and their crises, the volume then moves on to look at case studies of important aspects of financial activity - German stock markets, railroad investment, and information networks. This is followed by a section on country studies of banking modernization in Sweden, the Netherlands and Greece. Finally, the collection concludes with two chapters, one on banking in China and the other on banking in India, certainly both of intrinsic interest and of importance in an era of globalization. Professor Teichova, one of the great scholars in the field, concludes with reflections on the individual contributions and the general problems addressed in this book.

The persecution and mass-murder of the Jews during World War II would not have been possible without the modern organization of division of labor. Moreover, the perpetrators were dependent on human and organizational resources they could not always control by hierarchy and coercion. Instead, the persecution of the Jews was based, to a large extent, on a web of inter-organizational relations encompassing a broad variety of non-hierarchical cooperation as well as rivalry and competition. Based on newly accessible government and corporate archives, this volume combines fresh evidence with an interpretation of the governance of persecution, presented by prominent historians and social scientists.

The persecution and mass-murder of the Jews during World War II would not have been possible without the modern organization of division of labor. Moreover, the perpetrators were dependent on human and organizational resources they could not always control by hierarchy and coercion. Instead, the persecution of the Jews was based, to a large extent, on a web of inter-organizational relations encompassing a broad variety of non-hierarchical cooperation as well as rivalry and competition. Based on newly accessible government and corporate archives, this volume combines fresh evidence with an interpretation of the governance of persecution, presented by prominent historians and social scientists. Gerald D. Feldman is Professor of History and Director of the Institute of European Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. His special fields of interest are 20th-century German history, and he has a special interest in business history, most recently authoring a biography of Hugo Stinnes, participating in the history of the Deutsche Bank, and writing a history of the Allianz Insurance Company in the Nazi period.He has recently started work on a history of the Austrian banks under National Socialism. Wolfgang Seibel is Professor of Political Science at the University of Konstanz, Germany. Previous appointments include guest professorships at the Institute for Advanced Study, Vienna (1992), and the University of California at Berkeley (1994). He was also a temporary member of the School of Social Science (1989/90) and of the School of Historical Studies (2003) of the Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton. Currently (2004/2005) he is a fellow of the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin. His research is mainly devoted to issues of politics, public bureaucracy and non-governmental organizations.

Die Historische Kommission zu Berlin betreibt die Erforschung der Landesgeschichte und der Historischen Landeskunde Berlin-Brandenburgs bzw. Brandenburg-Preußens in Form von wissenschaftlichen Untersuchungen, Vorträgen, Tagungen und Veröffentlichungen sowie durch Serviceleistungen. Dabei kooperiert die Kommission auch mit anderen Institutionen und begleitet wissenschaftliche und praktische Vorhaben von allgemeinem öffentlichen Interesse. In der Schriftenreihe werden die Ergebnisse der einzelnen wissenschaftlichen Projekte der Kommission veröffentlicht.Die bis 2010 als „Einzelveröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission zu Berlin“ erschienenen Bände, die ursprünglich im K.G. Saur Verlag erschienen sind, finden sich hier.

Die Historische Kommission zu Berlin betreibt die Erforschung der Landesgeschichte und der Historischen Landeskunde Berlin-Brandenburgs bzw. Brandenburg-Preußens in Form von wissenschaftlichen Untersuchungen, Vorträgen, Tagungen und Veröffentlichungen sowie durch Serviceleistungen. Dabei kooperiert die Kommission auch mit anderen Institutionen und begleitet wissenschaftliche und praktische Vorhaben von allgemeinem öffentlichen Interesse. In der Schriftenreihe werden die Ergebnisse der einzelnen wissenschaftlichen Projekte der Kommission veröffentlicht.Die bis 2010 als „Einzelveröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission zu Berlin“ erschienenen Bände, die ursprünglich im K.G. Saur Verlag erschienen sind, finden sich hier.