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Between Pacifism and Patriotism: Walther Schücking (1875–1935)
German Yearbook of International Law, Vol. 62 (2019), Iss. 1 : pp. 275–302
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Johannes Mohr, M.A. (Institute for Security Policy, Kiel University).
Abstract
Literature describes Walther Schücking (1875–1935) as an ‘outsider' in the ‘conservative academic milieu' of his lifetime, and advocate for the lex ferenda or ‘future lawyer'. With his writings on the ‘organisational pacifism', Schücking advocated a new system to regulate State sovereignty through international law, and he soon came into opposition to the ‘almost canonical' positivist legal understanding of his colleagues. Though Schücking served as the first German judge at the Permanent International Court of Justice in The Hague, was one of the six delegates to negotiate the Treaty of Versailles on behalf of the German government, and a politician committed to the young Weimar Republic, he at times fell into obscurity. Nevertheless, academic literature has covered the life and work of the pacifist, politician, scholar, and judge Walther Schücking in great detail. What is less-noticed, though, is Schücking's patriotism. Many contemporaries at the time were confused or even signalled incomprehension at how Schücking combined ‘his pacifist world views with the demands of national politics', and how Schücking stood up for the protection of ‘Reichsinteressen' (‘Reich's interests') after the First World War. This paper analyses Schücking's patriotic stance, and how he integrated his understanding of patriotism into his pacifistic engagement and thinking. It will conclude that, for Schücking, there was no contradiction between his pacifism and patriotic engagement, and that he was far from following the path of patriotic radicalization. However, some critical remarks can be made about the ‘enlightened “true” patriotism' claimed by many pacifists.
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Magnan Johannes Mohr\nBetween Pacifism and Patriotism: Walther Schücking (1875–1935) | 275 | ||
| I. Biography, Literature, and a ‘Wounded Word’ | 276 | ||
| A. Stages in Schücking’s Life | 276 | ||
| B. Schücking’s Picture in Secondary Literature | 278 | ||
| C. Patriotism, a ‘Wounded Word’ | 280 | ||
| D. Schücking’s Patriotism: Questions and Search Directions | 281 | ||
| II. Schücking, International Law and ‘Organisational Pacifism’ | 283 | ||
| A. International Law and Pacifism at the Beginning of the 20th Century | 283 | ||
| B. Ideas and Commitment for the Peaceful ‘Organisation of the World’ | 275 | ||
| C. An Idealist, Not a Utopian | 275 | ||
| III. Schücking as a Patriot: The World War and the New Germany | 275 | ||
| A. As a Peace Negotiator in Versailles | 275 | ||
| B. The Publication of the German Documents on the Outbreak of War in 1914 | 276 | ||
| IV. A Strange, but at the Same Time Natural Career | 276 |