Abstracts

Rüdiger Graf, Integrity and Indignation. Accusations of Hypocrisy as a Feature of Parliamentary Culture and Practice in the German Bundestag since 1949

Hypocrisy may be a constant of human interaction or it may specifically characterize liberal democracies in which wooing public opinion is essential. However, explicit discussion of this issue during debates in the German Bundestag has changed considerably in recent decades. Reciprocal accusations of hypocrisy increased sharply during the dispute over Ostpolitik and above all after the Greens entered parliament in the 1980s. How can this be explained and what does the increasing tendency to describe political behaviour as hypocritical mean for the changing tone of parliamentary debates and political culture as a whole? Rüdiger Graf examines the outraged response to indignant accusations of hypocrisy and the transformation of moral integrity into a controversial meta-value that has resulted from this.

Konstantin Heinisch-Fritzsche, Football and Fascism. International Perspectives on Italian Soccer during the 1930s

During the 1930s, the Italian national soccer team, the squadra azzurra, managed to win two World Cup titles, an Olympic victory, and a number of other trophies. The azzurri thus recorded their greatest successes under fascist rule. The series of victories gave rise to a myth of the profit-maximizing interaction between the fascist dictatorship and Italian soccer which many researchers continue to cultivate today. Konstantin Heinisch-Fritzsche takes a look behind the scenes. Using new sources, he sheds light on the international dimension of fascist soccer policy and questions its resonance and perception abroad. The result is a nuanced picture of the complex history of the relationship between football and fascism.

Grischa Sutterer, Private Military Companies between Empire and Decolonization. A New Perspective on the History of Mercenary Organizations

Private military companies have played an essential role in almost all major wars since the 1990s. Their increasing global presence has often been discussed in the context of research on denationalization processes and the transformation of organized violence under the conditions of globalization. However, private military companies date back much further than that and are closely linked to the decolonization of the British Empire. Grischa Sutterer examines the genesis of the private military companies Watchguard and Keenie Meenie Services in the context of the geostrategic reorientation of the British state in the wake of decolonization. He also looks at the military problems of the post-imperialist era and the emerging international order of the Cold War.

Lorena De Vita, A First-Hand Account of Wiedergutmachung. Otto Küster’s Diary of German-Israeli Diplomacy, 1952/53

In 1952, the Federal Republic of Germany agreed to pay compensation (Wiedergutmachung) to Israel and the Jewish Claims Conference – an unprecedented move preceded by complex negotiations. During the first phase of those talks German jurist Otto Küster acted as deputy chief negotiator for West Germany before stepping down amid disagreements. As had been his habit throughout his adult life, Küster kept a diary during the consultations. He subsequently gave typewritten excerpts to an archive. This unique source is published here, contextualized by an extensive introduction and by a comparison with his original handwritten notes, which had not been available to researchers until now. Küster’s diary notes provide rare insights into how a West German representative experienced and reflected on these highly complex negotiations in the aftermath of the Holocaust.