Friedrich Meinecke Friedrich Meinecke ( October 20 , 1862 – February 6 , 1954 ) was a German historian , with Liberal and anti - semitic views . As a representative of an older tradition still writing after World War II he criticized the Nazi regime , but continued to express anti - semitic prejudice In 1948 , he helped to found the Free University of Berlin , and remained an important figure to the end of his life . Life . Meinecke was born in Salzwedel in the Province of Saxony . He was educated at the University of Bonn and the University of Berlin . In 1887 - 1901 he worked as an archivist at the German State Archives . He served as editor of the journal , " Historische Zeitschrift " between 1896 and 1935 , and was the chairman of the " Historische Reichskommission " from 1928 to 1935 . As a nationalist historian Meinecke didn ' t care very much for the desires of peoples in Eastern Europer , and went as far as writing about " raw bestiality of the south Slavs " , while favoring German expansionism into the East . During the First World War he advocated moving Polish landowners in the Prussian provinces of West Prussia and Posen ( which were acquired from Poland in the course of the Partitions of Poland ) to Congress Poland ; in addition he proposed German colonization of Courland after the expulsion of its Latvian population . Some authors have likened his views with supporting ethnic cleansing . When German Empire formulated the so - called Polish Border Strip plan - which called for annexation of large swathe of land from Congress Poland and removal of millions of Poles and Jew to make room for German settlers - Meinecke welcomed this vision of mass expulsion of Poles with contentment . Meinecke was best known for his work on 18th - 19th century German intellectual and cultural history . The book that made his reputation was his 1908 work " Weltbürgertum und Nationalstaat " ( Cosmopolitanism and the National State ) , which traced the development of national feelings in the 19th century . Starting with " Die Idee der Staatsräson " ( 1924 ) , much of his work concerns the conflict between " Kratos " ( power ) and " Ethos " ( morality ) , and how to achieve a balance between the two . One of his students was Heinrich Brüning , the future Chancellor . Under the Weimar Republic , Meinecke was an " Vernunftsrepublikaner " ( republican by reason ) , someone who supported the republic as the least bad alternative . In 1918 he had been one of the founders of the German Democratic Party . Under the Third Reich , he had some sympathy for the regime , especially in regard to its early anti - semitic laws . After 1935 , Meinecke fell into a state of semi - disgrace , and was removed as editor of the " Historische Zeitschrift " . Though Meinecke remained in public a supporter of the Nazi regime , in private he became increasingly bothered by what he regarded as the violence and crudeness of the Nazis . Nevertheless he openly described himself as " antisemitic " , and while he was willing to have Jewish friends and colleagues , the Nazi persecution of Jews never bothered him much . After Nazis invaded Poland in 1939 he praised this event in letter to Siegfred August Kaehler stating " " You will also have been delighted by this splendid campaign " " Meinecke ' s best known book , " Die Deutsche Katastrophe " ( The German Catastrophe ) of 1946 , sees the historian attempting to reconcile his lifelong belief in authoritarian state power with the disastrous events of 1933 - 45 . His explanation for the success of National Socialism points to the legacy of Prussian militarism in Germany , the effects of rapid industrialisation and the weaknesses of the middle classes , though Meinecke also asserts that Hitlerism benefited from a series of unfortunate accidents , which had no connection with the earlier developments in German history . In the book Meinecke interpreted National Socialism as " alien force occupying Germany " , while at the same expressing anti - semitic prejudice towards the Jews . Meinecke claimed that Jews were responsible for their own misfortune and blamed them for fall of liberalism ; the German Catastrophe represented two classic themes of antisemitism ; resentment based on Jewish economic activities and their alleged " character " In 1948 , he helped to found the Free University of Berlin . British historian E . H . Carr cites him as an example of a historian whose views are heavily influenced by the " Zeitgeist " : liberal during the German Empire , discouraged during the interwar period , and deeply pessimistic after World War II . Ruprecht , 1971 .