History can be written by the losers…

Fritz Fischer Son of a railroad inspector Son of a railroad inspector Educated at grammar schools and University of Berlin Educated at grammar schools and University of Berlin Member of Nazi Party 1939 – 1942 Member of Nazi Party 1939 – 1942 Served in Wermacht in World War Two Served in Wermacht in World War Two Released from prisoner of war camp 1947 Released from prisoner of war camp 1947 Professor of History at University of Hamburg Professor of History at University of Hamburg

Consensus on causes of World War One before Fischer ‘The nations slithered over the brink into the boiling cauldron of war’ (Lloyd George in his War Memoirs 1934) ‘The nations slithered over the brink into the boiling cauldron of war’ (Lloyd George in his War Memoirs 1934) Hitler and the Nazis were a betriebsunfall (industrial accident): Gerhard Ritter et al. Hitler and the Nazis were a betriebsunfall (industrial accident): Gerhard Ritter et al.

The Fischer Thesis Griff nach der Weltmacht: Die Kriegzielpolitiik des kaiserlichen Deutschland 1914 – 1918 (loosely translated as Germany’s aims in the First World War) 1961 Griff nach der Weltmacht: Die Kriegzielpolitiik des kaiserlichen Deutschland 1914 – 1918 (loosely translated as Germany’s aims in the First World War) 1961 Krieg der Illusionen (War of Illusions) 1969 Krieg der Illusionen (War of Illusions) 1969

The Fischer Thesis ‘There can be no talk of any accidental stumbling into war….(Germany’s) actions were not ruled by.…fateful tragedy, but were a conscious political decision’. ‘There can be no talk of any accidental stumbling into war….(Germany’s) actions were not ruled by.…fateful tragedy, but were a conscious political decision’. Hitler and the Nazis were a natural product of German history whose roots can be traced back to 1870, if not earlier (a negative interpretation of Germany’s sonderweg) Hitler and the Nazis were a natural product of German history whose roots can be traced back to 1870, if not earlier (a negative interpretation of Germany’s sonderweg)

Fischer, an ex-Nazi, German, member of the establishment which had always claimed that WWI was a terrible accident, broke rank and claimed that in fact there was an unbroken line of continuity between WWI and WWII. His argues that Germans were far more to blame than was generally accepted. He was subject to intimidation and vitriolic abuse.

But crucially, his once-revisionist claims have now become the mainstream orthodoxy. What does this tell us about the  value of historical inquiry?  nature of historical truth?