Diplomatie - Kriegspropaganda - »Landesverrat«. Die deutschen Reaktionen auf die Denkschrift »Meine Londoner Mission 1912-1914« von Karl Max Fürst von Lichnowsky

摘要

This article examines the German reaction to the publication of the pamphlet »My Mission to London 1912-1914« by Prince Karl Max von Lichnowsky. In 1916, the former ambassador to the United Kingdom had circulated the text among German decision makers and public persons. In March 1918, an unauthorized publication of the text appeared in neutral Sweden. The Allies' war propaganda gratefully in-strumentalized the pamphlet, which showed the author's critical stance with regard to the German position during the July crisis of 1914.rnBased on documents from the German Federal Archives, this article analyses the sensitive content of the memorandum and describes the government's attempts to bring about an indictment against Lichnowsky. It examines the use of the document in the Entente's war propaganda during the last year of the Great War and the futile attempt of German counter-propaganda to minimize the effect of the publication on the German public, the soldiers and the public opinion in the neutral countries.%Der Erste Weltkrieg brachte in seinem Verlauf eine ganze Reihe neuartiger Waffen hervor. Eine dieser neuen Waffen richtete sich nicht gegen Leib und Leben der Soldaten, sondern gegen deren Geist. Denn der Erste Weltkrieg war der erste Krieg, in dem psychologische Kriegführung massiv zum Einsatz kam. Propaganda wurde zum Synonym für die psychologische Kriegführung1.