Friedrich Naumann

Friedrich Naumann
Member of the Weimar National Assembly
In office
1919–1919
ConstituencyBerlin
Member of the German Reichstag
In office
1907–1912
Constituency3rd Württemberg (Heilbronn)
In office
1913–1918
ConstituencyWaldeck
Personal details
Born(1860-03-25)25 March 1860
Störmthal (now part of Großpösna) near Leipzig
Died24 August 1919(1919-08-24) (aged 59)
Travemünde
Political partyNational-Social Association (1896–1903)
Freeminded Union (1903–1910)
Progressive People's Party (1910–1918)
German Democratic Party (1918–1919)
SpouseMaria Magdalena Zimmermann
OccupationTheologian, Politician

Friedrich Naumann (25 March 1860 – 24 August 1919) was a German liberal politician and Protestant parish pastor. In 1896, he founded the National-Social Association that sought to combine liberalism, nationalism and (non-Marxist) socialism with Protestant Christian values, proposing social reform to prevent class struggle. He led the party until its merger into the Free-minded Union in 1903. From 1907 to 1912 and again from 1913 to 1918, he was a member of the Reichstag of the German Empire.

Naumann advocated an imperialist foreign policy, laying out Germany's claim to dominate Central Europe in his 1915 Mitteleuropa plan. After the First World War, he co-founded the German Democratic Party and was elected to the Weimar National Assembly. Naumann is also somewhat controversial for his anti-Armenian statements.[1] The Friedrich Naumann Foundation of the Free Democratic Party is named after him.

  1. ^ Ihrig, Stefan (2018). "Germany and the 1890s Armenian massacres: Questions of Morality in Foreign Policy". Études arméniennes contemporaines (11): 75–92. doi:10.4000/eac.1871. ISSN 2269-5281.