Friedrich Naumann(March 25, 1860 – August 24, 1919) was a
German liberal
politician and
Protestant parish
pastor. In 1894 he founded the weekly magazine
Die Hilfe ("The Help") to address the social question from a non-
marxist middle class point of view. In 1896 he also founded the
National-Social Association, in an attempt to provide a
social liberal alternative to the
Social Democrats, that could address the growing social rift between rich industrialists and the poor working class. The
Friedrich Naumann Foundation of the liberal
Free Democratic Party is named after him.
Life
Naumann was born in
Großpösna, near
Leipzig.
His ideal was that of helping the
working class, who lived in miserable circumstances (he worked at
Johann Hinrich Wichern's
Rauhes Haus in
Hamburg). His goal was to raise interest in this issue among the middle class. However he was hindered by the German middle class fear of the proletariat, who were regarded as potential
revolutionaries. In 1890 Friedrich joined to the conservative party, the
Christian Social Party, but he left the party six years later in 1896, because of his liberal ideals.
Later in his life, Naumann faced major opposition from
conservatives. Industrialists like
Freiherr von Stumm called Naumann and his associates allies of the socialists. Naumann wanted to preserve Christian values, which he hoped would improve the fraught relations between workers and corporate businessmen. His party the
National-Social......
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