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Friedrich Naumann | |
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Reichstag | |
Personal details | |
Born | Störmthal (now part of Großpösna) near Leipzig | 25 March 1860
Died | 24 August 1919 Travemünde | (aged 59)
Political party | National-Social Association (1896–1903) Freeminded Union (1903–1910) Progressive People's Party (1910–1918) German Democratic Party (1918–1919) |
Spouse | Maria Magdalena Zimmermann |
Occupation | Theologian, 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.