Imperial German Precedents, 1890–1918

Abstract

The invention and development of the rigid airship in Germany, from its inception to the end of World War I, occurred in a context of unique circumstances which spanned a gamut of intensifying political repercussions. These derived from arguments about weapons development, various bureaucratic interpositions, a widening psychological impact of the airship on the German public, and initial commercial ventures. By the outbreak of World War I there had emerged a technological instrument of great potential military threat and of remarkable national propaganda. Herewith also developed different kinds of political manipulation about the new technology. Initially, these efforts played in the confines of closed politics, where negative committee and hierarchical actions vied with Count Zeppelin’s advocacy of his airship by way of court politics. Open politics gradually came into play as the Aeronaut’s technological efforts became increasingly successful and soon spectacularly visible. Their culmination could be seen in nationwide public enthusiasm and the unique donation of 1908 that confirmed the Count’s rise to heroic proportions and established his independence in airship construction and flight. Between 1908 and 1914 airship successes and accidents were constantly in the public eye to influence further development of the technology. By sharp contrast, the succeeding war years would see largely negative military decisions about airships concealed by censorship, while legends of airship wonder continued to command the popular imagination. This wartime disparity between airship reality and myth lived on into the postwar decade with significant psychological persuasion.