Harden, Maximilian

Harden, Maximilian mäkˌsēmēˈlyän härˈdən [key], 1861–1927, German journalist, whose real name was Witkowski. One of the leading publicists of his time, he was an admirer of Bismarck. After Bismarck's fall he used his own paper, the Zukunft, to attack the men surrounding William II, and in World War I he censured the military leaders. Later he sharply criticized the statesmen of the German republic. Essentially Harden was a popular journalist appealing to mass prejudices and beliefs. Among his many books are Germany, France, and England (tr. 1924) and I Meet My Contemporaries (tr. 1925).

See biography by H. F. Young (1959).

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