The ‘Second Post-war’: Remigration and Renewed Alliances (1945–1953)

The Chapter stresses the continuity of neoliberal endeavours stretching from the Weimar Republic to the Bundesrepublik. The correspondence between Alexander Rüstow, Wilhelm Röpke, Walter Eucken, Alfred Müller-Armack and others, shows that even during the early post-war years, German neoliberals were beginning to strategize about regaining their standing as expert analysts and recognized intellectuals. In order to influence the socio-political structures of the new state in the making, they intensified their exchanges, re-established contacts with the international scientific community, and renewed alliances with politicians, entrepreneurs and the media. The extensive network established during the interwar years, it will be demonstrated, was successfully reactivated after 1945, which helps to explain how neoliberals rapidly regained influence. Their correspondence moreover discloses how closely they monitored each other’s literary activities and evaluated its value for the furtherance of the common cause: a neoliberal comeback in Germany. The second section will address the protagonists’ attempts of gaining influence on the post-war reconstruction process. Existing institutions, the chapter will illustrate, were considered ineffective with regard to the neoliberal strategy of convincing the leading circles in society and turning public opinion in their favour: Hence, the neoliberal desire to initiate a pro-market think-tank during the early 1950s.