Ludwig Quidde (23 March 1858 – 4 March 1941) was a German politician and pacifist. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1927, for his work as a pacifist and for his efforts to promote disarmament and international cooperation.
Life and Career
He was born on 23 March 1858, in the Free City of Bremen.
He edited the Deutsche Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft from 1889 to 1896, and in 1890 he became professor and secretary at the Prussian Historical Institute. He returned to Munich in 1892 and joined the German Peace Society.
In 1894, Quidde published Caligula, a satire on the German emperor William II that appeared as a historical study; the immensely popular publication land him in jail for three months.
He was a liberal member of the Bavarian Assembly and Interparliamentary Union from 1907-1919.
He was the chairman of the German Peace Society from 1914 to 1929. He was an active member of the German Peace Society and the International Peace Bureau, and he played a significant role in organizing the World Disarmament Conference in Geneva in 1932.
He joined the Democratic Party in 1919 and served in the National Assembly from 1919-20, where he fought for a proportional voting system and denounced the German war-guilt clause. He represented the right wing of pacifism as chairman of the German Peace Cartel, 1921–29.
During the Weimar Republic, Quidde supported Germany’s membership in the League of Nations and opposed the revival of German militarism.
In 1924, Quidde was arrested in Munich for writing in Welt am Montag against illegal military training. For the rest of his life, Quidde lived in exile in Geneva after the Nazis took over in 1933.
There were several books he wrote about historical and political topics, including some on pacifism.
He died on 4 March 1941, in Geneva, Switzerland.
Award
He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1927, for his work as a pacifist and for his efforts to promote disarmament and international cooperation.