{{Short description|German historian (1885–1947)}} {{Infobox academic | image = Veit Valentin.jpg | birth_date = 20 March 1885 | birth_place = Frankfurt, Germany | death_date = 12 January 1947 | death_place = Washington D.C. United States }}
'''Veit Valentin''' (25 March 1885, Frankfurt – 12 January 1947, Washington D.C.) was a German historian who was Professor of History at the University of Freiburg.<ref>Paul Honigsheim, 'Veit Valentin (1885-1947): Der Weg eines deutschen Historikers zum Pazifismus', ''Die Friedens-Warte'' Vol. 47, No. 4/5 (1947), pp. 274</ref>
In comments that caused a storm of controversy in Germany, Valentin attacked Ernst Graf zu Reventlow's ''Deutschlands Auswärtige Politik'' in 1916: "It is a classic example of historiographical demagogy and we have no choice but to warn the public against the book and its author".<ref name="Gooch">G. P. Gooch, 'Recent Revelations on European Diplomacy', ''Journal of the British Institute of International Affairs'' Vol. 2, No. 1 (Jan., 1923), p. 5.</ref> During the First World War, Gustav Stresemann tried to have Valentin sent to court for alleged treasonable utterances.<ref>Hans W. Gatzke, 'The Stresemann Papers', ''The Journal of Modern History'' Vol. 26, No. 1 (Mar., 1954), p. 55, n. 29.</ref>
Valentin was appointed by the German Foreign Office to write a history of German foreign policy, permitting him access to their papers. This was published in 1921 as ''Deutschlands Aussenpolitik, 1890-1918''. In assessing responsibility for causing the World War during the July Crisis, Valentin ranked Russia as the country most to blame, followed by Austria-Hungary, with France, England and Germany joint third. Valentin wrote: "None of the Powers was wholly innocent, none alone guilty. The world spirit was ready for the world war".<ref name="Gooch"/>
In a conversation with Paul Nikolaus Cossmann, the editor of the ''Süddeutsche Monatshefte'', Valentin accused Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz of doctoring statistics related to Germany's performance in the U-boat campaign.<ref name="Hale">Frederick A. Hale, 'Fritz Fischer and the Historiography of World War One', ''The History Teacher'', Vol. 9, No. 2 (Feb., 1976), p. 262.</ref> Cossmann launched a legal action against Valentin and he resigned his professorship, thus ending his academic career in Germany.<ref name="Hale"/>
==Notes== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== *H. Bauer, 'Veit Valentin, 1885-1947', in S. W. Halperin (ed.), ''Some 20th-Century Historians'' (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1961), pp. 103–141.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Valentin, Veit}} Category:1885 births Category:1947 deaths Category:Academic staff of the University of Freiburg Category:20th-century German historians Category:Writers from Frankfurt Category:German Democratic Party politicians Category:Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Category:Heidelberg University alumni