Editing Axel Springer (section)

=== Zehrer and the approach to Moscow ===
Springer's choice as chief editor for ''Die Welt'' was controversial. [[Hans Zehrer]] was a veteran of the [[Kapp Putsch]] of 1920, and in the last [[Weimar Republic|Weimar years]] had been the editor of the nationalist and anti-republican journal ''[[Die Tat]]''.<ref>''[[Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890]]'' edited by [[Philip Rees]] (1991, {{ISBN|0-13-089301-3}}), pp.&nbsp;417–418.</ref> In 1946, he had been removed from the then British-controlled ''Die Welt'' after protests from [[Attlee ministry|Britain's Labour government]] and from the Social Democrats then governing Hamburg.<ref>Demant, Ebbo (1971) ''Hans Zehrer als politischer Publizist. Von Schleicher zu Springer'', Verlag von Hase und Köhler, Mainz 1971, {{ISBN|3-7758-0815-9}}.</ref>

At ''Die Welt'' Springer allowed Zehrer to entertain the idea of an [[Austrian State Treaty|Austrian solution]] for Germany.<ref name="Muller">{{cite book |last1=Muller |first1=Hans Dieter |title=Press power: A study of Axel Springer |date=1969 |publisher=Macdonald & Co |location=London |isbn=978-0-356-02689-3 |pages=143–148}}</ref> In 1955, Austria had regained its unity and independence through a four-power agreement guaranteeing the country's non-alignment and neutrality. In January 1958, Springer travelled with Zehrer to Moscow. Before departing he told to a reporter: "I know very well that there are people who consider me naïve. But I believe in reunification within five years." In addition to permanent German neutrality, Springer was proposing a nuclear-free Central Europe.<ref>von Sothen, Hans Becker (2005), ''Hans Zehrer als politischer Publizist nach 1945.'' In Frank-Lothar Kroll ed. ''Die kupierte Alternative. Konservatismus in Deutschland nach 1945.'' pp. 125–178. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, {{ISBN|3-428-11781-6}}</ref><ref name="Keil">{{cite web |last1=Keil |first1=Lars-Broder |title="The world is changed by dreams" |url=https://www.axelspringer.com/en/inside/the-world-is-changed-by-dreams |publisher=Axel Springer SE |access-date=16 February 2021 |archive-date=30 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630172337/https://www.axelspringer.com/en/inside/the-world-is-changed-by-dreams |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Nikita Khrushchev]] kept Springer and Zehrer waiting sixteen days for an interview. It did not go well, and cannot have been helped by Springer seeking to convince the Soviet premier of the advantages not only of German neutrality but also of West Germany's [[social market economy]].<ref>The interview was printed and discussed in ''Die Welt'' (7 February 1958). A Russian transcript is held Stiftung Archiv der Parteien und Massenorganisationen der DDr im Bundesarchiv "Niederschrift der vertaulichedn Unterredung N.S. Chuschtschows mit den westdeutschedn Pressevertreten A. Springer und H. Zehrer, 29.1.1958", DY30/J IV 2/202;75</ref><ref name="Kruip" /> The Russians, like the Americans, viewed their strategic position in Germany as indispensable. Neutrality was not an option. Springer was to describe the trip as the "central political event of my life", convincing him that there was no alternative to [[Konrad Adenauer]]'s ''Westbindung'': to discount Communist overtures and to persevere with the [[NATO|North Atlantic alliance.]]<ref name="Goshko" /> On his return he forbad any criticism of the western allies, whether it was of the [[Cyprus Emergency|British in Cyprus]], the [[Algerian War|French in Algeria]], or the Americans in the [[Second Taiwan Strait Crisis|Taiwan Strait]], because "we need them in Berlin".<ref name="Poscenzsky">{{cite news |last1=von Poscenzsky |first1=Gert |title=As Befahl die Schwenkung |url=https://magazin.spiegel.de/EpubDelivery/spiegel/pdf/46196219 |access-date=20 February 2021 |work=Der Spiegel |issue=48 |date=1962 |archive-date=9 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809064531/https://magazin.spiegel.de/EpubDelivery/spiegel/pdf/46196219 |url-status=live }}</ref>