Posted on Aug 29, 2019
Hindenburg, Paul von | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1)
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On August 29, 1916, General Paul von Hindenburg replaced Von Falkenhayn as German chief of staff. From the article:
"Hindenburg, Paul von | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1)
Hindenburg before the First World War
↑
Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934) was largely unknown before 1914. Born in 1847, he joined the Third Regiment of Foot Guards in 1866, admitting him to the Prussian Officer Corps. He fought in some of the key battles of German unification, which would later bolster his reputation as a symbol of national unity: Königgrätz in 1866 and Sedan in 1870. After concluding his training at the Prussian Military Academy, he was admitted to the Prussian General Staff, eventually becoming an infantry general in 1905. His name was mentioned in discussions about Alfred von Schlieffen’s (1833-1913) successor as chief of the General Staff in 1906. Although he lost out to Helmuth von Moltke the Younger (1848-1916), Hindenburg’s career had thus been a thriving one prior to his retirement in 1911.
Hindenburg during the First World War
↑
The Battle of Tannenberg
↑
In August 1914, Hindenburg was called back to command the Eighth Army in East Prussia. He was not chosen for his strategic brilliance, but as a calm and composed figurehead. His foremost task was to provide backing to the more junior Major-General Erich Ludendorff (1865-1937). Nevertheless, Hindenburg was credited with orchestrating victory in the Battle of Tannenberg in late August 1914, which helped to drive the Russians out of East Prussia. This invasion played a key role in emphasizing the idea that Germany was fighting a defensive war – an idea otherwise hard to maintain in light of Germany’s violation of Belgian territory. The decisive victory at Tannenberg contrasted sharply with the stalemate and trench warfare of the Western Front, and it secured Hindenburg’s reputation as Germany’s “saviour”.
The Emergence of the Hindenburg Myth
↑
Within weeks of Tannenberg, the German population exalted Hindenburg to mythical heights. He became a symbol of victory and unity at home – a role traditionally reserved for the Kaiser. The new national hero was showered with official honours, and the country was flooded with Hindenburg souvenirs. Known for his sangfroid, Hindenburg seemed to personify Germany’s superior mental strength, a key theme of German war propaganda. His rectangular features and broad frame projected a specific type of masculinity and virile gravitas. He was often depicted as a rock in the ocean that kept back the tidal waves of the enemy’s onslaught. Hindenburg turned into Germany’s supreme symbolic figure and soon eclipsed Wilhelm II, German Emperor’s (1859-1941) public standing, raising concerns that his popular appeal had introduced a plebiscitary element into German politics that threatened the monarchy.
The Third Supreme Command and Hindenburg’s Political Role
↑
The field marshal was not shy about using his symbolic capital for political gain. From 1915 onwards, Hindenburg, supreme commander of German troops on the Eastern Front since November 1914, repeatedly threatened the Kaiser with his resignation in order to push through his political agenda, which included the dismissal of Erich von Falkenhayn (1861-1922), chief of the General Staff. For a long time, the scholarly consensus was that Hindenburg was an apolitical leader who was largely steered by others. More recent studies have revealed a man who was keenly aware of the power of his own image and who quickly developed an acute sense of the politically opportune.
The day after Romania entered the war on the Entente side on 28 August 1916, Hindenburg and Ludendorff were appointed to the Supreme Command. Hindenburg replaced Falkenhayn to become chief of the General Staff and Ludendorff was named his first quartermaster-general. The appointment caused a considerable upsurge in morale, but it did not stop the erosion of the monarchical idea. Wilhelm II was now eclipsed even more strongly in the eyes of the public. Celebrations of Hindenburg’s seventieth birthday in 1917 took on regal proportions, the massive arms and munitions programme introduced in the autumn of 1917 was labelled the “Hindenburg Programme”, and, in the public debate on war aims, a victorious peace with major territorial annexations favoured by conservative and Pan-German politicians became known as the “Hindenburg Peace”. In a symbolic sense, Hindenburg had turned into a “surrogate monarch”. He was not, however, a military dictator. Crucially, the Kaiser remained in charge of all personnel decisions. Hindenburg’s political clout nevertheless grew: he helped to bring about the proclamation of the Kingdom of Poland in November 1916 and was the key figure behind Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg’s (1856-1921) resignation in July 1917. His backing also played a crucial role in the declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare in January 1917, which drew the United States into the war.
The End of the War and Revolution
↑
Although Hindenburg had been the chief symbol of victory, his myth survived the military collapse. The Supreme Command announced Germany’s military bankruptcy in late September 1918, but Ludendorff was assigned the blame. While the Kaiser accepted his resignation on 26 October 1918, the new government under Max von Baden (1867-1929) carefully engineered Hindenburg’s retention for fear of public outrage over his dismissal. Hindenburg, who advised the Kaiser to go into exile during the November revolution, succeeded him as commander-in-chief and stayed on in that role until representatives of the democratic government signed the Treaty of Versailles in the summer of 1919. The transitional government, whose prime concern was re-establishing order and tranquillity after the upheaval of war and revolution, relied heavily on Hindenburg’s authority to ease the transition from monarchy to republic.
Hindenburg after the First World War
↑
After his second retirement in late June 1919, Hindenburg did not vanish from the public eye. Despite the key role he had played during the transition, his testimony to the Parliamentary Investigation Committee on the Causes of the Collapse in November 1919 popularized the “stab-in-the-back” legend, which associated republican forces with defeat and treason. After Friedrich Ebert’s (1871-1925) death in 1925, Hindenburg, backed by a coalition of right-wing parties, became the Weimar Republic’s first directly elected president. In 1932, he was re-elected by a different political coalition of pro-republican forces, including the Social Democrats, who saw him as a guarantor of political stability. On 30 January 1933, Hindenburg appointed his opponent of the previous year, the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), as Reich chancellor. Carefully incorporated into the public festivals of the new regime, he played a crucial role in the establishment of the Nazi dictatorship.
Anna von der Goltz, Georgetown University."
"Hindenburg, Paul von | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1)
Hindenburg before the First World War
↑
Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934) was largely unknown before 1914. Born in 1847, he joined the Third Regiment of Foot Guards in 1866, admitting him to the Prussian Officer Corps. He fought in some of the key battles of German unification, which would later bolster his reputation as a symbol of national unity: Königgrätz in 1866 and Sedan in 1870. After concluding his training at the Prussian Military Academy, he was admitted to the Prussian General Staff, eventually becoming an infantry general in 1905. His name was mentioned in discussions about Alfred von Schlieffen’s (1833-1913) successor as chief of the General Staff in 1906. Although he lost out to Helmuth von Moltke the Younger (1848-1916), Hindenburg’s career had thus been a thriving one prior to his retirement in 1911.
Hindenburg during the First World War
↑
The Battle of Tannenberg
↑
In August 1914, Hindenburg was called back to command the Eighth Army in East Prussia. He was not chosen for his strategic brilliance, but as a calm and composed figurehead. His foremost task was to provide backing to the more junior Major-General Erich Ludendorff (1865-1937). Nevertheless, Hindenburg was credited with orchestrating victory in the Battle of Tannenberg in late August 1914, which helped to drive the Russians out of East Prussia. This invasion played a key role in emphasizing the idea that Germany was fighting a defensive war – an idea otherwise hard to maintain in light of Germany’s violation of Belgian territory. The decisive victory at Tannenberg contrasted sharply with the stalemate and trench warfare of the Western Front, and it secured Hindenburg’s reputation as Germany’s “saviour”.
The Emergence of the Hindenburg Myth
↑
Within weeks of Tannenberg, the German population exalted Hindenburg to mythical heights. He became a symbol of victory and unity at home – a role traditionally reserved for the Kaiser. The new national hero was showered with official honours, and the country was flooded with Hindenburg souvenirs. Known for his sangfroid, Hindenburg seemed to personify Germany’s superior mental strength, a key theme of German war propaganda. His rectangular features and broad frame projected a specific type of masculinity and virile gravitas. He was often depicted as a rock in the ocean that kept back the tidal waves of the enemy’s onslaught. Hindenburg turned into Germany’s supreme symbolic figure and soon eclipsed Wilhelm II, German Emperor’s (1859-1941) public standing, raising concerns that his popular appeal had introduced a plebiscitary element into German politics that threatened the monarchy.
The Third Supreme Command and Hindenburg’s Political Role
↑
The field marshal was not shy about using his symbolic capital for political gain. From 1915 onwards, Hindenburg, supreme commander of German troops on the Eastern Front since November 1914, repeatedly threatened the Kaiser with his resignation in order to push through his political agenda, which included the dismissal of Erich von Falkenhayn (1861-1922), chief of the General Staff. For a long time, the scholarly consensus was that Hindenburg was an apolitical leader who was largely steered by others. More recent studies have revealed a man who was keenly aware of the power of his own image and who quickly developed an acute sense of the politically opportune.
The day after Romania entered the war on the Entente side on 28 August 1916, Hindenburg and Ludendorff were appointed to the Supreme Command. Hindenburg replaced Falkenhayn to become chief of the General Staff and Ludendorff was named his first quartermaster-general. The appointment caused a considerable upsurge in morale, but it did not stop the erosion of the monarchical idea. Wilhelm II was now eclipsed even more strongly in the eyes of the public. Celebrations of Hindenburg’s seventieth birthday in 1917 took on regal proportions, the massive arms and munitions programme introduced in the autumn of 1917 was labelled the “Hindenburg Programme”, and, in the public debate on war aims, a victorious peace with major territorial annexations favoured by conservative and Pan-German politicians became known as the “Hindenburg Peace”. In a symbolic sense, Hindenburg had turned into a “surrogate monarch”. He was not, however, a military dictator. Crucially, the Kaiser remained in charge of all personnel decisions. Hindenburg’s political clout nevertheless grew: he helped to bring about the proclamation of the Kingdom of Poland in November 1916 and was the key figure behind Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg’s (1856-1921) resignation in July 1917. His backing also played a crucial role in the declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare in January 1917, which drew the United States into the war.
The End of the War and Revolution
↑
Although Hindenburg had been the chief symbol of victory, his myth survived the military collapse. The Supreme Command announced Germany’s military bankruptcy in late September 1918, but Ludendorff was assigned the blame. While the Kaiser accepted his resignation on 26 October 1918, the new government under Max von Baden (1867-1929) carefully engineered Hindenburg’s retention for fear of public outrage over his dismissal. Hindenburg, who advised the Kaiser to go into exile during the November revolution, succeeded him as commander-in-chief and stayed on in that role until representatives of the democratic government signed the Treaty of Versailles in the summer of 1919. The transitional government, whose prime concern was re-establishing order and tranquillity after the upheaval of war and revolution, relied heavily on Hindenburg’s authority to ease the transition from monarchy to republic.
Hindenburg after the First World War
↑
After his second retirement in late June 1919, Hindenburg did not vanish from the public eye. Despite the key role he had played during the transition, his testimony to the Parliamentary Investigation Committee on the Causes of the Collapse in November 1919 popularized the “stab-in-the-back” legend, which associated republican forces with defeat and treason. After Friedrich Ebert’s (1871-1925) death in 1925, Hindenburg, backed by a coalition of right-wing parties, became the Weimar Republic’s first directly elected president. In 1932, he was re-elected by a different political coalition of pro-republican forces, including the Social Democrats, who saw him as a guarantor of political stability. On 30 January 1933, Hindenburg appointed his opponent of the previous year, the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), as Reich chancellor. Carefully incorporated into the public festivals of the new regime, he played a crucial role in the establishment of the Nazi dictatorship.
Anna von der Goltz, Georgetown University."
Hindenburg, Paul von | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1)
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Life of Paul von Hindenburg | The Myth of Tannenberg (Biography)
Consider Supporting HoH: https://www.patreon.com/HouseofHistory Paul von Hindenburg once said: "Prosperity can come through peace alone. I have seen three wa...
Thank you, my friend SGT (Join to see) for making us aware that on August 29, 1916, General Paul von Hindenburg replaced Von Falkenhayn as German chief of staff.
Images:
1. Paul von Hindenburg in 1860.
2. Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg
3. President Paul Von Hindenburg.jpg
Life of Paul von Hindenburg | The Myth of Tannenberg (Biography)
"Paul von Hindenburg once said: "Prosperity can come through peace alone. I have seen three wars. A man who has seen three wars never will wish another war. He must be a friend of peace."
He probably did want prosperity and peace for his German nation, albeit achieved through militarism and extreme nationalism. During his youth, he fought in the Austro-German and Franco-German wars. After a successful, but not exceptional military career, he returned from his retirement to lead the German army to victories at the Eastern front when World War One broke out, among which the famed Battle of Tannenberg and Battle of the Masurian Lakes, only to install a quasi-military dictatorship with Erich Ludendorff, as the war progressed. He died in harness, after serving as the president of the Weimar Republic for nine years but not before appointing Adolf Hitler as German Chancellor.
Thank you for taking the time to check out House of History, I hope you will find the films informative, interesting and enjoyable!
If you have any feedback, questions or criticism feel free to leave a comment. Your opinion truly aids me in improving the content of the channel! If you have a question, feel free to leave a comment and I will either write a reply, answer your question in a Q&A video, or make an entire video about it!
Time Codes:
0:51 Early and Personal Life
3:54 Military Career
6:23 World War I
12:28 President of the Weimar Republic and Adolf Hitler as Chancellor
15:55 Aftermath and Historiographic Debate
Sources:
Hindenburg, Paul von. "Aus meinem Leben, 1920." Briefe, Reden und Berichte (1934).
Pyta, Wolfram. Hindenburg Herrschaft zwischen Hohenzollern und Hitler (München, 2007).
Wheeler-Bennett, John. Hindenburg: the wooden titan (Springer, 1967)."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9wjayF_A8U
1. Background from swiftpapers.com/biographies/Paul-Ludwig-Hans-von-Beneckendorff-und-von-Hindenburg-27622.html
Paul Ludwig Hans von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg
Name: Paul Ludwig Hans von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg
Birth Date: October 2, 1847
Death Date: August 2, 1934
Place of Birth: Posen, Prussia
Nationality: German
Gender: Male
Occupations: statesman, field marshal
The German field marshal and statesman Paul Ludwig Hans von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (1847-1934) commanded the German forces during the last 2 years of World War I. He was president of Germany from 1925 to 1934.
Paul von Hindenburg was one of the last prominent representatives of the old Prussian Junkerdom--once the mainstay of Prussia's military power and its honest and efficient civil service--and he profoundly shared its values of honor, duty, and total dedication to the state. As president during the critical years of the Depression, he also symbolized the curious inability of the old Prussian aristocrats to deal with the barbaric nationalism and reckless militarism of Hitler's national socialism.
Hindenburg was born in Posen (now Pozna, Poland) on Oct. 2, 1847, to a family of old Junker stock. Trained in the Prussian Cadet Corps, he fought bravely in the wars against Austria (1866) and France (1870), earning a citation for bravery and the Iron Cross.
Never a man of outstanding strategic or tactical talents, Hindenburg made his mark as a hardworking, loyal, and dedicated soldier. His sincerity and noble bearing earned him the respect of both superiors and subordinates and assured him of a steady rise through the ranks in the long years of peace after 1871. By 1904 he had become commanding general of the IV Army Corps, a post he held until his retirement in 1911.
World War I
As an experienced officer, Hindenburg was recalled to active duty shortly after the outbreak of World War I and sent to command the 8th Army on the Eastern front with the extremely talented but highly temperamental Erich Ludendorff as his chief of staff. On the morning after its arrival on the front, the new command team commenced the Battle of Tannenburg (August 26-29), which resulted in the most decisive German victory on the Eastern front and made its official victors, Hindenburg and Ludendorff, into almost legendary German heroes. In this battle the German forces virtually annihilated a Russian army twice the size of the German detachment and cleared East Prussian territory for the balance of the war. By November 1914 Hindenburg had advanced to supreme commander in the east with the rank of field marshal.
When the German armies were increasingly driven into the defensive on the decisive Western front in the summer of 1916, Hindenburg was made chief of general staff, with Ludendorff at his side as chief of operations. Thus Hindenburg and Ludendorff--with the latter always in the driver's position--increasingly determined the direction of German politics. Their policy consisted primarily of a stubborn, increasingly suicidal insistence on an all-out military effort and sizable annexations and a wooden resistance to all reforms at home. For the German military fortunes, however, even the unification of the supreme command of the Central Powers under Hindenburg and desperate all-out offensives in the west were not enough. By the summer of 1918 German offensive strength had run out, and an Allied counteroffensive, reinforced by fresh American troops, threatened to carry the war into Germany.
The subsequent surrender did not diminish Hindenburg's prestige, however. He prepared what he believed to be the temporary resignation of the emperor, William II, to make an armistice possible. He gained the lasting gratitude of his nation by bringing every German soldier across the armistice line along the Rhine before the deadline set by the Allies. Only after the signing of the Peace Treaty of Versailles did he finally lay down his command--still the most popular public figure in Germany.
Years as President
After the first president of the postwar republic died in 1925, Marshal Hindenburg was nominated by the parties of the right and was elected with a slight plurality over the candidate of the center and moderate left. Although he continued to hope for a return of his beloved monarchy, he loyally supported the various governments of the republic in the 1920s.
An abrupt shift in Hindenburg's position took place with the outbreak of the Depression and the subsequent breakdown of majority coalition governments in the German Parliament. Under an emergency paragraph in the constitution, he now supported Chancellor Heinrich Brüning's government of the center against the combined antirepublican majority of Nazis and Communists. Widely regarded as the last bulwark against Hitler, the 82-year-old war hero was reelected with the support of the center-left parties in the spring of 1932.
Hindenburg soon turned against Brüning, however, because of a moderate land reform thought disadvantageous to Hindenburg's fellow landed aristocrats. He replaced this last genuinely republican chancellor with Franz von Papen and then Kurt von Schleicher, both personal friends. Finally, on Jan. 30, 1933, he overcame his initial dislike and distrust of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and appointed him to the chancellorship, thereby inaugurating 12 years of Nazi dictatorship.
Failing in health, Hindenburg increasingly lost control over the radicalization and terrorization of German politics. In March 1933 he symbolically presided over the opening of Hitler's newly purged Reichstag and in the following year had to tolerate the army purges accompanying the infamous Roehm Purge. On Aug. 2, 1934, Paul von Hindenburg died at Neudeck, a broken man. His death removed the last restraints on Hitler.
Associated Events
World War I, 1914-1918
Further Reading
Hindenburg's early autobiography, Out of My Life (1920), was translated by F. A. Holt (1933). Of the many biographies of Hindenburg, mostly by admirers, the best in English are John W. Wheeler-Bennett, Wooden Titan: Hindenburg in Twenty Years of German History, 1914-1934 (1936; republished as Hindenburg: The Wooden Titan, 1967), a full biography, and Andreas Dorpalen, Hindenburg and the Weimar Republic (1964), which is limited to the time of the republic. Margaret Goldsmith and Frederick Voigt, Hindenburg: The Man and the Legend (1930), is a generally favorable, scholarly account. Emil Ludwig, Hindenburg (trans. 1935), is popularized but is an accurate appraisal. Recommended for general historical background are Walter Görlitz, The German General Staff: Its Historical Structure, 1657-1945 (1950; trans. 1953); Gordon A. Craig, The Politics of the Prussian Army, 1640-1945 (1955); and Erich Eyck, A History of the Weimar Republic (trans., 2 vols., 1962-1963)."
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SFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTMSFC Jack ChampionA1C Ian Williams
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Images:
1. Paul von Hindenburg in 1860.
2. Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg
3. President Paul Von Hindenburg.jpg
Life of Paul von Hindenburg | The Myth of Tannenberg (Biography)
"Paul von Hindenburg once said: "Prosperity can come through peace alone. I have seen three wars. A man who has seen three wars never will wish another war. He must be a friend of peace."
He probably did want prosperity and peace for his German nation, albeit achieved through militarism and extreme nationalism. During his youth, he fought in the Austro-German and Franco-German wars. After a successful, but not exceptional military career, he returned from his retirement to lead the German army to victories at the Eastern front when World War One broke out, among which the famed Battle of Tannenberg and Battle of the Masurian Lakes, only to install a quasi-military dictatorship with Erich Ludendorff, as the war progressed. He died in harness, after serving as the president of the Weimar Republic for nine years but not before appointing Adolf Hitler as German Chancellor.
Thank you for taking the time to check out House of History, I hope you will find the films informative, interesting and enjoyable!
If you have any feedback, questions or criticism feel free to leave a comment. Your opinion truly aids me in improving the content of the channel! If you have a question, feel free to leave a comment and I will either write a reply, answer your question in a Q&A video, or make an entire video about it!
Time Codes:
0:51 Early and Personal Life
3:54 Military Career
6:23 World War I
12:28 President of the Weimar Republic and Adolf Hitler as Chancellor
15:55 Aftermath and Historiographic Debate
Sources:
Hindenburg, Paul von. "Aus meinem Leben, 1920." Briefe, Reden und Berichte (1934).
Pyta, Wolfram. Hindenburg Herrschaft zwischen Hohenzollern und Hitler (München, 2007).
Wheeler-Bennett, John. Hindenburg: the wooden titan (Springer, 1967)."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9wjayF_A8U
1. Background from swiftpapers.com/biographies/Paul-Ludwig-Hans-von-Beneckendorff-und-von-Hindenburg-27622.html
Paul Ludwig Hans von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg
Name: Paul Ludwig Hans von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg
Birth Date: October 2, 1847
Death Date: August 2, 1934
Place of Birth: Posen, Prussia
Nationality: German
Gender: Male
Occupations: statesman, field marshal
The German field marshal and statesman Paul Ludwig Hans von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (1847-1934) commanded the German forces during the last 2 years of World War I. He was president of Germany from 1925 to 1934.
Paul von Hindenburg was one of the last prominent representatives of the old Prussian Junkerdom--once the mainstay of Prussia's military power and its honest and efficient civil service--and he profoundly shared its values of honor, duty, and total dedication to the state. As president during the critical years of the Depression, he also symbolized the curious inability of the old Prussian aristocrats to deal with the barbaric nationalism and reckless militarism of Hitler's national socialism.
Hindenburg was born in Posen (now Pozna, Poland) on Oct. 2, 1847, to a family of old Junker stock. Trained in the Prussian Cadet Corps, he fought bravely in the wars against Austria (1866) and France (1870), earning a citation for bravery and the Iron Cross.
Never a man of outstanding strategic or tactical talents, Hindenburg made his mark as a hardworking, loyal, and dedicated soldier. His sincerity and noble bearing earned him the respect of both superiors and subordinates and assured him of a steady rise through the ranks in the long years of peace after 1871. By 1904 he had become commanding general of the IV Army Corps, a post he held until his retirement in 1911.
World War I
As an experienced officer, Hindenburg was recalled to active duty shortly after the outbreak of World War I and sent to command the 8th Army on the Eastern front with the extremely talented but highly temperamental Erich Ludendorff as his chief of staff. On the morning after its arrival on the front, the new command team commenced the Battle of Tannenburg (August 26-29), which resulted in the most decisive German victory on the Eastern front and made its official victors, Hindenburg and Ludendorff, into almost legendary German heroes. In this battle the German forces virtually annihilated a Russian army twice the size of the German detachment and cleared East Prussian territory for the balance of the war. By November 1914 Hindenburg had advanced to supreme commander in the east with the rank of field marshal.
When the German armies were increasingly driven into the defensive on the decisive Western front in the summer of 1916, Hindenburg was made chief of general staff, with Ludendorff at his side as chief of operations. Thus Hindenburg and Ludendorff--with the latter always in the driver's position--increasingly determined the direction of German politics. Their policy consisted primarily of a stubborn, increasingly suicidal insistence on an all-out military effort and sizable annexations and a wooden resistance to all reforms at home. For the German military fortunes, however, even the unification of the supreme command of the Central Powers under Hindenburg and desperate all-out offensives in the west were not enough. By the summer of 1918 German offensive strength had run out, and an Allied counteroffensive, reinforced by fresh American troops, threatened to carry the war into Germany.
The subsequent surrender did not diminish Hindenburg's prestige, however. He prepared what he believed to be the temporary resignation of the emperor, William II, to make an armistice possible. He gained the lasting gratitude of his nation by bringing every German soldier across the armistice line along the Rhine before the deadline set by the Allies. Only after the signing of the Peace Treaty of Versailles did he finally lay down his command--still the most popular public figure in Germany.
Years as President
After the first president of the postwar republic died in 1925, Marshal Hindenburg was nominated by the parties of the right and was elected with a slight plurality over the candidate of the center and moderate left. Although he continued to hope for a return of his beloved monarchy, he loyally supported the various governments of the republic in the 1920s.
An abrupt shift in Hindenburg's position took place with the outbreak of the Depression and the subsequent breakdown of majority coalition governments in the German Parliament. Under an emergency paragraph in the constitution, he now supported Chancellor Heinrich Brüning's government of the center against the combined antirepublican majority of Nazis and Communists. Widely regarded as the last bulwark against Hitler, the 82-year-old war hero was reelected with the support of the center-left parties in the spring of 1932.
Hindenburg soon turned against Brüning, however, because of a moderate land reform thought disadvantageous to Hindenburg's fellow landed aristocrats. He replaced this last genuinely republican chancellor with Franz von Papen and then Kurt von Schleicher, both personal friends. Finally, on Jan. 30, 1933, he overcame his initial dislike and distrust of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and appointed him to the chancellorship, thereby inaugurating 12 years of Nazi dictatorship.
Failing in health, Hindenburg increasingly lost control over the radicalization and terrorization of German politics. In March 1933 he symbolically presided over the opening of Hitler's newly purged Reichstag and in the following year had to tolerate the army purges accompanying the infamous Roehm Purge. On Aug. 2, 1934, Paul von Hindenburg died at Neudeck, a broken man. His death removed the last restraints on Hitler.
Associated Events
World War I, 1914-1918
Further Reading
Hindenburg's early autobiography, Out of My Life (1920), was translated by F. A. Holt (1933). Of the many biographies of Hindenburg, mostly by admirers, the best in English are John W. Wheeler-Bennett, Wooden Titan: Hindenburg in Twenty Years of German History, 1914-1934 (1936; republished as Hindenburg: The Wooden Titan, 1967), a full biography, and Andreas Dorpalen, Hindenburg and the Weimar Republic (1964), which is limited to the time of the republic. Margaret Goldsmith and Frederick Voigt, Hindenburg: The Man and the Legend (1930), is a generally favorable, scholarly account. Emil Ludwig, Hindenburg (trans. 1935), is popularized but is an accurate appraisal. Recommended for general historical background are Walter Görlitz, The German General Staff: Its Historical Structure, 1657-1945 (1950; trans. 1953); Gordon A. Craig, The Politics of the Prussian Army, 1640-1945 (1955); and Erich Eyck, A History of the Weimar Republic (trans., 2 vols., 1962-1963)."
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