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191-576: Only 17 months after Adolf Hitler announced the German rearmament programme in 1935, the army reached its projected goal of 36 divisions . During the autumn of 1937, two more corps were formed. In 1938 four additional corps were formed with the inclusion of the five divisions of the Austrian Army after the annexation of Austria by Germany in March. During the period of its expansion under Hitler,

382-577: A military dictatorship , perhaps headed by Gustav Noske . Many in the military refused to accept the democratic Weimar Republic as legitimate due to its agreement with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Under the leadership of Seeckt, an effort was made to insulate the Reichswehr from the politics of Germany. Some refer to the Reichswehr as operating as a “state within the state”, meaning it

573-442: A German officer was to keep his men and the population at large prepared to defend Germany, saying: German officers, and especially members of the general staff, have never sought a fight for its own sake or been war-mongers. And they should not do so now. But they should never forget the great deeds achieved by German warriors. Keeping the memory of them alive in ourselves and our people is a sacred duty. For then neither officers nor

764-613: A Jew; not only because this is in itself provocative, but because the Jewish talent is purely critical, hence negative and can never help in the construction of a state. This is no good. Seeckt ignored the Constitution of 1919 which prohibited religious discrimination. He ordered that Jews were not to be accepted into the Reichswehr , no matter how qualified they might be. Seeckt saw the Second Polish Republic as

955-668: A July 1918 message Seeckt replied to inquiries from Berlin by stating "It is an impossible state of affairs to be allied with the Turks and to stand up for the Armenians. In my view, any consideration, Christian, sentimental or political, must be eclipsed by its clear necessity for the war effort." Seeckt also supported the Committee of Union and Progress , a group of army officers who had taken power in Turkey and were attempting to modernize

1146-425: A bed and singing old Lutheran hymns. To make the training appear less military, photographs were published of recruits being taught topics like horse anatomy and beekeeping. While Seeckt ran multiple schemes to increase the number of reserves these proved largely ineffective. Officers were encouraged to leave regular units and join the reserve. Apart from the labour corps there also were the border guard units from

1337-701: A candidate for chancellor. Former chancellor Franz von Papen and other conservative leaders convinced President Paul von Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor on 30 January 1933. Shortly thereafter, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act of 1933 , which began the process of transforming the Weimar Republic into Nazi Germany, a one-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of Nazism . Upon Hindenburg's death on 2 August 1934, Hitler succeeded him, becoming simultaneously

1528-548: A casual labourer and by painting and selling watercolours of Vienna's sights. During his time in Vienna, he pursued a growing passion for architecture and music, attending ten performances of Lohengrin , his favourite Wagner opera. In Vienna, Hitler was first exposed to racist rhetoric. Populists such as mayor Karl Lueger exploited the city's prevalent anti-Semitic sentiment, occasionally also espousing German nationalist notions for political benefit. German nationalism

1719-552: A challenge to the government in Berlin. Hitler and Ludendorff sought the support of Staatskommissar (State Commissioner) Gustav Ritter von Kahr , Bavaria's de facto ruler. However, Kahr, along with Police Chief Hans Ritter von Seisser and Reichswehr General Otto von Lossow , wanted to install a nationalist dictatorship without Hitler. On 8 November 1923, Hitler and the SA stormed a public meeting of 3,000 people organised by Kahr in

1910-677: A classical high school and become an artist, Alois sent Hitler to the Realschule in Linz in September 1900. Hitler rebelled against this decision, and in Mein Kampf states that he intentionally performed poorly in school, hoping that once his father saw "what little progress I was making at the technical school he would let me devote myself to my dream". Like many Austrian Germans, Hitler began to develop German nationalist ideas from

2101-417: A crowd of over 6,000. To publicise the meeting, two truckloads of party supporters drove around Munich waving swastika flags and distributing leaflets. Hitler soon gained notoriety for his rowdy polemic speeches against the Treaty of Versailles, rival politicians, and especially against Marxists and Jews. In June 1921, while Hitler and Eckart were on a fundraising trip to Berlin , a mutiny broke out within

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2292-405: A disdain for a levee en masse style organisation, originally stemming from Von Roon 's ideas on war. He was forced to resign on 9 October 1926 because he had invited Prince Wilhelm , the grandson of the former emperor to attend army manoeuvres in the uniform of the old imperial First Foot Guards without first seeking government approval. It created a storm when the republican press publicized

2483-473: A letter to Hindenburg. The signers urged Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as leader of a government "independent from parliamentary parties", which could turn into a movement that would "enrapture millions of people". Hindenburg reluctantly agreed to appoint Hitler as chancellor after two further parliamentary elections—in July and November 1932—had not resulted in the formation of a majority government. Hitler headed

2674-546: A list of war criminals to be tried, Seeckt called a conference of Staff Officers and departmental heads on 9 February 1920 and said to them that if the German government either outright refused or couldn't successfully reject Allied demands, the Reichswehr would oppose this by all means even if this meant the reopening of hostilities. He further said that if the Allies invaded Germany—which he believed they would not—then

2865-702: A matter of debate. His friend August Kubizek claimed that Hitler was a "confirmed anti-Semite" before he left Linz. However, historian Brigitte Hamann describes Kubizek's claim as "problematical". While Hitler states in Mein Kampf that he first became an anti-Semite in Vienna, Reinhold Hanisch , who helped him sell his paintings, disagrees. Hitler had dealings with Jews while living in Vienna. Historian Richard J. Evans states that "historians now generally agree that his notorious, murderous anti-Semitism emerged well after Germany's defeat [in World War I], as

3056-528: A meeting with the Prime Minister of Bavaria, Heinrich Held , on 4 January 1925, Hitler agreed to respect the state's authority and promised that he would seek political power only through the democratic process. The meeting paved the way for the ban on the Nazi Party to be lifted on 16 February. However, after an inflammatory speech he gave on 27 February, Hitler was barred from public speaking by

3247-739: A member of parliament from 1930 to 1932. From 1933 to 1935 he was repeatedly in China as a military consultant to Chiang Kai-shek in his war against the Chinese Communists and was directly responsible for devising the encirclement campaigns , that resulted in a string of victories against the Chinese Red Army and forced Mao Zedong into a 9,000 km retreat, also known as the Long March . A large military barracks in Celle

3438-480: A military campaign. Seeckt held this view, even to the point of supporting the leadership of the Ottoman Empire as it conducted the genocide of Armenians along its eastern border in 1915. The brutal slaughter met with an outcry from German civilians, churchmen and statesmen. When Seeckt arrived in Turkey two years later he argued such actions were a necessary measure to save Turkey from "internal decay". In

3629-531: A more traditional organisational doctrine like the American one; while this was ultimately offset by the Allies' superior numerical and materiel advantage, Visser argues that it allowed the German Army to resist far longer than if it had not adopted this method of organisation and doctrine. Peter Turchin reports a study by US colonel Trevor Dupuy that found that German combat efficiency was higher than both

3820-442: A policy of action. Every State must do that. The moment it stops pursuing a forward policy it ceases to be a State. An active policy must have a goal and a driving force. For carrying it out it is essential to assess one's own strength correctly and at the same time understand the methods and aims of the other powers. The man who bases his political ideas on the weakness of his own country, who sees only dangers, or whose only desire

4011-546: A product of the paranoid "stab-in-the-back" explanation for the catastrophe". Hitler received the final part of his father's estate in May 1913 and moved to Munich , Germany. When he was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian Army , he journeyed to Salzburg on 5 February 1914 for medical assessment. After he was deemed unfit for service, he returned to Munich. Hitler later claimed that he did not wish to serve

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4202-681: A recommendation by Lieutenant Hugo Gutmann , his Jewish superior, Hitler received the Iron Cross, First Class, a decoration rarely awarded at Hitler's Gefreiter rank. On 15 October 1918, he was temporarily blinded in a mustard gas attack and was hospitalised in Pasewalk . While there, Hitler learned of Germany's defeat, and, by his own account, suffered a second bout of blindness after receiving this news. Hitler described his role in World War I as "the greatest of all experiences", and

4393-549: A result of military action in the European theatre . The number of civilians killed during World War II was unprecedented in warfare, and the casualties constitute the deadliest conflict in history . Hitler's father, Alois Hitler (1837–1903), was the illegitimate child of Maria Schicklgruber . The baptismal register did not show the name of his father, and Alois initially bore his mother's surname, "Schicklgruber". In 1842, Johann Georg Hiedler married Alois's mother. Alois

4584-572: A secret meeting in Schleicher's apartment, the details of an arrangement for German financial and technological aid for building up the Soviet arms industry in exchange for Soviet support in helping Germany evade the disarmament clauses of the Treaty of Versailles were agreed to. Schleicher created a shell corporation known as the GEFU ( Gesellschaft zur Förderung gewerblicher Unternehmungen -Company for

4775-651: A short-lived coalition government formed by the Nazi Party (which had the most seats in the Reichstag) and Hugenberg's party, the German National People's Party (DNVP). On 30 January 1933, the new cabinet was sworn in during a brief ceremony in Hindenburg's office. The Nazi Party gained three posts: Hitler was named chancellor, Wilhelm Frick Minister of the Interior, and Hermann Göring Minister of

4966-515: A special party congress on 29 July, he was granted absolute power as party chairman, succeeding Drexler, by a vote of 533 to 1. Hitler's vitriolic beer hall speeches began attracting regular audiences. A demagogue , he became adept at using populist themes, including the use of scapegoats , who were blamed for his listeners' economic hardships. Hitler used personal magnetism and an understanding of crowd psychology to his advantage while engaged in public speaking. Historians have noted

5157-504: A war against its historic enemy, France, and that when such an event occurred England would be looking for an ally on the continent to carry the burden of a land war. He felt a strong Germany would be a more attractive ally than a weak one. The support between Germany and the Soviets was seen in this light, as an agreement that would add to the strength of both nations. He did not believe such an agreement would alienate England. Though Seeckt

5348-481: A young age. He expressed loyalty only to Germany, despising the declining Habsburg monarchy and its rule over an ethnically diverse empire. Hitler and his friends used the greeting "Heil", and sang the " Deutschlandlied " instead of the Austrian Imperial anthem . After Alois's sudden death on 3 January 1903, Hitler's performance at school deteriorated and his mother allowed him to leave. He enrolled at

5539-405: Is absolutely necessary to put the experience of the war in a broad light and collect this experience while the impressions won on the battlefield are still fresh and a major portion of the experienced officers are still in leading positions". The result was the 1921 book Leadership and Battle with Combined Arms that outlined the combined arms tactics and operational ideas that went on to serve as

5730-425: Is growing in strength, and will even have to make him stronger. A rapprochement between Germany and Russia would not have a decisive influence on Britain's attitude either in making a concession to France or in searching for an ally. British policy is ruled by other more compelling motives than anxiety about some far-distant threat from a Russia made strong with the help of Germany... With Poland we come now to

5921-440: Is no lack of such hearts and hands. Let us strive tirelessly to strengthen our own bodies and minds and those of our fellow Germans ... It is the duty of every member of the general staff to make the Reichswehr not only a reliable pillar of the state, but also a school for the leaders of the nation. Beyond the army itself, every officer will sow the seed of manly attitudes throughout the population. The Treaty of Versailles limited

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6112-609: Is that van der Lubbe set the fire alone. At Hitler's urging, Hindenburg responded by signing the Reichstag Fire Decree of 28 February, drafted by the Nazis, which suspended basic rights and allowed detention without trial. The decree was permitted under Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, which gave the president the power to take emergency measures to protect public safety and order. Activities of

6303-467: Is to remain stationary, is not pursuing a policy at all, and should be kept far away from the scene of activity. The years 1814/15 saw France in complete military and political collapse, yet no one at the Congress of Vienna followed a more active policy than Talleyrand — to France's advantage. Has the world ever seen a greater catastrophe than that suffered by Russia in the last war? Yet with what vigor

6494-538: Is undeniable", according to Ian Kershaw . Published in two volumes in 1925 and 1926, Mein Kampf sold 228,000 copies between 1925 and 1932. One million copies were sold in 1933, Hitler's first year in office. Shortly before Hitler was eligible for parole, the Bavarian government attempted to have him deported to Austria. The Austrian federal chancellor rejected the request on the specious grounds that his service in

6685-679: The Ermächtigungsgesetz (Enabling Act) to a vote in the newly elected Reichstag. The Act—officially titled the Gesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk und Reich ("Law to Remedy the Distress of People and Reich")—gave Hitler's cabinet the power to enact laws without the consent of the Reichstag for four years. These laws could (with certain exceptions) deviate from the constitution. Hans von Seeckt Johannes " Hans " Friedrich Leopold von Seeckt (22 April 1866 – 27 December 1936)

6876-580: The 1932 presidential elections . A speech to the Industry Club in Düsseldorf on 27 January 1932 won him support from many of Germany's most powerful industrialists. Hindenburg had support from various nationalist, monarchist, Catholic, and republican parties, and some Social Democrats . Hitler used the campaign slogan " Hitler über Deutschland " ("Hitler over Germany"), a reference to his political ambitions and his campaigning by aircraft. He

7067-525: The Battle of France also suggest that the actions of either Erwin Rommel or Heinz Guderian or both of them (both had contributed to the theoretical development and early practices of what later became Blitzkrieg prior to World War II), ignoring orders of superiors who had never foreseen such spectacular successes and thus prepared much more prudent plans, were conflated into a purposeful doctrine and created

7258-647: The Battle of the Somme in October 1916, he was wounded in the left thigh when a shell exploded in the dispatch runners' dugout. Hitler spent almost two months recovering in hospital at Beelitz , returning to his regiment on 5 March 1917. He was present at the Battle of Arras of 1917 and the Battle of Passchendaele . He received the Black Wound Badge on 18 May 1918. Three months later, in August 1918, on

7449-1003: The Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment 16 (1st Company of the List Regiment), he served as a dispatch runner on the Western Front in France and Belgium, spending nearly half his time at the regimental headquarters in Fournes-en-Weppes , well behind the front lines. In 1914, he was present at the First Battle of Ypres and in that year was decorated for bravery, receiving the Iron Cross , Second Class. During his service at headquarters, Hitler pursued his artwork, drawing cartoons and instructions for an army newspaper. During

7640-491: The Black Reichswehr " became infamous for its practice of using Feme murders to punish "traitors" who, for example, revealed the locations of weapons' stockpiles or names of members. During the trials of some of those charged with the murders, prosecutors alleged that the killings were ordered by the officers from Bock's group. The journalist Carl von Ossietzky wrote: "... [the accused] did nothing but carry out

7831-604: The Bürgerbräukeller , a beer hall in Munich. Interrupting Kahr's speech, he announced that the national revolution had begun and declared the formation of a new government with Ludendorff. Retiring to a back room, Hitler, with his pistol drawn, demanded and subsequently received the support of Kahr, Seisser, and Lossow. Hitler's forces initially succeeded in occupying the local Reichswehr and police headquarters, but Kahr and his cohorts quickly withdrew their support. Neither

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8022-463: The Centre Party , governed through emergency decrees from President Paul von Hindenburg . Governance by decree became the new norm and paved the way for authoritarian forms of government. The Nazi Party rose from obscurity to win 18.3 per cent of the vote and 107 parliamentary seats in the 1930 election, becoming the second-largest party in parliament. Hitler made a prominent appearance at

8213-774: The First World War , Seeckt held the rank of lieutenant colonel and served as chief of staff for Ewald von Lochow in the German III Corps. On mobilisation, the III Corps was assigned to the 1st Army on the right wing of the forces for the Schlieffen Plan offensive in August 1914 on the Western Front . Early in 1915, after they were attacked by the French near Soissons, Seeckt devised a counterattack that took thousands of prisoners and dozens of guns. He

8404-589: The German Communist Party (KPD) were suppressed, and some 4,000 KPD members were arrested. In addition to political campaigning, the Nazi Party engaged in paramilitary violence and the spread of anti-communist propaganda in the days preceding the election . On election day, 6 March 1933, the Nazi Party's share of the vote increased to 43.9 per cent, and the party acquired the largest number of seats in parliament. Hitler's party failed to secure an absolute majority, necessitating another coalition with

8595-548: The Grenzschutz , which was created in 1921, mostly guarding Germany's eastern border, these were equipped with small arms as well as machine guns and received military training. The security units of the Schutzpolizei turned out to be the most effective at procuring trained manpower. They were led by former NCOs and officers and were equipped with small arms and armoured cars and given basic military training. During

8786-594: The Habsburg Empire because of the mixture of races in its army and his belief that the collapse of Austria-Hungary was imminent. In August 1914, at the outbreak of World War I , Hitler was living in Munich and voluntarily enlisted in the Bavarian Army . According to a 1924 report by the Bavarian authorities, allowing Hitler to serve was most likely an administrative error, because as an Austrian citizen, he should have been returned to Austria. Posted to

8977-528: The Harzburg Front . In the presidential election of 1932 he wrote to his sister, urging her to vote for Hitler. From 1933–1935 he served as an adviser to Chiang Kai-shek and helped to establish a new basis for Sino-German cooperation until 1941 . In October 1933, Seeckt arrived in China to head the German military mission. At the time of his arrival, Sino-German relations were in a bad state owing to

9168-585: The Iron Cross . In 1919, he joined the German Workers' Party (DAP), the precursor of the Nazi Party, and in 1921 was appointed leader of the Nazi Party. In 1923, he attempted to seize governmental power in a failed coup in Munich and was sentenced to five years in prison, serving just over a year of his sentence. While there, he dictated the first volume of his autobiography and political manifesto Mein Kampf ( My Struggle ). After his early release in 1924, Hitler gained popular support by attacking

9359-717: The Normandy invasion when Allied air power devastated the French rail network north of the Loire . Panzer movements also depended on rail, since driving a tank long distances caused serious wear. Contrary to popular belief, the German Army in World War II was not a mechanised juggernaut as a whole. In 1941, between 60 and 70 percent of their forces were not motorised, relying on railroad for rapid movement and on horse-drawn transport cross country. The percentage of motorisation decreased thereafter. In 1944 approximately 85 percent of

9550-649: The Realschule in Steyr in September 1904, where his behaviour and performance improved. In 1905, after passing a repeat of the final exam, Hitler left the school without any ambitions for further education or clear plans for a career. In 1907, Hitler left Linz to live and study fine art in Vienna , financed by orphan's benefits and support from his mother. He applied for admission to the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna but

9741-404: The Reichstag building was set on fire . Göring blamed a communist plot, as Dutch communist Marinus van der Lubbe was found in incriminating circumstances inside the burning building. Until the 1960s, some historians, including William L. Shirer and Alan Bullock , thought the Nazi Party itself was responsible; according to Ian Kershaw, writing in 1998, the view of nearly all modern historians

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9932-453: The Reichswehr the toughest in the world. He trained them in anti-air and anti-tank fighting by creating wooden weapons and staging mock battles under the guise of training the soldiers for reintroduction into civilian life. Seeckt's discipline of this small army was quite different from that of past German armies. For instance, rather than the harsh punishments of the Imperial Army, minor offenders were forced to spend off-hour duties lying under

10123-403: The Reichswehr to crush Buschrucker's putsch by laying siege to the forts he had seized outside of Berlin. After two days, Buchrucker surrendered. Two months later Seeckt put down Hitler's Putsch on 8–9 November 1923, insisting that the Bavarian Division of the Reichswehr remain loyal to the state. The British historian John Wheeler-Bennett wrote that Seeckt was loyal to the Reich , not

10314-407: The Reichswehr was reliable, Seeckt answered: "I don't know if it is reliable, but it obeys my orders!" From 1920 to 1926 Seeckt held the position of Chef der Heeresleitung —in fact if not in name commander of the army of the new Weimar Republic, the Reichswehr . In working to build a professional army within and without the confines of the Treaty of Versailles, Seeckt advanced the concept of

10505-401: The Reichswehr who had experience in air combat. These officers formed the future officers corps of the Luftwaffe in the 1930s. After failing to gain a seat as a candidate for the Centre Party , Seeckt was elected to the Reichstag as a member of the DVP , serving from 1930 through 1932. In October 1931, Seeckt was a featured speaker at a rally at Bad Harzburg which led to the founding of

10696-421: The Second World War . While Seeckt undertook multiple programs to get around the military limitations imposed by the Treaty of Versailles which formally ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers after World War I , he has been criticized for failing to expand the reserves of officers and trained men available to the army, the main obstacle to rearmament during the Republic. Seeckt served as

10887-406: The Treaty of Versailles and promoting pan-Germanism , antisemitism , and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and Nazi propaganda . He frequently denounced communism as being part of an international Jewish conspiracy . By November 1932, the Nazi Party held the most seats in the Reichstag , but not a majority. No political parties were able to form a majority coalition in support of

11078-416: The Wehrmacht ' s doctrine in the Second World War. Seeckt envisioned Germany winning the next war by a series of highly mobile operations featuring combined arms operations of artillery, infantry, armor, and air power working together to concentrate superior firepower to crush the enemy at crucial points. Seeing a significant role for air power in the next war, Seeckt kept a large number of officers in

11269-421: The parliamentary republic , which faced challenges from right- and left-wing extremists . The moderate political parties were increasingly unable to stem the tide of extremism, and the German referendum of 1929 helped to elevate Nazi ideology. The elections of September 1930 resulted in the break-up of a grand coalition and its replacement with a minority cabinet. Its leader, chancellor Heinrich Brüning of

11460-408: The putsch , claiming "There can be no question of sending the Reichswehr to fight these people". Seeckt's actions were entirely illegal as under the Weimar constitution, the President was the Supreme Commander in Chief, and moreover Seeckt had violated the Reichswehreid oath, which committed the military to defending the republic. Seeckt ordered the military to disregard Ebert's orders to defend

11651-408: The putsch . As a result of Seeckt's refusal to defend the government that he had taken a solemn oath to defend, the government was forced to flee Berlin, which was taken by the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt on the morning of 13 March 1920 without a shot being fired. The putsch failed only after the government called for a general strike, which shut down the German economy. Once it had become clear that

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11842-444: The "Nazi Party"). Hitler designed the party's banner of a swastika in a white circle on a red background. Hitler was discharged from the Army on 31 March 1920 and began working full-time for the party. The party headquarters was in Munich, a centre for anti-government German nationalists determined to eliminate Marxism and undermine the Weimar Republic . In February 1921—already highly effective at crowd manipulation —he spoke to

12033-400: The 1920 the Grenzschutz possessed 40,000 and the Schutzpolizei at most 70,000 men. The at most 110,000 strong reserves were much smaller than those the German empire had possessed. As a result when the Wehrmacht went to war in WWII, it had only four classes of officer compared to the 40 of the German imperial army. This was partially because the German officers, including Seeckt, had had

12224-399: The Army Group. In 1917, Seeckt was sent to the Ottoman Empire , a Central Powers ally, to replace Colonel von Schellendorff as Chief of Staff of the Ottoman Army. In choosing Seeckt, Germany was sending a first rate staff officer, but this made little impression on the Turks. The alliance between the Ottoman Empire and Germany was weak. The crumbling Ottoman Empire was enticed to join in

12415-403: The Army nor the state police joined forces with Hitler. The next day, Hitler and his followers marched from the beer hall to the Bavarian War Ministry to overthrow the Bavarian government, but police dispersed them. Sixteen Nazi Party members and four police officers were killed in the failed coup. Hitler fled to the home of Ernst Hanfstaengl and by some accounts contemplated suicide. He

12606-424: The Army to 100,000 men, only 4,000 of whom could be officers. As the commander in chief of the new Reichswehr , Seeckt wanted to ensure that the best officers were retained. The Reichswehr was designed as a cadre force that could be expanded if need be. Officers and NCOs were trained to be able to command at least at the next higher unit level. At the beginning of World War Two suitable NCOs were commissioned, as

12797-447: The Army was not motorised. The standard uniform used by the German Army consisted of a Feldgrau (field grey) tunic and trousers, worn with a Stahlhelm . Nazi propaganda had told German soldiers to wipe out what were variously called Jewish Bolshevik subhumans, the Mongol hordes, the Asiatic flood, and the red beast. While the principal perpetrators of the killings of civilians behind the front lines amongst German armed forces were

12988-518: The Army. In July 1919, he was appointed Verbindungsmann (intelligence agent) of an Aufklärungskommando (reconnaissance unit) of the Reichswehr , assigned to influence other soldiers and to infiltrate the German Workers' Party (DAP). At a DAP meeting on 12 September 1919, Party Chairman Anton Drexler was impressed by Hitler's oratorical skills. He gave him a copy of his pamphlet My Political Awakening , which contained anti-Semitic, nationalist, anti-capitalist , and anti-Marxist ideas. On

13179-549: The Bavarian Supreme Court, he was released from jail on 20 December 1924, against the state prosecutor's objections. Including time on remand, Hitler served just over one year in prison. While at Landsberg, Hitler dictated most of the first volume of Mein Kampf ( lit.   ' My Struggle ' ); originally titled Four and a Half Years of Struggle against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice ) at first to his chauffeur, Emil Maurice , and then to his deputy, Rudolf Hess . The book, dedicated to Thule Society member Dietrich Eckart,

13370-404: The Bavarian authorities, a ban that remained in place until 1927. To advance his political ambitions in spite of the ban, Hitler appointed Gregor Strasser , Otto Strasser , and Joseph Goebbels to organise and enlarge the Nazi Party in northern Germany. Gregor Strasser steered a more independent political course, emphasising the socialist elements of the party's programme. The stock market in

13561-435: The British and US armies – if a combat efficiency of 1 was assigned to the British, then the Americans had a combat efficiency of 1.1 and the Germans of 1.45. This would mean British forces would need to commit 45% more troops (or arm existing troops more heavily to the same proportion) to have an even chance of winning the battle, while the Americans would need to commit 30% more to have an even chance. The military strength of

13752-546: The Chinese military. The army was to be led by officers who were loyal to Chiang alone, with no regional loyalties. In addition, Seeckt urged Chiang to fortify the lower Yangtze valley, and to adopt policies to industrialize China to gain independence from Western manufacturing. To this end, Seeckt suggested a trade agreement between China and Germany, where Germany would receive minerals needed for weapon manufacture, especially tungsten, and China would be provided with weapons and

13943-737: The Communist guerrillas to fight in the open, where the superior firepower of the Nationalists would give them an advantage. Following Seeckt's advice, in the spring and summer of 1934 the Kuomintang built three thousand "turtle shell" forts linked by a series of roads while at the same time pursuing a scorched earth policy around the forts as part of the Fifth Bandit Extermination Campaign in Jiangxi . It

14134-657: The DNVP. On 21 March 1933, the new Reichstag was constituted with an opening ceremony at the Garrison Church in Potsdam . This "Day of Potsdam" was held to demonstrate unity between the Nazi movement and the old Prussian elite and military. Hitler appeared in a morning coat and humbly greeted Hindenburg. To achieve full political control despite not having an absolute majority in parliament, Hitler's government brought

14325-696: The German 11th Army, the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army, and the Bulgarian 1st Army, in a renewed campaign in Serbia . As was the case in the Gorlice offensive, Seeckt played a major role in the planning and execution of the operations in Serbia between 6 October and 24 November 1915. The saying spread through the German army "Where Mackensen is, Seeckt is; where Seeckt is, victory is." For his achievements he

14516-472: The German Army continued to develop concepts pioneered during World War I , combining ground and air units into combined arms forces. Coupled with operational and tactical methods such as encirclements and " battle of annihilation ", the German military managed quick victories in the two initial years of World War II, a new style of warfare described as Blitzkrieg (lightning war) for its speed and destructive power. The Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH)

14707-485: The German Army focused on achieving high combat performance rather than high organisational efficiency (like the US Army). It emphasised adaptability, flexibility, and decentralised decision making. Officers and NCOs were selected based on character and trained towards decisive combat leadership. Good combat performance was rewarded. Visser argues this allowed the German Army to achieve superior combat performance compared to

14898-543: The German Army made his Austrian citizenship void. In response, Hitler formally renounced his Austrian citizenship on 7 April 1925. At the time of Hitler's release from prison, politics in Germany had become less combative and the economy had improved, limiting Hitler's opportunities for political agitation. As a result of the failed Beer Hall Putsch, the Nazi Party and its affiliated organisations were banned in Bavaria. In

15089-652: The German Army was managed through mission-based tactics ( Auftragstaktik ) rather than detailed order-based tactics, and rigid discipline. Once an operation began, whether offensive or defensive, speed of response to changing circumstances was considered more important than careful planning and co-ordination of new plans. In public opinion, the German military was and is sometimes seen as a high-tech army, since new technologies that were introduced before and during World War II influenced its development of tactical doctrine. These technologies were featured by Nazi propaganda , but were often only available in small numbers or late in

15280-813: The German army in the West should retire behind the Weser and the Elbe , as this was where defensive positions had already been built. In the East, German troops would invade Poland and attempt to establish contacts with the Soviet Union, after which they would both march against France and Britain. He added that German war material would now no longer be sold or destroyed and that the army should be reduced on paper only. An Interior Minister of Prussia , Albert Grzesinski , wrote that members of Seeckt's staff said that Seeckt desired

15471-403: The German people. The clearest heads, when considering the pros and cons of war, will be those of the military, but to pursue a policy means to take a lead. In spite of everything, the German people will follow the leader in the struggle for their existence. Our task is to prepare for this struggle, for we shall not be spared it. Seeckt's memo won Brockdorff-Rantzau over to his policy. Seeckt

15662-403: The Interior for Prussia. Hitler had insisted on the ministerial positions as a way to gain control over the police in much of Germany. As chancellor, Hitler worked against attempts by the Nazi Party's opponents to build a majority government. Because of the political stalemate, he asked Hindenburg to again dissolve the Reichstag, and elections were scheduled for early March. On 27 February 1933,

15853-460: The League as one of the conditions for League membership was the commitment not to engage in aggression against other League members, something that put something of a damper on Seeckt's plans for aggression against Poland. In a 1925 memo, Seeckt stated: "We must become powerful, and as soon as we have power, we will naturally take back everything we have lost" Seeckt made the training standards of

16044-511: The NCOs trained by Seeckt were seen as easily suitable to command much larger units. Almost all of the leaders of the Wehrmacht in World War II were men that Seeckt had retained in 1919–20. Seeckt held conservative political views. He was a monarchist who encouraged the retention of traditional links with the old Imperial Army. To this purpose he designated individual companies and squadrons of

16235-735: The Nazi German "political" armies (the SS-Totenkopfverbände , the Waffen-SS , and the Einsatzgruppen ), the army committed and ordered war crimes of its own (e.g. the Commissar Order ), particularly during the invasion of Poland and later in the war against the Soviet Union. The German Army was extensively promoted by Nazi propaganda. Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945)

16426-542: The Nazi Party in Munich. Members of its executive committee wanted to merge with the Nuremberg-based German Socialist Party (DSP). Hitler returned to Munich on 11 July and angrily tendered his resignation. The committee members realised that the resignation of their leading public figure and speaker would mean the end of the party. Hitler announced he would rejoin on the condition that he would replace Drexler as party chairman, and that

16617-404: The Nazi regime was responsible for the genocide of an estimated six million Jews and millions of other victims, whom he and his followers deemed Untermenschen (subhumans) or socially undesirable. Hitler and the Nazi regime were also responsible for the deliberate killing of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war. In addition, 28.7 million soldiers and civilians died as

16808-525: The Nazis' paramilitary organisation, the Sturmabteilung (SA, "Stormtroopers"), which protected meetings and attacked political opponents. A critical influence on Hitler's thinking during this period was the Aufbau Vereinigung , a conspiratorial group of White Russian exiles and early Nazis. The group, financed with funds channelled from wealthy industrialists, introduced Hitler to

16999-684: The OKW adopted was to separate the Field Army (OKH) from the Home Command ( Heimatkriegsgebiet ) and to entrust the responsibilities of training, conscription, supply, and equipment to Home Command. The German Army was mainly structured in army groups ( Heeresgruppen ) consisting of several armies that were relocated, restructured, or renamed in the course of the war. Forces of allied states, as well as units made up of non-Germans, were also assigned to German units. For Operation Barbarossa in 1941,

17190-461: The Ottoman Empire. Though Enver Pasha would take counsel from the German officers, he would disregard their opinion if it differed from his own. Seeckt wrote that "I... meditate, telegraph, speak, write and calculate in the Turkish service and in Germany's interest". A common view in the German high command was that internal division in a nation undermines a nation's ability to successfully conduct

17381-700: The Ottoman state and society to better support the Ottoman army's effort to win the war. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in October 1918, Seeckt helped to organize the escape of the Three Pashas and returned to Germany in November 1918. Though the Armistice took effect in November 1918, the British continued to blockade German ports, leading to widespread starvation. Seeckt was initially sent to

17572-661: The Republic and that ideologically Seeckt sympathized with Erich Ludendorff , Buchrucker and Hitler. Seeckt was only opposed to the Munich Beer Hall putsch and Buckrucker's putsch because the stated aim of the Nazis and the Black Reichswehr putschists was to reject the peaceful settlement of the Ruhrkampf that had been agreed to in September and instead go to war with France in 1923. Seeckt, knowing

17763-500: The Russian problem is considered. The main point about it is not its economic value, though that is by no means inconsiderable, but its political achievement. This association between Germany and Russia is the first and almost the only increase in power which we have so far obtained since peace was made. That this association should begin in the field of economics is a natural consequence of the general situation, but its strength lies in

17954-476: The Russian rear areas the Russian positions were destabilized, resulting in a collapse of the Russian defensive line. For his contributions he received the Pour le Mérite , Prussia's highest military honor. In June 1915, Seeckt was promoted to the rank of Generalmajor . He remained chief of staff to Mackensen, who in the fall of 1915 was controlling Army Group Mackensen or Heeresgruppe Mackensen , which included

18145-607: The Soviet Government recovered, both at home and abroad! Did not the Sick Man of Europe seem to be dead once more and for all, and buried by the Treaty of Sèvres? Yet today, after the victory over Greece, he stands up to England with confidence. He followed an active Turkish policy. Have not Germany's first stirrings in active politics, the Treaty of Rapallo, clearly brought her at last nearer to being more respected? This treaty splits opinion into different camps when

18336-469: The Soviet Union in practical rather than ideological terms. Both nations were weak at the end of the war, and had external threats. In working together, he believed the hand of both nations were strengthened. Seeckt regarded the efforts of General Rüdiger von der Goltz and his Freikorps to create an anti-communist, German-dominated state in the Baltic as a ludicrous attempt to turn back the clock. Seeckt

18527-445: The Soviets. In the summer of 1920, Pasha sent Seeckt a letter from Moscow asking for German arms deliveries to the Soviet Union in exchange for which Trotsky promised to partition Poland with Germany. Seeckt did not hesitate to use military force against attempts by German communists to take power, but his concern over communism did not affect his attitude toward relations with the Soviet Union. Seeckt regarded his informal alliance with

18718-568: The United States crashed on 24 October 1929 . The impact in Germany was dire: millions became unemployed and several major banks collapsed. Hitler and the Nazi Party prepared to take advantage of the emergency to gain support for their party. They promised to repudiate the Versailles Treaty, strengthen the economy, and provide jobs. The Great Depression provided a political opportunity for Hitler. Germans were ambivalent about

18909-879: The United States . By the end of 1941, German forces and the European Axis powers occupied most of Europe and North Africa . These gains were gradually reversed after 1941, and in 1945 the Allied armies defeated the German army. On 29 April 1945, he married his longtime partner, Eva Braun , in the Führerbunker in Berlin. The couple committed suicide the next day to avoid capture by the Soviet Red Army . In accordance with Hitler's wishes, their corpses were burned. The historian and biographer Ian Kershaw described Hitler as "the embodiment of modern political evil". Under Hitler's leadership and racist ideology ,

19100-477: The West, as far as France is concerned is ruled out … England is drifting towards another historic conflict with France, even through she does not face imminent war. That lurks in the background. A glance at the East is surely sufficient even for those who before Genoa did not wish to use their eyes and ears. The British interests in the Dardanelles, Egypt and India are certainly infinitely more important at

19291-689: The aim of the government "must unshakably be the removal of the Jews altogether". At the DAP, Hitler met Dietrich Eckart , one of the party's founders and a member of the occult Thule Society . Eckart became Hitler's mentor, exchanging ideas with him and introducing him to a wide range of Munich society. To increase its appeal, the DAP changed its name to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei ( National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP), now known as

19482-658: The armed forces. He was the last man to serve as Chief of the General Staff and on 11 October 1919, he became the effective chief of the Reichswehr . In a memo written during 1919, Seeckt expressed anger which was widely held by other German officers over the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. He also remarked that he was against the idea of Germany joining the League of Nations , as the notion of peace being maintained by such an organization was, in his opinion, unlikely. Though in favor of peace in general, he reasoned that war

19673-477: The army as a "state-within-a-state". This matched the conditions of the Versailles Treaty which were aimed at creating a long-term professional army with a ceiling of 100,000 volunteers and without significant reserves - a force which would not be able to challenge the much larger French Army. In 1921 Seeckt founded the Arbeitskommandos (Work Commandos) commanded by Major Bruno Ernst Buchrucker , which

19864-669: The army forces were assigned to three strategic campaign groupings: Below the army group level forces included field armies – panzer groups, which later became army level formations themselves, corps, and divisions. The army used the German term Kampfgruppe , which equates to battle group in English. These provisional combat groupings ranged from corps size, such as Army Detachment Kempf , to commands composed of companies or even platoons . They were named for their commanding officers. The German operational doctrine emphasized sweeping pincer and lateral movements meant to destroy

20055-463: The basis of any understanding between the two countries ... I will touch one or two more objections to the policy demanded towards Russia. Germany today is certainly not in a position to resist France. Our policy should be to prepare the means of doing so in the future. A French advance through Germany to go to the help of Poland would make nonsense from the military point of view, so long as Germany does not voluntarily co-operate. The idea springs from

20246-679: The claim that Alois's father was Jewish. Adolf Hitler was born on 20 April 1889 in Braunau am Inn , a town in Austria-Hungary (present-day Austria), close to the border with the German Empire . He was the fourth of six children born to Alois Hitler and his third wife, Klara Pölzl . Three of Hitler's siblings—Gustav, Ida, and Otto—died in infancy. Also living in the household were Alois's children from his second marriage: Alois Jr. (born 1882) and Angela (born 1883). When Hitler

20437-530: The combined arms operations which he had previously used in training the German Army in the 1920s. Seeckt stressed he would need the best Chinese officers to train in modern warfare. His goal was to make the National Revolutionary Army like the army in Germany after the war, a force which could make up for what it lacked in quantity with its high quality of professional soldiers. In addition, Seeckt stressed he wanted an end to regionalism in

20628-416: The concentrated "fast formations" was no longer possible to defend against the expected Allied invasion of France, because they could no longer move quickly enough to reach the threatened locations due to the expected interdiction of all routes by Allied fighter-bombers. He therefore suggested scattering these units across the front just behind the infantry. His commanders and peers, who were less experienced in

20819-462: The conflict with the promise that a victory would yield them the return of recently lost territories, while Germany hoped the involvement of the Turks would tie down forces of the Entente far from Western Europe. Since the start of the conflict German efforts to influence Ottoman strategy met with limited success. Neither Bronsart nor Seeckt were able to get much consideration for a grand strategy in

21010-589: The core of the Eastern problem. The existence of Poland is intolerable and incompatible with Germany's vital interests. She must disappear and will do so through her own inner weakness and through Russia — with our help. Poland is more intolerable for Russia than for ourselves; Russia can never tolerate Poland. With Poland collapses one of the strongest pillars of the Peace of Versailles, France's advance post of power [is lost]. The attainment of this objective must be one of

21201-489: The core of the problems in the east, and believed its existence was incompatible with Germany's vital interests. He was in favor of an alliance with the Soviet Union , which along with Germany had also lost territory to Poland. After seeing encouraging signs from the newly established War Commissar's Office of Leon Trotsky , Seeckt sent out his close friend Enver Pasha on a secret mission to Moscow to make contacts with

21392-439: The country. Many Germans saw the treaty as an unjust humiliation. They especially objected to Article 231 , which they interpreted as declaring Germany responsible for the war. The Versailles Treaty and the economic, social, and political conditions in Germany after the war were later exploited by Hitler for political gain. After World War I, Hitler returned to Munich. Without formal education or career prospects, he remained in

21583-409: The covert foundations in the 1920s for the overt rearmament of the 1930s. Seeckt saw France, with its large continental army, as the main threat to Germany, and the opponent in a future war. He saw Poland as a vassal state of France. He advocated strengthening Germany by whatever means were available, including reaching out to the Soviet Union. He believed England would eventually be compelled to fight

21774-518: The destruction of Versailles, but rather preferred to accomplish that goal through an alliance with Britain. Moreover, Brockdorff-Rantzau feared that a too close rapprochement with the Soviet Union would alienate Britain and drive her into the arms of France. In response, on 11 September 1922, Seeckt sent a memo to Brockdorff-Rantzau entitled "Germany's Attitude to the Russian Problem". Some of Seeckt's salient points were: Germany must pursue

21965-701: The east to organize the orderly withdrawal of German troops there. In the spring of 1919 he was sent to represent the German General Staff at the peace conference in Paris. He tried unsuccessfully to persuade the Allies to limit their demands for the disarmament of Germany. Seeckt sought to keep a force of 200,000 men, which was denied. In June 1919 the Germans submitted to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles . The Treaty of Versailles greatly restricted

22156-399: The effect of Allied air power, disagreed vehemently with his suggestion, arguing that this would violate the prime principle of concentration of force. The infantry remained foot soldiers throughout the war, and artillery remained primarily horse-drawn. The motorized formations received much attention in the world press in the opening years of the war, and were cited as the main reason for

22347-549: The enemy forces as quickly as possible. This approach, referred to as Blitzkrieg , was an operational doctrine instrumental in the success of the offensives in Poland and France. Blitzkrieg has been considered by many historians as having its roots in precepts developed by Fuller, Liddel-Hart, and Hans von Seeckt , and even having ancient prototypes practised by Alexander the Great , Genghis Khan , and Napoleon . Recent studies of

22538-457: The fact that this economic rapprochement is preparing the way for the possibility of a political and, thus also, a military association. It is beyond a doubt that such a double association would strengthen Germany-and also Russia … The whole policy of reconciliation and appeasement towards France — no matter whether it is pursued by a Stinnes or by General Ludendorff — is hopeless as it aims at political success. The question of orientation towards

22729-468: The family moved to Lambach. The eight-year-old Hitler took singing lessons, sang in the church choir, and even considered becoming a priest. In 1898, the family returned permanently to Leonding. Hitler was deeply affected by the death of his younger brother Edmund in 1900 from measles . Hitler changed from a confident, outgoing, conscientious student to a morose, detached boy who constantly fought with his father and teachers. Paula Hitler recalled how Adolf

22920-462: The field", had been "stabbed in the back" on the home front by civilian leaders, Jews, Marxists , and those who signed the armistice that ended the fighting—later dubbed the "November criminals". The Treaty of Versailles stipulated that Germany had to relinquish several of its territories and demilitarise the Rhineland . The treaty imposed economic sanctions and levied heavy reparations on

23111-469: The firmest guiding principles of German policy, as it is capable of achievement — but only through Russia or with her help. Poland can never offer Germany any advantage, either economically, because she is incapable of development, or politically, because she is a vassal state of France. The restoration of the frontier between Russia and Germany is a necessary condition before both sides can become strong. The 1914 frontier between Russia and Germany should be

23302-540: The first archetype of Blitzkrieg , which then gained a fearsome reputation that dominated the Allied leaders' minds. Thus 'Blitzkrieg' was recognised after the fact, and while it became adopted by the Wehrmacht , it never became the official doctrine nor got used to its full potential because only a small part of the Wehrmacht was trained for it and key leaders at the highest levels either focused on only certain aspects or even did not understand it. Max Visser argues that

23493-483: The following infantry, as the infantry were considered a prerequisite for protecting the fast formations' flanks and rear and enabling supply columns carrying fuel, petrol, and ammunition to reach them. In defensive operations the infantry formations were deployed across the front to hold the main defense line and the mobile formations were concentrated in a small number of locations from where they launched focused counterattacks against enemy forces which had broken through

23684-544: The head of state and government, with absolute power. Domestically, Hitler implemented numerous racist policies and sought to deport or kill German Jews . His first six years in power resulted in rapid economic recovery from the Great Depression , the abrogation of restrictions imposed on Germany after World War I, and the annexation of territories inhabited by millions of ethnic Germans, which initially gave him significant popular support. One of Hitler's key goals

23875-673: The hypnotic effect of his rhetoric on large audiences, and of his eyes in small groups. Alfons Heck , a former member of the Hitler Youth, recalled: We erupted into a frenzy of nationalistic pride that bordered on hysteria. For minutes on end, we shouted at the top of our lungs, with tears streaming down our faces: Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil! From that moment on, I belonged to Adolf Hitler body and soul. Early followers included Rudolf Hess , former air force ace Hermann Göring , and army captain Ernst Röhm . Röhm became head of

24066-477: The idea of a Jewish conspiracy, linking international finance with Bolshevism . The programme of the Nazi Party was laid out in their 25-point programme on 24 February 1920. This did not represent a coherent ideology, but was a conglomeration of received ideas which had currency in the völkisch Pan-Germanic movement, such as ultranationalism , opposition to the Treaty of Versailles , distrust of capitalism , as well as some socialist ideas. For Hitler,

24257-572: The industrial machinery needed to make China self-sufficient in producing such weapons. In March 1934, Chiang not only appointed Seeckt as his Chief Military Advisor, but also appointed him as the Deputy Chairman of the Military Affairs Council. In that capacity Seeckt chaired the twice weekly meetings at Nanjing between Chiang and his most senior generals. At a meeting at Mount Lu in 1934, Seeckt's plan for 60 divisions

24448-408: The infantry defense belt. In autumn 1942, at El Alamein , a lack of fuel compelled the German commander, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, to scatter his armoured units across the front in battalion-sized concentrations to reduce travel distances to each sector, rather than hold them concentrated in one location. In 1944 Rommel argued that in the face of overwhelming Allied air power the tactic of employing

24639-618: The meaning "one who lives in a hut". Nazi official Hans Frank suggested that Alois's mother had been employed as a housekeeper by a Jewish family in Graz , and that the family's 19-year-old son Leopold Frankenberger had fathered Alois, a claim that came to be known as the Frankenberger thesis . No Frankenberger was registered in Graz during that period, no record has been produced of Leopold Frankenberger's existence, so historians dismiss

24830-564: The men marched on foot or rode bicycles . At the height of motorisation only 20 per cent of all units were fully motorised. The small German contingent fighting in North Africa was fully motorised (relying on horses in the desert was near to impossible because of the need to carry large quantities of water and fodder), but the much larger force invading the Soviet Union in June 1941 numbered only some 150,000 trucks and some 625,000 horses (water

25021-522: The moment than those on the Rhine, and an understanding between Britain and France at Germany's expense, that is, a concession by Britain in return for an immediate advantage, is by no means improbable. Yet even such an understanding would be only temporary. The moment is coming, and must come, when Britain will be looking for allies on the Continent. When that moment arrives she will prefer the mercenary who

25212-523: The most important aspect of it was its strong anti-Semitic stance. He also perceived the programme as primarily a basis for propaganda and for attracting people to the party. In 1923, Hitler enlisted the help of World War I General Erich Ludendorff for an attempted coup known as the " Beer Hall Putsch ". The Nazi Party used Italian Fascism as a model for their appearance and policies. Hitler wanted to emulate Benito Mussolini 's " March on Rome " of 1922 by staging his own coup in Bavaria, to be followed by

25403-570: The most probable outcome of such war, preferred that the Weimar Republic stay in existence, at least for the moment when painful compromises were necessary. Seeckt strongly opposed the Locarno Treaties which he viewed as appeasement of France and was skeptical of German membership of the League of Nations because he believed it was compromising Germany's connections with the Soviet Union. In particular, Seeckt objected to joining

25594-623: The name Abwehr was changed to the Overseas Department/Office in Defence of the Armed Forces High Command ( Amt Ausland/Abwehr im Oberkommando der Wehrmacht ). Germany used a system of military districts (German: Wehrkreis ) in order to relieve field commanders of as much administrative work as possible and to provide a regular flow of trained recruits and supplies to the field forces. The method

25785-410: The new Reichswehr as the direct successors of particular regiments of Emperor Wilhelm II 's army. Seeckt held stereotypical, derogatory views of most Jewish people. In a letter to his wife, herself partially Jewish, on 19 May 1919, Seeckt wrote about the new Prussian Prime Minister, Paul Hirsch : He is not so bad and is an old parliamentarian. For this post he seems quite unsuitable, especially as

25976-406: The notions of our 1919 diplomats, and there have been three years of work since then. War on the Rhine between France and Russia is a political bogy. Germany will not be Bolshevized, even by an understanding with Russia on external matters. The German nation, with its Socialist majority, would be averse to a policy of action, which has to reckon with the possibility of war. It must be admitted that

26167-473: The number they had at the beginning of the campaign, to mechanical wear and tear and combat damage. Most of these were lost during the retreat in the face of the Soviet counteroffensive from December 1941 to February 1942. Another substantial loss was incurred during the defeat of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad in the winter of 1942–1943. These losses in men and materiel led to motorised troops making up no more than 10% of total Heer forces at some points of

26358-472: The officer corps. Brüning's austerity measures brought little economic improvement and were extremely unpopular. Hitler exploited this by targeting his political messages specifically at people who had been affected by the inflation of the 1920s and the Depression, such as farmers, war veterans, and the middle class. Although Hitler had terminated his Austrian citizenship in 1925, he did not acquire German citizenship for almost seven years. This meant that he

26549-413: The onset of intense father-son conflicts caused by Hitler's refusal to conform to the strict discipline of his school. Alois tried to browbeat his son into obedience, while Adolf did his best to be the opposite of whatever his father wanted. Alois would also beat his son, although his mother tried to protect him from regular beatings. Alois Hitler's farming efforts at Hafeld ended in failure, and in 1897

26740-401: The orders given him, and that certainly Colonel von Bock, and probably Colonel von Schleicher and General Seeckt, should be sitting in the dock beside him." Several times Bock and his officers denied in court that the Reichswehr ministry had had any knowledge the "Black Reichswehr " or the murders they had committed. In a secret letter sent to the President of the German Supreme Court, which

26931-417: The orders of his army superiors, Hitler applied to join the party, and within a week was accepted as party member 555 (the party began counting membership at 500 to give the impression they were a much larger party). Hitler made his earliest known written statement about the Jewish question in a 16 September 1919 letter to Adolf Gemlich (now known as the Gemlich letter ). In the letter, Hitler argues that

27122-518: The party headquarters would remain in Munich. The committee agreed, and he rejoined the party on 26 July as member 3,680. Hitler continued to face some opposition within the Nazi Party. Opponents of Hitler in the leadership had Hermann Esser expelled from the party, and they printed 3,000 copies of a pamphlet attacking Hitler as a traitor to the party. In the following days, Hitler spoke to several large audiences and defended himself and Esser, to thunderous applause. His strategy proved successful, and at

27313-410: The path of the mobile formations, mopping-up, widening the corridor manufactured by the breakthrough attack and solidifying the ring surrounding the enemy formations left behind, and then gradually destroying them in concentric attacks. One of the most significant problems bedeviling German offensives and initially alarming senior commanders was the gap created between the fast-moving "fast formations" and

27504-544: The people will lapse into enfeebling illusions of peace, but will remain aware that in the moment of truth only personal and national stature counts. If fate once again calls the German people to arms, and who can doubt that day will come, then officers should not have to call on a nation of weaklings, but of strong men ready to take up familiar and trusted weapons. The form these weapons take is not important as long as they are wielded by hands of steel and hearts of iron. So let us do our utmost to ensure that on that future day there

27695-402: The promotion of industrial enterprise) that funneled 75 million Reichsmark into the Soviet arms industry. The GEFU founded factories in the Soviet Union for the production of aircraft, tanks, artillery shells and poison gas. The arms contracts of GEFU in the Soviet Union ensured that Germany did not fall behind in military technology in the 1920s despite being disarmed by Versailles, and laid

27886-497: The racial arrogance of the Germans, and Chiang was considering firing the Germans and bringing in a French military mission. In order to save the military mission, Seeckt ordered the German officers to behave with more tact towards the Chinese and to start showing some respect for Chinese sensibilities. In this way, Seeckt saved Germany's position in China. Seeckt advised Chiang that China would need 60 divisions to form an army, which he proposed to arm with modern weapons and train in

28077-422: The regime established in Berlin under the nominal leadership of Wolfgang Kapp could not function on the account of the general strike, Seeckt sent Colonel Wilhelm Heye to meet with General Walther von Lüttwitz , the real leader of the Kapp putsch , to inform him that it was time to end the putsch ". Ludendorf's right-hand man, Colonel Max Bauer asked Seeckt to become dictator; he refused contemptuously. At

28268-401: The reorganization of the army and laid the foundation for the doctrine, tactics, organization, and training of the German army. By the time Seeckt left the German Army in 1926 the Reichswehr had a clear, standardized operational doctrine, as well as a precise theory on the future methods of combat which greatly influenced the military campaigns fought by the Wehrmacht during the first half of

28459-417: The republic were allowed to continue with their jobs. Seeckt's remark to the leaders of the republic, that " Reichswehr do not fire on Reichswehr ", was controversial. His reserved attitude towards the Weimar Republic is illustrated by a brief conversation held with President Ebert . When asked by Ebert where the Reichswehr stood, Seeckt answered "The Reichswehr stands behind me", and on being asked whether

28650-440: The republic, and instead assumed a stance of apparent neutrality, which in effect meant siding with the Kapp putsch by depriving the government of the means of defending itself. Seeckt had no loyalty to the Weimar republic, and his sympathies were entirely with the Kapp putsch , but at the same time, Seeckt regarded the putsch as premature, and chose to sit on the fence to see how things developed rather than committing himself to

28841-471: The same time, Seeckt showed his sympathy for the putsch by arranging with Captain Hermann Ehrhardt that the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt should march out of Berlin with all the honors of war, during the course of which march the men of the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt fired on jeering Berliners, killing a number of them. Only those few officers and soldiers who had attempted to defend the republic were dismissed. The officers led by Seeckt who had done nothing to defend

29032-420: The size of the German military and disbanded the General Staff of the Imperial German Army. It also prohibited the German army from using or procuring modern weapons. Seeckt was appointed Chairman of the new Military Committee charged with reorganizing the German army in accordance with the provisions laid down in the Treaty. It fell to Seeckt to build the new Reichswehr within the strict restrictions imposed on

29223-438: The spirit surrounding the Peace Delegation at Versailles has not yet disappeared, and that stupid cry of 'No more war!' is widely echoed. It is echoed by many bourgeois-pacifist elements, but among the workers, and also among the members of the official Social Democratic Party there are many who are not prepared to eat out of the hands of France and Poland. It is true that there is a widespread and understandable need for peace among

29414-504: The success of the German invasions of Poland (September 1939), Denmark and Norway (1940), Belgium , France , and the Netherlands (May 1940), Yugoslavia (April 1941), and the initial stages of Operation Barbarossa , the invasion of the Soviet Union (June 1941). However, their motorised and tank formations accounted for only 20% of the Heer' s capacity at their peak strength. The army's lack of trucks and fuel to run them severely limited infantry movement, especially during and after

29605-626: The three services. However, as World War II went on, the OKW found itself exercising an increasing amount of direct command authority over military units, particularly in the west. This meant that by 1942, the authority of the Army High Command (OKH) was limited to the Eastern Front . The Abwehr was the army intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr (German for "defence", here referring to counterintelligence ) had been created just after World War I as an ostensible concession to Allied demands that Germany's intelligence activities be for defensive purposes only. After 4 February 1938,

29796-443: The transgression. Reichswehr Minister Otto Gessler told President von Hindenburg that Seeckt must resign or he would have to resign himself. He was supported by the cabinet, so Hindenburg asked for Seeckt's resignation. In a painful final interview with Seeckt, Hindenburg emphasized that he had to go to keep the government from resigning, not because of his invitation to the prince. The army that Germany went to war with in 1939

29987-490: The trial of two Reichswehr officers, Lieutenants Richard Scheringer and Hanns Ludin , in late 1930. Both were charged with membership in the Nazi Party, at that time illegal for Reichswehr personnel. The prosecution argued that the Nazi Party was an extremist party, prompting defence lawyer Hans Frank to call on Hitler to testify. On 25 September 1930, Hitler testified that his party would pursue political power solely through democratic elections, which won him many supporters in

30178-418: The two Russian armies opposing them. The Russians never fully recovered. Here Seeckt implemented a change in handling the thrust of the offensive, pushing reserve formations through breaks in the Russian defenses. This was a break from the established method of securing flanks by advancing along a uniform front, using reserve formations to assist in overcoming strong points. By pressing the reserves forward into

30369-399: The war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust : the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims . Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn in Austria-Hungary and was raised near Linz . He lived in Vienna in the first decade of the 1900s before moving to Germany in 1913. He was decorated during his service in the German Army in World War I , receiving

30560-405: The war, as overall supplies of raw materials and armaments became low. For example, lacking sufficient motor vehicles to equip more than a small portion of their army, the Germans chose to concentrate the available vehicles in a small number of divisions which were to be fully motorised. The other divisions continued to rely on horses for towing artillery, other heavy equipment, and supply wagons, and

30751-403: The war. In offensive operations the infantry formations were used to attack more or less simultaneously across a large portion of the front so as to pin the enemy forces ahead of them and draw attention to themselves, while the mobile formations were concentrated to attack only narrow sectors of the front, breaking through to the enemy rear and surrounding him. Some infantry formations followed in

30942-448: Was Lebensraum ( lit.   ' living space ' ) for the German people in Eastern Europe, and his aggressive, expansionist foreign policy is considered the primary cause of World War II in Europe . He directed large-scale rearmament and, on 1 September 1939, invaded Poland, causing Britain and France to declare war on Germany . In June 1941, Hitler ordered an invasion of the Soviet Union . In December 1941, he declared war on

31133-401: Was stateless , legally unable to run for public office, and still faced the risk of deportation. On 25 February 1932, the interior minister of Brunswick , Dietrich Klagges , who was a member of the Nazi Party, appointed Hitler as administrator for the state's delegation to the Reichsrat in Berlin, making Hitler a citizen of Brunswick, and thus of Germany. Hitler ran against Hindenburg in

31324-448: Was Nazi Germany's Army High Command from 1936 to 1945. In theory, the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) served as the military general staff for the Reich's armed forces, co-ordinating the Wehrmacht 's ( Heer , Kriegsmarine , Luftwaffe , and the Waffen-SS ) operations. In practice, the OKW acted in a subordinate role to Hitler's personal military staff, translating his ideas into military plans and orders, and issuing them to

31515-434: Was a German military officer who served as Chief of Staff to August von Mackensen and was a central figure in planning the victories Mackensen achieved for Germany in the east during the First World War . During the years of the Weimar Republic he was chief of staff for the Reichswehr from 1919 to 1920 and commander in chief of the German Army from 1920 until he resigned in October 1926. During this period he engaged in

31706-468: Was a command of soldiers thinly disguised as a labour group intended to assist with civilian projects, whereas its actual purpose was to provide a way for the Reichswehr to circumvent the restriction in the Treaty of Versailles which limited Germany's army to 100,000 men. The control of the Arbeirakommandos was exercised through a group comprising Fedor von Bock , Kurt von Schleicher , Eugen Ott and Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord . What came to be known as

31897-410: Was a recurring state in human history and that the duty of a German officer was to be prepared to fight the next war, if and when that came to pass. Seeckt argued: My own training in history prevents me from seeing in the idea of permanent peace anything more than a dream whereby it remains an open question whether one can consider it, in Moltke's phrase, a 'good dream' or not. Seeckt believed that war

32088-418: Was a teenage bully who would often slap her. Alois had made a successful career in the customs bureau and wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. Hitler later dramatised an episode from this period when his father took him to visit a customs office, depicting it as an event that gave rise to an unforgiving antagonism between father and son, who were both strong-willed. Ignoring his son's desire to attend

32279-442: Was abundant and for many months of the year horses could forage, reducing the burden on the supply chain). However, the production of new motor vehicles by Germany, even with the exploitation of the industries of occupied countries, could not keep up with the heavy loss of motor vehicles during the winter of 1941–1942. From June 1941 to the end of February 1942 German forces in the Soviet Union lost some 75,000 trucks, approximately half

32470-435: Was adopted. To create that army, a 10-year plan was adopted. The officers trained by Seeckt were important later in the Chinese resistance to the Japanese invasion of China . In early 1934, Seeckt advised Chiang that to defeat the Chinese Communists he needed to employ a scorched earth policy, which required building a series of lines and forts around areas controlled by the Communists in the Jiangxi Soviet in order to force

32661-401: Was all for seeing Goltz conquer the Baltic states if that was possible, but he was very antagonistic towards Goltz's efforts to use his proposed state as a basis for overthrowing the Bolsheviks. Seeckt saw Poland as the main enemy and the Soviet Union as a very useful ally against Poland, so he viewed Goltz's anti-Communist schemes with some hostility. After the Allies sent the German government

32852-430: Was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party , becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. His invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 marked the start of the Second World War . He was closely involved in military operations throughout

33043-428: Was an autobiography and exposition of his ideology. The book laid out Hitler's plans for transforming German society into one based on race. Throughout the book, Jews are equated with "germs" and presented as the "international poisoners" of society. According to Hitler's ideology, the only solution was their extermination. While Hitler did not describe exactly how this was to be accomplished, his "inherent genocidal thrust

33234-409: Was an important general within the German Army, finishing his career as military governor of Posen . Seeckt followed his father into military service, joining the Army in 1885 at the age of 18. He served in the elite Kaiser Alexander Guard Grenadiers, then joined the Prussian General Staff in 1897. In 1913, Seeckt became the Chief of Staff of the III Corps , based in Berlin. At the outbreak of

33425-406: Was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Pour le Mérite. In June 1916 he became chief of staff for the Austro-Hungarian 7th Army in Galicia , which was fighting desperately to stem the Russian general Brusilov's offensive . Next he became chief of staff of the Austro-Hungarian Army Group commanded by Archduke Karl , who later became Emperor, at which point his cousin Archduke Joseph was given command of

33616-437: Was brought up in the family of Hiedler's brother, Johann Nepomuk Hiedler . In 1876, Alois was made legitimate and his baptismal record annotated by a priest to register Johann Georg Hiedler as Alois's father (recorded as "Georg Hitler"). Alois then assumed the surname "Hitler", also spelled "Hiedler", "Hüttler" , or "Huettler" . The name is probably based on the German word Hütte ( lit.   ' hut ' ), and has

33807-430: Was built in 1935 and named after von Seeckt. After the Second World War it was renamed Trenchard Barracks by BAOR as part of the Bergen-Hohne Garrison . Seeckt was born in Schleswig on 22 April 1866 into an old Pomeranian family, that had been ennobled in the eighteenth century. Though the family had lost its estates, Seeckt was "a thorough-going aristocrat", and his father Richard von Seeckt  [ de ]

33998-402: Was concerned with strengthening Germany, and after meeting Adolf Hitler for the first time on 11 March 1923 he wrote: "We were one in our aim; only our paths were different". Of course, Seeckt was not fully aware of what Hitler's aims might be. He soon found he had to oppose a number of insurgencies, including the Hitler-Ludendorff-Putsch . Seeckt was aware that the purpose of the insurgencies

34189-451: Was depressed but calm when arrested on 11 November 1923 for high treason . His trial before the special People's Court in Munich began in February 1924, and Alfred Rosenberg became temporary leader of the Nazi Party. On 1 April, Hitler was sentenced to five years' imprisonment at Landsberg Prison . There, he received friendly treatment from the guards, and was allowed mail from supporters and regular visits by party comrades. Pardoned by

34380-693: Was even more widespread in the Mariahilf district, where Hitler then lived. Georg Ritter von Schönerer became a major influence on Hitler, and he developed an admiration for Martin Luther . Hitler read local newspapers that promoted prejudice and utilised Christian fears of being swamped by an influx of Eastern European Jews as well as pamphlets that published the thoughts of philosophers and theoreticians such as Houston Stewart Chamberlain , Charles Darwin , Friedrich Nietzsche , Gustave Le Bon , and Arthur Schopenhauer . During his life in Vienna, Hitler also developed fervent anti-Slavic sentiments . The origin and development of Hitler's anti-Semitism remains

34571-401: Was inevitable, and that a future Germany would either defend itself or be at the mercy of its neighbors. He worked to ensure the German army maintained the defiant, offensive spirit that was its tradition. Though clear in stating that the Reichswehr was not looking for conflict, he did not believe that men could be stopped from "thinking like men", and argued that one of the primary duties of

34762-405: Was largely Seeckt's creation. The tactics and operational concepts of the Wehrmacht were the work of Seeckt in the 1920s. In addition, the majority of the senior officers and many of the middle-ranking officers were men that Seeckt had chosen to retain in the Reichswehr . Seeckt created 57 different committees to study the last war to provide lessons learned for the next war. Seeckt stated: "It

34953-510: Was one of the first politicians to use aircraft travel for campaigning and used it effectively. Hitler came in second in both rounds of the election, garnering more than 35 per cent of the vote in the final election. Although he lost to Hindenburg, this election established Hitler as a strong force in German politics. The absence of an effective government prompted two influential politicians, Franz von Papen and Alfred Hugenberg , along with several other industrialists and businessmen, to write

35144-443: Was operating largely outside of the control of the politicians. The heart of Seeckt’s policy was to maintain the power and prestige of the army by avoiding internal dissension. This was most clearly illustrated by Seeckt's role during the Kapp Putsch of March 1920. During the Putsch , Seeckt disobeyed orders from the Defence Minister Gustav Noske , the Chancellor Gustav Bauer and the Reich President Friedrich Ebert to suppress

35335-407: Was praised by his commanding officers for his bravery. His wartime experience reinforced his German patriotism, and he was shocked by Germany's capitulation in November 1918. His displeasure with the collapse of the war effort began to shape his ideology. Like other German nationalists, he believed the Dolchstoßlegende ( stab-in-the-back myth ), which claimed that the German army, "undefeated in

35526-459: Was promoted to colonel on 27 January 1915. In March 1915, he was transferred to the Eastern front to serve as chief of staff to General August von Mackensen of the German 11th Army. He played a major role in the planning and executing of Mackensen's highly successful campaigns. With the 11th Army, Seeckt helped direct the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive of 2 May – 27 June 1915, where he was credited with engineering Mackensen's breakthrough which split

35717-449: Was rejected twice. The director suggested Hitler should apply to the School of Architecture, but he lacked the necessary academic credentials because he had not finished secondary school. On 21 December 1907, his mother died of breast cancer at the age of 47; Hitler was 18 at the time. In 1909, Hitler ran out of money and was forced to live a bohemian life in homeless shelters and the Meldemannstraße dormitory . He earned money as

35908-408: Was strongly anti-communist and was committed to keeping communism from Germany, that did not mean he would not make deals with the Soviet Union that would help Germany's position in the world. Seeckt's policies caused tension with the former Foreign Minister Count Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau , who was to be sent out as the Ambassador to Moscow. Brockdorff-Rantzau was just as committed as Seeckt to

36099-472: Was three, the family moved to Passau , Germany. There he acquired the distinctive lower Bavarian dialect , rather than Austrian German , which marked his speech throughout his life. The family returned to Austria and settled in Leonding in 1894, and in June 1895 Alois retired to Hafeld, near Lambach , where he farmed and kept bees. Hitler attended Volksschule (a state-funded primary school) in nearby Fischlham . The move to Hafeld coincided with

36290-410: Was to overthrow the government that had accepted the terms of the Treaty and to start a war against France, but he reasoned the result would have led to the destruction of Germany's small forces and a French occupation of German territory. On the night of 29–30 September 1923, the Black Reichswehr under the leadership of Major Buchrucker attempted a putsch . Seeckt was prompt in his response, ordering

36481-439: Was trying a member of the Black Reichswehr for murder, Seeckt admitted that the Black Reichswehr was controlled by the Reichswehr , and argued that the murders were justified by the struggle against Versailles, so the court should acquit the defendant. In 1921, Seeckt had Kurt von Schleicher of Sondergruppe R negotiate the arrangements with Leonid Krasin for German aid to the Soviet arms industry. In September 1921, at

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