German Military and the Weimar Republic: General Hans von Seekt, General Erich Ludendorff and the Rise of Hitler

General Hans von Seekt (1866-1936) was the military counterpart of the Weimar Republic, both attempted to restore Germany’s international acceptance and security following defeat in World War I and the Treaty of Versailles of 1919. And the failure of both led eventually to the rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany. Hans von Seekt was from the traditional German officer caste, served with distinction on the war and became Chief of the Army Command at the Reichewehr Ministry of the Weimar Republic and Germany’s ‘supreme soldier'and major military strategist. His role was to re-build the shattered German army in face of the punitive terms of post-war settlement imposed by the victorious Entente Powers which drastically reduced its strength and imposed crippling financial conditions. He aimed to build a modern and efficient military - a new German army - with a main strategy of peaceful defence purposes, and to re-introduce Germany into the community of nations. This original and far-sighted policy was opposed by the movement seeking revenge for defeat - a 'stab in the back’ - led principally by his rival, General Erich Ludendorff, whose aim was re-build the once-mighty German imperial army as a major international force. The failure of von Seekt’s experiment was mirrored by the fall of the Weimar Republic, and the rise of rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany. AUTHOR: Karen Schaefer is an historian specialising in German military history during and after the First World War. She is leading librarian and archivist for the Bundeswehr - Federal Germany Army - and obtained her PhD at the University of Potsdam. Her thesis, which forms the basis of the book, was supervised by Professor Beatrice Heuser of the University of Glasgow who also advised on the revision to book form.
8 b/w illustrations