According to British Field Marshal Edmund Ironside it was the "greatest defeat suffered by any of the combatants during the war". But precisely because I share this sentiment, I must urgently warn against the step you plan to take. After conferring again with Ludendorff, he heard reports from his departmental heads, met with visitors and worked on correspondence. 10 watching. He hoped to hold a line until their enemies were ready to bargain. When the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 broke out Hindenburg wrote his parents: "I rejoice in this bright-coloured future. He was succeeded by Papen from the Centre Party, who was Schleicher's choice, Hindenburg did not even ask the party leaders for advice. [166] Hitler campaigned vigorously throughout Germany. On these terms, Hindenburg allowed Oskar and Meissner to meet secretly with Hitler, culminating in an hour's tête-á-těte between Hitler and Oskar. When they met, Hindenburg read a statement that there would be no further decrees and insisted that the cabinet resign, there must be a turn to the right. By 1916, Hindenburg’s popularity had risen to the point that he replaced General Erich von Falkenhayn as Chief of the Great General Staff. None of the candidates attained the required majority; Ludendorff was last with a paltry 280,000 votes. By summer 1934, Hindenburg was dying of metastasized bladder cancer and his correspondence was dominated by complaints of Nazi stormtroopers running amok.[174]. Hindenburg was financially sustained by a fund set up by a group of admiring industrialists.[132]. [7] After the French surrender he watched from afar the suppression of the Paris Commune. [17] On the eve of the ensuing battle, Hindenburg reportedly strolled close to the decaying walls of the fortress of the Knights of Prussia, recalling how the Knights of Prussia were defeated by the Slavs in 1410 at nearby Tannenberg. However, Hindenburg and Ludendorff were dissatisfied with this plan. Menge, Anna. [165] His fighting spirit was evoked by Nazi taunts when he appeared in public and in a few weeks three million Germans signed a petition urging him to carry on. Hindenburg promptly replaced Ludendorff with Groener, now chief of staff of Army Group Kiev, which was assisting a breakaway Ukrainian government to fend off the Bolsheviks while expropriating food and oil. The yearly Tannenberg memorial celebration kept him in the public eye. Hindenburg and Ludendorff reacted by threatening to resign thereby resulting in Ludendorff's reinstatement under Hindenburg's command. Hindenburg went on the defensive, withdrawing one by one from the salients created by their victories, evacuating their wounded and supplies and retiring to shortened lines. [1] As a result of Emperor Wilhelm II's broad delegation of authority to the German Army High Command, a de facto military dictatorship was ultimately established by Hindenburg and his deputy, General Erich Ludendorff, which dominated national policy for the rest of the war. As it turned out, that meeting took place in such an intimidating atmosphere that the Enabling Act would have garnered the required supermajority even with all deputies present and voting. The kaiser gave in, superfluously because in Berlin Prince Max had already publicly announced his abdication, his own resignation, and that the Social Democrat leader Friedrich Ebert was now chancellor. Hindenburg took no part in the campaign, in the September 1930 elections the Nazis achieved an electoral breakthrough, gaining 17 percent of the vote to become the second-strongest party in the Reichstag. "[56] Revised Infantry Field Regulations were published and taught to all ranks, including at a school for division commanders, where they maneuvered a practice division. On 27 August at the stirring ceremonies at Tannenberg the president was presented with two large East Prussian properties near Neudeck. Hundreds of thousands of men were needed to hold and police these conquests. Hindenburg replied “The desire, no, but the courage—yes”. If there was even the slightest chance that the army could hold out, he promised to urge rejection of the treaty. [141] Nearby was the chancellery, which during Hindenburg's tenure would have seven residents. Hindenburg also wanted the universities closed, except for medical training, so that empty places would not be filled by women. During these appearances, Hitler always made a point of showing him the utmost respect and deference. Others did. Following his return, Ludendorff provided Hindenburg with a depressing evaluation of their allies’ army, which already had lost many of their professional officers[32] and had been driven out of much of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, their part of what once had been Poland. Next, he commanded an infantry company, in which his men were ethnic Poles. [45] Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg favored Hindenburg, supposing him amenable to moderate peace terms,[46] mistaking his amiability as tractability and unaware that he was intent on enlarging Prussia. [23] Two schwerpunkts struck in the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes, from these breakthrough points two columns drove east to pocket the Russians led by General Paul von Rennenkampf, who managed to retreat 100 km (62 mi) with heavy losses. [citation needed] Baltic Germans who owned vast estates feted Hindenburg and he hunted their game preserves. During the war he had left the newspaper reporters to Ludendorff, now he was available. He was delighted with Papen, a rich, smooth aristocrat who had been a famous equestrian and a general staff officer; he soon became a Hindenburg family friend (Schleicher was no longer welcomed because he had quarreled with Oskar). The honor guard at Neudeck now were storm troopers. Sellers declare the item's customs value and must comply with customs declaration laws. $3.89 shipping. [119][176] A day later, Hindenburg learned that Schleicher and his wife had been gunned down in their home; Hitler apologized, claiming that Schleicher had drawn a pistol. In February a third Army Group was formed on the Western Front to cover the front in Alsace-Lorraine, it was commanded by Archduke Albrecht of Württemberg. Then he scouted for a site from which an attack could be mounted against the Italians. The British captured Baghdad on 11 March. Hindenburg was equally outraged, and told Blomberg to give Hitler an ultimatum—unless Hitler took steps to end the growing tension in Germany and rein in the SA, Hindenburg would sack him, declare martial law and turn the government over to the army. [41] Probing assault troops located three weak spots which then were struck in force. Later in 1885, he was promoted to the rank of major and became a member of the Great General Staff. After the elections, Brüning continued to govern largely through Article 48; his government was kept afloat by the Social Democrats who voted against canceling his Article 48 bills in order to avoid another election that could only benefit the Nazis and the Communists. "[135] "No war, no internal uprising, can emancipate our chained nation, which is, unfortunately, split by dissension." In February 1919 OHL moved east to Kolberg to mount an offensive against impinging Soviet troops, but they were restrained by the Allied occupation administration, which in May 1919 ordered all German troops in the east home. Muscles tensed, nerves steeled, eyes front! After the Austro-Hungarian fortress of Przemyśl fell on 23 March, Austria-Hungary's high command pushed for a joint strike on the Russian right flank that could potentially drive their forces out of the Carpathians. I described it in short terms and emphasized especially that based on my own observations I thought the condition of the troops was cause for serious concern. Hindenburg created Army Group Gallwitz—named after its commander—which when Berlin approved became Twelfth Army (Von Gallwitz is one of many able commanders selected by Hindenburg), who stayed at the new army's headquarters to be available if needed. [4] During the decisive Battle of Königgrätz he was briefly knocked unconscious by a bullet that pierced his helmet and creased the top of his skull. After overseeing Germany's crushing victory at Tannenberg, Paul von Hindenburg became the center of a massive personality cult that persisted throughout his life. Afterwards, Ludendorff refused to share Hindenburg's limousine. Göring as Prussian Interior Minister had enlisted thousands of Sturmabteilung (SA) men as auxiliary policemen, who attacked political opponents of the Nazis, with Communists and Social Democrats being singled out for particular abuse. [71] The cautiously following Allies also had to cope with booby traps, some exploding a month later. Determined to win, he decided to expand the salient pointing toward Paris to strip more defenders from Flanders. The Allied command was dismayed. The cavalry's gains were held by Hindenburg's new Nieman army, named after the river. Ludendorff and Bauer, who knew all the industrialists, set ambitious goals for arms production, in what was called the Hindenburg Programme, which was directed from the War Office by General Groener. He proved invaluable and was Hindenburg's right hand throughout his presidency. Brüning continued with austerity, A decree in December 1930 once again cut the wages of public employees and the budget. In retaliation, Falkenhayn reassigned some of Hindenburg's forces to a new army group under Prince Leopold of Bavaria and transferring Ludendorff to a new joint German and Austro-Hungarian Southern Army. One-third of the opposing Russian First Army were casualties in the first five hours. With the passage of the Enabling Act and the banning of all parties except the Nazis, Hindenburg's power to sack the Chancellor was the only means by which Hitler could be legally removed from office. They should “return in haste to Headquarters where they certainly would be much better occupied.”[74] They returned as ordered and then immediately telegraphed their resignations, which the Kaiser declined. [78] Hindenburg published a birthday manifesto, which ended with the words: With God's help our German strength has withstood the tremendous attack of our enemies, because we were one, because each gave his all gladly. There was consternation at OHL, their new defense had failed. [62] At 21:30 Ludendorff announced that time was up and they returned to work. The next crisis followed Stresemann's negotiation of the Young Plan, which rescheduled reparations payments and opened the way for needed American loans. Schleicher negotiated with them, proposing that Hitler become vice-chancellor. Am Rand der Münze sind dessen Lebensdaten eingeprägt, Hindenburg lebte von 1847 bis 1934. Hindenburg countered demands to restore the monarchy by arguing that restoring a Hohenzollern would block progress in revising Versailles. [121] Throughout the kaiser is treated with great respect. Parties representing a broad range of different constituencies ran candidates and voting was with proportional representation, so inevitably governments were formed by coalitions of parties: this time Social Democrats, Democrats, and Centrists. The Kaiser's quarters were in the spa building, staff offices were in the orange court, and the others lived in the hotel buildings. He declared that Germany entered the war as "the means of self-assertion against a world full of enemies. Henceforth, Ludendorff was entrusted with signing most orders, directives and the daily press reports. [30] Erich von Falkenhayn, the Chief of Germany's Great General Staff, rejected his plan as a pipe dream. On the night before the plebiscite on Nazi rule scheduled for 11 November 1933, Hindenburg appealed to the voters to support their president and their chancellor, 95.1% of those voting did so. For additional information, see the Global Shipping Program. The eastern front was commanded by Leopold of Bavaria, with Hoffmann as his chief of staff. They left the table to subdivide into informal chatting groups. To counter these attacks the Reichswehr relied on Colonel Kurt von Schleicher, who had served with Oskar in the Third Guards and was often a guest at the Palace. He became chief of staff of the Eighth Army Corps in 1896. Back in Hanover, as a field marshal he was provided with a staff who helped with his still extensive correspondence. In 1944, as the Soviets approached, Generalleutnant Oskar von Hindenburg moved his parents' remains to western Germany. The far right detested Stresemann for promoting friendly relations with the victors. This is a private listing and your identity will not be disclosed to anyone except the seller. ", This page was last edited on 13 February 2021, at 13:41. [130] Wilhelm approved, so on 8 March Hindenburg announced his intention to seek the presidency. Five years later he was made commander of the Fourth Army Corps based in Magdeburg as a General of the Infantry (lieutenant-general; the German equivalent to four-star rank was Colonel-General). Rather than tell Ebert himself, he directed Groener to deliver the army's recommendation to the president. On 12 August Army Group von Boehn was created to firm up the defenses in the Somme sector. Austro-Hungarian troops were rushed back from the Italian Front. Schleicher learned of the secret meeting and the following morning met with the president to demand emergency powers and the dissolution of the Reichstag. As Hindenburg wrote to the Kaiser a few months later: "[Ludendorff] has become my faithful adviser and a friend who has my complete confidence and cannot be replaced by anyone. Hindenburg was summoned to Pless on 29 August where he was named Chief of the Great General Staff. Copyright © 1995-2021 eBay Inc. All Rights Reserved. Under Hindenburg's command, Ober Ost desperately shored up weak points with soldiers stripped from less threatened positions. The previously Upper Silesian town of Zabrze (German: Hindenburg O.S.) Although Hindenburg was in increasingly bad health, the Nazis made sure that whenever Hindenburg did appear in public it was in Hitler's company. - eBay Money Back Guarantee - opens in new window or tab, This amount includes applicable customs duties, taxes, brokerage and other fees. The president was delighted to find that eight members of the new cabinet had served as officers during the war. They submitted the issues to a national plebiscite, in which they obtained only one-fifth of the vote. [95] Bauer and others wanted Ludendorff replaced, but Hindenburg stuck by his friend, he knew that “Many a time has the soldier's calling exhausted strong characters". On 5 August his forces were consolidated into Army Group Hindenburg, which took the city of Grodno after bitter street fighting, but the retreating defenders could not be trapped because the wretched rail lines lacked the capacity to bring up the needed men. When Hitler moved to eject Hugenberg from the cabinet and to suppress the political parties, a trusted colleague of Hugenberg's was sent to Neudeck to appeal for assistance but only met with Oskar. [173] Within a year, unemployment fell by almost 40%. [176], In truth, Hitler had known as early as April 1934 that Hindenburg would likely not survive the year. Finally, sufficient support was found for the Social Democrat Hermann Müller whom Hindenburg found clever and agreeable, later telling Groener that Müller was his best chancellor.[148]. [170] Schäffer told Hindenburg: We reject the notion that millions of Germans are not to be designated as national. OHL moved west to the pleasant spa town of Bad Kreuznach in southwest Germany, which was on a main rail line. [109] Hindenburg's far less detailed memoir never disputed his valued colleague's claims, military decisions were made by “we” not “I”, and it is less useful to historians because it was written for general readers. Hindenburg's tactics spurned head-on attacks all along the front in favor of schwerpunkts, sharp, localized hammer blows. They credited "Old Man Hindenburg" with ending the “Verdun folly“ and setting in motion the "brilliant" conquest of Romania. At dinner on 19 July he responded to a suggestion of Hindenburg's by shouting "I have already told you that is impossible” — Hindenburg led him from the room. The chief of staff was Seeckt, camouflaged as Chief of the Troop Office. Hindenburg left most campaigning to others, in his single radio address he stressed the need for unity, "I recall the spirit of 1914, and the mood at the front, which asked about the man, and not about his class or party". Overall, “In a fierce and obstinate conflict on the Somme, which lasted five months, the enemy pressed us back to a depth of about six miles on a stretch of nearly twenty-five miles”[57] Thirteen new divisions were created by reducing the number of men in infantry battalions, and divisions now had an artillery commander.