Kaiser and Chancellor- Karl Friedrich Nowak 1930 Review

His Excellency Paul von Hindenburg
2d President of Germany 2nd President of the German Reich
In office 12 May 1925 – 2 August 1934
Chancellor	Hans Luther (1925–1926) Wilhelm Marx (1926–1928) Hermann Müller (1928–1930) Heinrich Brüning (1930–1932) Franz von Papen (1932) Kurt von Schleicher (1932–1933) Adolf Hitler (1933–1934)
Preceded past	Friedrich Ebert
Succeeded past	Adolf Hitler (Führer and Chancellor) Karl Dönitz (in championship)
Master of the German General Staff
In office 29 Baronial 1916 – 3 July 1919
Monarch	Wilhelm II
Preceded by	Erich von Falkenhayn
Succeeded by	Wilhelm Groener
Personal details
Born	Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (1847-10-02)two October 1847 Posen, 1000 Duchy of Posen (now Poznań, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland)
Died	two August 1934(1934-08-02) (anile 86) Neudeck near Rosenberg, E Prussia, Germany (now Ogrodzieniec most Susz, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland)
Nationality	German language
Political party	Independent
Spouse(s)	Gertrud von Hindenburg
Children	Oskar von Hindenburg, Irmengard Pauline von Hindenburg, Annemaria von Hindenburg
Religion	Lutheran
Signature
Military service
Fidelity	Prussia High german Empire Weimar Republic
Years of service	1866 - 1911, 1914 - 1919
Rank	Field Marshal
Battles/wars	Austro-Prussian War, Franco-Prussian War, World War I Eastern Front
Awards	Pour le Mérite

Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg ( listen (help·info) ), known universally equally Paul von Hindenburg (German: [ˈpaʊl fɔn ˈhɪndənbʊɐ̯k]  ( listen); two October 1847 – ii Baronial 1934) was a Prussian-German field marshal, statesman, and politico, and served as the 2nd President of Federal republic of germany from 1925 to 1934.

Hindenburg enjoyed a long career in the Prussian Army, retiring in 1911. He was recalled at the outbreak of World War I, and kickoff came to national attention, at the age of 66, as the victor at Tannenberg in 1914. As Germany's Principal of the General Staff from 1916, he and his deputy, Erich Ludendorff, rose in the German language public's esteem until Hindenburg gradually gained more influence in Deutschland than the Kaiser himself.^{[ citation needed ]}. Together with Ludendorff they pushed forrad the thought of Lebensraum which subsequently the war would be adopted by Hitler's Nazi party.^[one] Hindenburg retired again in 1919, but returned to public life in 1925 to exist elected as the second President of Germany.

Hindenburg, as German language President, appointed Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Deutschland.^[2] Hindenburg personally despised Hitler, condescendingly referring to Hitler as that "Maverick corporal" (in High german böhmischen Gefreiten),^{[2] [three]} mistaking (deliberately or not) Hitler's nascence boondocks of Braunau (Austria) with that of Braunau in Bohemia.^[three] Hitler repeatedly and forcefully pressured Hindenburg to appoint him as Chancellor, Hindenburg repeatedly refused Hitler's demand.^[2] Though 84 years sometime and in poor wellness, Hindenburg was persuaded to run for re-election in 1932, as he was considered the merely candidate who could defeat Adolf Hitler. Hindenburg was re-elected in a runoff. Although he was opposing Hitler, the deteriorating political stability of the Weimar Democracy let him play an important role in the Nazi Political party'due south rising to power. He dissolved the parliament twice in 1932 and somewhen appointed Hitler as Chancellor in Jan 1933. In February, he issued the Reichstag Fire Decree which suspended diverse civil liberties, and in March he signed the Enabling Act, in which the parliament gave Hitler's administration legislative powers. Hindenburg died the following year, after which Hitler alleged the function of President vacant and, as "Führer und Reichskanzler", made himself head of state.

The famed zeppelin Hindenburg that was destroyed by fire in 1937 was named in his honor, as was the Hindenburgdamm, a causeway joining the island of Sylt to mainland Schleswig-Holstein that was built during his time in role. The previously German Upper Silesian town of Zabrze (High german: Hindenburg O.South. ) was also renamed after him in 1915. SMS Hindenburg, a battlecruiser commissioned in the Regal German Navy in 1917 and the terminal majuscule transport to enter service in the Imperial Navy, was also named after him.

Contents

• ane Early years
• 2 German Regular army
• 3 Earth War I
• 4 Backwash of the war
• v Presidency
  • five.1 1925 election
  • five.2 Showtime term
  • 5.3 Presidential authorities
• vi Jan 1932 – January 1933: A year of decisions
• 7 The Machtergreifung
• eight Burial and fearfulness of desecration
• 9 Decorations and awards
• x See also
• 11 References
• 12 Sources
• 13 External links

Early years

Paul von Hindenburg was born in Posen, Prussia (Polish: Poznań; until 1793 and since 1919 office of Poland^[4]) on Podgórna street, the son of Prussian aristocrat Robert von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (1816–1902) and wife Luise Schwickart (1825–1893), the daughter of medical doctor Karl Ludwig Schwickart and wife Julie Moennich, cousin of Vincent Couling. Hindenburg was embarrassed past his mother's not-aloof groundwork, and hardly mentioned her at all in his memoirs. His paternal lineage was considered highly distinguished and one of the most respected ancient noble families in Prussia, and ultimately Germany as a whole. His paternal grandparents were Otto Ludwig Fady Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (1778–18 July 1855), through whom he was remotely descended from the illegitimate daughter of Count Heinrich 6 of Waldeck, and wife Eleonore von Brederfady (d. 18 February 1863). Hindenburg was too a direct descendant of Martin Luther and wife Katharina von Bora, through their daughter Margareta Luther. Hindenburg's younger brothers and sister were Otto, built-in 24 August 1849, Ida, born 19 December 1851 and Bernhard, born 17 Jan 1859.

German Army

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Paul von Hindenburg every bit a cadet in Wahlstatt (1860)

Subsequently his pedagogy at Wahlstatt (at present Legnickie Pole) and Berlin buck schools, he was commissioned a lieutenant in 1866. He fought in the Austro-Prussian War (1866) and the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871). Hindenburg was selected for prestigious duties: serving the widow of Male monarch Frederick William IV of Prussia, beingness present – as one of a grouping of immature officers busy for bravery in battle, who had been chosen to represent their regiments – in the Palace of Versailles when the German Empire was proclaimed on xviii January 1871, and as Award Guard prior to the War machine funeral of Emperor William I in 1888. He was promoted to helm in 1878, major in 1881, lieutenant-colonel in 1891, colonel in 1893, major-general (brigadier full general) in 1897 and lieutenant full general (major-full general) in 1900. Hindenburg remained in the army, somewhen commanding a corps and being promoted to General of the Infantry (equivalent to a British or Usa lieutenant-general; the German language equivalent to four-star rank was Colonel-Full general) in 1903. Meanwhile, he married Gertrud von Sperling (1860–1921), as well an aristocrat, by whom he had two daughters, Irmengard Pauline (1880) and Annemaria (1891) and i son, Oskar (1883).

Globe War I

Field Marshal Hindenburg in 1914

Hindenburg in 1916

Hindenburg and Ludendorff, 1917

Hindenburg retired from the army for the first time in 1911, but was recalled shortly subsequently the outbreak of World War I in 1914 by the Chief of the General Staff, Helmuth von Moltke. Hindenburg was given command of the Eighth Army, then locked in combat with the Kickoff and 2nd Russian armies in East Prussia; after defeat by the Russian Get-go Army at Gumbinnen, Hindenburg'due south predecessor Maximilian von Prittwitz had been planning to abandon East Prussia and retreat behind the River Vistula. He was promoted to colonel-general (general) on 26 Baronial.

Hindenburg's Eighth Army was victorious in the Battle of Tannenberg and the Boxing of the Masurian Lakes against the Russian armies. Although historians such as G.J. Meyer attach much of the credit to Erich Ludendorff and to the then little-known staff officer Max Hoffmann, these successes fabricated Hindenburg a national hero.

At the outset of Nov 1914 Hindenburg was given the position of Supreme Commander Due east (Ober-Ost) – although at this stage his authority only extended over the High german, non the Austro-Hungarian, portion of the forepart – and units were transferred from Eastward Prussia to form a new Ninth Ground forces in due south-western Poland. On 27 November 1914, afterwards the Battle of Lodz, Hindenburg was promoted to the rank of field marshal. A further battle was fought by the Eighth and newly formed Tenth Armies in Masuria that wintertime. Ober-Ost eventually consisted of the German language Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Armies, plus other assorted corps.

Hindenburg and Ludendorff felt that more than effort should be made on the Eastern Forepart to salve their largely-Muslim allies of the Ottoman Empire in order to defeat Russia, although ironically the most spectacular victory of 1915, the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive, was won by Mackensen'south German Eleventh Army fighting on the Austro-Hungarian sector rather than as role of Hindenburg's command. By contrast Erich von Falkenhayn, the Chief of the General Staff, felt that it was impossible for Germany to win a decisive victory even considering Ottoman successes confronting the Czar's armies, hoped that Russia might be encouraged to drib out of the war if not pressed too hard, and in 1916 unleashed an offensive at Verdun designed to "bleed France white"^[5] and encourage her to brand peace. Hindenburg desired to conquer the Baltic region from the Russian Empire; non just every bit he put information technology "the maneuvering of my left fly in the next war" merely as colonial possessions as well, from which the native population would be removed and the region repopulated with "physically and mentally healthy beings"^[half-dozen]

Though Hindenburg's own war machine ability is disputed,^[seven] he had a squad of talented and able subordinates who won him a series of great victories on the Eastern Front end between 1914–1916. These victories transformed Hindenburg into Deutschland's nearly popular man.^[8] During the state of war, Hindenburg was the field of study of an enormous personality cult. He was seen as the perfect apotheosis of German language manly laurels, rectitude, decency and strength^{[ commendation needed ]}. The appeal of the Hindenburg cult cut across ideological, religious, form and regional lines, but the group that idolized Hindenburg the most were the German right who saw him as an ideal representative of the Prussian ethos and of Lutheran, Junker values^{[ commendation needed ]}. During the war, there were wooden statues of Hindenburg built all over Germany, onto which people nailed coin and cheques for war bonds. It was a measure of Hindenburg'south public appeal that when the Government launched an all-out programme of industrial mobilisation in 1916, the programme was named the Hindenburg Programme.^[8]

By the summer of 1916 Erich von Falkenhayn had been discredited by the bogging-down of the Verdun Offensive and the near-plummet of the Austro-Hungarian Army caused by the Brusilov Offensive and the entry of Romania into the war on the Centrolineal side. In Baronial Hindenburg succeeded him as Principal of the General Staff, although existent power was exercised by his deputy, Erich Ludendorff. Hindenburg in many ways served as the existent commander-in-chief of the German armed forces instead of the Kaiser who had been reduced to a mere figurehead while Ludendorff served equally the de facto general chief of staff. From 1916 onwards, Federal republic of germany became an unofficial military dictatorship, often called the "Silent dictatorship"^{[8] [9]} past historians.

In September 1918, Ludendorff brash seeking an armistice with the Allies, but in October, changed his heed and resigned in protestation. Ludendorff had expected Hindenburg to follow him by likewise resigning, but Hindenburg refused on the grounds that in this hour of crisis, he could not desert the men under his command. Ludendorff never forgave Hindenburg for this. Ludendorff was succeeded by Wilhelm Groener, a staff officer who served as Hindenburg's assistant until 1932. In November 1918, Hindenburg and Groener played a decisive role in persuading the Kaiser Wilhelm 2 to abdicate for the greater good of Germany.

Hindenburg, who was a firm monarchist throughout his life, always regarded this episode with considerable embarrassment, and well-nigh from the moment the Kaiser abdicated, Hindenburg insisted that he had played no function in the abdication and assigned all of the blame to Groener. Groener, for his part, went along in order to protect Hindenburg'southward reputation.^{[ citation needed ]}

Aftermath of the war

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At the conclusion of the war, Hindenburg retired a 2nd fourth dimension, and announced his intention to retire from public life. In 1919, Hindenburg was chosen earlier a Reichstag Commission that was investigating the responsibleness for both the outbreak of war in 1914 and for the defeat in 1918.

Hindenburg had not wanted to announced before the commission, and had been subpoenaed. The appearance of Hindenburg before the commission was an eagerly awaited public event. Ludendorff, who had fallen out with Hindenburg over the decision to continue seeking the armistice in October 1918, was concerned that Hindenburg might reveal that information technology was he who had advised seeking an armistice in September 1918. Ludendorff wrote a letter to Hindenburg, informing him that he was writing his memoirs and threatened to betrayal the fact that Hindenburg did non deserve the credit that he had received for his victories. Ludendorff's letter went on to propose that how Hindenburg testified would determine how favorably Ludendorff would nowadays Hindenburg in his memoirs.

When Hindenburg did appear before the commission, he refused to answer whatever questions almost the responsibleness for the German language defeat, and instead read out a prepared argument that had been reviewed in accelerate by Ludendorff's lawyer. Hindenburg testified that the German Regular army had been on the verge of winning the war in the autumn of 1918, and that the defeat had been precipitated by a Dolchstoß ("stab in the back") by disloyal elements on the domicile front and by unpatriotic politicians. Despite being threatened with a contempt citation for refusing to respond to questions, Hindenburg simply walked out of the hearings after reading his statement. Hindenburg'due south status every bit a war hero provided him with a political shield and he was never prosecuted.

Hindenburg'south testimony was the starting time utilize of the Dolchstoßlegende, and the term was adopted by nationalist and conservative politicians who sought to blame the socialist founders of the Weimar Democracy for the loss of the war. The reviews in the German press that had grossly misrepresented full general Frederick Barton Maurice'southward book, The Concluding Four Months, contributed to the creation of this myth. "Ludendorff fabricated use of the reviews to convince Hindenburg."^[10]

In a hearing before the Committee on Inquiry of the National Assembly on Nov 18, 1919, a twelvemonth after the war's end, Hindenburg declared, "Every bit an English general has very truly said, the German language Ground forces was 'stabbed in the back'."^[10]

Afterwards, Hindenburg had his memoirs entitled Mein Leben (My Life) ghost-written in 1919–twenty. Mein Leben was a huge bestseller in Germany, but was dismissed by well-nigh military historians and critics as a boring apologia that skipped over the most controversial issues in Hindenburg'due south life. Subsequently, Hindenburg retired from about public appearances and spent most of his time with his family. A widower, Hindenburg was very close to his only son, Major Oskar von Hindenburg and his granddaughters.

Presidency

1925 ballot

During the 1925 ballot, 2d wheel

In 1925, Hindenburg was nominated to run for President of Germany despite that he had no interest in running for public function, merely accepted the nomination anyhow. In the first round of the presidential ballot held on 29 March 1925, no candidate had emerged with a bulk and a run-off election had been called. The Social Autonomous candidate, Prime Minister Otto Braun of Prussia, had agreed to drop out of the race and had endorsed the Catholic Center Political party's candidate, Wilhelm Marx. Since Karl Jarres, the joint candidate of the two conservative parties, the German People's Party (DVP) and the German National People'due south Party (DNVP), was regarded equally as well dull, information technology seemed likely that Marx would win. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, i of the leaders of the DNVP, visited Hindenburg and urged him to run.

Hindenburg initially demurred, simply under strong pressure from Tirpitz applied over several meetings, broke down and agreed to run. Though Hindenburg ran during the 2d round of the elections as a non-party independent, he was generally regarded as the bourgeois candidate. Largely because of his status as Frg's greatest state of war hero, Hindenburg won the election in the second circular of voting held on 26 Apr 1925. He was aided by the support of the Bavarian People's Party (BVP), which switched from supporting Marx, and the refusal of the Communist Party of Deutschland (KPD) to withdraw its candidate, Ernst Thälmann (if either had supported Marx he would have won).^[xi]

First term

Crowds in forepart of Hindenburg'south villa in Hanover on 12 May 1925

Hindenburg took office on 12 May 1925. For the commencement five years after taking office, Hindenburg more often than not refused to allow himself to be fatigued into the maelstrom of German politics in the flow, and sought to play the role of a republican equivalent of a ramble monarch. Although often referred to equally the Ersatzkaiser (substitute Emperor), Hindenburg made no effort to restore the monarchy and took his oath to the Weimar Constitution seriously. In 1927, he shocked the international opinion by his statements defending Germany's deportment and entry in World War I, when he declared that it entered the state of war as "the means of self-assertion against a earth total of enemies. Pure in heart we fix off to the defence of the fatherland and with clean easily the German language regular army carried the sword."^[12]

In private, Hindenburg oftentimes complained to his associates that he missed the repose of his retirement and bemoaned that he had allowed himself to exist pressured into running for president. Hindenburg carped that politics was full of problems such as economics that he did not, and did not want to, understand. He was surrounded, however, by a coterie of advisers antipathetic to the Weimar constitution. These advisers included his son, Oskar, Otto Meißner, General Wilhelm Groener, and General Kurt von Schleicher. This grouping were known every bit the Kamarilla . The younger Hindenburg served every bit his male parent'due south aide-de-camp and controlled politicians' access to the President.

Schleicher was a shut friend of Oskar and came to enjoy privileged admission to Hindenburg. It was he who came up with the idea of Presidential government based on the so-chosen "25/48/53 formula". Nether a "Presidential" authorities the head of government (in this case, the chancellor), is responsible to the head of state, and non a legislative body. The "25/48/53 formula" referred to the 3 manufactures of the Constitution that could make a "Presidential government" possible:

• Article 25 allowed the President to dissolve the Reichstag.
• Article 48 allowed the President to sign into law emergency bills without the consent of the Reichstag. Nevertheless, the Reichstag could cancel any law passed by Article 48 by a simple majority within sixty days of its passage.
• Article 53 allowed the President to appoint the Chancellor.

Schleicher's idea was to have Hindenburg appoint a human being of Schleicher'southward choosing every bit chancellor, who would dominion nether the provisions of Article 48. If the Reichstag should threaten to annul any laws and so passed, Hindenburg could counter with the threat of dissolution. Hindenburg was unenthusiastic virtually these plans, but was pressured into going along with them by his son along with Meißner, Groener and Schleicher.

Presidential government

President Paul von Hindenburg as portrayed past Max Liebermann

The first attempt to establish a "presidential government" had occurred in 1926–1927, but floundered for lack of political support. During the winter of 1929–1930, yet, Schleicher had more success. Later a serial of secret meetings attended by Meißner, Schleicher, and Heinrich Brüning, the parliamentary leader of the Catholic Center Party (Zentrum), Schleicher and Meißner were able to persuade Brüning to go forth with the scheme for "presidential government". How much Brüning knew of Schleicher's ultimate objective of dispensing with democratic governance is unclear. Schleicher maneuvered to exacerbate a biting dispute within the "Grand Coalition" regime of the Social Democrats and the German language People's Political party over whether the unemployment insurance rate should be raised by a half percentage point or a full percentage indicate. The result of these intrigues was the fall of Müller's government in March 1930 and Hindenburg'southward appointment of Brüning as Chancellor.

Brüning's first official act was to introduce a budget calling for steep spending cuts and steep tax increases. When the budget was defeated in July 1930, Brüning arranged for Hindenburg to sign the upkeep into constabulary past invoking Commodity 48. When the Reichstag voted to repeal the budget, Brüning had Hindenburg dissolve the Reichstag, just two years into its mandate, and reapprove the budget through the Article 48 mechanism. In the September 1930 elections the Nazis achieved an electoral breakthrough, gaining 17 percentage of the vote, upwards from 2 percentage in 1928. The Communist Party of Germany likewise made striking gains, albeit not so great.

After the 1930 elections, Brüning connected to govern largely through Article 48; his regime was kept afloat by the support of the Social Democrats who voted not to abolish his Article 48 bills in order non to have another election that could only do good the Nazis and the Communists. Hindenburg for his part grew increasingly bellyaching at Brüning, complaining that he was growing tired of using Article 48 all the fourth dimension to pass bills. Hindenburg found the detailed notes that Brüning submitted explaining the economic necessity of each of his bills to be incomprehensible. Brüning connected with his policies of raising taxes and cutting spending to address the onset of the Keen Depression; the just areas in which regime spending increased were the armed forces budget and the subsidies for Junkers in the so-called Osthilfe (Eastern Aid) program. Both of these spending increases reflected Hindenburg's concerns.

In Oct 1931, Hindenburg and Adolf Hitler met for the very first time in a high level conference in Berlin over Hitler'due south Nazi Political party's politics among Hindenburg'southward cabinet. There were clear signs of tension throughout the meeting equally it became evident to everyone nowadays that both men took an immediate dislike to each other. Later in private, Hindenburg, from so on, frequently disparagingly referred to Hitler as "that Austrian corporal", or "that Bohemian corporal" or sometimes just simply as "the corporal". In private, Hitler often disparagingly referred to Hindenburg as "that old fool" or "that old reactionary". Until January 1933, Hindenburg often stated that he would never engage Hitler as Chancellor under any circumstances. On 26 January 1933, Hindenburg privately told a group of his friends: "Gentlemen, I promise yous will not hold me capable of appointing this Austrian corporal to be Reich Chancellor".^[13]

January 1932 – January 1933: A twelvemonth of decisions

Election poster for Hindenburg in 1932 (translation: "With him")

Past Jan 1932, at 84 years old, Hindenburg was now lapsing in and out of senility and wanted to leave office every bit shortly as his seven-yr presidential term was over, but he was persuaded to run for re-election in 1932 past the Kamarilla, also as by the centre and the liberals, and by the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The SDP regarded Hindenburg as the only man who could defeat Hitler and keep the Nazi party from winning the elections (and they said and so throughout the entrada); they also expected him to go on Brüning in part.^[14] Hindenburg reluctantly agreed to stay in part, but wanted to avoid an election. The only style this was possible was for the Reichstag to vote to abolish the election with a two-thirds supermajority. Since the Nazis were the second-largest political political party, their co-functioning was vital if this was to exist done. Brüning met with Hitler in Jan 1932 to ask if he would agree to President Hindenburg's demand to forgo the presidential election. Surprisingly, Hitler supported the mensurate, only with one major status: dissolve the Reichstag and hold new parliamentary elections.

Brüning rejected Hitler's demands as totally outrageous and unreasonable. By this time, Schleicher had decided that Brüning had go an obstacle to his plans and was already plotting Brüning's downfall. Schleicher convinced Hindenburg that the reason why Hitler had rejected Brüning'due south offer was because Brüning had deliberately sabotaged the talks to forcefulness the elderly president into a grueling re-election battle. During the election entrada of 1932, Brüning campaigned hard for Hindenburg'south re-election. As Hindenburg was in bad health and a poor speaker in whatsoever case, the chore of traveling the state and delivering speeches for Hindenburg had fallen upon Brüning. Hindenburg's campaign appearances usually consisted simply of him appearing before the oversupply and waving to them without speaking.

In the get-go round of the election held in March 1932, Hindenburg emerged as the frontrunner, simply failed to proceeds a majority. In the runoff ballot of April 1932, Hindenburg defeated Hitler for the Presidency thus securing his re-ballot. After the presidential elections had concluded, Schleicher held a series of undercover meetings with Hitler in May 1932, and thought that he had obtained a "gentleman's agreement" in which Hitler had agreed to support the new "presidential government" that Schleicher was edifice. At the same time, Schleicher, with Hindenburg's complicit consent, had set about undermining Brüning'due south regime.

Hindenburg at a radio microphone, Jan 1932

The first accident occurred in May 1932, when Schleicher had Hindenburg dismiss Groener as Defense Minister in a way that was designed to humiliate both Groener and Brüning. On 31 May 1932, Hindenburg dismissed Brüning as Chancellor and replaced him with the homo that Schleicher had suggested, Franz von Papen. "The Government of Barons", equally Papen's regime was known, openly had as its objective the destruction of German language democracy. Like Brüning's regime, Papen'south government was a "presidential government" that governed through the utilise of Commodity 48.

Different Brüning, Papen ingratiated himself to Hindenburg and his son through flattery. Much to Schleicher's annoyance, Papen quickly replaced him as Hindenburg'south favorite advisor. The French Ambassador André François-Poncet reported to his superiors in Paris that "It's he [Papen] who is the preferred one, the favorite of the Align; he diverts the old man through his vivacity, his playfulness; he flatters him by showing him respect and devotion; he beguiles him with his daring; he is in [Hindenburg's] eyes the perfect admirer."^[15]

In accordance with Schleicher's "gentleman'southward agreement", Hindenburg dissolved the Reichstag and set new elections for July 1932. Schleicher and Papen both believed that the Nazis would win the majority of the seats and would back up Papen'southward government. Hitler staged an electoral comeback, with his Nazi party winning a solid plurality of seats in the Reichstag. Following the Nazi electoral triumph in the Reichstag elections held on 31 July 1932, at that place were widespread expectations that Hitler would before long be appointed Chancellor. Moreover, Hitler repudiated the "admirer'south agreement" and alleged that he wanted the Chancellorship for himself. In a meeting between Hindenburg and Hitler held on xiii August 1932, in Berlin, Hindenburg firmly rejected Hitler's demands for the Chancellorship.

The minutes of the meeting were kept by Otto Meißner, the Master of the Presidential Chancellery. According to the minutes:

"

Herr Hitler alleged that, for reasons which he had explained in detail to the Reich President that morning, his taking any part in cooperation with the existing government was out of the question. Considering the importance of the National Socialist motion, he must demand the full and complete leadership of the regime and state for himself and his party. The Reich President in reply said firmly that he must answer this demand with a clear, unyielding "No". He could non justify before God, earlier his conscience, or before the Fatherland the transfer of the whole authorization of government to a single party, especially to a party that was biased against people who had different views from their own. There were a number of other reasons confronting information technology, upon which he did non wish to enlarge in detail, such as fearfulness of increased unrest, the effect on foreign countries, etc. Herr Hitler repeated that whatever other solution was unacceptable to him. To this the Reich President replied: "So you will go into opposition?" Hitler: "I take now no alternative".[16]

"

President Paul von Hindenburg and Chancellor Adolf Hitler in Potsdam, Germany, March 21, 1933.

After refusing Hitler's demands for the Chancellorship, Hindenburg had a press release issued of his meeting with Hitler that unsaid that Hitler had demanded absolute power and had his duke rapped past the President for making such a demand. Hitler was enraged by this press release. Even so, given Hitler'due south determination to accept power legally, Hindenburg's refusal to engage him Chancellor was an impassable quandary for Hitler.

When the Reichstag convened in September 1932, its only act was to pass a massive vote of no-confidence in Papen's government. In response, Papen had Hindenburg dissolve the Reichstag for elections in November 1932. The second Reichstag elections saw the Nazi vote drib from 37 percent to 32 percent, though the Nazis once again remained the largest party in the Reichstag. Afterwards the Nov elections, there ensued some other round of fruitless talks between Hindenburg, Papen, Schleicher on the one mitt and Hitler and the other Nazi leaders on the other.

The President and the Chancellor wanted Nazi support for the "Government of the President'south Friends"; at most they were prepared to offer Hitler the meaningless part of Vice-Chancellor. On 24 Nov 1932, during the course of another Hitler-Hindenburg coming together, Hindenburg stated his fears that "a presidential cabinet led past Hitler would necessarily develop into a party dictatorship with all its consequences for an extreme bedevilment of the conflicts inside the German language people".^[13]

Hitler for his part, remained adamant that Hindenburg give him the Chancellorship and nothing else. These demands were incompatible and unacceptable to both sides and the stalemate continued. To pause the political stalemate, Papen proposed that Hindenburg declare martial law and practice away with democracy via a presidential coup. Papen won over Oskar Hindenburg with this idea and the two persuaded Hindenburg for one time to forgo his oath to the Constitution and get forth with this plan. Schleicher, who had come to see Papen every bit a threat, blocked the martial law motion past unveiling the results of a war games exercise that showed if martial law was declared, the Nazi SA and the Communist Red Front Fighters would ascension upwards, the Poles would invade and the Reichswehr would be unable to cope.

Whether this was the honest result of a war games exercise or just a fabrication by Schleicher to force Papen out of office is a matter of some historical debate. The stance of most leans towards the latter, for in January 1933 Schleicher would tell Hindenburg that new war games had shown the Reichswehr would crush both the SA and Red Forepart Fighters and defend the eastern borders from a Smoothen invasion. The results of the state of war games forced Papen to resign in December 1932 in favor of Schleicher. Hindenburg was near upset at losing his favorite Chancellor, and suspecting that the war games were faked to strength Papen out, came to bear a grudge against Schleicher.

Papen for his part, was determined to become back into office and on four Jan 1933, Papen met with Hitler to discuss how they could bring downward Schleicher'southward government, though the talks were inconclusive largely because Papen and Hitler each coveted the Chancellorship for himself. All the same, Papen and Hitler agreed to proceed talking. Ultimately, Papen came to believe that he could control Hitler from behind the scenes and decided to support him for Chancellor. Papen then persuaded Meißner and the younger Hindenburg of the merits of his plan, and the three then spent the 2nd half of January pressuring Hindenburg into naming Hitler every bit Chancellor. Hindenburg was most loath to consider Hitler as Chancellor and preferred that Papen hold that office instead.

Withal, the pressure from Meißner, Papen and the younger Hindenburg was relentless and by the stop of January, the President had decided to appoint Hitler Chancellor. After Schleicher as well had despaired of his efforts to go hold of the situation, he accustomed his resignation, with the words: "Thanks, General, for everything you have done for the Fatherland. Now let'due south accept a await in which way, with God's assistance, the cat will keep on jumping." On the forenoon of 30 January 1933, Hindenburg swore Hitler in as Chancellor at the Presidential Palace. Hitler threatened von Hindenburg to either make him chancellor or to make him the leader of Reichstag. Finally, an 84 yr erstwhile Hindenburg agreed to make Hitler the Chancellor of Germany.

The Machtergreifung

German language stamps of Hindenburg with the overprint "Elsaß" (Alsace) produced in 1940

Hindenburg played a supporting but primal function in the Nazi Machtergreifung (Seizure of Power) in 1933. In the "Government of National Concentration" headed by Hitler, the Nazis were in the minority. As well Hitler, the merely other Nazi ministers were Hermann Göring and Wilhelm Frick. Frick held the then-powerless Interior Ministry, while Göring was given no portfolio. Virtually of the other ministers were hold-overs from the Papen and Schleicher governments, and the ones who were not, such equally Alfred Hugenberg of the DNVP, were non Nazis. This had the effect of assuring Hindenburg that the room for radical moves on the part of the Nazis was express. Moreover, Hindenburg's favorite politician, Papen, was Vice Chancellor of the Reich and Minister-President of Prussia.

Hitler'due south first human activity as Chancellor was to ask Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag so that the Nazis and DNVP could increase their number of seats and pass the Enabling Act. Hindenburg agreed to this request. In early Feb 1933, Papen asked for and received an Article 48 beak signed into law that sharply limited liberty of the press. After the Reichstag burn down, Hindenburg, at Hitler's urging, signed into constabulary the Reichstag Burn Decree . This decree suspended all civil liberties in Germany.

At the opening of the new Reichstag on 21 March 1933, at the Garrison Church at Potsdam,^[17] the Nazis staged an elaborate ceremony in which Hindenburg played the leading function, appearing alongside Hitler during an event orchestrated to marking the continuity between the old Prussian-German tradition and the new Nazi state. He said, in part, "May the old spirit of this historic shrine permeate the generation of today, may information technology liberate us from selfishness and party strife and bring usa together in national self-consciousness to bless a proud and free Frg, united in herself." Hindenburg's apparent stamp of approval had the consequence of reassuring many Germans, especially bourgeois Germans, that life would be fine under the new government.

On 23 March 1933, Hindenburg signed the Enabling Act of 1933 into law, which gave decrees issued by the cabinet (in result, Hitler) the strength of law.

During 1933 and 1934, Hitler, equally head of government, was very aware of the fact that Hindenburg, his only superior, was head of state as well as Supreme Commander of the German war machine. With the passage of the Enabling Act and the banning of all parties other than the Nazis, Hindenburg's ability to dismiss Hitler from role was effectively the simply remedy by which he could exist legally dismissed—and hence the only check on Hitler's power. Given that Hindenburg was all the same a pop war hero and a revered effigy in the High german Army, if the President decided to remove Hitler as Chancellor, there was little doubt that the Reichswehr would side with Hindenburg. Thus, as long as Hindenburg was alive, Hitler was e'er very careful to avoid offending him or the Army. Though Hindenburg was in increasingly bad health, the Nazis made sure that whenever Hindenburg did appear in public it was in Hitler's company. During these appearances, Hitler always made a betoken of showing the utmost respect and reverence for the President. However, in individual, Hitler continued to detest Hindenburg, and expressed the hope that "the old reactionary" would hurry up and die as soon every bit possible.

The only time Hindenburg ever objected to a Nazi pecker occurred in early April 1933 when the Reichstag had passed a Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service that called for the firsthand dismissal of all Jewish civil servants at the Reich, Land, and municipal levels. Hindenburg resented this bill in example it was not amended to exclude all Jewish veterans of World War I, Jewish civil servants who served in the civil service during the war and those Jewish civil servants whose fathers were veterans. Hitler amended the bill to meet Hindenburg'south objections.^{[18] [nineteen]}

During the summer of 1934, Hindenburg grew increasingly alarmed at Nazi excesses. Reportedly, he was and so displeased that he seriously considered cashiering Hitler and declaring martial law. At his direction, Papen gave a speech at the University of Marburg on 17 June calling for an terminate to state terror and the restoration of some freedoms. When Goebbels got wind of it, he not only barred its broadcast, just ordered the seizure of newspapers in which part of the text was printed. A furious Papen immediately notified Hindenburg, who told Blomberg to give Hitler an ultimatum—unless Hitler took steps to end the growing tension in Germany, he would dismiss Hitler and plough the authorities over to the ground forces. Not long afterward, Hitler carried out the Night of the Long Knives, for which he received the personal thanks of Hindenburg.^[20]

Hindenburg remained in office until his death at the age of 86 from lung cancer at his home in Neudeck, E Prussia on two Baronial 1934. The day before Hindenburg's death, Hitler flew to Neudeck and visited him. Hindenburg, former and senile also equally bedridden from beingness very sick, thought he was meeting Kaiser Wilhelm Two, and he called Hitler "Your Majesty" when Hitler start walked into the room.

Hindenburg's image on a German language postage stamp overprinted for employ in Nazi-occupied Poland.

On August 1, Hitler got word that Hindenburg was on his deathbed. He so had the cabinet laissez passer the "Law Apropos the Highest State Office of the Reich," which stipulated that upon Hindenburg's death, the offices of president and chancellor would be merged under the title of Leader and Chancellor (Führer und Reichskanzler).^[21] Two hours later Hindenburg's death, it was announced that as a consequence of this police, Hitler was now both Deutschland's head of state and head of regime, thereby completing the progress of Gleichschaltung . This activity finer removed all institutional checks and balances on Hitler'southward power. Hitler had made plans almost as soon as he took consummate power to seize the powers of the president for himself every bit soon every bit Hindenburg died. He'd known every bit early as the jump of 1934 that Hindenburg would likely not survive the year, and had been working feverishly to go the armed forces—the only group in Germany that was about powerful plenty to remove him with Hindenburg gone—to support his bid to become Hindenburg's successor. Indeed, he'd agreed to suppress the SA in return for the Army's support.

Hitler had a referendum held on 19 August 1934, in which the German people were asked if they approved of Hitler merging the two offices. The Ja (Yes) vote amounted to 90% of the vote.

In taking over the president's powers for himself without calling for a new ballot, Hitler technically violated the Enabling Human activity. While the Enabling Human activity immune Hitler to pass laws that contravened the Weimar Constitution, it specifically forbade him from interfering with the powers of the president. Moreover, the Weimar Constitution had been amended in 1932 to make the president of the High Courtroom of Justice, not the chancellor, acting president awaiting a new ballot. However, Hitler had go law unto himself by this time, and no ane dared object.

Silvery 5 mark commemorative coin of Paul von Hindenburg, struck 1936
250px
Obverse: Paul von Hindenburg, 1847–1934.	Reverse: (High german) Deutsches Reich, 5 Reichsmarks , or in English language, "The German language Reich, v Marks."

Hindenburg himself was said to be a monarchist who favored a restoration of the German monarchy. Though he hoped one of the Prussian princes would be appointed to succeed him as Head of Country, he did not try to use his powers in favour of such a restoration, equally he considered himself bound by the oath he had sworn on the Weimar Constitution.

Information technology has been alleged that Hindenburg's will asked for Hitler to restore the monarchy. However, the truth of this story cannot exist established as Oskar von Hindenburg destroyed the portions of his father's will relating to politics.

Burying and fear of desecration

Hindenburg'due south original 1934 burial at the Tannenberg Memorial. Hitler is speaking at the lectern.

Hitler ordered his architect, Albert Speer, to take care of the background for the funeral ceremony at the Tannenberg Memorial in Eastward Prussia. As Speer later recalled: "I had a loftier wooden stand up built in the inner courtyard. Decorations were limited to banners of black crepe hung from the loftier towers that framed the inner courtyard...On the eve of the funeral the coffin was brought on a gun carriage from Neudeck, Hindenburg's East Prussian manor, to one of the towers of the monument. Torchbearers and the traditional flags of German regiments of the Beginning Earth State of war accompanied it; non a single word was spoken, non a control given. This reverential silence was more impressive than the organized ceremonial of the following days." ^[22]

Hindenburg'southward remains were moved no fewer than 6 times in the 12 years following his initial interment.

Hindenburg was originally buried in the 1000 of the castle-similar Tannenberg Memorial near Tannenberg, Due east Prussia (now Stębark, Poland) on seven August 1934 during a big country funeral, 5 days after his decease. This was against the wishes he had expressed during his life: to be cached in his family unit plot in Hanover, Deutschland, adjacent to his wife Gertrud, who had died in 1921.

The post-obit yr, Hindenburg remains were temporarily disinterred, forth with the bodies of xx German unknown soldiers buried at the Tannenberg Memorial, to permit the building of his new catacomb there (which required lowering the entire plaza eight feet). Hindenburg's statuary coffin was placed in the catacomb on 2 October 1935 (the anniversary of his birthday), along with the bury bearing his wife, which was moved from the family plot.^[23]

In Jan 1945, every bit Soviet forces advanced into Due east Prussia, Hitler ordered both coffins to be disinterred for their rubber. They were first moved to a bunker just outside Berlin, then to a salt mine at the village of Bernterode, Germany, along with the remains of both Frederick Wilhelm I of Prussia and Frederick II of Prussia (Frederick the Swell). The iv coffins were hastily marked of their contents using cerise crayon, and interred behind a six-foot-thick (1.8 one thousand) masonry wall in a deep recess of the 14-mile mine complex, 1,800 anxiety surreptitious. Three weeks after, on 27 April 1945, the coffins were discovered past U.South. Army Ordnance troops afterward tunneling through the wall. All were subsequently moved to the basement of the heavily guarded Marburg Castle in Marburg an der Lahn, Germany, a collection point for recovered Nazi plunder.

The U.Due south. Army, in a secret project dubbed "Performance Bodysnatch", had many difficulties in determining the terminal resting places for the four famous Germans. 16 months after the salt mine discovery, in August 1946, the remains of Hindenburg and his wife were finally laid to residuum past the American army at St. Elizabeth's, a 13th-century church built by the Teutonic Knights in Marburg, Hesse, where they remain today.^{[24] [25]}

A colossal statue of Hindenburg, erected at Hohenstein (now Olsztynek, Poland) in honor of his defeat of the Russians was demolished by the Germans in 1944 to foreclose its desecration by the advancing Soviet Army.^[26]

Decorations and awards

German

• Knight of the Black Eagle Lodge
• Thousand Commander of the Royal Firm Order of Hohenzollern with Swords
• Pour le Mérite (2 September 1914); Oak Leaves added on 23 Feb 1915
• Iron Cross, 1st and 2nd class
• One thousand Cross of the Iron Cross (9 Dec 1916); Golden Star added on 25 March 1918
• Knight Grand Cross of the Military Order of Max Joseph (Bavaria)
• Knight Yard Cantankerous of the Military Order of St. Henry (Saxony)
• Knight of the Guild of Armed services Merit (Württemberg)
• Knight Grand Cross with Crown, Swords and Laurel of the Business firm and Merit Order of Peter Frederick Louis (Oldenburg)
• War machine Merit Cross, 1st course (Thousand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin)
• Friedrich Cross, 1st grade (Duchy of Anhalt)
• Honorary Commander of the Order of Saint John (Subject area of Brandenburg)

Foreign

• Grand Cantankerous of the Armed services Order of Maria Theresa (Austria)
• Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece (Austria)
• Cross of Military Merit, 1st class with war ornamentation (Austria-Hungary)
• Gold Medal of Military Merit ("Signum Laudis", Austria-Hungary)

See also

• German language presidential ballot, 1925
• German presidential election, 1932
• German Reichsmark, coin.
• Hindenburg light
• List of people on the cover of Fourth dimension Mag: 1920s − 22 Marrch 1926

References

1. ↑ Guide to International Relations and Diplomacy edited by Michael Graham Fry, Erik Goldstein, Richard Langhorne page 422 Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd 2004
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} von der Goltz, Anna, Hindenburg, p. 168
3. ↑ ^{3.0 iii.1} Reference or term first used on 10 Oct 1931 by Paul von Hindenburg afterwards his showtime biography (March 1931), on mistaking Hitler'south birth town of Braunau (Austria) for that of Braunau in Bohemia. Book Ref: "Adolf Hitler. Das Zeitalter der Verantwortungslosigkeit." Author: Konrad Heiden, Publisher: Europa Verlag, Zurich, 1936, in German.
4. ↑ Mapa.szukacz.pl – Mapa Polski z planami miast at mapa.szukacz.pl
5. ↑ Horne, Alistair (1964). The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916. Penguin Books. pp. 44–49.
6. ↑ Grimsley, Mark; Rogers, Clifford J. (2002). Civilians in the Path of War. Studies in State of war, Society, and the Military. University of Nebraska Press. p. 172.
7. ↑ Pöhlmann, Markus (2012). "Krise und Karriere" (in German). Crisis and Career. pp. 22–27.
8. ↑ ^{eight.0 8.1 8.2} Müller, Christian Thursday. (2012). "Von Tannenberg zur 'stillen Diktatur'" (in German). From Tannenberg to a 'silent dictatorship'. pp. 28–35.
9. ↑ Corvisier, André; Childs, John (1994). A dictionary of military machine history and the art of war. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 357.
10. ↑ ^{x.0 10.1} William L. Shirer, The Rise and autumn of the 3rd Reich, Simon and Shuster (1960) p. 31
11. ↑ Evans, Richard J., The Coming of the Third Reich, p. 82
12. ↑ Goebel, Stefan (2007). The Smashing War and Medieval Memory: War, Remembrance and Medievalism in United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland and Germany, 1914–1940. Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare. New York: Cambridge University Printing. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-521-85415-3.
13. ↑ ^{13.0 thirteen.1} Jäckel, Eberhard Hitler in History, p. viii
14. ↑ Evans, Richard J., The Coming of the Tertiary Reich, p. 279
15. ↑ Turner, Henry Hitler's Xxx Days to Power p. 41
16. ↑ Noakes, Jeremy; Pridham, Geoffrey, eds (1983). Nazism 1919–1945. one The Ascension to Power 1919–1934. Department of History and Archaeology, University of Exeter. pp. 104–105.
17. ↑ Shirer, William (1959). The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. p. 196.
18. ↑ "Correspondence Between Hindenburg and Hitler concerning Jewish veterans (Yad Vashem Archive, JM/2462)" (PDF). http://www1.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%201976.pdf.
19. ↑ "Hindenburgs letter of the alphabet in the original German" (PDf). Justiz.sachsen.de. p. 28. http://www.justiz.sachsen.de/smj/download/Broschuere-Endfassung.pdf.
20. ↑ William Shirer, The Rising and Autumn of the 3rd Reich (Touchstone Edition) (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990)
21. ↑ Overy, Richard. The Dictators: Hitler'due south Germany, Stalin'due south Russia. London: W. W. Norton. ISBN 0393020304.
22. ↑ Speer, Albert (1970). Inside the Tertiary Reich. Orion Books. pp. 54. ISBN 978-1-84212-735-3. http://archive.org/stream/Inside_the_Third_Reich_Albert_Speer.
23. ↑ Gessner, Peter K.. "Tannenberg: a Monument of German Pride". Academy of Buffalo. http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/classroom/JM/monument.html . Retrieved nineteen July 2012.
24. ↑ Lang, Volition (6 March 1950). "The Case of the Distinguished Corpses". http://books.google.com/books?id=-1IEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA65#five=onepage&q&f=imitation.
25. ↑ Alford, Kenneth D. (2000). Nazi Plunder: Great Treasure Stories of World War II. Da Capo Press. p. 101. http://books.google.com/books?id=_9sImYb5e1AC&pg=PA101#v=onepage&q&f=imitation.
26. ↑ Norman Davies (1981). God'south Playground: A History of Poland. 1795 to the present. Clarendon Printing. p. 528. https://world wide web.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=%22colossal+statue+of+Hindenburg%22+inauthor:Davies&num=ten.

Sources

• Asprey, Robert (1991). The German High Command at War: Hindenburg and Ludendorff Carry Earth State of war I. New York, New York: West. Morrow.
• Bracher, Karl Dietrich (1971). Die Aufloesung der Weimarer Republik; eine Studie zum Problem des Machtverfalls in der Demokratie. Villingen, Schwarzwald: Ring-Verlag.
• Dorpalen, Andreas (1964). Hindenburg and the Weimar Republic. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
• Eschenburg, Theodor (1972). "The Role of the Personality in the Crisis of the Weimar Republic: Hindenburg, Brüning, Groener, Schleicher". In Holborn, Hajo. Commonwealth to Reich – The Making Of The Nazi Revolution. New York: Pantheon Books. pp. 3–50.
• Evans, Richard J. (2003). The Coming of the Third Reich. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 0-7139-9648-X.
• Feldman, G.D. (1966). Army, Manufacture and Labor in Germany, 1914–1918. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Printing.
• Görlitz, Walter (1953). Hindenburg: Ein Lebensbild. Bonn: Athenäeum.
• Görlitz, Walter (1935). Hindenburg, eine Auswahl aus Selbstzeugnissen des Generalfeldmarschalls und Reichpräsidenten. Bielefeld: Velhagen & Klasing.
• Hiss, O.C. (1931). Hindenburg: Eine Kleine Streitschrift. Potsdam: Sans Souci Printing.
• Jäckel, Eberhard (1984). Hitler in History. Hanover N.H.: Brandeis Academy Press.
• Kershaw, Sir Ian (1998). "1889–1936: Hubris". Hitler (German ed.). New York: W. Westward. Norton & Company. p. 659.
• Kitchen, Martin (1976). The Silent Dictatorship: The Politics of the High Control under Hindenburg and Ludendorff, 1916–1918. London: Croom Helm.
• Maser, Werner (1990). Hindenburg: Eine politische Biographie. Rastatt: Moewig.
• Turner, Henry Ashby (1996). Hitler'south 30 Days to Power : January 1933, Reading, Mass.. Addison-Wesley.
• von der Goltz, Anna (2009). Hindenburg: Power, Myth, and the Ascension of the Nazis. Oxford, England, UK; New York, New York, USA: Oxford University Press.
• Wheeler-Bennett, Sir John (1967) [1936]. Hindenburg: the Wooden Titan. London: Macmillan.

External links

• • Military service record of Paul von Hindenburg
  • Generalfeldmarschall von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg at www.rosenberg-wpr.de (German only, with many photos)
  • http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/biografien/HindenburgPaul/index.html (German only, some photos)
  • Out Of My Life by Paul von Hindenburg at archive.org
  • Engagement of retirement
  • Historical film documents on Paul von Hindenburg at www.europeanfilmgateway.eu

  Armed services offices
  Preceded past Generaloberst Maximilian von Prittwitz und Gaffron	Commander, 8th Army 23 August 1914-18 September 1914	Succeeded by Full general der Artillerie Richard von Schubert
  Preceded by New Formation	Commander, 9th Army 18 September 1914-2 November 1914	Succeeded by General der Kavallerie August von Mackensen
  Preceded by Erich von Falkenhayn	Master of the General Staff 29 Baronial 1916-3 July 1919	Succeeded by Wilhelm Groener
  Political offices
  Preceded by Friedrich Ebert	President of Germany 12 May 1925-2 August 1934	Succeeded by Adolf Hitler (Führer and Chancellor)

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Source: https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Paul_von_Hindenburg

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