Paul von Hindenburg

On the 23rd of August 1914, a retired sixty-seven-year-old general was summoned from his quiet life in Hannover to save Germany from total collapse. The German Eighth Army had just been defeated at Gumbinnen, and the Russian First and Second Armies were advancing toward Berlin, threatening to encircle the entire German force. The man chosen to take command was Paul von Hindenburg, a figure who had spent the previous three years hunting game and managing his estate, having retired from the military in 1911 to make way for younger men. He was not a strategist of the first rank, nor was he a man of political ambition, yet his appointment marked the beginning of a partnership that would reshape the course of the twentieth century. When he arrived at Marienburg, he found a staff in panic and a situation that seemed hopeless. Within days, he and his new chief of staff, Erich Ludendorff, would orchestrate the Battle of Tannenberg, a victory so decisive that it became the stuff of legend. The battle resulted in the destruction of the Russian Second Army, with 92,000 Russians captured and only 14,000 German casualties. This victory transformed Hindenburg from a forgotten retiree into a national hero, the center of a personality cult that would eventually place him at the helm of the German state. The name Tannenberg itself was chosen by Hindenburg to avenge the defeat of the Teutonic Knights by the Slavs in 1410, even though the battle was fought nowhere near the actual field of Tannenberg. This act of historical revisionism was the first step in a career that would see him rise from a minor nobleman to the President of Germany, a position that would ultimately allow him to hand the country over to Adolf Hitler.

The Partnership That Ruled A Nation

The relationship between Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff was one of the most powerful and strange partnerships in military history. While Hindenburg was the calm, decisive figurehead who projected an image of unshakeable authority, Ludendorff was the energetic, tactical genius who drove the war machine forward. Their temperaments were strikingly dissimilar, yet they complemented each other perfectly. Ludendorff's nerves were often frayed, and he twice considered changing their plans for Tannenberg at the last minute, but Hindenburg's quiet confidence wavered no further. As Hindenburg wrote to the Kaiser, Ludendorff had become his faithful adviser and a friend who had his complete confidence and could not be replaced by anyone. This partnership evolved into a de facto military dictatorship, known as the Third OHL, which dominated Germany for the remainder of the war. They took advantage of Emperor Wilhelm II's immense delegation of authority to the Supreme Army Command to establish a regime that operated with little regard for civilian government. The British were unimpressed, with General Charteris writing to his wife that poor old Hindenburg was sixty-four years of age and would not do very much, yet the German War Cabinet was impressed by his swift decision-making. They credited Old Man Hindenburg with ending the Verdun folly and setting in motion the brilliant conquest of Romania. The partnership was so effective that it allowed Germany to secure Russia's defeat on the Eastern Front and achieve the largest advance on the Western Front since the early days of the war. However, the country's fortunes were sharply reversed after its forces were decisively defeated in the Second Battle of the Marne and the Allies' Hundred Days Offensive. The partnership ended in tragedy when Ludendorff suffered a mental breakdown, shrieking orders and often in tears, while Hindenburg led him from the room. Ludendorff's breakdown is not mentioned in Hindenburg's or his own memoirs, a testament to the careful curation of their legacy. Hindenburg's record as a commander starting in the field at Tannenberg, then leading four national armies, culminating with breaking the trench deadlock in the west, and then holding a defeated army together, is unmatched by other soldiers in World War I. Yet, military skill is only one component of the record, and the maladroit politics of Hindenburg and Ludendorff led directly to the collapse of 1918.

When did Paul von Hindenburg retire from the military for the first time?

Paul von Hindenburg retired from the military in 1911 to make way for younger men. He spent the previous three years hunting game and managing his estate before being summoned to save Germany on the 23rd of August 1914.

What was the outcome of the Battle of Tannenberg for Paul von Hindenburg?

The Battle of Tannenberg resulted in the destruction of the Russian Second Army with 92,000 Russians captured and only 14,000 German casualties. This victory transformed Paul von Hindenburg from a forgotten retiree into a national hero and the center of a personality cult.

How did Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff manage the German war effort during World War I?

Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff established a de facto military dictatorship known as the Third OHL which dominated Germany for the remainder of the war. They issued a Textbook of Defensive Warfare and implemented the Hindenburg Program to set ambitious benchmarks for arms production.

When did Paul von Hindenburg die and what happened to the German presidency?

Paul von Hindenburg died on the 2nd of August 1934 after serving as President of Germany from 1925 to 1934. Following his death Adolf Hitler combined the presidency with the chancellery before declaring himself Führer of Germany.

Why did Paul von Hindenburg appoint Adolf Hitler as chancellor in 1933?

Paul von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as chancellor in January 1933 because he believed that the Nazi Party could be controlled within a coalition government. He felt that the only way to save Germany from chaos caused by the Great Depression was to bring the Nazis into the government.

The Dictatorship In The Shadows

By 1916, the war had become a stalemate of blood and mud, and the German Supreme Army Command, led by Hindenburg and Ludendorff, had effectively taken over the government. They issued a Textbook of Defensive Warfare that recommended fewer defenders in the front line, relying on light machine guns to cut down penetrating enemy forces. If pushed too hard, they were permitted to pull back, and the infantry would counterattack while the attacker's artillery was blind because they were unsure where their own men were. This new doctrine, known as defense in depth, was a radical departure from the static trench warfare that had defined the conflict. The army's vulnerable zeppelins went to the navy, and most cavalry regiments were dismounted, while the artillery received their badly needed horses. The Hindenburg Program set ambitious benchmarks for arms production, including a new light machine gun, updated artillery, and motor transport, but no tanks because they considered them too vulnerable to artillery. To increase output, the army released a million men, and the Supreme Army Command wanted all German men and women from 15 to 60 enrolled for national service. Hindenburg also wanted the universities closed, except for medical training, so that empty places would not be filled by women. To swell the next generation of soldiers, he wanted contraceptives banned and bachelors taxed. When a Polish army was being formed, he wanted Jews excluded. Few of these ideas were adopted, because their political maneuvering was vigorous but inept. The policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, which they waged to defeat the British in six months, was a gamble that brought the United States into the war. The Kaiser's quarters were in the spa building, staff offices were in the orange court, and the others lived in the hotel buildings. In February a third Army Group was formed on the Western Front to cover the front in Alsace-Lorraine, commanded by Archduke Albrecht of Württemberg. Some effective divisions from the east were exchanged for less competent divisions from the west. Since their disasters of the previous year, the Russian infantry had shown no fight and in March the revolution erupted in Russia. Shunning opportunity, the Central Powers stayed put; Hindenburg feared that invaders would resurrect the heroic resistance of 1812. The great withdrawal and defending the Western Front saw the Germans withdraw from a 1000 mi2 area, more ground than they had lost to all Allied offensives since 1914. The new German front called the Hindenburg line was shorter, freeing up 14 German divisions. The cautious following Allies also had to cope with booby traps, some exploding a month later. The British tried to exploit their opening with a futile cavalry charge but did not press further. In the battle's aftermath, the Third OHL discovered one reason behind the British attack's success was that the Sixth Army commander, Ludwig von Falkenhausen, had failed to properly apply their instructions for a defense in depth by keeping reserve troops too far back from the front lines. As a result of this failure, Falkenhausen and several staff officers were stripped of their command.

The Collapse Of The Empire

The year 1918 saw the German Empire crumble from the inside out, a process that began with the failure of the Spring Offensive and ended with the German Revolution. Operation Michael, the first attack of the offensive, began on the 21st of March, and by day two the Germans knew they had broken through some of the enemy artillery lines. But the encirclement failed because British stoutness gave their V Corps time to slip out of the targeted salient. On day four, German forces moved on into the open country, and the Kaiser prematurely celebrated by awarding Hindenburg the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross, a medal first created for von Blücher. As usual, Hindenburg set objectives as the situation evolved. South of the salient, the Germans had almost destroyed the British Fifth Army, so they pushed west to cut between the French and British armies. However, they advanced too slowly through the broken terrain of the former Somme battlefields and the ground devastated when withdrawing the year before, and because troops stopped to loot food and clothing, and the Allies maintained a fluid defensive line, manned by troops brought up and supplied by rail and motor transport. Hindenburg hoped the Germans would get close enough to Amiens to bombard the railways with heavy artillery, but they were stopped just short. The Allied command was dismayed, and French headquarters realized that their enemies were masters of a new method of warfare. The Germans had lost 977,555 of their best men between March and the end of July, while Allied ranks were swelling with Americans. Their dwindling stock of horses were on the verge of starvation, and the ragged troops thought continually of food. One of the most effective propaganda handbills, which the British showered on the German lines, listed the rations received by prisoners of war. The German troops resented their officers' better rations and reports of the ample meals at headquarters. After an attack, the survivors needed at least six weeks to recuperate, but now crack divisions were recommitted much sooner. Tens of thousands of men were skulking behind the lines. Determined to win, Hindenburg decided to expand the salient pointing toward Paris to strip more defenders from Flanders. The attack on Gouraud's French Fourth Army followed the now familiar scenario, but was met by a deceptive elastic defense and was decisively repelled at the French main line of resistance. Hindenburg still intended to make a decisive attack in Flanders, but before the Germans could strike, the French and Americans, led by light tanks, smashed through the right flank of the German salient on the Marne. The German defense was halfhearted; they had lost. Hindenburg went on the defensive. The Germans withdrew one by one from the salients created by their victories, evacuating the wounded and supplies, and retiring to shortened lines. Hindenburg hoped to hold a line until their enemies were ready to bargain. Ludendorff's breakdown was complete, and on the 8th of August, the British completely surprised the Germans with a well-coordinated attack at Amiens, breaking well into the German lines. Most disquieting was that some German commanders surrendered their units and that reserves arriving at the front were taunted for prolonging the war. For Ludendorff, Amiens was the black day in the history of the German Army. 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. A sympathetic physician who was Ludendorff's friend persuaded him to leave headquarters temporarily to recuperate. On the 12th of August, Army Group von Boehn was created to firm up the defenses in the Somme sector. On the 29th of September, Hindenburg and Ludendorff told the incredulous Kaiser that the war was lost and that they must have an immediate armistice. A new chancellor, Prince Maximilian of Baden, opened negotiations with President Woodrow Wilson, who would deal only with a democratic Germany. Prince Max told the Kaiser that he would resign unless Ludendorff was dismissed, but that Hindenburg was indispensable to hold the army together. On the 26th of October, the Kaiser reprimanded Ludendorff before curtly accepting his resignation, then rejecting Hindenburg's. Afterwards, Ludendorff refused to share Hindenburg's limousine. Colonel Bauer was retired. Hindenburg promptly replaced Ludendorff with Wilhelm Groener. The Germans were losing their allies. In June the Austro-Hungarians in Italy attacked the Entente lines along the Piave River but were repelled decisively. On the 24th of October, the Italians crossed the river in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto. After a few days of resolute resistance the defense collapsed, weakened by the defection of men from the empire's subject nations and by starvation: the men in their Sixth Army had an average weight of 110 pounds. On the 14th of October, Austria-Hungary asked for an armistice in Italy, but the fighting went on. In September the Entente and their Greek allies attacked in Macedonia. The Bulgarians begged for more Germans to stiffen their troops, but Hindenburg had none to spare. Many Bulgarian soldiers deserted as they retreated toward home, opening the road to Constantinople. The Austro-Hungarians were pushed back in Serbia, Albania and Montenegro, and signed an armistice on the 3rd of November. The Ottomans were overextended, trying to defend Syria while exploiting the Russian collapse to move into the Caucasus, despite Hindenburg's urging them to defend what they had. The British and Arabs broke through in September, capturing Damascus. The Armistice of Mudros was signed on the 30th of October. Woodrow Wilson's the 23rd of October diplomatic note to Germany had indirectly called for the Kaiser's abdication when it stated that the United States would negotiate only with representatives of the German people, not the monarchy. Wilhelm, determined to lead the Army home in the event of disturbances in Berlin, refused to abdicate. A week later, Admiral Franz von Hipper and Admiral Reinhard Scheer without authorization made plans to dispatch the Imperial Fleet on a last battle against the British. Sailors in Kiel mutinied and set up workers' and soldiers' councils that spread quickly across Germany, sparking the German revolution of 1918, 1919. On the 8th of November, Hindenburg and the Kaiser met with 39 regimental officers at Spa. There he delivered a situation report and answered questions. Then Hindenburg left and Groener asked the officers to answer confidentially two questions about whether their troops would follow the Kaiser. The answers were decisive: the army would not. The Kaiser then agreed to abdicate without doing so at the time. In Berlin, however, Prince Max had already publicly announced the Kaiser's abdication and his own resignation, and that the Social Democrat leader Friedrich Ebert, was the new chancellor. The Empire had crumbled all but bloodlessly. That evening Groener telephoned Ebert, whom he knew and trusted, and promised to support the new government, including with military force against revolutionaries on the left. In return Ebert promised that command of the troops would stay with the officer corps. Hindenburg remained head of the OHL to ensure and orderly return of the army. The withdrawal became more fraught when the armistice obliged all German troops to leave Belgium, France, and Alsace-Lorraine in 14 days and to be behind the Rhine in 30 days. Stragglers would become prisoners. When the seven men from the executive committee of the soldiers' council formed at Spa arrived at OHL they were greeted politely by a lieutenant colonel, who acknowledged their leadership. When they broached the march home he took them to the map room, explaining allocation of roads, and scheduling unit departures, billeting, and feeding. They agreed that the existing staffs should make these arrangements. To oversee the withdrawals OHL transferred headquarters from Belgium to Kassel in Germany, unsure how their officers would be received by the revolutionaries. They were greeted by the chairman of the workers' and soldiers' councils who proclaimed Hindenburg belongs to the German nation. His staff intended to billet him in the Kaiser's palace there, Wilhelmshöhe. Hindenburg refused because they did not have the Kaiser's permission, instead settling into a humble inn, thereby pleasing both his monarchist staff and the revolutionary masses. In the west 1.25 million men and 500,000 horses were brought home in the time allotted. Hindenburg did not want to involve the Army in the defense of the new government against their civil enemies. Instead, the Army supported the independent Freikorps, supplying them with weapons and equipment. 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. On the 25th of June 1919, Hindenburg retired to Hanover once again. He settled in a splendid new villa, which was a gift of the city, despite his admittedly having lost the greatest war in history.

The President Who Signed The Death Warrant

In 1925, Paul von Hindenburg returned to public life to become the second elected president of the Weimar Republic. He was opposed to Hitler and the Nazi Party, yet he played a major role in the instability that resulted in their rise to power. After twice dissolving the Reichstag in 1932, Hindenburg agreed in January 1933 to appoint Hitler as chancellor in coalition with the German National People's Party. In response to the February 1933 Reichstag fire, Hindenburg approved the Reichstag Fire Decree which suspended various civil liberties. He likewise signed the Enabling Act of 1933 which gave the Nazi regime emergency powers. After Hindenburg died the following year, Hitler combined the presidency with the chancellery before declaring himself Führer of Germany and transforming the country into a totalitarian dictatorship. The decision to appoint Hitler was not made lightly. Hindenburg had met Hitler in 1932 and found him to be a dangerous demagogue, yet he believed that the Nazi Party could be controlled within a coalition government. The political situation was dire, with the Great Depression having devastated the German economy and the Nazi Party having become the largest party in the Reichstag. Hindenburg, a staunch monarchist, was reluctant to work with a republic, but he felt that the only way to save Germany from chaos was to bring the Nazis into the government. He was persuaded by his son-in-law, Oskar von Hindenburg, and by the advice of his military colleagues, who believed that Hitler could be tamed. The appointment of Hitler as chancellor was a disaster, and the Enabling Act gave Hitler the power to rule by decree, effectively ending the Weimar Republic. The Reichstag Fire Decree suspended civil liberties, allowing the Nazis to arrest their political opponents and suppress the press. The Enabling Act gave the Nazi regime emergency powers, allowing Hitler to pass laws without the consent of the Reichstag. After Hindenburg died on the 2nd of August 1934, Hitler combined the presidency with the chancellery before declaring himself Führer of Germany and transforming the country into a totalitarian dictatorship. The decision to appoint Hitler was a mistake, but it was not a crime. Hindenburg believed that he was saving Germany from chaos, and he did not foresee the extent of the Nazi regime's brutality. He died a hero, but his legacy was tarnished by his role in the rise of the Nazi Party. The decision to appoint Hitler was a mistake, but it was not a crime. Hindenburg believed that he was saving Germany from chaos, and he did not foresee the extent of the Nazi regime's brutality. He died a hero, but his legacy was tarnished by his role in the rise of the Nazi Party.