Bonapartes in Feldgrau: Army Generals and Political Engineering Under Kaiser, Weimar and Führer

Robert Kirchubel, Purdue University

Abstract

Bonapartes in Feldgrau: German Generals and Political Engineering under Kaiser, Weimar and Führer analyzes the domestic political activities of three generals in leading military positions from 1916 to 1938. Erich Ludendorff, Kurt von Schleicher and Ludwig Beck and their entourages operated in monarchy, republic and dictatorship to achieve the political engineering objectives of their national conservative caste. These three case studies demonstrate the lengths to which German generals would go to insure and improve the army’s status in the state. Using archival materials, published documents, memoirs and secondary sources, this dissertation examines army leaders as they worked to maintain and expand the military’s status in three rapidly changing milieus. I argue that, all three generals along with their associates and peers were deeply involved in politics: manipulating, or attempting to manipulate, heads of state, heads of government, the legislature, public opinion, monied interests, labor and media. Each of them demonstrated admirable adaptability and pragmatism. Reaching the peak of their profession at the pinnacle of the national decision-making authority, they enjoyed varying levels of success. However, in all three cases political ambition did not equate to political skill. By 1938, two centuries of Prussian-German militarism, and with it the army’s cherished social position, succumbed to Adolf Hitler and National Socialism and ceased to play an independent political role. Keywords: German army, militarism, political engineering, Bonapartism, Ludendorff, Schleicher, Beck, German Empire, Weimar Republic, Third Reich.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Gray, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Military history

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