Friday, March 25, 2011
Hindenburg as President
Hindenburg as President
I was not involved the German politics until 1925, when I was convinced by nationalist politicians to run for president at the elections. Although a supporter of monarchy, I made no attempts to return to the old regime, but imposed authoritarian style of governing. When my governments faced the Great Depression, which deeply struck Germany, I provided the Reich government with additional powers including a right to dissolve the Reichstag. The political crisis followed in 1930 and resulted in the Reichstag's dissolution. The new parliament proved to be even less cooperative than its predecessor and Hindenburg introduced the system of presidential cabinets governing without party support in Reichstag, where National Socialists became the second largest party. In early 1932, the government was at a political crisis and I was 83 at the time, provided the Reich chancellor Heinrich Bruning with an excuse to propose the extension of presidential term without elections, but the Reichstag declined the proposal. At the elections in March/April 1932, I was able to win over the National Socialist candidate Adolf Hitler with the support of the Catholic Center Party and the Social Democrats. I believe one of my greatest mistakes was appointing Adolf Hitler as the Chancellor of Germany. After my death, Hitler took control of the government and instilled his ideology of Nazism.The First Battle of the Mansurian Lakes
First Battle of the Mansurian Lakes
The first battle of the Mansurian Lakes was a German attack in the Eastern Front in the beginning of World War I. The conflicting nations of Germany and Russia had many tensions during the beginning of the war. My army was able to push the Russian First Army back across the entire front. I positioned my troops into the northern end of the defensive line and planned an offensive against the south. The south divisions of the German army began their attack on September 7, with the battle opening the next day. RennenKampf ordered a counter attack in the north to buy time to reform his defensive line. Instead of reforming the German line, I ordered my troops to advance in the south and north. I had devised a plan to trap the Russian troops, but failed due to a rumor of a Russian counterattack. If I had not been so conservative of my troops, we could have defeated the Russian with one final blow. The remaining First army retreated from our grasp and was safe from Germany. We were also able to push back the Tenth army back into Russian territory. The battle was not as destructive as the Battle of Tannenberg, but caused many casualties on both sides. The battle upset the Russian plants into the spring of 1915.
The Battle of Tannenberg
Battle of Tannenberg
The Battle of Tannenberg was a war engagement between the Large Russian Empire and the German Empire in the beginning of World War I. The battle was between the first and second armies of Russia and the German eighth army. I led the eighth army through the tough battle with the Russians. We were fighting from August 23 to August 30, 1914. One result of the battle was that the second Russian army was completely destroyed by my troops. A series of other conflicts also destroyed the first Russian army as well. The battle actually took place close to Allenstein. By the time the battle ended on August 30, Samsonov’s second army was completely obliterated by the eighth army. 92,000 Russian troops were prisoners of war and another 78,000 soldiers were either killed or wounded in the battle. German casualties were not nearly severe as the Russians. The Germans only suffered fewer than 20,000 casualties and captured of 500 guns. With these guns, we were able to arm more incoming soldiers from our motherland. Samsonov was embarrassed by his loss in the battle and ended up committing suicide. He was not able to tell Tsar Nicholas II about the loss of the Battle of Tanneberg. Ludendorff and I returned to Germany where the citizens gave us great acclaim for our war victories. The Schlieffen Plan was used to create rapid mobilization of the German army against the Allied nations. World War I had only begun, but I had great assurance that our German nation was going to succeed. World War I
World War I
I retired from the military service in 1911, but was recalled to the military service to lead the Eighth Army in Prussia. I had gained much respect due to my first encounter of warfare in the war with Austria. By mid September 1914, I achieved victory at Tannenburg and the Masurian Lakes. The nation viewed me as a national war hero because of the severe defeats of the Russian Army. In August 1916, I was appointed Chief of the Greater German General Staff. This position allowed influencing Germany with power. The Allied troops were a powerful force and were pushing the Germans back. It was my idea to advise the government to seek armistice in 1918. There was more tension as the United States joined World War I. The Americans joined the war because we attempted to Persuade Mexico into attacking the United States. My troops were being pushed back into Germany, which frightened me. The German offense on the Western Front of France continued to go on for many years. Trench Warfare was not very organized and many men were killed by machine guns. During the war in Germany, Ludendorff and I decreed a system of complete mobilization for total war. The Auxiliary Service Law of 1916 required all male noncombatants between ages 17-60 to work only in jobs that benefited the war. Many German citizens joined in the fight for a national purpose. Nationalization grew within Germany as more armistice production was increased by the women who substituted the men in the war. In the end, Germany Ended up losing the Great War and was forced to pay reparations in the Treaty of Versailles.
Paul Von Hindenburg
Paul Von Hindenburg
Greetings my fellow comrades,
My name is Paul Von Hindenburg and I was born on October 2, 1847 at Posen, Prussia. I was born into a rich aristocratic German family. The name of my mother and father were Robert von Benecendorff und von Hindenburg and Luise schwickard. Even though I loved my mother dearly, she embarrassment to our family name. She was not part of the aristocracy so I did not mention her much in my memoirs. After a few years, I was sent to school to be a soldier and fight for Prussia at that time. Also I was a part of the war against Austria in 1886 and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. Prussian was successful in defeating France and gained Alsace-Lorraine. We knew that France was burning with rage and wanted revenge. After many years in the military, I was appointed lieutenant general in 1900. In 1911, I decided to retire from military service due to my old age. I had thought my life would calm and free from any government influence. After the start of World War I, the German army asked me to command the army against the Russians on the eastern side. Even though I was 67 at the time, I accepted the offer and led my troops to victory in the Battles of Tannenberg and Masurian Lakes. Also in 1916, I was appointed to chief commander of the German armies. I received great acclaim for defending the Hindenburg line on the western front in 1917. My defensive line stopped the allied forces from advancing into Germany. Nationalism was a large factor within the German people that kept my spirits up. German industrial workers increased as the need for more armaments were demanded. One thing that astounded me was that more women were working in the factories. They were taking over jobs of missing men that signed up to fight for their country. The German army was crushed and we had no other choice but to surrender to the allies. I decided to retire from my military position because of my old age in 1919. As I lived my life as a retired commander of the great German army, I was elected as president of the German Republic in 1925. Of course I accepted the offer because of my desire to bring Germany back to its feet. I aimed to reconcile with the western countries such as the United States, Great Britain, and Italy. My term as president of Germany was renewed by a re-election as president in 1932. I decisively defeated Adolf Hitler from becoming a dictator of Germany. I virtually controlled the government with Erich Ludendorff and ruled like military dictators. Economic conditions in Germany were worsened by the outcome of the war. We needed to accept the Treaty of Versailles and take the blame for starting the war. Germany was falling into darkness as the reparations demanded impossible amounts to pay. I eventually gave the position of chancellor of Germany to Adolf Hitler. After he took control of the government, I perished on August 2, 1934.
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