[5] In 1913, Seeckt became the Chief of Staff of the III Corps based in Berlin. For this reason, Seeckt like other almost all German officers of his generation took the view that if society and/or the state were not properly aligned for war, then the military had both the right and duty to intervene in politics to reshape state and/or society, so the military could win. Seeckt himself felt his ancestors must have been Nordic and their origin exclusively Swedish. Hans Dietrich von Seeckt (Japanese: ハンス・ディートリッヒ・フォン・ゼークト) was one of two admirals placed in command of Iserlohn Fortress, along with Thoma von Stockhausen. [25] As a result of Seeckt's refusal to defend the government that he taken a solemn oath to defend, the government was forced to flee Berlin, which was taken by the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt on the morning of 13 March 1920 without a shot being fired. [53] In March 1934, Chiang not only appointed Seeckt his Chief Military Advisor, but also appointed him as the Deputy Chairman of the Military Affairs Council. After seeing encouraging signs from the newly established War Commissar's Office of Leon Trotsky, Seeckt sent out a secret staff to conduct a military alliance with the Soviets, unbeknownst to the Weimar government. [1] After Seeckt had met Adolf Hitler for the first time on 11 March 1923 he wrote: "We were one in our aim; only our paths were different". The military refused to accept the democratic Weimar republic as legitimate and instead the Reichswehr under the leadership of Seeckt became a “state within the state” that operated largely outside of the control of the politicians. 1 der Preußischen Armee ein und durchlief eine steile militärische Karriere. [20] Seeckt regarded the efforts of General Rüdiger von der Goltz and his Freikorps to create an anti-communist, German-dominated state in the Baltic as a ludicrous attempt to turn back the clock. Hans von Seeckt (1866-1936) is most well known for his military and political careers in the Weimar Republic. Von Seeckt disciplined this small army much differently than past German armies. During this period, Seeckt oversaw the successful restructuring of the army, often bypassing the restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles.. Hans von Seeckt was born in Silesia, the son of an army general. That this association should begin in the field of economics is a natural consequence of the general situation, but its strength lies in the fact that this economic rapprochement is preparing the way for the possibility of a political and, thus also, a military association. Tidlige år. Abenheim, Donald. Omissions? In October 1933, Seeckt arrived in China to head the German military mission. [25] Seeckt's actions were entirely illegal as under the Weimar constitution the President was the Supreme Commander in Chief, and moreover Seeckt had violated the Reichswehreid oath, which committed the military to defending the republic. [48], The German historian Wolfram Wette wrote that Seeckt did not seek only to overturn the international order created by Germany's defeat in 1918, but rather wanted to see Germany win the "world power status" that had been sought in World War I, which by necessity meant another war. [28] At the same time, Seeckt showed his sympathy for the putsch by arranging with Captain Hermann Ehrhardt that the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt should march out of Berlin with all the honors of war, during the course of which march the men of the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt fired on jeering Berliners, killing a number of them. [9], Seeckt was a firm believer in the "faith of the sword", and despite the devastating loss of the First World War he worked to ensure the German army maintained the defiant, offensive spirit that was its tradition. General staff officers had been central to the developing the revolutionary tactical conceptions of 1917 and 1918, and the new German officer corps accepted the values of the general staff in way that it had not before 1914. [45] Wheeler-Bennett wrote that if there were any chance that Germany could have defeated France in 1923, then Seeckt would have gladly joined forces with the Nazis. Seeckt was the last man to serve as Chief of General Staff of the Imperial Army. Our policy should be to prepare the means of doing so in the future. The 1914 frontier between Russia and Germany should be the basis of any understanding between the two countries...I will touch one or two more objections to the policy demanded towards Russia. [46] In particular, Seeckt objected to joining the League as one of the conditions for League membership was the commitment not to engage in aggression against other League members, something that put something of a damper on Seeckt's plans for aggression against Poland. It is beyond a doubt that such a double association would strengthen Germany-and also Russia … The whole policy of reconciliation and appeasement towards France — no matter whether it is pursued by a Stinnes or by General Ludendorff — is hopeless as it aims at political success. Hans von Seeckt, (born April 22, 1866, Schleswig, Prussia—died Dec. 27, 1936, Berlin), German general and head of the Reichswehr (army) from 1920 to 1926, who was responsible for successfully remodelling the army under the Weimar Republic. [13] Seeckt stated: "It is absolutely necessary to put the experience of the war in a broad light and collect this experience while the impressions won on the battlefield are still fresh and a major portion of the experienced officers are still in leading positions". [45] The British historian John Wheeler-Bennett wrote that Seeckt was loyal to the Reich, not the Republic and that ideologically Seeckt sympathized with Erich Ludendorff, Buchrucker and Hitler. [20] Seeckt regarded his informal alliance with the Soviet Union in purely non-ideological terms. [55][56] It was Seeckt's tactics that led to a series of defeats suffered by the Chinese Communists that finally in October 1934 led to the famous Long March. [22] An Interior Minister of Prussia, Albert Grzesinski, wrote that members of Seeckt's staff said that Seeckt desired a military dictatorship, perhaps headed by Gustav Noske.[23]. Ed., Spencer Tucker. Brockdorff-Rantzau was just as committed as Seeckt to the destruction of Versailles, but rather preferred to accomplish that goal through an alliance with Britain. The putsch only failed after the government called for a general strike, which shut down the German economy. He added that German war material would now no longer be sold or destroyed and that the army should be reduced on paper only. Our task is to prepare for this struggle, for we shall not be spared it".[42]. It is true that there is a widespread and understandable need for peace among the German people. [52] At the time of his arrival, Sino-German relations were in a bad state owing to the racial arrogance of the Germans, and Chiang was considering firing the Germans and bringing in a French military mission. [4] He served in the elite Kaiser Alexander Guard Grenadiers, then joined the Prussian General Staff in 1897. His major accomplishment was the masterminding of breakthrough in Gorlice on May 1995. The clearest heads, when considering the pros and cons of war, will be those of the military, but to pursue a policy means to take a lead. As such he played a pivotal role in shaping the evolution of the interwar German military. [1] With the Eleventh Army, Seeckt fought in the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive of 2 May – 27 June 1915, where he was credited with engineering Mackensen's breakthrough, and received the Pour le Mérite, Prussia's highest military honor. The heart of Seeckt’s policy was to maintain the power and prestige of the army by avoiding internal dissension. English: Hans von Seeckt (22 April 1866 - 27 December 1936) was a German military officer noted for his organization of the German Army during the Weimar Republic. Seeckt advised Chiang that China needed a 60 division army, which he proposed to arm with the latest in German military technology and to train German-style to wage combined arms operations that he had previously trained the German Army for in the 1920s. The upper levels of society had become unwarlike, the main reason being the increasing mixing with foreign elements of a long standing unculture". In October 1933, Seeckt arrived in China t… Poland is more intolerable for Russia than for ourselves; Russia can never tolerate Poland. [35] In September 1921, at a secret meeting in Schleicher's apartment, the details of an arrangement for German financial and technological aid for building up the Soviet arms industry in exchange for Soviet support in helping Germany evade the disarmament clauses of the Treaty of Versailles were agreed to. With Poland collapses one of the strongest pillars of the Peace of Versailles, France's advance post of power [is lost]. German military and political figure. - Berlin, 27. prosinca 1936.) "The Character of Hans von Seeckt". Dabag, Mihran "The Decisive Generation: Self-authorization and delegations in deciding a genocide" pages 113-135 from. Friedrich von Rabenau, Hans . The main point about it is not its economic value, though that is by no means inconsiderable, but its political achievement. After the First World War and the signing of the treaty of Versailles, the German army was forced to rethink its guidelines and restructure its forces. April 1866 in Schleswig; † 27. His memoirs, Aus meinem Leben (“From My Life”) and Aus seinem Leben (“From His Life”), appeared in 1938 and 1940. Generaloberst (Colonel-General) Hans von Seeckt had a special role in the development of the Reichswehr in the Weimar Republic. Stockhausen commanded Iserlohn Fortress, while Seeckt was in command of Iserlohn's garrisoned fleet. So let us do our utmost to ensure that on that future day there is no lack of such hearts and hands; let us strive tirelessly to strengthen our own bodies and minds and those of our fellow Germans...It is the duty of every member of the general staff to make the Reichswehr not only a reliable pillar of the state, but also a school for the leaders of the nation. In return for German training of the Soviet Army and aid in the construction of heavy industry, the Reichswehr was able to train tank and air crews in the Soviet Union and experiment with the latest weapons, thereby effectively circumventing the Versailles treaty. He further said that if the Allies invaded Germany—which he believed they would not—then the German army in the West should retire behind the Weser and the Elbe, as this was where defensive positions had already been built. Generaloberst Hans von Seeckt. From 1920 to 1926 Seeckt held the position of Chef der Heeresleitung—in fact if not in name commander of the army of the new Weimar Republic, the Reichswehr. In October 1919 Seeckt sent out his close friend Enver Pasha on a secret mission to Moscow to make contracts with the Soviets. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. is widely echoed. [19] In the summer of 1920, Enver sent Seeckt a letter from Moscow asking for German arms deliveries to the Soviet Union in exchange for which Trotsky promised to partition Poland with the Reich. It fell to Seeckt to organize the new Reichswehr within the strict restrictions imposed. [1] Though the family had lost its estates, Seeckt was "a thorough-going aristocrat" and his father was an important general within the German Army, finishing his career as military governor of Posen. 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