Hans von Seeckt
|
|
Hans_von_Seeckt.jpg
Hans von Seeckt (22 April 1866 - 27 December 1936) was a German soldier.
Born in Schleswig, he entered the army in 1885 and was seconded to the General Staff in 1899. During World War I Seeckt served in various high-level staff positions on the Eastern Front, including Chief of Staff to August von Mackensen while the latter commanded the Eleventh Army. After the end of the war and the dissolution of the old imperial army it fell to Seeckt to organize the new Reichswehr and a replacement General Staff (which was named the Truppenamt - Troop Office).
Seeckt's role during the Kapp Putsch of 1920 remains uncertain; he refused to either actively put down the rebellion or combine with it. His remark to the leaders of the republic, that "Reichswehr do not fire on Reichswehr", was and is controversial. In working to build a non-political professional army within and without the confines of the Treaty of Versailles Seeckt perpetuated the concept of the army as a state-within-a-state. He was eventually forced out in 1926 after permitting a son of the former Kaiser to attend army manuevers without first seeking government approval.
From 1930 to 1932 he sat in the Reichstag as a member of the DVP; from 1934 to 1935 he served as an advisor to Chiang Kai-shek.
Further reading
- Craig, Gordon. The Politics of the Prussian Army 1640-1945. Oxford University Press, 1964.
- Corum, James. The Roots of Blitzkrieg. University Press of Kansas, 1992.
| Preceded by: Wilhelm Groener | Chief of the Troop Office 1919–1920 | Succeeded by: Wilhelm Heye |