German Militarism

The militant spirit described by Haffner, in the run-up to the consolidation of Nazi power, was not a new phenomenon in German history. Germany is a nation that has been ravaged by wars for centuries and was finally brought together by the wars of its neighbors. World War I gave great expression and outlet to the military spirit of the German Empire, but I did nothing to create this entity.

The German nation, unlike many other European powers, was created recently in the 19th century. New to the scene, as a consolidated state, Germany in the heart of Europe was framed by a sense of vulnerability and constant fear of invasion. Germany, the place most fought during the Thirty Years’ War, was devastated. Soaring casualty rates and land oppression left people with a sense of just how vulnerable they were. The weak hold of the Holy Roman Empire the German people finally broke with Napoleon and invaded Europe, marching directly through Germany to the last The defeat of Russia. Once again the Germanic people found themselves in the middle of the European continent between opposing Gauls and Russia, well aware that an invasion would come from the other side through Germany. By this time the Germans were beginning to realize that they were a European battleground.

In addition to countries with long-standing conflicts, the German soil was always surrounded by hostile power. The great wealth of the Rhine was always a prize sought by the French, while the power of Russia in the East was always threatening to be overthrown. William I, commander of the Army of the Rhine in the 1850s, saw the threat from France and never forgot it. the military spirit, which was developed in Germany, is seen not as an aggressive war, but as a defensive one. German military power accumulates to protect rather than conquer.

Under Bismarck, the German people finally had a leader who would lead them to a state. This would not be a direct way or a single box card. The German people will not overthrow a heavy tyrant or usher in an age of liberal doctrine and progressive government. Instead, it would be forged in the battles of the short-decided wars which declared the heart and fist of the new Prussia. of the united state of Germany. In order to unite the nation, Bismarck first needed to put Prussia on par and then in a position to militarily defeat the Austrian Empire. This was the very thing that was won in the time of the republic in order to bring about the war in the minds of the soldiers.

Before exploring these wars, it is important to know the man behind the founding of the German Reich. According to Pflanze, Bismarck’s dominant trait was his “constant drive to master men and events” ^[1] which allowed him to instill the German spirit into the nation. Early in his political career Bismarck responded to the budget crisis in 1862 “The great questions of our time will not be answered by speeches and votes … but by iron and blood.”^[2] Thus the man created the moment that the very spirit of Bismarck, the “Iron Chancellor” wrapped in the nation during the war, helped to establish. As he himself had said, a nation is not created by votes or by speeches or declarations of freedom, but by the steel of bullets and bayonets shed by the blood of soldiers. Reich would follow the founder’s faith in the battles before the great battles World War 1 would devour so many lives in this great military relief.

Bismarck had to create the German nation first by placing Prussia on an equal footing with Austria, which at that time had named the empire in the German states. Germany was the only nationalist in Vienna, a situation that was completely unacceptable for Bismarck. When Denmark tried to annex the territory of Schleswig-Holstein, Bismarck took the opportunity. In alliance with Austria he crushed the Danes in the Six Weeks War of 1864 and Austria agreed to a dual territorial regime. From the victory it became clear that Prussia was a military partner of Austria. For Bismarck, however, this was the only saving grace as he prepared to seize the next opportunity to create a fully united nation.^[3]

German unity was forged by not one but three wars. But after the Germans were the first industrial power, they created a military machine that would develop the most powerful armies in Europe. The production of German communication rifles gives them an excellent advantage against the muzzle-loading weapons used by the Austrian army. In addition, the vast travel space of the German rails allowed for the rapid mobilization and delivery of large quantities of materials and troops to the front line. Prussia had four sometimes as many railroad cars as the Austrians who decided in the war of 1866. . The combination of Borussia control and militarism combined with Germany’s vast industrial resources allowed for a clash of “iron and blood” exactly as Bismarck had predicted in the creation of a single German nation. However, the nation was not complete until 1871 after the Franco-Prussian war. The defeat of the French and the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine solidified Germany’s place in central Europe as the dominant military power on the continent under the influence of Bismarck.

The spirit that emanated from Bismarck, the power of iron and blood to solve great problems, was conveyed to the leaders of the German Reich even after Bismarck was forced out. The nation that Bismarck had created had gone beyond Europe, and on the continents of Africa and Asia it seemed that it wanted to become a real world power. Under Wilhelm II this process was undertaken with enormous popular support. To undertake this colonial expansion, Germany first needed a navy to challenge Britain’s dominance of the high seas. The naval battle under Tirpitz began to be created from the beginning with the intention of forcing the British into a duel where they were wounded.^[4]

When imperialism fever swept through Europe in the 19^th century, it was distinctly militaristic in Germany. Unlike France, England, which had been an empire for at least a century, Germany looked to the newcomer to burst onto the world stage, and it could only do so in two ways: industrial and military strength. Whether in the Moroccan crisis with Germany he would send battles to challenge the leadership of the other European powers (despite Wilhelm’s declarations of nothing but peace^[5]) or in regard to Pugil. rebellion in China, the German imperialism was easy militarism. In this case, many nations sent troops into China to quell the rebellion and keep China under European exploitation. In Germany, however, the emperor continued to “Show the old Prussian courage…” and “know this: no pardon will be given. No prisoners will be taken.” ^{[6] More than a decade before World War millions of lives I will steal thousands from the Germans. He had shown the world that he was willing to fight the enemy cruelly. A speech by Wilhelm II, to the displeasure of the German authorities, world-war-1″>Bismarck’s world view of the nation during the war. a> . Germany was a nation that was clearly savage and capable of cruelty.}

The continued expression of German military power through attempts to create an overseas empire, to build a naval base, and through the gathering of language forces to suppress the Boxing Rebellion led to the self-fulfillment of the prophecies in Europe. As Germany flexed its building muscle and industrial capabilities in both naval and land forces, the rest of Europe slowly but easily began to join in. Coming from the Franco-Russian Alliance in 1894 and finally the British/Russian alliance in 1907, Germany was isolated and surrounded by hostile states that were allies. Each of these societies served to protect colonial possessions, but also maintained the precarious balance of power on the European continent. Nevertheless, the effect of these alliances, especially between France and Russia, was always to strengthen the warlike spirit in Germany, for fear that an imminent war might begin at any time, and the nation was again plunged into bloody conflict. would have survived, because Germany would leave and be devastated by the war that took place thirty years ago. Thus efforts to suppress German militarism only accelerated.

This phenomenon is seen in Germany through the creation of a plan founded by Schlieffen a decade before the death of Franz Ferdinand. He asked for a plan to push quickly through Belgium and the lower regions and strike a blow against France. If all went well, Germany would conquer Paris and force the French out of the war within six weeks, allowing them to turn their army eastward and take longer to defeat the Russians. Its simplicity was attractive on paper, but in practice its rigidity left no room for improvisation and ultimately led to trench warfare that cost millions of lives. German planning had begun long before the war, and the Germans had already decided exactly how they would behave, including the invasion of France, even though France had not yet entered the German/Russian conflict. The Schlieffen Plan was designed to expand the war to include France and Russia in the hope of defeating Britain and perhaps the United States. could be involved.

At the beginning of World War I, German militarism was a national element. Fritzsche describes the great meetings between the royal court and the statue of Bismarck on the eve of World War I. as singing and excitement of the soul While he also showed the opposite of the demonstrations, what it means to repress the tumultuous crowd, meeting with the idea of ​​a future war. challenge the European governments to head on and continue to be a “young and growing empire.”^[8] At the beginning of the war, Germany was the second largest trading nation and the second largest industrial output behind Britain and United States. This, with the knowledge of a clear victory over Gaul, at the last time the two met in battle, in the hope of the multitudes that had begun with the Great War.

Because of the war crimes and the “war crime” of the Versailles clause, Germany’s military nation was forever relegated. Thus the warlike nation was controlled by its leaders with a warlike spirit. The Treaty of Versailles gave them a new lease of life for the vanquished, giving Germany once again a just cause, ordered by the victor to take revenge, to inhumanity .