Hindenburg - Paul von Beneckendorff and von Hindenburg

German military officer and politician. Son of a military man from the Junker family (the traditional ruling class of Prussia). He pursued a career in the military, serving in both the Prussian-Austrian and Prussian-French wars. He served as a staff officer and army commander under the Second Empire, and retired to the reserves in 1911. After the outbreak of World War I (1914), he returned to command the 8th Army in the East. With the assistance of his chief of staff, Ludendorff, he defeated the Russians at the Battle of Tannenberg, and continued to win victories in the East, becoming a national hero and being awarded the rank of field marshal. In August 1916, he was invited to the center together with Ludendorff to form the Third Supreme Army Headquarters and establish a total war system, but Ludendorff was in charge of the actual operational leadership. Even after the defeat, he remained in that position until the summer of 1919, and worked to maintain the continuity of the military center in the Republic. His statement that Germany's defeat was due to betrayal on the home front encouraged criticism of the left and gave rise to anti-Weimar forces. In 1925, after the death of President Ebert, he was nominated by conservatives to be elected as the second president of the Republic. At first, he was loyal to the constitution, but due to his inherent imperial sentiment and lack of independent political judgment, he was influenced by the Wehrmacht and his close aides and in 1930 formed the Brüning minority cabinet, which strengthened the direction of an authoritarian, anti-parliamentary presidential cabinet that relied solely on the president's emergency legislative powers. In 1932, he was nominated by the republicans to defeat Hitler and was re-elected president, but in January 1933, he appointed Hitler as chancellor, paving the way for the Third Reich. He was said to have "lived three lives in one lifetime," and although he was very popular among the people, he rarely demonstrated leadership.

[Kimura Seiji]

"From Hindenburg to Hitler: The Road to the Nazi Third Reich" by J.W. Wheeler Bennett, translated by Takeo Kihara (1970, Toho Publishing)" "Muro Kiyoshi, "The Political History of the German Military: 1914-1933" Revised Edition (2007, Waseda University Press)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ドイツの軍人、政治家。ユンカー（プロイセンの伝統的支配階級）出身の軍人の子。職業軍人の道を進み、プロイセン・オーストリア、プロイセン・フランス両戦争に従軍。第二帝政下で、幕僚、軍司令官を歴任し、1911年予備役に退いた。第一次世界大戦勃発(ぼっぱつ)（1914）後、東部第8軍司令官に復帰。参謀長ルーデンドルフの補佐を得て、タンネンベルクの戦いでロシア軍を破り、その後も東部で連勝、国民的英雄となり、元帥に叙せられた。1916年8月、ルーデンドルフとともに中央に招かれ、第三次最高軍司令部を形成、総力戦体制を確立したが、実際の作戦指導はルーデンドルフが担っていた。敗戦後も、1919年夏までその地位にとどまり、共和国への軍部中枢の継続性の保持に努めた。ドイツの敗北は銃後の裏切りによるとする彼の発言は左翼批判を促し、反ワイマール勢力を台頭させた。1925年、大統領エーベルトの死後、保守派に推されて共和国第2代大統領に当選。当初は憲法に忠実であったが、元来の帝政的心情と独自の政治判断力の欠如から、国防軍、側近の影響を受け、1930年ブリューニング少数内閣を発足させ、もっぱら大統領の緊急立法権に依拠する権威主義的・脱議会的大統領内閣への方向を強めた。1932年、共和派に推されてヒトラーを破り、大統領に再選されたが、1933年1月ヒトラーを首相に任命し、第三帝国への道を開いた。「生涯に三度の人生を経験した」といわれ、国民的人気は高かったものの、指導力を発揮したことは少なかった。

［木村靖二］

『J・W・ウィーラー・ベネット著、木原健男訳『ヒンデンブルクからヒトラーへ――ナチス第三帝国への道』（1970・東邦出版社）』▽『室潔著『ドイツ軍部の政治史――1914～1933』増補版（2007・早稲田大学出版部）』

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