Paul von Hindenburg(1847-1934)
Coming from an aristocratic Prussian family, Paul von Hindenburg joined
the Prussian army as a young man, retiring as a general in 1913 at age
66. Recalled to duty during World War I, he was placed in command of
the German forces at the battle of Tannenberg in 1914 against the
Russians which, due to a combination of his skillful tactics and
staggeringly incompetent leadership on the part of the Russian
generals, resulted in a disastrous defeat for the Russian army, which
lost an estimated 350,000 men. In 1916 he was made supreme commander of
all German forces. He retired from the army again in 1919, but in 1925
returned to public life as a candidate for President of Germany, and
won the election. He ran for re-election in 1932, not so much because
he wanted to but because he was considered the only candidate who could
beat Adolf Hitler, which he proceeded to do. Hindenburg had little use for
Hitler and the Nazi party and did what he could to thwart their grab
for power, but it was too little too late--in 1933, due to the Nazi
party's gains in local and national elections and their majority of
seats in the German parliament, Hindenburg appointed Hitler
as Chancellor, and later he signed the Enabling Act of 1933, which
granted sweeping powers to the government formed by Hitler. Frustrated,
frail and in poor health, Hindenburg died the next year.
