ABSTRACT

This book is about the social and economic setting of the Hitler era. It unveils an amazing story about the bitter end of the German Great General Staff, the once most precise and powerful director of military policy known to the Western world, and its command in a democratic-capitalistic society.

chapter Chapter I|14 pages

The Beginnings

chapter Chapter II|35 pages

The Fathers

Scharnhorst and Gneisenau—The Era of Idealism

chapter Chapter III|19 pages

The Philosopher of War

The General Staff in the Age of Clausewitz

chapter Chapter IV|34 pages

The Man of Silence

Helmuth von Moltke

chapter Chapter V|24 pages

Preventive War or Coup D’état

Waldersee

chapter Chapter VI|16 pages

The Master Plan

Schlieffen

chapter Chapter VII|36 pages

War without Generals

The Younger Moltke and Falkenhayn, 1906-1916

chapter Chapter VIII|25 pages

The Silent Dictatorship

Hindenburg and Ludendorff, 1916-1918

chapter Chapter IX|36 pages

The Sphinx

Seeckt and the “Truppenamt”

chapter Chapter X|33 pages

The King Maker

Kurt von Schleicher—Hammerstein-Equord

chapter Chapter XI|31 pages

The Uneasy Partnership

Ludwig von Beck—Reichenau

chapter Chapter XII|36 pages

The Struggle against War

Fritsch—Blomberg—Brauchitsch

chapter Chapter XIII|38 pages

Hitler Triumphant

chapter Chapter XIV|32 pages

The Beginning of the Captivity

chapter Chapter XV|44 pages

The Revolt

chapter Chapter XVI|46 pages

Götterdämmerung