ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews some of the more important changes within the army in order to define more precisely the ‘modern’ character of the Reichswehr. It focuses on a more diachronic analysis of the problem of rearmament and politics, an analysis that will enable to interpret the frictions and antagonisms in the civil-military relations of the Weimar Republic. Limited and professionally justified military acts directly affected not only civil-military relations but the very political foundations of the Weimar Republic. For the Weimar Republic it is important to note that the preparations for an all-encompassing war led the military beyond the limits of the status quo of 1924 and infused a new expansion-oriented dynamic into military planning. One of the classic themes of German military history is the predominance of aristocratic traditions within the officer corps. The decision as to which of the two should have priority occupied the German military throughout the inter-war years.
