The Army, Politics and Society in Germany, 1933-45

This study analyzes the historical background of the responses to Hitler, and his seizure of power, among the army leadership in Germany. In particular it examines the nature of the opposition which developed among the military elite.

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Hitler's seizure of power in 1933 posed a new threat to an army leadership already faced with a double dilemma. The position of the officer corps, traditionally a social and political elite, had been eroded politically by social change and professionally by the ever-widening scope of industrialized total war. This study analyzes the historical background of the responses to Hitler among the army leadership. In particular it examines the nature of the opposition which developed among the military elite. The book also raises wider questions about opposition and resistance, about the structure of Hitler's regime, about the internal dynamics of German aggression and the continuities between the Third Reich and its predecessors.