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Wilhelm Groener

Karl Eduard Wilhelm Groener (German pronunciation: [ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈɡʁøːnɐ] ; 22 November 1867 – 3 May 1939) was a German general and politician. His organisational and logistical abilities resulted in a successful military career before and during World War I.

Wilhelm Groener
Groener in 1928
Reich Minister of Defence
Weimar Republic
In office
20 January 1928 – 13 May 1932
ChancellorWilhelm Marx
Hermann Müller
Heinrich Brüning
Preceded byOtto Gessler
Succeeded byKurt von Schleicher
Reich Minister of the Interior
Weimar Republic
In office
9 October 1931 – 1 June 1932
ChancellorHeinrich Brüning
Preceded byJoseph Wirth
Succeeded byWilhelm von Gayl
Reich Minister of Transport
 Weimar Republic
In office
25 June 1920 – 12 August 1923
ChancellorKonstantin Fehrenbach
Joseph Wirth
Wilhelm Cuno
Preceded byGustav Bauer
Succeeded byRudolf Oeser
Chief of the German General Staff
German Empire
In office
3 July 1919 – 7 July 1919
Preceded byPaul von Hindenburg
Succeeded byHans von Seeckt
Personal details
Born
Karl Eduard Wilhelm Groener

(1867-11-22)22 November 1867
Ludwigsburg, Neckar District, Württemberg
Died3 May 1939(1939-05-03) (aged 71)
Potsdam-Bornstedt, Brandenburg, Nazi Germany
NationalityGerman
Political partyIndependent
Military service
Allegiance German Empire
Branch/service German Army
Years of service1884–1919
RankGeneralleutnant
Battles/warsWorld War I

After a confrontation with Erich Ludendorff the Quartermaster general (Erster Generalquartiermeister) of the German Army, Groener was reassigned to a field command. When Ludendorff was dismissed in October 1918, Groener succeeded him. Groener worked with the new Social Democratic president Friedrich Ebert to foil a left-wing take-over during the German Revolution of 1918–19. Under his command, the army bloodily suppressed popular uprisings throughout Germany.

Groener tried to integrate the military, which was dominated by an aristocratic and monarchistic officer corps, into the new republic. After resigning from the army in the summer of 1919, Groener served in several governments of the Weimar Republic as minister of transportation, interior and defence. He was pushed out of the government in 1932 by Kurt von Schleicher, who was working on a pact with the Nazis.

Early life Edit

Wilhelm Groener was born in Ludwigsburg in the Kingdom of Württemberg as the son of Karl Eduard Groener (1837–1893), regimental paymaster, and his wife Auguste (née Boleg, 1825–1907) on 22 November 1867.[1] After attending gymnasium at Ulm and Ludwigsburg, where his father had been stationed, Groener entered the 3. Württembergische Infanterie Regiment Nummer 121 of the Württemberg Army in 1884.[1] In 1890, he was promoted to Bataillonsadjutant and from 1893 to 1896 attended the War Academy at Berlin, where he finished top of his class.[1] In 1899, Groener married Helene Geyer (1864–1926) in Schwäbisch Gmünd.[1][2] They had a daughter, Dorothea Groener-Geyer (b.1900).[2]

Military career Edit

Pre-war Edit

As a captain, he won appointment to the General Staff in 1899 and was attached to the railway section, where he worked for the next 17 years.[1] This was only interrupted for the usual assignments to other locations, from 1902 to 1904 he was Kompaniechef of Infantry Regiment 98 at Metz, from 1908 to 1910 he was with the XIII Army Corps and in 1910 he became a battalion commander in Infantry Regiment 125 at Stuttgart. In 1912, as a lieutenant-colonel, Groener became head of the railway section at the General Staff. His plans for the extension of the railway network and for deployment routes were based the deployment plans of Alfred von Schlieffen, the Chief of the General Staff of the German Army from 1891 to 1906.[2]

World War I Edit

 
Groener as deputy war minister of Prussia in 1917 (with his first wife on the left)

The deployment of millions of troops to the frontier by rail boosted Groener's reputation and he received numerous decorations in 1914. In June 1915, he was promoted to Generalmajor. Due to his organisational skills, in December 1915 Groener was put in charge of food deliveries from Romania. In May 1916, he joined the leadership of the newly created Kriegsernährungsministerium (War Food Ministry). In November 1916, as a Generalleutnant he became head of the Kriegsamt (War Office) the department that managed the war economy and deputy of the Prussian Minister of War.[1][2]

With Erich Ludendorff, Groener worked on the draft for the Hilfsdienstgesetz (Auxiliary Services Act, 1916), which laid down the conscription of men (Arbeitszwang) for the war economy. Groener negotiated with the civilian bureaucracy, unions and representatives of the employers. Despite his efforts to appear neutral to maximise output, he became the target of criticism. Factory owners resented him for accepting the unions as partners. Revolutionary groups used his strict admonishments against those who went on strike while soldiers died at the front to undermine his standing with the workers. The negotiations made the limits of Germany military power obvious to Groener and he began to doubt that Germany could win the war. This caused confrontations with the third Oberste Heeresleitung (OHL, the supreme command of the German army), led by Paul Hindenburg and Ludendorff. During the change at the Reichskanzlei in July 1917, when Georg Michaelis replaced Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg as Chancellor, Groener suggested that the state should intervene to limit corporate profits and the wage growth that resulted from booming war-related public demand.[1] On 16 August 1917 he was recalled from his post and reassigned to an operational command. This was seen by the public as a response to his views on social policy.[1]

Groener served for six months at the western front first as the commander of the 33rd Division, and then of the XXV Reserve Corps, where he was able to observe trench warfare and the mood of the troops.[1] In March 1918, he commanded the I Corps during the occupation of Ukraine. On 28 March, he was appointed chief of staff of the army group Heeresgruppe Eichhorn-Kiew.[1][2] This task required him to deal with organisational and political challenges, in particular confrontations with the army high command of Austria-Hungary and supervising, then reshuffling, the Ukrainian government which needed help against Bolshevik revolutionaries.[1]

End of the war and German revolution Edit

After the dismissal of Erich Ludendorff on 26 October 1918, Groener was recalled and on 29 October appointed as Ludendorff's successor as First Quartermaster General (Deputy Chief of the General Staff) under Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg.[3] The military situation was becoming untenable and social unrest and rebellion in the German armed forces and the civilian population threatened to break out into revolution. Groener started to prepare the withdrawal and demobilisation of the army.[2][4]: 51 [3] As the revolution spread through Germany in early November, Groener began to see the Emperor, Wilhelm II, as an impediment to saving the monarchy and the integrity of the army. Privately, he felt the Kaiser should sacrifice himself in a hero's death at the front.[4]: 75 

On 6 November, Groener reacted indignantly when the Social Democrat Friedrich Ebert suggested that the Kaiser should abdicate. On 9 November, when the Kaiser suggested using the army to crush the revolution at home,[4]: 76, 82  Groener advised him to abdicate, because he had lost the confidence of the armed forces.[3] Groener's goal was to preserve the monarchy, but under a different ruler.[2] He was also in favour of accepting the armistice conditions put to the German government, despite their severe nature.[2]

On the evening of 10 November, Groener contacted the new chancellor, Friedrich Ebert, and concluded the Ebert-Groener pact, which was to remain secret for a number of years. Ebert agreed to suppress the Bolshevik revolutionaries and to maintain the traditional role of the armed forces as a pillar of the German state; Groener promised that the army would support the new government.[5][3] For this act, Groener earned the enmity of many other military leaders, many of whom sought the retention of the monarchy.

Groener oversaw the retreat and demobilisation of the defeated German army after the signing of the armistice on 11 November 1918. Despite a very tight schedule, the withdrawal was effected without problems.[1][3] Groener organised the defence of the eastern borders of the Reich until a peace treaty could be signed.[3] The headquarters of OHL, at Schloss Wilhelmshöhe from 14 November 1918 to 13 February 1919, was moved to Kolberg.[1] Groener also planned for and expected the German peacetime army to be built up to 300,000 in the coming years, a plan that would be ruined by the Treaty of Versailles.[3]

On 23 June 1919, Ebert asked OHL for an opinion on whether the Reich should sign the Treaty of Versailles. Groener supported signing as he was worried that the unity of the Reich would be in danger if fighting was resumed,[3] contradicting the officer corps and the views of Walther Reinhardt, the Prussian Minister of War. Hindenburg followed Groener on this issue and when Hindenburg resigned, Groener succeeded him. Groener, who expected to be made a scapegoat, began actively cooperating in this process to save the popular von Hindenburg's reputation, something Ebert immediately noticed.[3] OHL was dissolved as a condition of the treaty, and Groener temporarily took over command at Kolberg. He started to organise the establishment of the new peacetime (Reichswehr), arguing in favour of a high share of former general staff officers among the new leadership, including in the Reichswehrministerium. He also supported a senior position for Hans von Seeckt.[1] On 30 September, Groener resigned from the army, against the wishes of Ebert; Groener felt that his pact with the Social Democrats had cost him the trust of many of his fellow officers.[2]

Political career Edit

After his resignation from the army, Groener moved in and out of retirement during the 1920s. Not a member of any party, at Ebert's request he served as Minister of Transport between 1920 and 1923. His main achievement was the rebuilding of the Reichsbahn. In 1923, when the Cuno government resigned, Groener left politics and wrote military and political treatises, such as Das Testament des Grafen Schlieffen (1927).[1][2] Hindenburg, Ebert's successor as Reichspräsident, appointed Groener as the successor of Otto Geßler as Minister of Defence on 20 January 1928, a post he held until 1932.[1] Besides expanding the Reichswehr, Groener made an effort to integrate it into the society of the Weimar Republic.[2] In 1930, Groener married Ruth Naeher-Glück (born 1894) in Berlin and had a son. This second marriage and the early birth date of his son undermined Groener's relationship with the conservative Hindenburg.[2]

On 8 October 1931 he became acting Interior Minister in the government of Heinrich Brüning and favoured the banning of the Nazi Sturmabteilung (SA storm troops).[1] As Interior Minister he was asked to outlaw the SA, whilst his goal as Defence Minister was to integrate it into a national, non-partisan paramilitary force.[1] In April 1932, under pressure from several German states, Groener outlawed the SA and Schutzstaffel (SS). Kurt von Schleicher, his subordinate at the Reichswehrministerium wanted to set up a cooperation with the two groups and worked on Hindenburg, to have Groener dismissed. He also allied himself with the NSDAP. After a rhetorical defeat in the Reichstag, Groener resigned on 13 May as Defence Minister, urged by Schleicher who told Groener that he had lost the trust of the Reichswehr.[1] When the Brüning government fell on 30 May, Groener also lost his position as Innenminister and left politics for good.[1][2]

Groener moved to Potsdam-Bornstedt in 1934, where he wrote his memoirs, Lebenserinnerungen.[2] Groener died of natural causes in Bornstedt on 3 May 1939. He is buried in the Stahnsdorf South-Western Cemetery, located between Potsdam and Berlin.[6]

Decorations and awards Edit

Notes Edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Biografie Wilhelm Groener (German)". Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n . Deutsches Historisches Museum. Archived from the original on July 11, 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Dupuy, Trevor (1984). A genius for war: the German army and General Staff 1807-1945. United Kingdom: Hero Books Ltd.
  4. ^ a b c Haffner, Sebastian (2002). Die deutsche Revolution 1918/19 (German). Kindler. ISBN 3-463-40423-0.
  5. ^ William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany, New York, NY, Simon & Schuster, 2011, p. 54
  6. ^ "Südwestkirchhof Stahnsdorf (German)". Märkische Allgemeine. Retrieved 29 May 2013.

References Edit

  • Eschenburg, Theodor "The Role of the Personality in the Crisis of the Weimar Republic: Hindenburg, Brüning, Groener, Schleicher" pages 3–50 from Republic to Reich The Making Of The Nazi Revolution edited by Hajo Holborn, New York: Pantheon Books, 1972. ISBN 978-0-394-47122-8
  • Groener, Wilhelm. Lebenserinnerungen: Jugend – Generalstab – Weltkrieg. Edited by Friedrich Frhr. Hiller von Gaertringen. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1957. OCLC 942998885
  • Groener-Geyer, Dorothea. General Groener: Soldat und Staatsmann. Frankfurt a. M.: Societäts-Verlag, 1955. OCLC 299954115
  • Haeussler, Helmut H. General William Groener and the Imperial German Arm. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin for Dept. of History, University of Wisconsin, 1962. Available online: [1] OCLC 610198939
  • Hürter, Johannes. Wilhelm Groener: Reichswehrminister am Ende der Weimarer Republik (1928–1932). Munich: Oldenbourg, 1993. ISBN 978-3-486-55978-1
  • Rakenius, Gerhard W. Wilhelm Groener als Erster Generalquartiermeister: Die Politik der Obersten Heeresleitung 1918/19. Boppard a.R.: Boldt, 1977. ISBN 978-3-486-81738-6
  • Stoneman, Mark R. Wilhelm Groener, Officering, and the Schlieffen Plan [2] (PhD) Georgetown University, 2006. OCLC 173237457
  • Wheeler-Bennett, Sir John. The Nemesis of Power: German Army in Politics, 1918–1945. New York: Palgrave Macmillan Publishing Company, 2005. ISBN 978-1-4039-1812-3
  • Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922). "Groener, Wilhelm" . Encyclopædia Britannica (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company.

External links Edit

  • Wilhelm Groener Papers at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
  • Newspaper clippings about Wilhelm Groener in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
Military offices
Preceded by Chief of the General Staff
1919
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Transportation Minister of Germany
1920–1923
Succeeded by
Preceded by Defence Minister of Germany
1928–1932
Succeeded by
Preceded by Interior Minister of Germany
1931–1932
Succeeded by

wilhelm, groener, karl, eduard, german, pronunciation, ˈvɪlhɛlm, ˈɡʁøːnɐ, november, 1867, 1939, german, general, politician, organisational, logistical, abilities, resulted, successful, military, career, before, during, world, groener, 1928reich, minister, def. Karl Eduard Wilhelm Groener German pronunciation ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈɡʁoːnɐ 22 November 1867 3 May 1939 was a German general and politician His organisational and logistical abilities resulted in a successful military career before and during World War I Wilhelm GroenerGroener in 1928Reich Minister of DefenceWeimar RepublicIn office 20 January 1928 13 May 1932ChancellorWilhelm MarxHermann MullerHeinrich BruningPreceded byOtto GesslerSucceeded byKurt von SchleicherReich Minister of the InteriorWeimar RepublicIn office 9 October 1931 1 June 1932ChancellorHeinrich BruningPreceded byJoseph WirthSucceeded byWilhelm von GaylReich Minister of Transport Weimar RepublicIn office 25 June 1920 12 August 1923ChancellorKonstantin FehrenbachJoseph WirthWilhelm CunoPreceded byGustav BauerSucceeded byRudolf OeserChief of the German General StaffGerman EmpireIn office 3 July 1919 7 July 1919Preceded byPaul von HindenburgSucceeded byHans von SeecktPersonal detailsBornKarl Eduard Wilhelm Groener 1867 11 22 22 November 1867Ludwigsburg Neckar District WurttembergDied3 May 1939 1939 05 03 aged 71 Potsdam Bornstedt Brandenburg Nazi GermanyNationalityGermanPolitical partyIndependentMilitary serviceAllegiance German EmpireBranch serviceGerman Army Wurttemberg ArmyYears of service1884 1919RankGeneralleutnantBattles warsWorld War IAfter a confrontation with Erich Ludendorff the Quartermaster general Erster Generalquartiermeister of the German Army Groener was reassigned to a field command When Ludendorff was dismissed in October 1918 Groener succeeded him Groener worked with the new Social Democratic president Friedrich Ebert to foil a left wing take over during the German Revolution of 1918 19 Under his command the army bloodily suppressed popular uprisings throughout Germany Groener tried to integrate the military which was dominated by an aristocratic and monarchistic officer corps into the new republic After resigning from the army in the summer of 1919 Groener served in several governments of the Weimar Republic as minister of transportation interior and defence He was pushed out of the government in 1932 by Kurt von Schleicher who was working on a pact with the Nazis Contents 1 Early life 2 Military career 2 1 Pre war 2 2 World War I 2 3 End of the war and German revolution 3 Political career 4 Decorations and awards 5 Notes 6 References 7 External linksEarly life EditWilhelm Groener was born in Ludwigsburg in the Kingdom of Wurttemberg as the son of Karl Eduard Groener 1837 1893 regimental paymaster and his wife Auguste nee Boleg 1825 1907 on 22 November 1867 1 After attending gymnasium at Ulm and Ludwigsburg where his father had been stationed Groener entered the 3 Wurttembergische Infanterie Regiment Nummer 121 of the Wurttemberg Army in 1884 1 In 1890 he was promoted to Bataillonsadjutant and from 1893 to 1896 attended the War Academy at Berlin where he finished top of his class 1 In 1899 Groener married Helene Geyer 1864 1926 in Schwabisch Gmund 1 2 They had a daughter Dorothea Groener Geyer b 1900 2 Military career EditPre war Edit As a captain he won appointment to the General Staff in 1899 and was attached to the railway section where he worked for the next 17 years 1 This was only interrupted for the usual assignments to other locations from 1902 to 1904 he was Kompaniechef of Infantry Regiment 98 at Metz from 1908 to 1910 he was with the XIII Army Corps and in 1910 he became a battalion commander in Infantry Regiment 125 at Stuttgart In 1912 as a lieutenant colonel Groener became head of the railway section at the General Staff His plans for the extension of the railway network and for deployment routes were based the deployment plans of Alfred von Schlieffen the Chief of the General Staff of the German Army from 1891 to 1906 2 World War I Edit nbsp Groener as deputy war minister of Prussia in 1917 with his first wife on the left The deployment of millions of troops to the frontier by rail boosted Groener s reputation and he received numerous decorations in 1914 In June 1915 he was promoted to Generalmajor Due to his organisational skills in December 1915 Groener was put in charge of food deliveries from Romania In May 1916 he joined the leadership of the newly created Kriegsernahrungsministerium War Food Ministry In November 1916 as a Generalleutnant he became head of the Kriegsamt War Office the department that managed the war economy and deputy of the Prussian Minister of War 1 2 With Erich Ludendorff Groener worked on the draft for the Hilfsdienstgesetz Auxiliary Services Act 1916 which laid down the conscription of men Arbeitszwang for the war economy Groener negotiated with the civilian bureaucracy unions and representatives of the employers Despite his efforts to appear neutral to maximise output he became the target of criticism Factory owners resented him for accepting the unions as partners Revolutionary groups used his strict admonishments against those who went on strike while soldiers died at the front to undermine his standing with the workers The negotiations made the limits of Germany military power obvious to Groener and he began to doubt that Germany could win the war This caused confrontations with the third Oberste Heeresleitung OHL the supreme command of the German army led by Paul Hindenburg and Ludendorff During the change at the Reichskanzlei in July 1917 when Georg Michaelis replaced Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg as Chancellor Groener suggested that the state should intervene to limit corporate profits and the wage growth that resulted from booming war related public demand 1 On 16 August 1917 he was recalled from his post and reassigned to an operational command This was seen by the public as a response to his views on social policy 1 Groener served for six months at the western front first as the commander of the 33rd Division and then of the XXV Reserve Corps where he was able to observe trench warfare and the mood of the troops 1 In March 1918 he commanded the I Corps during the occupation of Ukraine On 28 March he was appointed chief of staff of the army group Heeresgruppe Eichhorn Kiew 1 2 This task required him to deal with organisational and political challenges in particular confrontations with the army high command of Austria Hungary and supervising then reshuffling the Ukrainian government which needed help against Bolshevik revolutionaries 1 End of the war and German revolution Edit Main article German Revolution of 1918 19 After the dismissal of Erich Ludendorff on 26 October 1918 Groener was recalled and on 29 October appointed as Ludendorff s successor as First Quartermaster General Deputy Chief of the General Staff under Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg 3 The military situation was becoming untenable and social unrest and rebellion in the German armed forces and the civilian population threatened to break out into revolution Groener started to prepare the withdrawal and demobilisation of the army 2 4 51 3 As the revolution spread through Germany in early November Groener began to see the Emperor Wilhelm II as an impediment to saving the monarchy and the integrity of the army Privately he felt the Kaiser should sacrifice himself in a hero s death at the front 4 75 On 6 November Groener reacted indignantly when the Social Democrat Friedrich Ebert suggested that the Kaiser should abdicate On 9 November when the Kaiser suggested using the army to crush the revolution at home 4 76 82 Groener advised him to abdicate because he had lost the confidence of the armed forces 3 Groener s goal was to preserve the monarchy but under a different ruler 2 He was also in favour of accepting the armistice conditions put to the German government despite their severe nature 2 On the evening of 10 November Groener contacted the new chancellor Friedrich Ebert and concluded the Ebert Groener pact which was to remain secret for a number of years Ebert agreed to suppress the Bolshevik revolutionaries and to maintain the traditional role of the armed forces as a pillar of the German state Groener promised that the army would support the new government 5 3 For this act Groener earned the enmity of many other military leaders many of whom sought the retention of the monarchy Groener oversaw the retreat and demobilisation of the defeated German army after the signing of the armistice on 11 November 1918 Despite a very tight schedule the withdrawal was effected without problems 1 3 Groener organised the defence of the eastern borders of the Reich until a peace treaty could be signed 3 The headquarters of OHL at Schloss Wilhelmshohe from 14 November 1918 to 13 February 1919 was moved to Kolberg 1 Groener also planned for and expected the German peacetime army to be built up to 300 000 in the coming years a plan that would be ruined by the Treaty of Versailles 3 On 23 June 1919 Ebert asked OHL for an opinion on whether the Reich should sign the Treaty of Versailles Groener supported signing as he was worried that the unity of the Reich would be in danger if fighting was resumed 3 contradicting the officer corps and the views of Walther Reinhardt the Prussian Minister of War Hindenburg followed Groener on this issue and when Hindenburg resigned Groener succeeded him Groener who expected to be made a scapegoat began actively cooperating in this process to save the popular von Hindenburg s reputation something Ebert immediately noticed 3 OHL was dissolved as a condition of the treaty and Groener temporarily took over command at Kolberg He started to organise the establishment of the new peacetime Reichswehr arguing in favour of a high share of former general staff officers among the new leadership including in the Reichswehrministerium He also supported a senior position for Hans von Seeckt 1 On 30 September Groener resigned from the army against the wishes of Ebert Groener felt that his pact with the Social Democrats had cost him the trust of many of his fellow officers 2 Political career EditAfter his resignation from the army Groener moved in and out of retirement during the 1920s Not a member of any party at Ebert s request he served as Minister of Transport between 1920 and 1923 His main achievement was the rebuilding of the Reichsbahn In 1923 when the Cuno government resigned Groener left politics and wrote military and political treatises such as Das Testament des Grafen Schlieffen 1927 1 2 Hindenburg Ebert s successor as Reichsprasident appointed Groener as the successor of Otto Gessler as Minister of Defence on 20 January 1928 a post he held until 1932 1 Besides expanding the Reichswehr Groener made an effort to integrate it into the society of the Weimar Republic 2 In 1930 Groener married Ruth Naeher Gluck born 1894 in Berlin and had a son This second marriage and the early birth date of his son undermined Groener s relationship with the conservative Hindenburg 2 On 8 October 1931 he became acting Interior Minister in the government of Heinrich Bruning and favoured the banning of the Nazi Sturmabteilung SA storm troops 1 As Interior Minister he was asked to outlaw the SA whilst his goal as Defence Minister was to integrate it into a national non partisan paramilitary force 1 In April 1932 under pressure from several German states Groener outlawed the SA and Schutzstaffel SS Kurt von Schleicher his subordinate at the Reichswehrministerium wanted to set up a cooperation with the two groups and worked on Hindenburg to have Groener dismissed He also allied himself with the NSDAP After a rhetorical defeat in the Reichstag Groener resigned on 13 May as Defence Minister urged by Schleicher who told Groener that he had lost the trust of the Reichswehr 1 When the Bruning government fell on 30 May Groener also lost his position as Innenminister and left politics for good 1 2 Groener moved to Potsdam Bornstedt in 1934 where he wrote his memoirs Lebenserinnerungen 2 Groener died of natural causes in Bornstedt on 3 May 1939 He is buried in the Stahnsdorf South Western Cemetery located between Potsdam and Berlin 6 Decorations and awards EditPour le Merite 11 September 1915 Commander of the Military Order of Max Joseph Bavaria Officer of the Military Merit Order with Swords Bavaria Knight of the Military Merit Order Wurttemberg Order of the Red Eagle 2nd class with Crown and Swords 1917 Honorary citizen of LudwigsburgNotes Edit a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Biografie Wilhelm Groener German Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Retrieved 26 June 2013 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Biografie Wilhelm Groener German Deutsches Historisches Museum Archived from the original on July 11 2014 Retrieved 22 May 2013 a b c d e f g h i Dupuy Trevor 1984 A genius for war the German army and General Staff 1807 1945 United Kingdom Hero Books Ltd a b c Haffner Sebastian 2002 Die deutsche Revolution 1918 19 German Kindler ISBN 3 463 40423 0 William L Shirer The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich A History of Nazi Germany New York NY Simon amp Schuster 2011 p 54 Sudwestkirchhof Stahnsdorf German Markische Allgemeine Retrieved 29 May 2013 References EditEschenburg Theodor The Role of the Personality in the Crisis of the Weimar Republic Hindenburg Bruning Groener Schleicher pages 3 50 from Republic to Reich The Making Of The Nazi Revolution edited by Hajo Holborn New York Pantheon Books 1972 ISBN 978 0 394 47122 8 Groener Wilhelm Lebenserinnerungen Jugend Generalstab Weltkrieg Edited by Friedrich Frhr Hiller von Gaertringen Gottingen Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht 1957 OCLC 942998885 Groener Geyer Dorothea General Groener Soldat und Staatsmann Frankfurt a M Societats Verlag 1955 OCLC 299954115 Haeussler Helmut H General William Groener and the Imperial German Arm Madison State Historical Society of Wisconsin for Dept of History University of Wisconsin 1962 Available online 1 OCLC 610198939 Hurter Johannes Wilhelm Groener Reichswehrminister am Ende der Weimarer Republik 1928 1932 Munich Oldenbourg 1993 ISBN 978 3 486 55978 1 Rakenius Gerhard W Wilhelm Groener als Erster Generalquartiermeister Die Politik der Obersten Heeresleitung 1918 19 Boppard a R Boldt 1977 ISBN 978 3 486 81738 6 Stoneman Mark R Wilhelm Groener Officering and the Schlieffen Plan 2 PhD Georgetown University 2006 OCLC 173237457 Wheeler Bennett Sir John The Nemesis of Power German Army in Politics 1918 1945 New York Palgrave Macmillan Publishing Company 2005 ISBN 978 1 4039 1812 3 Chisholm Hugh ed 1922 Groener Wilhelm Encyclopaedia Britannica 12th ed London amp New York The Encyclopaedia Britannica Company External links Edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wilhelm Groener Wilhelm Groener Papers at the Seeley G Mudd Manuscript Library Princeton University Newspaper clippings about Wilhelm Groener in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBWMilitary officesPreceded byPaul von Hindenburg Chief of the General Staff1919 Succeeded byHans von SeecktPolitical officesPreceded byGustav Bauer Transportation Minister of Germany1920 1923 Succeeded byRudolf OeserPreceded byOtto Gessler Defence Minister of Germany1928 1932 Succeeded byKurt von SchleicherPreceded byJoseph Wirth Interior Minister of Germany1931 1932 Succeeded byWilhelm Freiherr von Gayl Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Wilhelm Groener amp oldid 1176447369, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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