Landships II

Thanks for that Pat. The books.google.de presentation is a little fragmented but Thomas Weber's analysis of his WW1 service paints it in a very "ordinary" light indeed. I note Weber has reverted to original sources and makes it clear/alleges he is, for many of those, the first to do so and thus the first to integrate much of the available material into any coherent analysis. His starting point is that the national post-war "gravitas" of the man has cast that earlier service in an unrealistic light and he (Weber) presses that point throughout his further research while admitting it is mostly negative evidence in support of it. That would be natural and understandable under the circumstances he proposes/implies.

Food for thought at the very least. Hitler was a politician, first and foremost, dedicated to attaining and holding power by influence (and yes, by force, but that is never successful without reaching some prerequisite tipping point of influence). Given my generally low opinion of politicians (and of AH in particular) I guess it should come as no real surprise if the Frontsoldat image was milked for all it was worth and somewhat beyond that point as well. It's just that he initially had so much resistance within the Reichswehr and within the OKH (Army High Command) in particular it would be difficult to see how he could push it past the point of acceptance by those stern critics. At the end of the day he was awarded (amongst other decorations) the Iron Cross, First Class which was a rare distinction for a Corporal which was his highest rank. I don't believe that has been challenged, it was not "ordinary" at all and I didn't see that Weber addressed it, on my quick scan.

I don't particularly want to know about the man but of course the more we understand about how he came to power, the more likely future mistakes of that sort could be avoided. Stephen Fry, in "Making History" suggests if it weren't Hitler it might have been someone worse. Fantasy of course, but a serious idea nonetheless given the sea of complexity in post-war German politics. Anyway, AH embellishing the hazard of his volunteer service (which is where this thread started) was, I think, a minor tactic within the larger story. "The German Army and the Nazi Party, 1933-1939" by Robert J. O'Neill deals with Hitler and the NS party's feat of sustained legerdemain in "winning over" the German Army high command in a period when there was no constitutional subordination of it to the political leadership of the nation. That deals more directly with the "key" personalities, the events and the mechanisms and processes involved (yes, pretty turgid) and entailed digging back to original sources as well. Hitler's war record is treated as a fairly minor part of it all (and not challenged, not even researched AFAICT), but an important part in the early days of his rise.