Crisis in German Defense

E. v. KUEHNELT-LEDDIHN

The resignation of several German generals has attracted considerable attention recently, largely because the German army is still viewed in many quarters with uneasiness, suspicion, alarm—even hatred. Naturally just about everybody wants peace, and the German army seems to many to be the very prototype of the instrument of war. In fact these fears are largely groundless. Army men like routine and drill; they become immersed in bureaucratic and disciplinary questions; they are barracks-centered and wars mean the disruption of an order they painstakingly cultivate. The modern general is one-third administrator, one- third technologist and one-third “military scientist.” There is no indication that the German General Staff “wanted war” either before 1914 or even before 1939. In fact, World War II was forced upon it by “the Party” and high army officers played an important role in anti-Hitler conspiracies from 1934 until the bitter end. Where else in the world could one have found the head of the counter-intelligence (Admiral Canaris) working against his own government?

EK

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Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn

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E. v. KUEHNELT-LEDDIHN

The resignation of several German generals has attracted considerable attention recently, largely because the German army is still viewed in many quarters with uneasiness, suspicion, alarm—even hatred. Naturally just about everybody wants peace, and the German army seems to many to be the very prototype of the instrument of war. In fact these fears are largely groundless. Army men like routine and drill; they become immersed in bureaucratic and disciplinary questions; they are barracks-centered and wars mean the disruption of an order they painstakingly cultivate. The modern general is one-third administrator, one- third technologist and one-third “military scientist.” There is no indication that the German General Staff “wanted war” either before 1914 or even before 1939. In fact, World War II was forced upon it by “the Party” and high army officers played an important role in anti-Hitler conspiracies from 1934 until the bitter end. Where else in the world could one have found the head of the counter-intelligence (Admiral Canaris) working against his own government?