Post-war Career
In 1920, Mackensen retired from the army. Although standing in opposition to the newly established republican system, he avoided public campaigns. Around 1924 he changed his mind and began to use his image as war hero to support conservative, monarchic groups. He routinely appeared in his old Life Hussars uniform. He became very active in pro-military conservative organisations, particularly Stahlhelm and the Schlieffen Society.
During the German elections of 1932 Mackensen supported Hindenburg over Adolf Hitler, but following the latter's accession to power Mackensen became a visible, if only symbolic, supporter of the Nazi regime. Mackensen's high-profile public visibility in his distinctive black Life Hussars uniform was recognized by the Hausser-Elastolin company which produced a 7-cm figure for its line of Elastolin composition soldiers Mackensen's fame and familiar uniform gave rise to two separate Third Reich formations adopting black dress with Totenkopf badges: the Panzerwaffe, which claimed the tradition of the Imperial cavalry; and Hitler's "Life Guards," the SS.
Although Mackensen appeared in his black uniform at some public events presented by the German government or the Nazi party, he objected to the killings of Generals Ferdinand von Bredow and Kurt von Schleicher during The Night of the Long Knives purge of July 1934, and to atrocities committed during the fighting in Poland in September 1939. By the early 1940s Hitler and Joseph Goebbels suspected Mackensen of disloyalty but could do nothing. Mackensen remained a committed monarchist and appeared in full uniform at Kaiser Wilhelm II's 1941 funeral (Doorn, the Netherlands).
Mackensen died at the age of 95, his life having spanned the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, and post-war Allied occupation.
Read more about this topic: August Von Mackensen
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