Gerd Von Rundstedt - The Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic

Rundstedt's Corps disintegrated in the wake of defeat and the German Revolution, but while most officers were demobilised, he remained in the Army, apparently at the request of General Wilhelm Groener, who assumed leadership of the shattered Army. He briefly rejoined the General Staff, but this was abolished under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, signed in June 1919. In October Rundstedt was posted to the staff of Military District (Wehrkreis) V, based in Stuttgart, under General Walter von Bergmann. He was there when the attempted military coup known as the Kapp Putsch took place in March 1920. Bergmann and Rundstedt, like most of the Army leadership, refused to support the coup attempt: Rundstedt later described it as "a failure and a very stupid one at that." This was not an indication of any fondness for the Weimar Republic on Rundstedt's part - he remained a monarchist. It was a reflection of his view that Army officers should not interfere in politics, and should support the government of the day, whatever its nature: a view he was to hold firmly to throughout his career. He testified at the Nuremberg Trials in 1946: "We generals did not concern ourselves with politics. We did not take part in any political discussions, and we did not hold any political discussions among ourselves."

Rundstedt rose steadily in the small 100,000-man army (the Reichswehr) allowed to Germany by the Versailles Treaty. In May 1920 he was made chief of staff to the 3rd Cavalry Division, based in Weimar, thus achieving his early ambition of being a cavalry commander. He was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel (Oberstleutnant) in 1920, and to full Colonel in 1923, when he was transferred to Wehrkreis II, based in Stettin. In 1926 he was made Chief of Staff to Group Command (Gruppenkommando) 2, which covered the whole of western Germany and was based in Kassel, and promoted to Major General (Generalmajor). In 1928 Rundstedt finally left staff positions behind him and was made commander of the 2nd Cavalry Division, based in Breslau. This was considered a front-line posting given Germany's tense relations with Poland and the fact that Poland at this time had a much bigger army than Germany.

In January 1932, Rundstedt appointed commander of Wehkreis III, based in Berlin, and also command of the 3rd Infantry Division. This brought him, at 57, into the highest ranks of the German Army, reflected in his promotion to Lieutenant General (Generalleutnant). It also inevitably brought him into close contact with the political world, which was in a disturbed state due to the Great Depression and subsequent rise of Hitler's Nazi Party. The Defence Minister, General Kurt von Schleicher, was intriguing to bring the Nazis into the government, and the Chancellor, Franz von Papen, was planning to overthrow the Social Democrat government of Prussia, Germany's largest state. Despite his dislike of politics, Rundstedt could not remain uninvolved in these matters. In July 1932 Papen used his emergency powers to dismiss the Prussian Government. Martial law was briefly declared in Berlin and Rundstedt was made martial law plenipotentiary. He protested to Papen about this and martial law was lifted after a few days. In October Rundstedt was promoted to full General and given command of Gruppenkommando 1, covering the whole of eastern Germany.