309 pages

English

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Dragonslayer , livre ebook

Cornell University Press - Jay Lockenour

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

309 pages

English

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

In this fascinating biography of the infamous ideologue Erich Ludendorff, Jay Lockenour complicates the classic depiction of this German World War I hero. Erich Ludendorff created for himself a persona that secured his place as one of the most prominent (and despicable) Germans of the twentieth century. With boundless energy and an obsession with detail, Ludendorff ascended to power and solidified a stable, public position among Germany's most influential. Between 1914 and his death in 1937, he was a war hero, a dictator, a right-wing activist, a failed putschist, a presidential candidate, a publisher, and a would-be prophet. He guided Germany's effort in the Great War between 1916 and 1918 and, importantly, set the tone for a politics of victimhood and revenge in the postwar era. Dragonslayer explores Ludendorff's life after 1918, arguing that the strange or unhinged personal traits most historians attribute to mental collapse were, in fact, integral to Ludendorff's political strategy. Lockenour asserts that Ludendorff patterned himself, sometimes consciously and sometimes unconsciously, on the dragonslayer of Germanic mythology, Siegfried-hero of the epic poem The Niebelungenlied and much admired by German nationalists. The symbolic power of this myth allowed Ludendorff to embody many Germans' fantasies of revenge after their defeat in 1918, keeping him relevant to political discourse despite his failure to hold high office or cultivate a mass following after World War I.Lockenour reveals the influence that Ludendorff's postwar career had on Germany's political culture and radical right during this tumultuous era. Dragonslayer is a tale as fabulist as fiction.

Sujets

Lettres et linguistique

World War I

History of Europe

Germany

Informations

Publié par	Cornell University Press
Date de parution	15 avril 2021
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781501754616
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	9 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,7500€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Dragonslayer

The Legend of Erich Ludendorff in the Weimar Republic and Third Reich

Jay Lockenour

Cornell University Press Ithaca and London

A volume in the series BATTLEGROUNDS: CORNELLSTUDIESINMILITARYHISTORY Edited by David J. Silbey Editorial Board: Petra Goedde, Wayne E. Lee, Brian McAllister Linn, and LingHang Nguyen A list of titles in this series is available at cornellpress.cornell.edu.

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. Visit our website at cornellpress.cornell.edu.

First published 2021 by Cornell University Press

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Names: Lockenour, Jay, 1966– author. Title: Dragonslayer : the legend of Erich Ludendorff in the Weimar Republic and Third Reich / Jay Lockenour. Description: Ithaca [New York] : Cornell University Press, 2021. | Series: Battlegrounds : Cornell studies in military history | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identiﬁers: LCCN 2020025192 (print) | LCCN 2020025193 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501754593 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781501754609 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501754616 (pdf) Subjects: LCSH: Ludendorff, Erich, 18651937. | Generals—Germany— Biography. | Germany—Politics and government—1918–1933. | Germany—History—1918–1933. Classiﬁcation: LCC DD231.L8 L59 2021 (print) | LCC DD231.L8 (ebook) | DDC 355.0092 [B]—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020025192 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020025193

Cover illustration: “German Day” September 2, 1923. Bundesarchiv, Bild 10200162, photographer Georg Pahl.

For Andrea

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

1. Mythic Life

Contents

2. Victor of Liège and Tannenberg

3. The Feldherr

4. Putschist

5. Prophet: Tannenberg League and Deutsche Gotterkenntnis

6. Duelist: Ludendorff, Hindenburg, Hitler

7. Ludendorff in the Third Reich

8. Siegfried’s Death

Epilogue: Kriemhild’s Revenge

xiii

110

140

160

182

198

vi i i

Notes

Contents

Bibliography

Index

209

263

279

Figures

Illustrations

1.Dolchstoß: Siegfried (Paul Richter) in Fritz Lang’s 1924 ﬁlmDie Nibelungen: Siegfried 2. Paul Richter as Siegfried 3. Erich Ludendorff in 1915 4. Erich Ludendorff in 1935 5. Masthead ofLudendorffs Volkswarte 6. Ludendorff as cadet circa 1880 7. “German Day,” September 2, 1923 8. Sketch from the Beer Hall Putsch, November 9, 1923 9. Ludendorff and other defendants at trial for treason, 1924 10. Ad for Mathilde Ludendorff,Erlösung von Jesu Christo, 1931 11. Ludendorff Bookstore in Berlin 12. Hindenburg and Ludendorff, fall 1916

15 18 19 20 21 26 96 102 104

122 132 145