Konrad Adenauer's Military Advisors
Abstract
This thesis poses the question: Why did Konrad Adenauer appoint former Wehrmacht generals Hans Speidel and Adolf Heusinger as his military advisors? The question is used to examine the political relationships between the army officer corps, state, and society in Western-occupied Germany immediately following the Second World War, and to draw conclusions about the nature of the relationship between political and military power. To answer this question, I have considered historigraphy of the German postwar period; German twentieth-century military historiography; historical and sociological examinations of politico-military relationships in general; and political science analyses of postwar German domestic and foreign policy issues, especially as they relate to those of the Western occupying powers. In the narrowest sense, I conclude that Adenauer picked these particular men to be his military advisors because they were technically competent and highly qualified; trusted by and acceptable politically to the United States, France, and key members of his own and the opposition political parties; and shared an interrelated set of political and moral convictions which were nearly identical to his own. Theses.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 13, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA205786
Entities
People
- Jennifer R. Pournelle