“If I address the following lines to you, I do so because I am credibly informed that you, like myself, as a true German, love your fatherland before everything, putting aside personal opinions and wishes, as I have had to do in order to help my country in its hour of need. In this spirit I have joined forces with you to rescue our people from a threatening collapse. … The fate of the German people has been laid in your hands. Upon your determination it will depend whether the German Reich acquires a new impetus. I am ready, and behind me stand the whole Army, to support you unreservedly. We all know that after this lamentable upshot of the war, the reconstruction of the realm can only be effected upon new foundations and in new forms.”

— Paul von Hindenburg

Letter to Friedrich Ebert (8 December 1918), quoted in John W. Wheeler-Bennett, The Nemesis of Power: The German Army in Politics 1918-1945 (London: Macmillan, 1964), p. 29
Chief of the German General Staff

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Paul von Hindenburg 13

Prussian-German field marshal, statesman, and president of … 1847–1934

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<p>Ich hatte einst ein schönes Vaterland.
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Es war ein Traum.</p><p>Das küßte mich auf deutsch und sprach auf deutsch
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Es war ein Traum.</p>
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Source: The Well of Ascension

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Paul von Hindenburg 13

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