Early Years
Raeder was born into a middle-class family in Wandsbek in the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein in the German Empire. His father was a headmaster. Raeder idolised his father Hans Raeder, who as a teacher and a father was noted for his marked authoritarian views, and who impressed upon his son the values of hard work, thrift, religion and obedience-all values that Raeder was to preach throughout his life. Hans Raeder also taught his children to support the existing government of alleged "non-political" experts led by Bismarck who were said to stand "above politics" and were alleged to only do what was best for Germany. In the same way, Hans Raeder warned his children that if Germany were to become a democracy, that would be a disaster as it mean government by men "playing politics"-doing what was only best for their petty sectarian interests instead of the nation. Like many other middle-class Germans of his time, Hans Raeder had a strong dislike for the Social Democrats, who he charged were playing "party politics" in the Reichstag by promoting working class interests instead of thinking about the national good, a stance that his son also adopted. Throughout his entire life, Raeder claimed that he was Staatspolitische (someone was "above politics", i.e. someone who only thought about the good of the nation instead of his party), and as an "apolitical" officer, Raeder thus maintained that his support for sea power was based upon objective consideration of the national good.
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