Ludwig Beck - in Nazi Germany

In Nazi Germany

In September–October 1930, Beck was a leading defense witness at the trial in Leipzig of three junior officers, Lieutenant Richard Scheringer, Hans Friedrich Wendt and Hans Ludin. The three men were charged with membership in the Nazi Party; at that time membership in political parties was forbidden for members of the Reichswehr. The three officers admitted to Nazi Party membership, and used as their defence the claim that the Nazi Party membership should not be forbidden to Reichswehr personnel. When the three officers were arrested after being caught red-handed distributing Nazi literature at their base, Beck, who was the commanding officer of the 5th Artillery Regiment based in Ulm, which the three Nazi officers belonged to, was highly furious and argued that since the Nazi Party was a force for good that Reichswehr personnel should not be banned from joining the Nazi Party. At the preliminary hearing, Beck spoke on behalf of the three officers. At the Leipzig trial of Ludin and Scheringer, Beck testified as to the good character of the accused, described the Nazi Party as a positive force in German life, and proclaimed his belief that the Reichswehr ban on Nazi Party membership in his opinion should be rescinded. When Lieutenant Scheringer spoke of a future war in which the Nazi Party and the Reichswehr were to fight hand in hand as brothers in a "war of liberation" to overthrow the Treaty of Versailles, Beck supported Scheringer by testifying that: "The Reichswehr is told daily that it is an army of leaders. What is a young officer to understand by that?". Historians such as Sir John Wheeler-Bennett have noted that Beck was deliberately distorting Hans von Seeckt's Führerarmee ("Army of leaders" i.e. training soldiers to be leaders when the time came to expand the Army beyond the limits permitted by Versailles) principle by seeking to apply it to politics. During the course of the 1930 Leipzig trial, Beck first met Adolf Hitler who also testified at the trial, and was very favourably impressed.

In 1933, upon witnessing the Nazi Machtergreifung, Beck wrote "I have wished for years for the political revolution, and now my wishes have come true. It is the first ray of hope since 1918." In July 1934, Beck expressed some alarm at Nazi foreign policy involving Germany in a "premature war", after the failed Nazi putsch in Austria, leading Beck to warn that those in "leading positions" must understand that foreign adventures at this time might lead to Germany being forced to make a "humiliating retreat" that might in Beck's view bring about the end of Nazi Germany. In August 1934, when following the death of President Paul von Hindenburg, and Hitler's assumption of the roles of powers of the Presidency, most notably the position of Commander-in-Chief, Beck wrote that Hitler's move created "favourable conditions" for the Reichswehr.

Beck gained respect with the publication of his tactical manual, Truppenführung. Both Beck and General Werner von Fritsch commanded the 1st Cavalry Division, in Frankfurt an der Oder prior to assuming their command positions. During his time first as Chief of the Truppenamt (1933–1935), and then as Chief of the General Staff (1935–1938), Beck encouraged the development of armoured forces, though not to the extent that advocates of Panzer warfare like Heinz Guderian wanted. In Beck's conception of power politics, it was crucial to have German military power restored to its pre-1919 levels, and from the latter half of 1933, advocated a level of military spending beyond even those considered by Hitler. In Beck's opinion, once Germany was sufficiently rearmed, the Reich should wage a series of wars that would establish Germany as Europe's foremost power, and place all of Central and Eastern Europe into the German sphere of influence.

As Chief of the General Staff, Beck lived in a modest home in the Lichterfelde suburb of Berlin, and worked normally from 09:00 to 19:00 every day. As General Staff Chief, Beck was widely respected for his intelligence and work ethic, but was often criticized by other officers for being too interested in administrative details. In 1934, Beck wrote a lengthy covering letter to a long report on the British Army armour maneuvers as a way of encouraging interest in armoured warfare. In Beck's view of the General Staff's role, the War Minister served in a mere administrative function, and the Chief of the General Staff should have been able to advise the Reich leadership directly, views that led to conflicts with the War Minister, Field Marshal Werner von Blomberg, who resented Beck's efforts to diminish his powers. In 1936, Beck strongly supported Hitler during the remilitarization of the Rhineland against Blomberg, who feared the French reaction to such a move. By the end of 1937 and the beginning of 1938, Beck had come into increasing conflict with other officers over the place and importance of the General Staff in the German military hierarchy, in which Beck wished to have all of the important decision-making moved into the arms of the General Staff.

Starting in the mid-1930s, Beck created his own intelligence network comprising German military attaches, which he used both to collect information, and to leak information. Besides military attaches, Beck also recruited civilians for his private intelligence network, of which the most notable volunteer was Carl Goerdeler.

In May 1937, Beck refused an order to draw up orders for executing Fall Otto (Case Otto), the German plan for an invasion of Austria under the grounds that such a move might cause a world war before Germany was ready for such a war. During the Anschluss of February–March 1938, once Beck was convinced that no war would result from a move against Austria, he swiftly drew up the orders for Fall Otto. In Beck's conception of power politics, war was a necessary part of restoring Germany to Great Power status provided that these wars were limited in scope and Germany possessed sufficient strength and had sufficiently strong allies.

During the Blomberg-Fritsch Crisis of early 1938, Beck saw a chance to reassert the interests and power of the Army against what he regarded as the excessive power of the SS. The ending of the crisis in favor of the SS left Beck somewhat disillusioned.