Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg [ a ] 2 October β 2 August was a German military leader and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during the First World War [ 1 ] and later became president of Germany from until his death in He played a key role in the Nazi seizure of power in when he appointed Adolf Hitler as chancellor of Germany.
Hindenburg was born to a family of minor Prussian nobility in Posen. Upon completing his education as a cadet, he enlisted in the Third Regiment of Foot Guards as a second lieutenant. He saw combat during the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars. In , he was admitted to the prestigious War Academy in Berlin, where he studied before being appointed to the General Staff Corps.
In , he was promoted to major and became a member of the German General Staff. After teaching at the War Academy, Hindenburg rose to become a lieutenant general by In , Hindenburg retired. He oversaw crushing victories against the Russians that made him a national hero and the center of a pervasive cult of personality. Under their leadership, Germany secured Russia's defeat and achieved the largest advance on the Western Front since the conflict's outbreak. However, such improvements in Germany's fortunes were reversed after its Army was decisively defeated in the Second Battle of the Marne and the Allies' Hundred Days Offensive.
Following the armistice , Hindenburg stepped down as the German Army's Chief of Staff before retiring again in In , Hindenburg returned to public life to become the second elected president of the Weimar Republic. Opposed to Hitler and his Nazi Party , Hindenburg nonetheless played a major role in the instability that resulted in their rise to power.
After twice dissolving the Reichstag in , Hindenburg agreed in January to appoint Hitler as chancellor in coalition with the Deutschnationale Volkspartei. In response to the February Reichstag fire , Hindenburg approved the Reichstag Fire Decree which suspended various civil liberties. He likewise signed the Enabling Act of which gave the Nazi regime emergency powers. His paternal grandparents were Otto Ludwig Fady von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg β , through whom he was remotely descended from the illegitimate daughter of Count Heinrich VI of Waldeck , and his wife Eleonore von Brederfady d.
