Der Fuehrer - Hitler's Rise to Power (1944) - Heiden

192 DER FUEHRERplease, General, whom does the Reichswehr obey? Does it obey thelaws and the government, or the mutineers?' Seeckt looked coldlythrough his monocle and answered: 'The Reichswehr obeys me, HerrReichs President!' This answer hit the nail on the head and meant thatthe Reichswehr obeys its own interests. The Munich putsch threatenedto tear the little army asunder, and therefore had to be crushed. Seeckt'sposition soon became clear to the others at the meeting; the Presidenttransferred to him a sort of dictatorial power, and Seeckt wired toMunich that he would put down the putsch if Munich didn't do so byitself.Munich did it. A few of Lossow's close associates, among themGeneral von Leeb, who later became a field marshal, had no soonerreceived the first reports from the Burgerbrau than they placed thetroops in readiness. The man who might have prevented this — Franzvon Epp — was no longer there. Kahr may have lost his head for amoment, but the generals soon set him right. One of them received thereturning Lossow with the sharp question: 'All that was bluff,excellency, was it not?' By 'all that' he meant the oath to the newGermany and the handshake. No misplaced sentimentality, if youplease! A civilian, a former corporal, had dragged the general andcommandant out of the hall at pistol-point in the presence of threethousand people; according to the code of honor prevailing in theGerman Army, Lossow was under obligation to strike him down. Thegeneral called Lossow a coward, a 'sorry figure.' 'I'd shoot down thesedogs with a smile,' said one of his subordinates, referring to the NationalSocialist storm troopers.Hitler prided himself on his understanding of the military soul,particularly the mood among the officers from major down. Yet it seemsnever to have entered his head that his pistol was a bitter affront to theArmy's honor.In high good humor, he returned to the Burgerbrau. The waitresseswere removing the beer mugs from the tables. On the floor, between thetable and chair legs, the storm troopers lay sleeping amid their rifles andknapsacks. In one of the smaller rooms, Hitler expected to find Generalvon Lossow in a council of war with Ludendorff; to plan on carrying therevolution to Berlin. But no Lossow was there, nor was there any signof Kahr or Seisser.