Wilhelm Groener

Wilhelm Groener
Groener in 1928
Reich Minister of Defence Weimar Republic
In office 20 January 1928 – 13 May 1932
Chancellor	Wilhelm Marx Hermann Müller Heinrich Brüning
Preceded by	Otto Gessler
Succeeded by	Kurt von Schleicher
Reich Minister of the Interior Weimar Republic
In office 9 October 1931 – 1 June 1932
Chancellor	Heinrich Brüning
Preceded by	Joseph Wirth
Succeeded by	Wilhelm von Gayl
Reich Minister of Transport  Weimar Republic
In office 25 June 1920 – 12 August 1923
Chancellor	Constantin Fehrenbach Joseph Wirth Wilhelm Cuno
Preceded by	Gustav Bauer
Succeeded by	Rudolf Oeser
Chief of the German General Staff German Empire
In office 3 July 1919 – 7 July 1919
Preceded by	Paul von Hindenburg
Succeeded by	Hans von Seeckt
Personal details
Born	Karl Eduard Wilhelm Groener (1867-11-22)22 November 1867 Ludwigsburg, Neckar District, Württemberg
Died	3 May 1939(1939-05-03) (aged 71) Potsdam-Bornstedt, Brandenburg, Nazi Germany
Nationality	German
Political party	Independent
Military service
Allegiance	German Empire
Branch/service	German Army Württemberg Army
Years of service	1884–1919
Rank	Generalleutnant
Battles/wars	World War I

Karl Eduard Wilhelm Groener (German pronunciation: [ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈɡʁøːnɐ] ^ⓘ; 22 November 1867 – 3 May 1939) was a German general and politician. His organisational and logistical abilities resulted in a successful military career before and during World War I.

After a confrontation with Erich Ludendorff the Quartermaster general (Erster Generalquartiermeister) of the German Army, Groener was reassigned to a field command. When Ludendorff was dismissed in October 1918, Groener succeeded him. Groener worked with the new Social Democratic president Friedrich Ebert to foil a left-wing take-over during the German Revolution of 1918–19. Under his command, the army bloodily suppressed popular uprisings throughout Germany.

Groener tried to integrate the military, which was dominated by an aristocratic and monarchistic officer corps, into the new republic. After resigning from the army in the summer of 1919, Groener served in several governments of the Weimar Republic as minister of transportation, interior and defence. He was pushed out of the government in 1932 by Kurt von Schleicher, who was working on a pact with the Nazis.