Will someone explain the 'Stab in the Back' myth please?

Question: Will someone explain the 'Stab in the Back' myth please!?

Germany revision!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

1!. By mid 1918 the old, right wing German high command knew the war was lost!.

2!. Due to tight censorship and propaganda, the German public were not prepared for this!.

3!. Therefore, the high command were worried that when they surrendered there would be a revolution as there had been in Russia!.

4!. SO, they had the 'revolution from above' to pacify the population BEFORE the end of the war!.

5!. THEREFORE it was the NEW REPUBLIC that surrendered, not them!.

6!. This promoted the MYTH that the left liberal politicans and supporters of the Weimar Republic 'stabbed germany in the back' by giving in to the Allies and sacrificing German pride!. The new government were termed the 'November Criminals'!.

7!. This helped to create support for the old, right wing!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The stab in the back myth was actually in development from 1916 by the upper echelons of the German army, with surveys being carried out on the number of Jews in the army, in an attempt to imply that they were shirking their wartime responsibilities!. From 1917 Ludendorff and Hindenburg were preparing the rumour, which was given out to the army on the 30th September 1918 at the same time as the inability of the army to continue fighting was announced!.
The government helped the myth become popular by taking responsibility for peace negotiations and signing the Armistice, even though it was the army that had put out peace feelers to the Americans!.
It was not only the Nazis, but also the rest of the German right - parties like the DNVP and paramilitary organisations like the Stahlhelm - who propagated the myth!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The 'stab in the back' is when the government signed the treaty of versailles and germany had to pay respirations and had their army reduced, etc!. germany was blamed for the cause of war, so they had to pay the allies for their damage to their countries (6!.6 million)!. germany didn't like the treaty of versailles and they felt betrayed!. they felt that the government had 'given in' to the allies!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The "stab in the back" was the perception, that Germany did not lose the First World War militarily, but by a subversive fifth column on the home front !. The perpetrators of that "stab in the back" were presented as a result of a conspiracy by the Jews and the Communists!.

It was a convenient fiction, implying that the German army was not really defeated in the war, but betrayed, and it formed the philosophical basis of the "National Socialist and Worker's" (NAZI) Party political platform that eventually took control of Germany when Adolph Hitler was elected Chancellor in 1933 on the perception that Germany would be militarily victorious once those "traitors" were removed and eliminated from German society!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The Germans lost the First World War; naval blockades & the war effort meant they were running out of food & raw materials so they had no real choice!.

The Nazi "stab in the back" myth was that Germany could have carried on & won the war, despite the reality being that the country was on its last legs!. It helped them to heap blame on the leaders of the Weimar Republic as the beneficiaries of the actions of the "November Criminals" & so became a useful tool to whip up unrest!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Though Germany was rapidly running out of steam logistically at the end of WW I, the army in the field was not beaten, and the storm troopers were even learning ways to cope with the stagnation that had been a tactical conundrum for four years!. When the Armistice was signed, the Germans expected an agreement that paralleled the situation in the field at the time of the cease-fire!. What they got was entirely different, but by that time, they'd already withdrawn and demobilized, so there was little to be done!. That's the truthful basis to the myth!.
What was overlooked, or at least underplayed, was the imminent economic and logistic collapse of the German home front!. The great powers had all spent themselves into bankruptcy in the war, but Germany first!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

As it would seem to me, is that when somebody you totally trust, and the last thing that you would expect for, is them to turn on you and stab you in the back, the part of you that is vulnerable simply because you expect your comrades to be protecting it for you!.
general examples are when a trusted person decides to go over to the other side, taking with him/her information that he has gained on your side, and passing it to an enemy!.
Anthony Blunt was one such person in the last century, where he went over from the British side to the Russian pact, taking over information gained, which would be of use to an enemy, should a time of war ever come!.
Hope this helps,
MIke t!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The German version is that Jews, leftists, and unnamed "traitors" were responsible for Germany losing World War One!. "If we hadn't been stabbed in the back, we could have won," was the explanation the Nazis used to angry vets!. "We were doing fine on the battlefield, it was the politicians who held us back!."

The story also appealed to average Germans, who suffered horribly from economic troubles of the Great Depression!. These problems were made worse by the country's payment of war reparations required by the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War One!.

"We wouldn't be suffering if it wasn't for those Jews and foreigners," the Nazis told people!.

The myth helped the Nazis build up to World War Two, and mass slaughter of those Germans, like Jews, leftists, and anyone the Nazis decided to point the finger at, who were blamed for the loss of World War One!.

There is no evidence whatsoever that Germany had ANY chance of winning World War One!.

Today, you will sometimes hear the American version!. "Losing in Vietnam is what made us lose status as the number one country," some people say!. "All of our economic problems, problems with terrorists, recessions, everything is because of Vietnam!."

"We were winning on the battlefield," is another part of that myth!. "Our soldiers were winning!. It was those anti-war protesters and cowardly politicians!. If we hadn't of pulled out, we could have won in Vietnam!."

There is no evidence whatsoever that the U!.S!. had ANY chance to win the Vietnam War!.Www@QuestionHome@Com