军事生涯的开始

兴登堡出生于普鲁士军官家庭，而他也从军开始军队生涯。1859年到1866年，进入军事学校。1866年，以中尉的军衔参加普奥战争。1870年，以军官身份参加普法战争。1903年，晋升为上将，1911年退休。

第一次世界大战中的崛起

三年后第一次世界大战爆发，兴登堡重新入役，被任命为东方战线第八军团的司令官。1914年，击败俄罗斯军队，也就是著名的“坦能堡会战”。此战之后晋升为德国陆军元帅。这次胜利后来成为他的名声和传说的基础；但与其共事的人都认为他只是一个傀儡而已（Wooden Titan, 意即巨大的木偶，曾担任一战德军东线参谋长的马克斯·霍夫曼将军曾经对到坦南堡战场参观的客人嘲讽兴登堡在战役当中的表现：“这里是战斗前陆军元帅睡觉的地方；这里是战斗后他睡觉的地方；事实上，这里也是战斗时他睡觉的地方。”），真正运筹帷幄的是埃里希·鲁登道夫将军；为此兴登堡还获得“你说呢将军”的绰号（因为兴登堡遇事时总咨询鲁登道夫“你说呢”）。1916年8月，继法金汉成为陆军最高指挥官。1918年，试图为了营救德皇，劝威廉二世逃离德国。并与新政府合作，试图平息德国内部的动乱。1919年7月凡尔赛和约签署后辞职。在国际联盟的调查委员会前，散布所谓的“匕首传说”（刀刺在背传说），称德国陆军在战场上并未战败，陆军是在停火后被十一月革命“从背后暗算”的。 诚然，做为他神话起源的坦能堡作战计划并不是他拟定的，但做为司令官他的职责和权力就是选定一个好的计划并贯彻下去，在这一点上他绝对比神经质的参谋长鲁登道夫强。鲁登道夫和他闹翻以后说兴登堡是木偶巨人，自己才是做最后决定的人；这是他自我膨胀和对兴登堡极端嫉妒的表现。继他之后担任军需总监的威廉·格勒纳就说：“那些谣传兴登堡是傀儡的说法都是不真实的。根据我的亲身体验，兴登堡的意志极为坚定，旁人只有去执行他的想法和替他去背黑锅的份儿，绝不可能有人能左右他的思想。”

魏玛共和国总统

魏玛共和国首任总统德国社会民主党的弗里德里希·艾伯特于1925年去世，右翼政党请求兴登堡参加竞选总统。面对政治的腐败，人民的贫困，兴登堡对国家的责任感使他决定参选。4月兴登堡被选为下一任总统，他也是唯一直选产生的总统，5月12日宣誓就职。虽然兴登堡是一个保皇党人，对魏玛共和国持怀疑态度，他依然按宪法执行他的责任，但加强总统的权力，总统的权力不再是象征。

总统内阁的开始

1930年，兴登堡不经议会委任海因里希·布吕宁为内阁总理，开始让共和国的国家体制偏向总统制，内阁总理只向联邦大总统负责，不向议会负责。由于当时议会内所有包括德国社会民主党、德国共产党和民主党派为了防止阿道夫·希特勒成为德国总理而一起支持兴登堡，因此兴登堡得以在1932年再次委任布吕宁为总理。

从帕彭到希特勒

1932年的两次国会选举结束后，兴登堡越来越依靠右翼盟友控制局势。这些人中包括儿子奥斯卡·冯·兴登堡、他庄园的邻居库尔特·冯·施莱谢尔中将和弗朗茨·冯·帕彭。这群人希望帕彭的政策能更偏右翼，而劝兴登堡解雇布吕宁，提名帕彭为总理。最后施莱谢尔本人也继帕彭之后被委任为总理，施莱谢尔试图将纳粹党中的左派格里哥·斯特拉瑟等人拉过来，但没有成功。

1933年1月30日，兴登堡任命希特勒为德国总理。虽然兴登堡对纳粹党反感，但他越来越受到施莱谢尔这群人的影响。同年3月24日在希特勒影响下签署授权法案，实际上废除魏玛共和国的民主制度，为希特勒的独裁统治铺平道路。

逝世

晚年，兴登堡的健康和智力已经有很长的时间处在非常差的地步，因此1934年6月30日长刀之夜时，他毫无恢复和保证国家法制的能力。当希特勒到他的庄园上去看望他时，躺在病床上的兴登堡把希特勒当作德国皇帝，称之为“陛下”。按其遗愿，兴登堡应该简单地葬在他的庄园上，但希特勒将他葬在他过去战胜俄罗斯的战场的坦能堡纪念碑中。兴登堡的死对希特勒来说，算是消除最后一个使他成为独裁者的障碍。

第二次世界大战末，为了防止他和他夫人的棺材被苏联军队破坏，德国陆军将它们转移到马尔堡。它们至今放在那里的伊丽莎白教堂北钟楼的祈祷阁中，经教会首领决定，不再以灯光照亮。

保罗·冯·兴登堡是柏林、萨克森州、代特莫尔特、路德维希堡、明斯特、法兰克福、汉堡、卡塞尔、卡尔斯鲁厄、科布伦茨、吕贝克、纽伦堡、波茨坦、哥塔和茨维考的名誉公民。德国巴伐利亚州的迪特拉姆斯策尔镇2013年12月18日镇全体议会投票21:0通过决议，撤消了保罗·冯·兴登堡以及希特勒两人原于1933年获颁予的名誉公民权。

参考

• 原于1933年获颁予的名誉公民被撤消

Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (listen), typically known simply as Paul von Hindenburg (German: [ˈpaʊl fɔn ˈhɪndn̩bʊɐ̯k] (listen); 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934), was a German general and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany from 1925 until his death during the Weimar Republic. During his presidency, he played a key role in the Nazi Machtergreifung in January 1933 when, under pressure from advisers, he appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany.

Paul von Hindenburg was born on 2 October 1847 to a family of minor Prussian nobility in the province of Posen. Upon completing his education as a cadet, he enlisted in the Third Regiment of Foot Guards as a second lieutenant. Hindenburg thereafter saw combat during the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars. In 1873, he was admitted to the prestigious Kriegsakademie in Berlin where he studied for 3 years before being appointed to the Army's General Staff Corps. Later in 1885, he was promoted to the rank of major and became a member of the Great General Staff. Following a five-year teaching stint at the Kriegsakademie, Hindenburg steadily rose through the army's ranks to become a lieutenant-general by 1900. Around the time of his promotion to General of the Infantry in 1905, Count Alfred von Schlieffen recommended that he succeed him as Chief of the Great General Staff but the post ultimately went to Helmuth von Moltke in January 1906. Subsequently in 1911, Hindenburg announced his retirement from the military.

Following the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, he was recalled to military service and quickly achieved fame on the Eastern Front as the victor of Tannenberg. Subsequently, he oversaw a crushing series of defeats against the Russians that made him a national hero and the center of a massive personality cult. By 1916, Hindenburg’s popularity had risen to the point that he replaced General Erich von Falkenhayn as Chief of the Great General Staff.  As a result of Emperor Wilhelm II's broad delegation of authority to the German Army High Command, Hindenburg and his deputy, General Erich Ludendorff, ultimately established a de facto military dictatorship that dominated national policy for the rest of the war. Under their leadership, Germany defeated Russian forces in the East and achieved advances in the West deeper than any seen since the war's outbreak. However, by the end of 1918, any improvements in Germany's fortunes were reversed after its forces were decisively defeated in the Second Battle of the Marne and the Allies' Hundred Days Offensive. Upon Germany's capitulation to the Allies in the November 1918 armistice, Hindenburg relinquished his leadership of the Army High Command before retiring altogether from military service in 1919.

In 1925, Hindenburg returned to public life to become the second elected President of the German Weimar Republic. Despite being personally opposed to Hitler and his Nazi party, he was nonetheless a major player in the political instability that resulted in their rise to power. Upon twice dissolving the Reichstag in 1932, Hindenburg ultimately agreed to appoint Hitler as Chancellor of Germany in January 1933 when the Nazis won a plurality in the November elections. In response to the Reichstag Fire allegedly committed by a communist arsonist, he approved the Reichstag Fire Decree in February 1933 which suspended various civil liberties. Later in March, he signed the Enabling Act of 1933 which gave Hitler's regime emergency powers. After Hindenburg died the following year, Hitler combined the Presidency with his office as Chancellor before proceeding to declare himself Führer und Reichskanzler des deutschen Volkes (i.e. "Leader and Reich Chancellor of the German People") and transform Germany into a totalitarian state.