September 2, 1878 - Werner von Blomberg
As the first Minister of War under the Nazi regime, von Blomberg was instrumental in transforming Germany's military from a constrained postwar force into the apparatus that would wage the Second World War. His willingness to align the armed forces with the new government — purging dissenters and overseeing large-scale rearmament — helped consolidate Hitler's grip on the military in its critical early years. He was ultimately undone not by conscience but by rivals within the regime itself, and spent the war years in the obscurity his removal had forced upon him.
From Wikipedia
Werner Eduard Fritz von Blomberg (2 September 1878 – 13 March 1946) was a German field marshal and politician who served as the first Minister of War in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1938. Blomberg had served as Chief of the Truppenamt, equivalent to the German General Staff, during the Weimar Republic from 1927 to 1929.
Blomberg served on the Western Front during World War I and rose through the ranks of the Reichswehr until he was appointed chief of the Truppenamt. Despite being dismissed from the Truppenamt, he was later appointed Defence Minister by President Paul von Hindenburg in January 1933.
Following the Nazis' rise to power in Germany, Blomberg was named Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief of the German Armed Forces. In this capacity, he played a central role in Germany's rearmament as well as purging the military of dissidents to the new regime. However, as Blomberg grew increasingly critical of the Nazis' foreign policy, he was ultimately forced to resign in the Blomberg–Fritsch affair in 1938, orchestrated by his political rivals, Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler. Thereafter, Blomberg spent World War II in obscurity until he served as a witness in the Nuremberg trials shortly before his death.
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