Gustav Noske Article Index for
Gustav
Website Links For
Gustav
 

Information About

Gustav Noske




Gustav Noske ( July 9 , 1868 - November 30 , 1946 ) was a German Administrator . He served as the Defense Minister Of Germany between 1919 and 1920 . He was the first defense minister of the Weimar Republic .

Noske was a Social Democratic politician and a member of the
German Parliament during World War I . He had long shown an interest in military and colonial affairs. Generally speaking, he was on the right wing of the socialists.

Best known for brutally putting down the Communist and left wing risings throughout Germany in early 1919, Noske was a controversial figure. Willing to use extralegal methods to crush the incipient anarchy, he permitted and even encouraged the organization and employment of right-wing, ultra-nationalist Freikorps . One of the few Social Democrats willing to work with the traditional officer class which continued to dominate the Army, Noske was instrumental in restoring order and preventing a German version of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. Nevertheless, he was deeply shocked when he finally realized (based on talks with General Hans Von Seeckt ) that the German Army's chief loyalty was not to the state, but to itself.

He was president of the Province Of Hanover from 1920 on, but was dismissed by the Nazis in 1933 . In 1944 he was arrested by the Gestapo under suspicion of complicity in anti-Hitler plots. Noske was freed by advancing Allied troops and lived in Hanover afterwards. He died while preparing for a lecture tour of the United States .