The book excerpt places Canaris in a dispute over why the Imperial German fleet had mutinied in 1917. Naval representatives insisted that the fleet had been sound and that revolutionary politics had introduced the unrest, while opponents stressed conditions inside the Navy and failures by officers. Canaris defended the naval case before a parliamentary inquiry after an opposing deputy had spoken for six hours. The clash shows how historical interpretation became part of the struggle over the legitimacy of military institutions in Weimar Germany.
Chapter · 3:03-5:44
The Weimar Navy's dispute over the 1917 mutinies
A parliamentary inquiry into the 1917 fleet mutinies reveals how the postwar Navy defended its officers and blamed political radicals for unrest.