Stab-in-the-back myth
Videos
The stab-in-the-back myth is an antisemitic and anti-communist conspiracy theory that was widely believed and promulgated in Germany after 1918. It maintained that the Imperial German Army did not los
An illustration from a 1919 Austrian postcard showing a caricatured Jew, stabbing a German Army soldier in the back with a dagger. The capitulation of the Central Powers was blamed on communists, Bolsheviks, and the Weimar Republic, but in particular on Jews.
First Quartermaster General Erich Ludendorff
Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg
Friedrich Ebert contributed to the myth when he told returning veterans that "No enemy has vanquished you."
Matthias Erzberger
Videos
Matthias Erzberger was a German Centre Party politician who served as the minister of finance of Germany from 1919 to 1920.
Erzberger in 1919
Painting depicting the signing of the armistice. Behind the table are Rear-admiral George Hope, Admiral Rosslyn Wemyss, Marshal Ferdinand Foch and General Maxime Weygand. In front of the table are Erzberger, Generalmajor Detlof von Winterfeldt, Alfred von Oberndorff and Ernst Vanselow. Behind them stands Captain Jack Marriot.
Erzberger and Minister Eduard David in Berlin, May 1919
Erzberger's birthplace in Buttenhausen is now a small museum.