Paul von Hindenburg and Philippe Pétain both managed to work their way up from general to head of state. Their followers declared them saviors. Their opponents condemned them as traitors, attacking the political order that these two heroes of World War I represented. Stefan Schubert compares those orders and examines the connection between the heroization of the military and its political impact in Germany and France.

Stefan Schubert, Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg, Germany.