How Much Obedience Does an Officer Need? Beck, Tresckow, and Stauffenberg: Examples of Integrity and Moral Courage for Today's Officer

The purpose of this essay is to analyze cases of disobedience during twentieth-century military history as a means of addressing a number of issues. Why do soldiers disobey? What are their motives for disobedience? What is the legitimacy and morality of disobedience? What is the relationship of obedience to disobedience and blind obedience? And, finally, what is the value of this analysis for today's officer? The first case study deals with three of the most important personalities in the conspiracy against Hitler: Ludwig Beck, Henning von Tresckow, and Claus Count von Stauffenberg. I chose them namely for two reasons: first, the three German officers illustrate three different paths from obedience to disobedience, as they risked career, life, and honor. Second, the German military resistance to Hitler is, in my perception, not yet fully analyzed. I have the impression that the decisive role of Beck, Tresckow, and Stauffenberg is only marginally known in the British and American military.4 Other examples are added to give an overview of disobedience in twentieth-century military history, followed by an analysis of the legitimacy and morality of disobedience and the relationship of obedience to disobedience and blind obedience. I will arrive at the conclusion that today's officer should live and be educated according to the principle of what I term "critical obedience."