Wilhelm Groener
In 1918, Wilhelm Groener, Quartermaster General of the German Army, had assured the government of the military's loyalty. But most military leaders refused to accept the democratic Weimar Republic as legitimate and instead the under the leadership of Hans von Seeckt became a state within the state that operated largely outside of the control of the politicians. Reflecting this position as a “state within the state”, the created the Ministeramt or Office of the Ministerial Affairs in 1928 under Kurt von Schleicher to lobby the politicians. The German historian Eberhard Kolb wrote that