Before and during the First World War, members of the German armed forces had sworn an oath of allegiance to the Kaiser. This changed after Germany’s defeat, and the establishment of a democratic Weimar Republic. Not only did the political leaders of the new Weimar Republic seek to democratise the military by changing its social makeup but also by changing the oath of allegiance. The new oath required soldiers to swear loyalty to the Constitution and its institutions, rather than to any individual.
However, for many career soldiers, the idea of swearing an oath to a constitution was alien1.
Following Adolf Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor in 1933, the military oath changed again; soldiers were required to swear loyalty to their people and country (“Volk und Vaterland”), rather than to individual leaders. All this changed with the death of German President Paul von Hindenburg on August 2, 1934. At that time, Adolf Hitler began to solidify his control over Germany. That same day, all military personnel in Germany swore a new oath of allegiance. The oath was no longer one of allegiance to the Constitution or the nation’s institutions, but to Hitler himself:
“I swear by God this holy oath, that I will render to Adolf Hitler, Führer of the German Reich and People, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, unconditional obedience, and that I am ready, as a brave soldier, to risk my life at any time for this oath”1.
From this point forward, all existing units and all new military recruits would swear the so-called “Führer Oath.” The oath became law in July 1935. Civilian officials were required to swear a similar oath. While many generals later claimed the oath was Hitler’s idea, in fact, the highest ranking military leaders created it. A surprised Hitler himself acknowledged this by writing to Defense Minister von Blomberg: “I wish to express my thanks to you…for the oath of loyalty which has been sworn to me”1. Everybody knows where that led
The oath of enlistment of the US Army is as follows:
I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God. (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962)2.
Because it is now clear that Trump and his Project 2025 christofascist ghouls wish to largely ignore or subvert the Constitution3-5, those in the US armed forces have a choice to make: Do they defend the Constitution or obey the President. They cannot do both. It is to be hoped that the idiotic speeches by the Secretary of Defense [sic] Hegseth and by Trump [more on these elsewhere] in front of 800 senior officers assembled at Quantico will push them towards the former rather than the latter.
Sources
- https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/german-military-oaths
- https://www.army.mil/values/oath.html
- https://theconversation.com/3-ways-trump-is-acting-like-a-king-and-bypassing-the-constitutions-checks-and-balances-on-presidential-authority-249347
- https://verfassungsblog.de/trumps-counter-constitution/
- https://democrats-appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/president-trump-actively-destroys-rule-law-he-claims-be-restoring
GunOath
Speaking of oaths, or LACK OF in this case. I see an unelected employee of the NSW Premier – his chief of staff James Cullen – is challenging the right of the NSW Parliament to be able to force people to front enquiries, on pain of “punishment” (never actually enacted I gather). The background is that Minns allegedly used the Dural caravan hoax to mislead the parliament and the public to push the populist anti-semitism barrel further than it reasonably should have been.
Obviously chiefs of staff don’t like to be accountable to anyone other than their political masters and for obvious reasons are reluctant to spill the beans on their employers. But when employees/party hacks/operatives/”lobbyists” – most of whom have zero public accountability unless the media makes them so, or they embarrass/take a fall for their masters – are free to thumb their noses at parliament and the public (even more than they already do), you know that democracy is being white anted from the inside.
Constitutional challenge outcomes are often less obvious than straight legal ones but hopefully the court will confirm parliament’s primacy and Cullen and his (Labor) supporters will be left with egg on their faces and a weighty legal bill. NSW taxpayers certainly will.
Meanwhile our federal corruption watchdog the NACC – already compromised in it’s infancy according to some – is still considering what if any action it will take wrt the unnamed public servants/politicians involved in that Morrison-led stain on public administration Robodebt, and the timid, cautious and secretive Albanese govt is still to enact changes to legislation recommended by the Royal Commission.
Thank heavens for people like Geoffrey Watson SC and others in the Centre for Public Integrity (https://publicintegrity.org.au/).
https://www.acoss.org.au/media_release/acoss-statement-on-the-robodebt-settlement/
https://www.smh.com.au/national/anti-corruption-body-wastes-time-with-a-triviality-20250701-p5mbje.html
Jon,
All political parties seem to want to subvert democracy to favour themselves. This is a process which has been happening for some time, but with thee advent of fascists like Trump running rampant in the US, and a complicit media, it has emboldened like-minded bastards across the planet and has increased the rate of subversion. Things must change or we will end up with civil wars in many countries.
The push topwards fascism and the sidelining (or surrender, in the case of the MAGA and Republican hypocrites) of Congress and disregard of the rule of law in that godforsaken country continues apace. Just a couple more examples.
https://www.rawstory.com/pete-hegseth-2674186502/
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-16/media-asked-to-leave-pentagon-disagreeing-with-policy/105892258
Frankly the gutless Democrat “lawmakers” haven’t helped. I know it’s intrinsically ethically and morally wrong AND not just a very slippery slope but a guarantee of accelerating the decline of that den of christofacism, but when the pendulum swings it would be karma – and justice – if a “liberal” President turn their actions and rhetoric against them all. Ideally this would involve the immediate long-term incarceration of Trump, Hesgeth and other major enablers (Roberts among them) on the grounds that they sought to both undermine and overthrow the Constitution and democratic govt, and as such pose an ongoing national security threat. Guantanamo needs some fresh inmates I hear.
Jon,
If they don’t incarcerate these bastards for a long time, this will all be replayed sooner rather than later. They also need to go very far down the food chain to all the ICE bastards too, as well as any in the media or corporations who have enabled this destruction.