BECK, LUDWIG

born June 29, 1880, Biebrich, Ger. died July 20, 1944, Berlin German general who, as chief of the General Staff (1935-38), opposed Adolf Hitler's occupation of the Rhineland (1936) and who was a central figure in the unsuccessful generals' plot of 1944 against Hitler. Beck was attached to the General Staff in World War I. After Hitler came to power, he rose rapidly, becoming chief of the elitist Army General Staff in 1935, but he resigned in 1938 after protesting the decision to conquer Czechoslovakia and after failing to organize army opposition to Hitler's expansionist policies. He became the recognized leader of the conspirators against Hitler and was seen as a possible president of Germany with Hitler out of the way. After the failure of the plot to assassinate Hitler on July 20, 1944, Beck attempted suicide, receiving the coup de grace from an attending sergeant.