The leader of Germany during the last decade of World War 1 was Paul von Hindenburg, who served as the Reich President from 1925 until his death in 1934. Hindenburg was a German military leader and politician who had been instrumental in the German victory in World War 1, serving as the Chief of the General Staff of the Imperial German Army from 1916 until the end of the war. After the war, he became a figurehead for the German right wing and was elected President in 1925. Hindenburg's presidency was marked by political instability, economic crisis, and the rise of the Nazi Party, which eventually led to Adolf Hitler becoming Chancellor in 1933.