Large structural mistreatment by superiors within that hierarchical society became a commonality in the German Empire. Soldiers could be physically and emotionally tortured, punished severely, or be damaged for the remainder of their life during service. Unquestioning subordination was enforced through a system of chicanery for those unwilling to do so. Soldierly virtues and faith in the army became common in the consciousness of the German population. Mistreatment was perceived to be tolerable. Those mistreatments went largely uncommented in the public, with the exception of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which critisied the excess of militaristic culture. An example can be found in a speech that August Bebel gave to the Reichstag in 1890 about a recruit who was tortured by having to put his hands into boiling water until flesh fell off his hands, making him an invalid. Desertions reached up to 20.000 men a year, mostly because of fear of draconian punishments and chicanery. Many recruits preferred suicide to chicanery. The vast majority of society, however, accepted the arbitrary nature of the military and claimed the claim to power by the military caste for themselves.
