Army inspection

The 8 army inspections and 25 corps areas of the German Reich in 1914

In the German army of the German Empire, an army inspection was a military authority above the level of the army corps . In peacetime, the task of the army inspections consisted exclusively of monitoring the subordinate army corps. When the First World War broke out (1914–1918), all army inspections were converted into army high command as part of the mobilization .

function

With the introduction of the “Reich Military Law” of May 2, 1874, a binding framework for the German military system was laid for the first time for the German Empire , which had been founded only three years earlier . In §§ 2 and 3 contained therein, which regulated the formations of the army, the establishment of army inspections was already established. In the event of war, the army inspectors should take over the command of the armies to be formed. In peacetime, however, they had no authority over the commanding generals under their command . Since they had to inspect their formations, however, they had the opportunity to find out about the troops they were to command in the war.

history

In Prussia , on October 10, 1868, a permanent division of the troops in peacetime into three “army departments” was planned for the first time. After the end of the Franco-Prussian War (1870/71), four “Army Inspections” were created instead with the Supreme Cabinet Order of June 14, 1871, each headed by an inspector. On June 16, 1871, on the day the German troops entered Berlin , the four new army inspectors were appointed. These were the Crown Prince of Saxony (I. Army Inspection), the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (II Army Inspection), Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia (III Army Inspection) and the Crown Prince of the German Empire (IV Army -Inspection).

A further (fifth) army inspection under the Grand Duke of Baden was finally added by a very high cabinet order of September 22, 1877 . With the Supreme Cabinet Order of September 8, 1907, the VI., The VII. With that of September 2, 1912, and finally the VIII. Army Inspection with that of July 13, 1913. Thus, when the war broke out in 1914 , the German armed forces comprised a total of 8 army inspections with 25 army corps .

Outline of Army Inspections in 1914

inspection	place	Inspector	corps	mobilization
I.	Danzig	Colonel-General Maximilian von Prittwitz and Gaffron	* I. Army Corps * XVII. Army Corps * XX. Army Corps	Army High Command 8
II.	Berlin	Colonel General Josias von Heeringen	* Guard Corps * XII. Army Corps * XIX. Army Corps	Army High Command 3
III.	Hanover	Colonel General Karl von Bülow	* VII. Army Corps * IX. Army Corps * Xth Army Corps	Army High Command 2
IV.	Munich	Colonel General Rupprecht of Bavaria	* III. Army Corps * kb I. Army Corps * kb II. Army Corps * kb III. Army Corps	Army High Command 6
V.	Karlsruhe	Colonel General Friedrich II of Baden	* VIII. Army Corps * XIV. Army Corps * XV. Army Corps	Army High Command 7
VI.	Stuttgart	Colonel General Albrecht of Württemberg	* IV. Army Corps * XI. Army Corps * XIII. Army Corps	Army High Command 4
VII.	Saarbrücken	Colonel General Hermann von Eichhorn	* XVI. Army Corps * XVIII. Army Corps * XXI. Army Corps	Army High Command 5
VIII.	Berlin	Colonel General Alexander von Kluck	* II. Army Corps * V Army Corps * VI. Army Corps	Army High Command 1

literature

• Curt Jany: The Royal Prussian Army and the German Reichsheer 1807 to 1914 (2nd edition), Vol. 4, Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1967.
• Edgar von Matuschka: Organization history of the army 1890-1914 , in: German military history 1648-1939 , vol. 3, Munich 1983, pp. 157-311.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Hugo Preus: Friedenspräsenz und Reichsverfassungs - A constitutional study , in: Detlef Lehnert / Dian Schefold (eds.): Hugo Preuss - Gesammelte Schriften , Vol. 2, Tübingen 2009, p. 356.
2. ↑ Edgar von Matuschka: Organization history of the army 1890-1914 , p. 157.
3. ↑ Rudolf Absolon: The Wehrmacht in the Third Reich , Vol. 1, Munich 1998, p. 5, footnote 25
4. ↑ ^{a b} Curt Jany: The Royal Prussian Army and the German Reichsheer 1807 to 1914 , Vol. 4, Osnabrück 1967, p. 268.
5. ↑ Curt Jany: The Royal Prussian Army and the German Reichsheer 1807 to 1914 , Vol. 4, Osnabrück 1967, p. 297.
6. ^ Edgar von Matuschka: Organization history of the army 1890-1914 , p. 158.