Bavarian Reichswehr

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7th (Bavarian) Division

The Imperial War Flag of the Weimar Republic with the Iron Cross, 1921–1933
active 1921 to 1934
Country German Empire
Armed forces Reichswehr
Armed forces Imperial Army
Branch of service infantry
Type Infantry Division
structure See organization
Location See garrisons
management
Commanders See commanders

The Bavarian Reichswehr is the part of the German Reichswehr ( 7th (Bavarian) Division ) stationed in Bavaria , which until 1924 had certain rights of autonomy vis-à-vis the Reich government .

prehistory

Although the empire fell in the course of the November Revolution in 1918 and King Ludwig III. the civil servants and soldiers had released the oath on his person, Bavaria's military sovereignty was not yet lifted. However, the turmoil surrounding the suppression of the Munich Soviet Republic and its “ Red Army ”, which was built up under Rudolf Egelhofer , prompted the new Bavarian government to renounce military sovereignty in the Bamberg constitution of August 14, 1919. The regular Bavarian army was already far to the end of the war demobilized been that the fight against the Soviet Republic by non Bavarian Reichswehr troops and parastatal volunteer corps took place.

Reichswehr Group Command 4

Takeover of the Bavarian Army in the Reichswehr on August 25, 1919 in Munich

On October 1, 1919, the armed forces of the German Reich were transformed into the 200,000-strong "transitional army ". At the same time, the previous units and offices of the " Old Army " were no longer available . All units of the Provisional Reichswehr stationed in Bavaria were placed under Reichswehr Group Command 4. Major General Arnold von Möhl were a large Reichswehr brigade of 12,227 men based in Munich (Reichswehr-Schützen-Brigade 21) and three smaller brigades of 7,203 men each (Reichswehr Brigade 22 in Augsburg , Reichswehr Brigade 23 in Würzburg and Reichswehr Brigade 24 in Nuremberg ) in the rest of Bavaria.

Military District Command VII

The Reichswehr was formed on January 1, 1921, with the Defense Act of March 23, 1921 regulating the details. The defense law ended the military sovereignty of the states, but left Saxony , Württemberg , Baden and Bavaria a limited degree of independence. The Free State of Bavaria was a specialty. Wehrkreis VII only included the area on the right bank of the Rhine. The Palatinate was not one of them. In the 7th (Bavarian) Division stationed in Bavaria and the 17th (Bavarian) Cavalry Regiment , only Bavarian citizens served . At the same time, Reichswehr Group Command 4 was renamed Military District Command VII . It remained directly subordinate to the Reichswehr Ministry and, as the "Bavarian Reichswehr", retained certain rights of autonomy vis-à-vis the Reich government until 1924 . The state commander was appointed by the Reich President at the suggestion of the Bavarian state government. In addition to the recruitment , the special role was also shown externally by cockades and coats of arms in the national colors on hats and steel helmets as well as in pennants on the lances of the 17th (Bavarian) cavalry regiment.

Trial of strength with Berlin 1923

Memorial service for the soldiers of the Bavarian Army who fell in World War I on November 13, 1927

In autumn 1923 there was a trial of strength between Bavaria and the Reich. In protest against the termination of the "passive resistance" against the occupation of the Ruhr by the Reich government Stresemann , the Bavarian government appointed Gustav von Kahr as State Commissioner General with dictatorial powers on September 26, 1923 . This immediately declared the state of emergency in Bavaria, on the same day President Friedrich Ebert imposed a state of emergency throughout the entire Reich. Lieutenant General Otto von Lossow became a “servant of two masters” through his “hybrid position” as commander of military district VII and Bavarian state commander: As military district commander he had the executive power on behalf of Reichswehr Minister Otto Geßler , as state commander his task was “also for the Bavarian government to provide assistance in the event of a public emergency (...) ".

Lossow's loyalty to Bavaria and von Kahr apparently predominated. Due to the propaganda campaigns by the Völkischer Beobachter , the Reich government banned the NSDAP newspaper and commissioned von Lossow to enforce it. However, he did not comply with this order - after consultation with State Commissioner General von Kahr. This prompted the chief of the Army Command, Hans von Seeckt , to suggest that he leave because he refused to obey . Despite various attempts at mediation, Lossow could not be persuaded to say goodbye. Thereupon he was removed from his offices on October 19, 1923 by President Ebert and General von Seeckt and General Kress von Kressenstein was entrusted with the leadership of the 7th Division and the duties of commander in military district VII.

However, the Bavarian State Ministry reinstated Lossow on October 20 as a state commander and entrusted him "with the leadership of the Bavarian part of the Imperial Army". Two days later, the 7th (Bavarian) Division was sworn in to the Bavarian state government - as "Trustee of the German People". This committed an open breach of the imperial constitution . Despite this blatant refusal to give orders, General von Seeckt was not prepared to carry out the Reich execution against Bavaria - according to the motto “Troops do not shoot troops”.

After the suppression of the Hitler putsch on November 8 and 9, 1923, Bavaria sought to use the negotiations with Berlin again to reactivate parts of the former military reserve rights . With the so-called "Homburg Agreement" of February 14, 1924, Bavaria and the Reich settled their open conflict from 1923 over the legal status of the Bavarian state commander of the Reichswehr. More than the participation in the recall of the commander in Munich in his dual function as state commander could not be achieved for Bavaria. Thereupon General State Commissioner von Kahr and Lieutenant General von Lossow were recalled on February 18, 1924.

After the confrontation in the year of the crisis in 1923, Bavaria and the Reich tried to normalize their relationship. The Bavarian state government tried one last time to bring the state commander into play against the appointment of Franz Ritter von Epps as Reich Commissioner for Bavaria on March 9, 1933. With the "Second Act to Change the Defense Act" of July 20, 1933, the function of state commanders was completely eliminated. The 7th (Bavarian) Division formed the basis for the VII Army Corps of the Wehrmacht .

Commanders

The respective commander was also the commander in military district VII . As military district commanders , the division commanders were the legal successors of the previous commanding generals . They were assigned an infantry and an artillery commander, both with staffs, to lead the units .

Rank Surname date
Lieutenant General / General of the Infantry Arnold von Möhl 0October 1, 1920 to December 31, 1922
Lieutenant General Otto von Lossow 0January 1, 1923 to February 18, 1924
Lieutenant General Friedrich Kreß von Kressenstein March 20, 1924 to December 31, 1927
Lieutenant General / General of the Infantry Adolf von Ruith 0January 1, 1928 to January 31, 1930
Lieutenant General Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb 0February 1, 1930 to September 30, 1933
Lieutenant General / General of the Infantry Wilhelm Adam 0October 1, 1933 to September 30, 1935
Infantry Leader VII
Colonel / Major General Franz von Epp 0October 1, 1920 to October 31, 1923
Major general Adolf von Ruith 0November 1, 1923 to October 31, 1927
Major general Hans Seutter from Lötzen 0November 1, 1927 to June 30, 1929
Major general Albrecht Steppuhn 0July 1, 1929 to March 31, 1931
Major general Hans von Hößlin 0April 1, 1931 to March 31, 1932
Colonel / Major General Paul Bauer 0April 1, 1932 to March 31, 1933
Colonel / Major General Conrad Stephanus 0April 1, 1933 to July 31, 1934
Colonel / Major General Eugen von Schobert 0August 1, 1934 to October 14, 1935
Artillery Leader VII
Lieutenant Colonel / Colonel Erich von Botzheim 0October 1, 1920 to January 31, 1922
Major General / Lieutenant General Friedrich Kreß von Kressenstein 0February 1, 1923 to March 19, 1924
Colonel / Major General Georg vonöffelholz from Kolberg March 20, 1924 to January 31, 1926
Colonel / Major General Karl Theysohn 0February 1, 1926 to January 31, 1929
Major general Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb 0February 1, 1929 to January 31, 1930
Major general Karl Eberth 0February 1, 1930 to November 30, 1930
Colonel / Major General Oskar Vogl 0December 1, 1930 to November 30, 1931
Colonel / Major General Heinrich Curtze 0December 1, 1931 to September 30, 1932
Major general Friedrich Dollmann 0October 1, 1932 to January 31, 1933
Colonel / Major General Otto Tscherning 0February 1, 1933 to October 1, 1934

organization

Association membership

The division was subordinate to Group Command 2 in Kassel .

structure

The major association was structured as follows:

  • Infantry Leader VII in Munich with
19th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment
20th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment
21st (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment
7th (Bavarian) Pioneer Battalion (directly subordinate to the division from 1930)
7th (Bavarian) Artillery Regiment
7. (Bavarian) Driving Department

The division was also responsible for:

In addition, the military district commander reported:

literature

  • Georg Tessin : German associations and troops 1918–1939. on the basis of the documents of the Federal Archives-Military Archives. Biblio, Osnabrück 1974, ISBN 3-7648-1000-9 . P. 189ff.
  • Kai Uwe Tapken : Reichswehr Group Command 4, 1919–1921. In: Historical Lexicon of Bavaria. URL: historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de (September 18, 2012).
  • Kai Uwe Tapken: The Reichswehr in Bavaria from 1919 to 1924. Kovač, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-8300-0646-2 (= series studies on contemporary history. Volume 26, dissertation Uni Bamberg 1999).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kai Uwe Tapken : Reichswehr Group Command 4, 1919–1921. in: Historical Lexicon of Bavaria. URL: historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de (September 18, 2012).
  2. ↑ § 12 para. 1 p. 4 Defense Act of March 23, 1921 (RGBl. P. 329).
  3. ^ Franz Menges:  Lossow, Otto von. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 15, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-428-00196-6 , p. 204 f. ( Digitized version ).
  4. ↑ Burkhard Asmuss : Republic without a chance? Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1994, p. 457.
  5. ^ Kai Uwe Tapken: The Reichswehr in Bavaria from 1919 to 1924. Kovač, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-8300-0646-2 , p. 381.
  6. ^ Kai Uwe Tapken: The Reichswehr in Bavaria from 1919 to 1924. Kovač, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-8300-0646-2 , pp. 382–383.
  7. ^ Heinrich August Winkler : Weimar 1918–1933. The history of the first German democracy. 3rd edition, Verlag CH Beck, Munich 1998, p. 211.
  8. ^ Karl-Ulrich Gelberg: Homburg Agreement. 14./18. February 1924. in: Historical Lexicon of Bavaria. URL: historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de (August 20, 2012)
  9. ^ Kai Uwe Tapken: The Reichswehr in Bavaria from 1919 to 1924. Kovač, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-8300-0646-2 , p. 404.
  10. ↑ Bruno Thoß: Landeskommandant, 1919-1933. in: Historical Lexicon of Bavaria. URL: historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de (September 18, 2012)
  11. ^ Edgar Graf von Matuschka: Organization of the Imperial Army. in: Handbook on German Military History 1648–1939. Military History Research Office (ed.). Freiburg (Breisgau). Part VI: Reichswehr and Republic (1918–1933). Bernard & Graefe Verlag für Defense, Frankfurt am Main 1970, p. 317.
  12. ↑ Dermot Bradley (ed.), Günter Wegner: Occupation of the German Army 1815-1939. Volume 1: The higher command posts 1815–1939. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1990, ISBN 3-7648-1780-1 , p. 797 f.