German Army Mission in Romania

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The German Army Mission in Romania was a command authority of the Wehrmacht in Bucharest during World War II .

background

As an ally of the German Reich during the Second World War, Romania played a special role in political, military and economic terms. The military-political relations between Berlin and Bucharest were particularly intensified from 1940 when General Ion Antonescu took over the government in Bucharest at the beginning of September 1940 and sought Germany's support in reforming the Romanian army . After Antonescu's fundamental conversation with Adolf Hitler on November 22, 1940, Romania joined the Tripartite Pact a day later .

collaboration

The military cooperation between the German Reich and Romania began in October 1940 with the dispatch of a military mission ( army and air force ). It consisted of the Army Mission under Lieutenant General Erik Hansen , who was also chief of the entire Wehrmacht Mission , as well as the Air Force Mission under Lieutenant General Wilhelm Speidel and the Romanian Military Economic Staff under Colonel Dr. Karl Spalcke . At the beginning of 1941 there was a naval mission under Rear Admiral Friedrich-Wilhelm Fleischer . Outwardly, the military mission had the task of supporting Romania in the organization and training of its armed forces. The real tasks should remain hidden from both the Romanian and German troops:

  1. to protect the Romanian oil area against attacks by a third power and against destruction,
  2. to enable the Romanian armed forces to solve certain military tasks according to a strict plan geared to German interests,
  3. to prepare the deployment of German and Romanian forces from Romania in the event of a war with the Soviet Union.

structure

According to command order No. 1 of October 18, 1940, the army mission comprised:

  1. Command staff with management department, Quartermaster group, Adjutantur group
  2. Commandos,
  3. Teaching groups (military academies, weapons schools)
  4. Teaching Association R I.

On June 21, 1941, the German Army Mission consisted of:

  1. Management team (with the specialist areas Ia, Ic, Id, IId)
  2. Down-to-earth relay (with Ia2, IIb, III, IVa, Na-Fü, IVb, IVc, OQu / Kfz.)
  3. Head Quartermaster Romania (with OQu without Kfz., IVc)

German liaison commands went to the Romanian command posts down to the division headquarters. They had to inform the German leadership of all important events in the combat sections that were entrusted to the Romanian units. In addition, they should provide advice to the Romanian troop leaders - in line with the German leadership and its leadership principles. Corresponding Romanian liaison staffs existed at times in those German army groups and armies to which Romanian units were subordinate. Neither she nor the representatives of General (later Marshal) Antonescu present at the “ Führer Headquarters ” have ever played a role adequate to the German liaison commandos. At the beginning of the war against the USSR, the Romanian army had two army high commands , eight general commands and 28 divisions or independent brigades . The "Army Group Antonescu", which gathered in the Moldau region, consisted of the German 11th Army under Colonel General Eugen von Schobert , the Romanian 3rd Army and the Romanian 4th Army , which was temporarily subordinate to the 11th Army . As of June 22, 1941, the day of the attack to the northeast via the Prut , the German-Romanian army group was operationally subordinate to Army Group South ; However, through the chief of the German Army Mission, Major General Arthur Hauffe , she remained in constant direct contact with the German High Command of the Army . After reaching the Dniester , Marshal Antonescu withdrew from the military leadership.

War against the Soviet Union

This was followed by the Battle of Odessa by the Romanian 4th Army, while the Romanian 3rd Army advanced further east towards the Dnieper . After heavy losses off Odessa, the majority of the Romanian associations had to be relocated back to their homeland for refreshment. This reduced the number of Romanian divisions deployed on the Eastern Front to nine. The three cavalry and three mountain brigades took part in the conquest of the Crimea as part of the 11th Army , the rest took on security tasks in the rear army area south. Marshal Antonescu only hesitantly declared himself ready in an agreement concluded with Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel in Bucharest in 1942 to make about 15 divisions available for the intended new summer offensive on the Eastern Front, and that only provided that Hungary also did so send many units to the Eastern Front and that Germany guarantees the modernization and completion of the equipment of the Romanian units. The demand for a stronger deployment of the Royal Hungarian Army on the Eastern Front resulted from the fact that as a result of the Vienna arbitration between Romania and Hungary over northern Transylvania there was considerable political tension, which led to the border being secured by strong associations on both sides.

At the beginning of the new offensive on June 28, 1942, only six divisions were available in the Crimea and six divisions were available for the attacking forces. After successful completion of the advance to the Don and the Volga near Stalingrad, an army group consisting essentially of Romanian forces was to be formed under the command of Marshal Antonescu. This decision turned out to be invalid due to the development of the situation of the breakthrough of the Soviet army on the Volga and Don. It resulted in the rapid introduction of Army High Command 11 (so far near Leningrad ) as Army Group Command Don, which under General Field Marshal Erich von Manstein took over the supreme command of the German, Romanian and Italian formations enclosed near Stalingrad and fighting on the Don front. The German-Romanian relationship was severely shaken by the military defeat on the Don and the Volga at the end of January 1943, especially since two Romanian divisions were also lost in the battle of Stalingrad . As a result of the crisis of confidence between the two armies and their leaders, the Romanian government tried to find political support from the Western powers from spring 1943. Romania refused their demand for unconditional surrender to the Red Army until the summer of 1944. In the spring of 1944, Army Group A, as well as Army Group South fighting north of it, was involved in heavy retreat fighting. In the area of ​​Army Group A, to which troops of the Romanian 3rd Army belonged, old Romanian territory was reached. There the front strengthened itself in the line Carpathians-Jassy-Kishinev-Dniester-Lauf up to the mouth. Seven Romanian divisions were still fighting in the Crimea as part of the 17th Army . After the breakthrough through the Sivash Front, which had been fought for with heavy Romanian losses, the Romanian units deployed in the Crimea could be transported back home by sea. Army Group A, renamed Army Group South Ukraine on March 31, 1944 , under the leadership of Colonel General Ferdinand Schörner, was able to hold the positions occupied in April until August 20, 1944, when the bilateral operation of the Soviet steppe front and the 3rd Ukrainian front began. Within three days not only were 24 Romanian divisions smashed, but the re-established 6th Army was included and a further 16 German divisions were destroyed.

Romania's apostasy and declaration of war

Thereupon King Michael I dismissed Marshal Antonescu as head of government. On August 23, 1944, he partially re-enacted the 1923 constitution. The war alliance between the German Reich and Romania was terminated and diplomatic relations were broken off. Marshal Antonescu was arrested in the palace during an audience with officers loyal to the king and extradited to representatives of the Romanian Communist Party . The German troops were offered free withdrawal, provided that they for their part abstained from any hostility towards the Romanians. Hitler neither wanted to withdraw nor forego Romania's war and economic potential. On August 24th, German planes bombed Bucharest. At the same time, Lieutenant General Alfred Gerstenberg tried to bring Bucharest into German power with German units . The consequences were devastating. Due to the German attacks, the Constantin Sănătescu government declared war on the German Reich on August 25, 1944. The signing of the armistice between Romania, the Soviet Union, Great Britain and the United States took place in Moscow on September 10, 1944. On October 25th, all of Romania, including northern Transylvania, was surrendered by German troops.

literature

  • Philipp W. Fabry : Balkan confusions 1940/41. Diplomatic and military preparation for the German Danube crossing . Contributions to military research IX / X, Wehr und Wissen Verlagsgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1966.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ DNB certificate
  2. ↑ Hitler's loan armies on the march to Stalingrad (Die Welt, 2012)
  3. ↑ German Army Mission in Romania (1940–1944)
  4. ↑ a b c d e Federal Archives RH 31-I German Army Mission in Romania
  5. ^ Escape of the Transylvanian Saxons from Northern Transylvania in 1944. Lecture by Dr. Konrad Gündisch (YouTube)