Iron Division
Iron Division was the name of a military association made up of German volunteers that took part in the Latvian War of Independence in the Baltic States in 1919 . It was the best-known formation of the free corps in the Baltic States. The association was used against the army of Rätelettland and later fought after a conversion under Russian monarchist command against the army of the Republic of Latvia . The division , at times up to 16,000 men , was disbanded in early 1920 due to mutiny .
Iron Brigade
After the end of the First World War , the war-weary troops of the German 8th Army withdrew from the eastern Baltic in front of the Red Army . In order to protect the removal of troops and material, the so-called Iron Brigade was recruited from November 29th from soldiers of the army . This had been decided at a joint meeting of the Reich Plenipotentiary August Winnig , Army Commander Hugo von Kathen and the Central Soldier Council. Around 600 volunteers registered, but some of them later refused to work at the front.
A defense of Riga by the Baltic State Armed Forces , a largely Baltic-German volunteer force, and the Iron Brigade failed. On January 3, a council government entered Riga (see Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (1918–1920) ). The Bolshevik armies, which consisted mainly of Latvian Red Rifle Regiments , conquered almost all of Latvia by mid-January 1919, and it was feared that they were planning an advance on East Prussia in order to start a revolution in Germany . In order to prevent this, the Council of People's Representatives allowed the recruitment of volunteers and voluntary corps in the Reich. For the time being, however, the weak front troops found themselves huddled together in a small area around Libau (Lat. Liepāja ) and had supplies worries because rear red soldiers' councils blocked the railroad for the border guards.
Iron Division
On January 16, the command of the Iron Brigade changed from Colonel Friedrich Kumme to Major Josef Bischoff . This forbade the further march back, sent unreliable troops home and renamed the remaining 300 men the "Iron Division". With reinforcements arriving and new combat tactics, the front on the Windau (Lat. Venta ) could actually be held. Problems of the Bolsheviks on other fronts also contributed to this.
At the beginning of February 1919, the VI. Reserve Corps took over command of Courland . The commanding general , Major General Rüdiger von der Goltz , was responsible for the Libau governorate, the Baltic State Armed Forces , the Iron Division, the incoming 1st Guard Reserve Division and various smaller volunteer corps. The Iron Division took part in the offensive on Mitau (Lat. Jelgava ) at the beginning of March and occupied the old World War II position at Olai (Lat. Olaine ). On May 22nd, Riga was recaptured together with the Baltic State Armed Forces, with the Iron Division distinguished by its brutality. As a result, the Red Armies initially gave up the fight for Latvia.
In June 1919, the division was deployed in the conflict between the Latvian Niedra puppet government and the Republic of Estonia and the Latvian Ulmanis government. Since German troops were not to carry out any further offensive movements on the orders of the Reich government and the Entente Powers, five battalions and three batteries entered Lower Latvian service for 14 days. At the Battle of Wenden (Lat. Cēsis ), however, they were decisively defeated. Sometimes the troops refused to serve because they had only been recruited to fight the Bolsheviks. After the subsequent evacuation of Riga and the armistice of Strasdenhof , the division found itself again in the Olai sector.
composition
By taking over closed volunteer corps and individual volunteers, the division achieved a catering level of around 14,000 men by the summer of 1919. There were three infantry regiments and an artillery regiment as well as cavalry and supply troops. The volunteers each signed a one-month contract, received a Baltic allowance in addition to their pay and had the prospect of becoming a Latvian citizen; they were also promised land for settlement, albeit without authorization. In addition to those willing to settle, idealists, professional soldiers who did not find a place in the Reichswehr , adventurers, unemployed, but also all sorts of dubious elements up to criminals who wanted to evade the criminal justice system in the Reich. About half of the incoming replacement was sent back because it appeared "morally" unsuitable. Often units had to be disbanded due to unreliability. Politically unpopular officers and men were also deported. The division thus became a reservoir for reactionary , monarchist and nationalist forces.
The fighting was ruthless on both sides and at the expense of the civilian population. Prisoners were shot and robbed against orders. The marauders in the hinterland could never be stopped. After the conquest of Riga, the riots in the area of the Iron Division attracted international attention. Because of the many attacks and overloading of the field gendarmerie , special company courts had to be set up.
Although the evacuation of the Baltic region officially began in July, the division continued to strengthen itself and for this purpose operated illegal advertising agencies in Germany.
The aim of the circles around Bischoff, contrary to the official German policy, was to disempower the Bolsheviks together with the Russian White Armies and to gain influence over a future Russia. At least the division should remain in place for as long as possible in order to participate in a reactionary overthrow in Germany if necessary.
Transfer to the West Russian Liberation Army
When the division's first transports were ready for loading to Germany on August 23, 1919, Bischoff decided at his own risk to refuse to give orders and stopped any further transport. At the end of September, the division, together with the Freikorps of the German Legion, went over to the West Russian Liberation Army of the adventurer Pawel Mikhailovich Bermondt-Awaloff . During their advance, the division reached the western suburbs of Riga without being able to conquer the city. When the Entente powers intervened in favor of Latvia and the German border was also closed to supplies, the Bermondt Army, which was 80% German Freikorps, collapsed. The division had to retreat. In mid-December the last units crossed the German border near Memel .
resolution
The remaining Freikorpsmen felt betrayed by their own government. However, the expected march on Berlin did not take place because of a lack of political leadership. The volunteers were given impunity , but had no opportunity to join the Reichswehr or find jobs in industry. After the demobilization, many members of the division stayed together as agricultural workers' communities on estates in Pomerania.
During the Kapp Putsch , the division was largely dissolved, but many former members were involved in the putsch. Former division members were later also involved in the free corps battles in the Ruhr area (Ruhr uprising ) and Oberschlesien ( uprisings in Upper Silesia ).
The ideology of the ride to the east and the anti-Bolshevism of the Freikorps was one of the roots of National Socialism . The former Baltics were a destabilizing factor during the Weimar Republic and joined a large part of the Hitler movement.
Well-known members of the division
Heinz Guderian (April to August as Second General Staff Officer ), Rudolf Berthold , Bruno Loerzer , Kurt Andersen , Paul Hofmann , Kurt Kaul , Bernhard Ruberg , Richard Manderbach , Günther Pancke .
Division structure 1919
- Iron Division (Major von Bischoff)
- 1st Courland Infantry Regiment (Major von Lossow)
- 1st Battalion (?)
- 2nd Battalion (Groeben)
- III. Battalion (Heidberg)
- 2nd Courland Infantry Regiment (Major von Kleist)
- 1st Battalion (Liebermann)
- II Battalion (Balla)
- III. Battalion (Henke)
- 3rd Courland Infantry Regiment (Captain Poensgen)
- 1st Battalion (?)
- 2nd Battalion (?)
- III. Battalion (Rieckhoff)
- Cavalry Regiment (Major von Kanitz)
- Artillery Department (Major Sixt v. Arnim)
- I. Battery (Captain Auerbach)
- II. Battery (Captain Zimmermann)
- III. Battery (?)
- 1st Army Corps Volunteer Foot Artillery Battery (assigned)
- Armored Car Department of the Gov. Libau (assigned)
- 1st Courland Infantry Regiment (Major von Lossow)
Movie
literature
- Erich Balla: We became Landsknechte ... Tradition, Berlin 1932.
- Josef Bischoff : The last front 1919. History of the Iron Division in the Baltic States 1919 . Book and Gravure Society, Berlin 1935.
- Rüdiger von der Goltz : My broadcast in Finland and the Baltic States . Koehler, Leipzig 1920, ( German Memories ). ( Online )
- Gustav Noske : From Kiel to Kapp. On the history of the German revolution . Publishing house for politics and economics, Berlin 1920.
- M. Peniķis: Latvijas atbrīvošanas kaŗa vēsture . 4 volumes. Austrālijas latviešu balva Jaunsargiem, Riga 2006, ISBN 9984-19-951-7 .
- Bernhard Sauer: Myth of an Eternal Soldierhood , The Campaign of German Freikorps in the Baltic States in 1919 (pdf, 7.4 Mbyte) In: Zeitschrift für Geschichtswwissenschaft (ZfG), 43rd year 1995, issue 10 , 1995, issue 10, p. 869 -902
- Hagen Schulze : Freikorps and Republic. 1918-1920 . Boldt, Boppard 1969, ( Defense Scientific Research - Department of Military History Studies 8, ZDB -ID 1173304-4 ).
- Jobst Knigge : Continuity of German War Aims in the Baltic States. German Baltic Policy 1918/19 and the continuity problem , Verlag Dr. Kovac Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-8300-1036-2 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Claus Grimm: Before the gates of Europe . Hamburg 1963, page 44.
- ^ Structure of the Iron Division in Latvia . As of May 20, 1919, publication by the Reich Ministry of War, Berlin 1937.
- ^ Wilhelm v. Kleist family history v. Kleist, p. 124