Hans Kundt

Hans Anton Wilhelm Friedrich Kundt (born February 28, 1869 in Neustrelitz , † August 30, 1939 in Lugano ) was a Prussian major general and later Bolivian Minister of War .

Life

Hans Kundt joined the 4th Thuringian Infantry Regiment No. 72 of the Prussian Army on March 7, 1888 . There he was appointed Portepeefähnrich on October 15, 1888 and promoted to Second Lieutenant on September 21, 1889 . From October 1, 1893 to September 15, 1896 he served as an adjutant at the district command in Naumburg (Saale) . Kundt then graduated from the War Academy for three years and was in the meantime promoted to Prime Lieutenant on May 20, 1897 , transferred to the Infantry Regiment "Vogel von Falckenstein" (7th Westphalian) No. 56 . After he had successfully completed the military academy, he was assigned to the General Staff for a year . This command was then extended for another year, until he finally aggregated on March 22, 1902 with his promotion to captain of the General Staff of the Army and served with the General Staff of the XVII. Army Corps was commanded.

In 1908 he visited Bolivia as a member of a military delegation. In 1911 he began to reorganize the Bolivian army based on the Prussian model. In 1914 he returned to Germany and became a lieutenant colonel in command of the Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 254 on the Eastern Front . Colonel Kundt commanded the Kaiser Alexander Garde Grenadier Regiment No. 1 from January 3, 1917 to March 1, 1918 . For a short time he was subsequently charged with leading the 42nd Infantry Brigade . After the end of the war , he was again in command of the Emperor Alexander Guard Grenadier Regiment No. 1 from January 20, 1919 until its dissolution. Most recently, from January 1, 1920 until his departure on April 30, 1920 as Major General, he was in command of Glogau .

In 1921 Hans Kundt went to Bolivia again, took on citizenship and joined the Bolivian army as a general . In this position he continued his reorganization, which he had begun in 1911, and became very popular because he - in contrast to most of the Bolivian officer corps - looked after the well-being of each individual soldier. In 1923 he was appointed Minister of War. In 1928 he caught up with Ernst Röhm , who then worked as a military instructor in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in Bolivia. After the overthrow of President Hernando Siles Reyes , Kundt and Röhm left Bolivia in 1930.

Just two years later he was brought back to lead the Bolivian army as commander in the Chaco War against Paraguay . The better equipped and numerically stronger Bolivian army could not use its superiority to their advantage due to inadequate tactics. For example, it carried out senseless and bloody frontal attacks on well-secured enemy positions. The precautionary measures to secure supplies also turned out to be inadequate. In addition, the Bolivians were unable to react flexibly to the maneuvers of the Paraguayan army . This surrounded unit by unit of the Bolivian army and smashed them. The political consequences of this devastating defeat can still be felt in Bolivia today.

After his forced resignation in December 1933, Kundt left Bolivia for good.

The later German major general Jasper Kundt (1872-1940) was his brother, Marie Kundt , the director of the Lette Association's photographic training institute , was his sister.

literature

Alfred Schmid, August Philipps: Master list of officers, medical officers and officials of the Vogel von Falckenstein infantry regiment (7th Westphalian) No. 56. Gerhard Stalling publisher. Oldenburg 1905. p. 134.

Web links

Individual evidence

^ Günter Wegmann (Ed.), Günter Wegner: Formation history and staffing of the German armed forces 1815-1990. Part 1: Occupation of the German armies 1815–1939. Volume 2: The staffing of the active infantry regiments as well as the hunter and machine gun battalions, military district commands and training managers from the foundation or list until 1939. Biblio Verlag. Osnabrück 1992. ISBN 3-7648-1782-8 . P. 17.
↑ Peter Broucek: A General in the Twilight. The memories of Edmund Glaise von Horstenau. Böhlau publishing house. Graz / Vienna 1983. ISBN 3-205-08743-7 . P. 473.

personal data
SURNAME	Kundt, Hans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Kundt, Hans Anton Wilhelm Friedrich (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Prussian Major General, Bolivian Minister of War
DATE OF BIRTH	February 28, 1869
PLACE OF BIRTH	Neustrelitz
DATE OF DEATH	August 30, 1939
Place of death	Lugano

[1] Günter Wegmann (Ed.), Günter Wegner: Formation history and staffing of the German armed forces 1815-1990. Part 1: Occupation of the German armies 1815–1939. Volume 2: The staffing of the active infantry regiments as well as the hunter and machine gun battalions, military district commands and training managers from the foundation or list until 1939. Biblio Verlag. Osnabrück 1992. ISBN 3-7648-1782-8 . P. 17.

[2] Peter Broucek: A General in the Twilight. The memories of Edmund Glaise von Horstenau. Böhlau publishing house. Graz / Vienna 1983. ISBN 3-205-08743-7 . P. 473.