War Office
The War Office was a central war economic authority founded in 1916 in the German Empire during the First World War . The Kingdom of Bavaria had its own war office.
Tasks and structures
The War Office was officially founded on November 1, 1916 in connection with the Hindenburg program of the Supreme Army Command . Overall, it served to centralize the war economy and was responsible for all areas of economic mobilization, but also for the organization of work and service. Task was loud Cabinet Order Wilhelm II. The "management of all related to the total warfare affairs of the collection, use and nutrition of the workers, as well as the procurement of raw materials, weapons and ammunition." The Office should mainly as authority for the implementation of the Patriotic Auxiliary Service Law serve. It was not only responsible for the administration of raw materials, but also for subsidizing the armaments industry and controlling investments. This went so far that it was able to order the closure of operations that were not important to the war effort. The collections of raw and old materials were also coordinated via the Department of National Nutrition .
Wilhelm Groener was the leader at the beginning . Chief of the military staff was Major Ernst-Karl von Kretschmann and Kurt Sorge , director of Friedrich Krupp AG Grusonwerk in Magdeburg, was chief of the civilian staff. It was subordinate to the Prussian War Ministry in order to be able to issue instructions to the deputy general commandos. In practice, however, it was entirely under the OHL. The authority was a mixture of military and civil components. Among other things, various departments of the War Ministry had been transferred to the new authority. It consisted of the War Replacement and Labor Department , the Arms and Ammunition Procurement Office (WUMBA), the War Resource Department (KRA), the Clothing Procurement Office, the Department for Export and Import and finally the Department for Nutrition. 27 Military Office branches were set up for the Deputy General Command.
Soon there were disputes over competence with other authorities. These included the Reich Office of the Interior , the war ministries of the federal states and, last but not least, the military commanders . Even the closure of factories that were not essential to the war turned out to be difficult because numerous actors opposed this at the local level.
The achievements of the War Office in terms of war production and other tasks fell short of the goals of the OHL. This alone led to Groener losing confidence in Erich Ludendorff . This intensified when the latter proposed skimming the profits of heavy industry for the state. Groener was critical of the excessive wartime profits of industry and displayed comparatively social views with regard to the workers. Groener's attempt to involve the trade unions met with criticism in conservative circles. This led to Groener's dismissal as head of the authorities in August 1917. Heinrich Schëuch , who became Minister of War at the end of 1918, took his place . His successor Ulrich Hoffmann (GenMaj, 1866–1936) headed the office until it was dissolved on October 1, 1919. During this time, it was still dealing with demobilization tasks. The powers of the War Office were already curtailed after Groener's dismissal.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stefanie van de Kerkhoff: Public-Private Partnership in the First World War? In: Hartmut Berghoff et al. (Hrsg.): Economy in the age of extremes. Munich 2010, p. 112.
- ↑ Hans-Peter Ullmann: Politics in the German Empire 1871-1918. 2. through Edition. Oldenbourg, Munich 2005, p. 44.
literature
- Markus Pöhlmann : War Office. In: Encyclopedia First World War. Paderborn, 2009 p. 627.
- Roger Chickering: The German Empire and the First World War. Munich, 2002 p. 98 ff.