Council of Ministers for Defense of the Reich
The Council of Ministers of Defense of the Reich was one of Adolf Hitler on the thirtieth August 1939 , two days before the start of World War II , as a standing committee of the Reich Defense Council created by decree committee chaired by Hermann Goering , which was adopted by the simplified procedure regulations with the force of law.
The basis for the decree was the unpublished Reich Defense Act of September 4, 1938.
composition
Apart from Goering, there were members of the Council of Ministers
- in the function of managing director the head of the Reich Chancellery Hans Heinrich Lammers
- the deputy of the Führer Rudolf Hess (later replaced by the head of the party chancellery Martin Bormann )
- Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick in his capacity as Plenipotentiary for the Reich Administration
- the chief of the high command of the Wehrmacht Wilhelm Keitel
- Reich Economics Minister and Reichsbank President Walther Funk in his capacity as General Plenipotentiary for the Economy
tasks
In the course of the war, the Council of Ministers increasingly took over the tasks of the Reich Cabinet, which had ceased to meet in the early years of National Socialism . The decrees, which were often not passed at meetings of the Council of Ministers, but were passed by circulation , increasingly supplanted formally passed laws. The key role was played by the head of the Reich Chancellery, Hans Heinrich Lammers, as managing director, who, however, faced increasing competition from the head of the party chancellery Martin Bormann in the last years of the war.
In the indictment for the Nuremberg Trial , the Council of Ministers for Reich Defense is mentioned under Count One and referred to as the War Cabinet .
The Reich Defense Commissioners were assigned directly to the Council of Ministers .
See also
- Reichsgruppe Industrie (before January 12, 1935 Reichsstand der Deutschen Industrie )
- War economy
Footnotes
- ^ Wording of the decree of August 30, 1939
- ^ Reference: Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal , Vol. 29 , Document 2194-PS