East Prussian Volunteer Corps
The East Prussian Volunteer Corps was a volunteer corps that after the First World War was set up in January 1919th It was supposed to secure the borders of East Prussia and to counterbalance the revolutionary People's Navy Division. The commanding General Ludwig von Estorff instructed Major i. G. a. D. von Weiß with the list of volunteer associations.
background
The reason for the installation was the lack of protection of the German eastern border after the First World War and the November Revolution . In Courland , soldiers of the former 8th Army had gathered in the " Iron Brigade " to stop Russian troops and formed volunteer associations with the Baltic State Armed Forces , which, however, consisted of barely a thousand men. The front, consisting only of weak field guards, stretched along the Windau from Libau to Lithuania. With its collapse, the occupation of all of East Prussia was feared within a few days. On November 29, 1918, a "Republican Army and Navy People's Army" was formed in Königsberg. On December 30, 1918 , the Red People's Armed Forces fired into returning front troops in Allenstein ( 1st Masurian Field Artillery Regiment No. 73 ) because they refused to red flags; there were 2 dead and 16 wounded. As a result, on January 7, 1919, the volunteer hunters group "Gerth" was formed .
As early as December 1918, the government had issued general calls for volunteer formations to be formed to protect the border. During the November Revolution the revolutionary People's Navy Division was formed in Konigsberg . Quartered in Königsberg Castle , it was the only armed force in East Prussia's capital. Now it was widely feared that if Russian troops marched in, the People's Naval Division could join forces with them in order to push through a Bolshevik revolution in Germany as well.
On January 12, 1919, the people of Königsberg demonstrated for the formation of volunteer formations to protect East Prussia. The Red Navy Armed Forces fired into the rally; there were two dead. In the daily newspapers and on notice pillars, people were asked to join the new associations. On January 16, 1919, the students gathered in the university and decided not to attend the lectures again, as most of them wanted to take part in the defense of the province. The university did not stop teaching immediately because the older students had a lot to catch up on and should not be harmed. Moreover, some of them were no longer fit for use in the war. The decision of the student body made it clear that the volunteers should also be treated like combatants.
Recruitment and Structure
On January 17, 1919, the first implementing regulations for the formation of an East Prussian volunteer corps appeared. On January 18, 1919, the order for its establishment was issued. On February 5, 1919, a lagoon and river flotilla was set up. The districts of the province were assigned to the old regiments of the old I. Army Corps: for example I. Volunteer Battalion Grenadier Regiment 1 in Wehlau and Allenburg, the MG company in Popelken; the 2nd Battalion in Labiau, Mehlauken, Neuhausen and Kalthof; 1st Volunteer Company Pioneer Battalion 18 in Allenburg, Wehlau district; 1st Volunteer Squadron Cuirassier Regiment 3 in Adl. Neuendorf. It was set up by the returned field troops . Each infantry - regiment had a battalion , while this time volunteer in the cavalry several squadrons and the Artillery in general, several batteries were in the individual regiments. In order to remove the volunteers from the revolutionary influence, the units were not set up in the garrisons , but in larger villages, remonte offices and other places with accommodation.
In addition to the professional soldiers , members of the class 1901 met there who had not yet been called up for arms service during the war. The team consisted primarily of schoolchildren, farmers' sons and young people who were dispensable at home. The volunteers committed themselves for three months. After this time they were to be released on request. For the first time in German military history, a female force was set up and incorporated into the volunteer corps as an intelligence department.
On March 15, 1919, the East Prussian Volunteer Corps had a strength of 13 battalions, 10 squadrons, 12 light and heavy artillery departments with 15,024 men. The sleeve badge was the East Prussian elk shovel.
meaning
On March 2, 1919, the riot of the Red Security Guard in Lötzen was put down. On March 7, 1919, Pillau and Sensburg were pacified. Despite all the tensions, things generally remained calm in Königsberg. The election to the German National Assembly on January 19, 1919 was not disrupted. The same applied to the election to the Prussian state parliament one week later and to the later election of the city council. After heavy fighting with 25 dead, units of the East Prussian Volunteer Corps occupied the military facilities of Königsberg on March 3, 1919; they secured the authorities and utilities. The vigilante group, called the Reserve Regiment Königsberg , continued to stand in the background . It recorded all those involved in the war who were willing not to allow the German supporters of the Russian October Revolution to come to power. On March 15, 1919, the East Prussian volunteer corps was transferred to the Reichswehr . The "Königsberg Regiment" with infantry, cavalry and artillery became the trunk of the 1st Division.
literature
- Ernst von Salomon : The book of the German free corps fighters. Berlin 1938
- KW Scheer: Border guard under elk shovel. The Haff and river flotilla of the East Prussian volunteer corps. 1969
- Georg Tessin : From the Old Army to the Imperial Army. Part 1 of: German associations and troops 1918–1939. Osnabrück 1974, ISBN 3-7648-1000-9
- Hagen Schulze : Freikorps and Republic. 2nd edition, Boppard 1973
- Dieter Dreetz, Klaus Gessner: Armed fighting in Germany 1918–1923. Berlin (East) 1988
- Rüdiger Bergien: Republic Protectors or Terrorists? The Freikorps movement in Germany after the First World War. Military history, issue 3/2008, MGFA 2008
Individual evidence
- ^ Bacchus in Ossig: Contributions to the history of the corps of the Hansea Königsberg , o. O., 1967, p. 17
- ^ Siegfried Schindelmeiser: The Albertina and its students 1544 to WS 1850/51 and the history of the Corps Baltia II zu Königsberg i. Pr. (1970-1985). For the first time complete, illustrated and commented new edition in two volumes with an appendix and two registers, edited by R. Döhler and G. v. Klitzing. Munich 2009, Volume 2, p. 175 f.
- ↑ Ute Planert : Antifeminism in the Empire. Göttingen 2000, p. 383
- ^ Siegfried Schindelmeiser: Baltia , Volume 2, pp. 176 and 179