Truppenamt
The ''Truppenamt'' or was the cover organisation for the German General Staff from 1919 through until 1935 when the General Staff of the German Army (''Heer'') was re-created. This subterfuge was deemed necessary in order for Germany to be seen to meet the requirements of the Versailles Treaty. It completely revised German tactical and strategic doctrine and thereby conserved, re-energised and unified the military thinking and capability of the Reichswehr, later to become the Wehrmacht. Original establishment After World War I, the Versailles Treaty specified that the post-war German army could have a maximum strength of 100,000, of this number only 4000 could be officers. Article 160 determined: The Great German General Staff and all similar organisations shall be dissolved and may not be reconstituted in any form. In late 1919, soon after the treaty was signed, Major General Hans von Seeckt, head of the military expert group adjunct to the German delegation, initiated a progr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Werner Von Blomberg
Werner Eduard Fritz von Blomberg (2 September 1878 – 13 March 1946) was a German General Staff officer and the first Minister of War in Adolf Hitler's government. After serving on the Western Front in World War I, Blomberg was appointed chief of the '' Truppenamt'' ("Troop Office") during the Weimar Republic. Following the Nazis' rise to power, he was named Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief of the German Armed Forces. In this capacity, Blomberg played a central role in Germany's military build-up during the years leading to World War II. However, by 20 January 1938, he was forced to resign after his rivals, Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler, presented Hitler with evidence that his wife had posed in the past for pornographic photos. Early life and career Born in Stargard, Germany (now Stargard, Poland), in the illegitimate line of a noble Baltic German family, Werner von Blomberg joined the army in 1897 and attended the Prussian Military Academy in 1904. In April 19 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wilhelm Heye
August Wilhelm Heye (31 January 1869, Fulda – 11 March 1947, Braunlage) was a German officer who rose to the rank of Generaloberst and became head of the Army Command within the Ministry of the Reichswehr in the Weimar Republic. One of his sons was admiral Hellmuth Heye. Biography The son of a Prussian officer, Heye joined the Army in 1888 and subsequently became a member of the German General Staff. During the First World War, he served on both the East and Western fronts, eventually becoming the last chief of the operations department at the Oberste Heeresleitung (Supreme Army Command). After the end of the war, he assisted Hans von Seeckt in organising the new Reichswehr, serving as the second Chief of the Truppenamt and later commander of the Wehrkreis I (Military District I). In 1926, he replaced Seeckt as Chief of Army Command and held that position until retiring in 1930. Decorations and awards * Iron Cross of 1914, 1st and 2nd class * Knight's Cross of the Royal Hou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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German General Staff
The German General Staff, originally the Prussian General Staff and officially the Great General Staff (german: Großer Generalstab), was a full-time body at the head of the Prussian Army and later, the German Army, responsible for the continuous study of all aspects of war, and for drawing up and reviewing plans for mobilization or campaign. It existed unofficially from 1806, and was formally established by law in 1814, the first general staff in existence. It was distinguished by the formal selection of its officers by intelligence and proven merit rather than patronage or wealth, and by the exhaustive and rigorously structured training which its staff officers undertook. Its rise and development gave the German armed forces a major strategic advantage over their adversaries for nearly a century and a half. The Prussian General Staff also enjoyed greater freedom from political control than its contemporaries, and this autonomy was enshrined in law on the unification of Germany ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Reichswehr
''Reichswehr'' () was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first years of the Third Reich. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped into a peacetime army. From it a provisional Reichswehr was formed in March 1919. Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, the rebuilt German army was subject to severe limitations in size and armament. The official formation of the Reichswehr took place on 1 January 1921 after the limitations had been met. The German armed forces kept the name 'Reichswehr' until Adolf Hitler's 1935 proclamation of the "restoration of military sovereignty", at which point it became part of the new . Although ostensibly apolitical, the Reichswehr acted as a state within a state, and its leadership was an important political power factor in the Weimar Republic. The Reichswehr sometimes supported the democratic government, as it did in the Ebert-G ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Georg Wetzell
Georg Wetzell (5 March 1869 - 3 January 1947) was a German General of the Infantry and from 1925 to 1927 chief of the (troop office) of the . Biography On 1 October 1889, Wetzell joined the Pioneer Battalion No. 16 of the Prussian Army in Metz as a and was promoted to second lieutenant by the end of August 1891. As such, he was transferred to the Pioneer Battalion No. 20, also stationed in Metz, on 1 October 1893, and attended the Unified Artillery and Engineering School for further training. In 1898 he was assigned to Infantry Regiment No. 144, in which he was promoted to . From 1901 to 1903 Wetzell attended the Prussian Staff College and was then assigned to the General Staff. After promotion to on 1 October 1912, he was assigned as Ia (first staff officer) to the staff of the III Army Corps on 22 March 1913. There he remained after the outbreak of World War I and from 9 March 1915 he served as the chief of staff of the III Army Corps. In August 1916 he was transferred to th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ministry Of The Reichswehr
The Ministry of the Reichswehr or Reich Ministry of Defence (german: Reichswehrministerium) was the defence ministry of the Weimar Republic and the early Third Reich. The 1919 Weimar Constitution provided for a unified, national ministry of defence to coordinate the new ''Reichswehr'', and that ministry was set up in October 1919, from the existing Prussian War Ministry and ''Reichsmarineamt''. It was based in the Bendlerblock building. The ''Wehrgesetz'' (Defence Law) of 21 May 1935 RGBl I, S. 609 / FaksimilWehrgesetz/ref> renamed it the Reich Ministry of War (german: Reichskriegsministerium), which was then abolished in 1938 and replaced with the '' Oberkommando der Wehrmacht''. History Within the framework of the ''Gesetz über die Bildung einer vorläufigen Reichswehr'' ("Law on the formation of a provisional national defence force") of March 1919, the ''Reichspräsident'' was commander-in-chief of the armed forces, with the ''Reichswehrminister'' (Reich Minister of Defence ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Walther Reinhardt
Walther Gustav Reinhardt (; 24 March 1872 in Stuttgart – 8 August 1930 in Berlin) was a German officer who served as the last Prussian Minister of War and the first head of the army command (''Chef der Heeresleitung'') within the newly created Ministry of the Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic. During the Kapp Putsch of 1920, Reinhardt remained loyal to the elected government and was one of the few senior officers of the Reichswehr willing to order troops to fire at the revolting units. Early life and family Reinhardt was born on 24 March 1872 in Stuttgart as the son of August von Reinhardt (1827–1907), a member of the ''Personenadel'' (lifelong, non-hereditary nobility) and officer of the Kingdom of Württemberg (Generalmajor and Commander of the 120th Infantry Regiment), and Emilie Reinhardt, née von Wiedenmann. His brother Ernst (1870-1939) also became an officer (''Generalleutnant'') and was the father of Hellmuth Reinhardt (1900–89, Generalmajor). In 1900, Walther ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hans Von Seeckt
Johannes "Hans" Friedrich Leopold von Seeckt (22 April 1866 – 27 December 1936) was a German military officer who served as Chief of Staff to August von Mackensen and was a central figure in planning the victories Mackensen achieved for Germany in the east during the First World War. During the years of the Weimar Republic he was chief of staff for the ''Reichswehr'' from 1919 to 1920 and commander in chief of the German Army from 1920 until he resigned in October 1926. During this period he engaged in the reorganization of the army and laid the foundation for the doctrine, tactics, organization, and training of the German army. By the time Seeckt left the German Army in 1926 the ''Reichswehr'' had a clear, standardized operational doctrine, as well as a precise theory on the future methods of combat which greatly influenced the military campaigns fought by the ''Wehrmacht'' during the first half of the Second World War. While Seeckt undertook multiple programs to get around the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Otto Hasse (General)
Otto Hasse (21 June 1871 in Schlawe – 28 September 1942 in Berlin-Grunewald) was a German General of the Infantry and from 1923 to 1925 Chief of the Truppenamt. Life Hasse entered the army on 27 September 1890 as a Fahnenjunker in the Infantry Regiment "Graf Kirchbach" (1st Lower Silesian) No. 46 of the Prussian Army in Posen. Before World War I, he served on the General Staff and was assigned to inspect military transport. During the war he served on several general staffs. On 12 May 1918, he was awarded the Oak Leaves Order Pour le Mérite for his work as Chief of Staff in the X Reserve Corps at the Battle of Kemmel. From 1918 until the end of the year, he was Chief of Staff of the 1st Army. He was accepted into the Reichswehr and transferred to the Reichswehr Ministry. In 1922, he was appointed Chief of the Troops Office (TA) and promoted to Major General on 1 February 1923. In 1923, as chief of TA, he was in Moscow for the secret agreements on the Treaty of Rapallo w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Treaty Of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919 in the Palace of Versailles, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which led to the war. The other Central Powers on the German side signed separate treaties. Although the armistice of 11 November 1918 ended the actual fighting, it took six months of Allied negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty. The treaty was registered by the Secretariat of the League of Nations on 21 October 1919. Of the many provisions in the treaty, one of the most important and controversial was: "The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Square Division
A square division is a designation given to the way military divisions are organized. In a square organization, the division's main body is composed of four "maneuver," i.e., infantry regimental elements. Other types of regiments, such as artillery, are not "maneuver" units and thus are not considered in the "square," viz, "four" (infantry) regiments scheme. The usual internal organization within a square division would be two brigades, each compromising two infantry regiments (consisting of two or three battalions.) Hence, on an organizational chart, the two infantry brigade, each with two infantry regiments would resemble a square. However, such divisions typically also include additional, supporting units such as artillery regiments. By contrast, a triangular division generally has its infantry units organized in a "three by three" format. Historically, this has usually meant three regiments comprising three infantry battalions, with the three regiments either controlled by a si ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Generalmajor
is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force. As a two-star rank it is the equivalent to the rank of counter admiral in the Royal Danish Navy. The rank is rated OF-7 within NATO. It has the grade of M404 within the Ministry of Defence's pay structure. The rank of major general is reserved for the Chief of the army and air force. History On 25 May 1671, the ranks were codified, by King Christian V, with the publication of the Danish order of precedence. Here generals of the branch were placed below Lieutenant field marshal ( da, Feltmarskal Lieutenant), and above the noble rank of Count and the military rank of Lieutenant general. As part of the Army Reform of 1867, the ranks of Major, Lieutenant colonel were removed and only a single "General" rank was kept. After the 1880 reform, the gene ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |