![Deutsches Reichsgesetzblatt 1916 276 1333](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Deutsches_Reichsgesetzblatt_1916_276_1333.png)
The Auxiliary Services Act (german: Gesetz über den vaterländischen Hilfsdienst) was a law of the
German Empire introduced during the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
on 6 December 1916 to facilitate the
Hindenburg Programme
The Hindenburg Programme of August 1916 is the name given to the armaments and economic policy begun in late 1916 by the Third (OHL, headquarters of the German General Staff), Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg and General Erich Ludendorff. The ...
, an attempt by the military to mobilize scarce resources, including manpower, more efficiently for the war effort.
Under the terms of the act, every German male from the age of seventeen to sixty, unless he had been called up for service in the armed forces, was obligated to render national service during the war (§ 1).
The types of workers considered to be in the national auxiliary service included those employed by public authorities, official agencies, war industries, agriculture and forestry, nursing, war-related organizations of any kind, or "in other occupations and trades that are directly or indirectly significant to waging war or economic regulation" (§ 2).
The Law on the Patriotic Auxiliary Service marked a significant stage towards total war and, in the long run, in the development of German labor law. The law was a step towards the total militarization of the economy and the mobilization of all material and personnel resources in a quest to make Germany fit for industrial warfare. However, to maintain the support of the
Reichstag and the loyalty of workers, the German government made numerous concessions to help avoid labor conflicts. Thus the law provided for a system of shop-level mediation committees. In this way the state legally recognised the trade unions as equal negotiating partners with the employers. It also established the social partnerships between the economic associations of workers and employers. Thus both employee participation and trade union influence were expanded under the authority of the Reichstag.
The Prussian general
Wilhelm Groener
Karl Eduard Wilhelm Groener (; 22 November 1867 – 3 May 1939) was a German general and politician. His organisational and logistical abilities resulted in a successful military career before and during World War I.
After a confrontation wi ...
, head of the newly formed Kriegsamt (equivalent to an Office for Economic Warfare), was responsible for implementing the law.
References
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External links
Auxiliary Service Law 1916 (English text)
German labour law
Economic history of Germany
Economic history of World War I
Economy of the German Empire
German Empire in World War I