The Reichskriegsgericht (RKG; en, Reich Court-Martial) was the highest

military court A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

between 1900 and 1945.

Legal basics and responsibilities

After the

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

-led

Unification of Germany The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federalism, federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with ad ...

, the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

with effect from 1 October 1900 had established a particular

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

jurisdiction (german: Militärgerichtsbarkeit) to try soldiers of the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

, with the ''Reichsmilitärgericht'' (RMG) as the supreme court. The presiding judge in the rank of a general or admiral was appointed directly by the

German Emperor The German Emperor (german: Deutscher Kaiser, ) was the official title of the head of state and hereditary ruler of the German Empire. A specifically chosen term, it was introduced with the 1 January 1871 constitution and lasted until the offi ...

. From 1910, the court had its seat in a newly erected prestigious building in

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

. During

World War I 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 ...

, German military law enabled military courts to try not only soldiers but also civilians held to have violated the military law. In the post-war

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

(1919-1933), the separate jurisdiction for military personnel was abolished by the law of 17 August 1920, based on Article 106 of the

Weimar Constitution The Constitution of the German Reich (german: Die Verfassung des Deutschen Reichs), usually known as the Weimar Constitution (''Weimarer Verfassung''), was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era (1919–1933). The c ...

. After the

Nazi seizure of power Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919 when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Be ...

in 1933, courts-martial were reinstated by law of May 12, with effect from 1 January 1934. During the

German re-armament German rearmament (''Aufrüstung'', ) was a policy and practice of rearmament carried out in Germany during the interwar period (1918–1939), in violation of the Treaty of Versailles which required German disarmament after WWI to prevent Germa ...

and the deployment of the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

armed forces, the ''Reichskriegsgericht'' was re-established as supreme court on 1 October 1936. According to the Wartime Criminal Code of Procedure (''Kriegsstrafverfahrensordnung'', KStVO) enacted by German ''Fuhrer''

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

and Field Marshal

Wilhelm Keitel Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel (; 22 September 188216 October 1946) was a German field marshal and war criminal who held office as chief of the '' Oberkommando der Wehrmacht'' (OKW), the high command of Nazi Germany's Armed Forces, duri ...

on 17 August 1938, the RKG had jurisdictional competence over acts of

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

, and aiding the enemy (''Kriegsverrat''); if the defendant was not directly liable to prosecution by his commander-in-chief. The court also had sole responsibility for all legal proceedings against highest-ranking Wehrmacht officers. Gedenktafel Kriegsdienstverweigerer

For all severe cases of ''

Wehrkraftzersetzung ''Wehrkraftzersetzung'' or ''Zersetzung der Wehrkraft'' (German for "undermining defence force") was a sedition offence in German military law during the Nazi Germany era from 1938 to 1945. ''Wehrkraftzersetzung'' was enacted in 1938 by decree ...

'' ("undermining military force") according to Wartime Special Penal Code (''Kriegssonderstrafrechtsverordnung'', KSSVO), the RKG was the first and last instance. By this accusation, the court sentenced numerous

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

s to death. By ordinance of 18 May 1940, proceedings against civilians were handed over to ''

Sondergericht A ''Sondergericht'' (plural: ''Sondergerichte'') was a German "special court". After taking power in 1933, the Nazis quickly moved to remove internal opposition to the Nazi regime in Germany. The legal system became one of many tools for this ai ...

'' courts; from 29 January 1943, the " People's Court" (''Volksgerichtshof'') had exclusive jurisdiction over all accusations of public ''Wehrkraftzersetzung'' and intentionally evading military service. The President of the ''Reichskriegsgericht'' was able to affirm or to set aside a judgement; as was Hitler in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht.

References

Literature

* Norbert Haase: ''Das Reichskriegsgericht und der Widerstand gegen die nationalsozialistische Herrschaft,'' Berlin 1993, (= Katalog der Sonderausstellung der Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand) * Günter Gribbohm: ''Das Reichskriegsgericht - Die Institution und ihre rechtliche Bewertung'', Berliner Wiss.-Verlag, Berlin 2004,

External links

Justizgeschichte aktuell: Karrieren und Selbstrechtfertigungen

- Reichskriegsgericht (Gedenktafel, Geschichte, Literatur)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reichskriegsgericht Military of Nazi Germany Military courts Court-martial Courts in Germany

Legal basics and responsibilities

See also

References

Literature

External links