Ober Ost - Policies

Policies

Ober Ost ruled the land with an iron fist. The movement policy or "Verkehrspolitik", divided the land without regard to the existing social and ethnic organization and patterns. One was not allowed to move between the districts, which destroyed the livelihood of many merchant Jews and prevented indigenous people from visiting friends and relatives in neighboring districts. They also tried to "civilize" the people in the Ober Ost controlled land, attempting to integrate German ideals and institutions with existing cultures. They brought in railroads but only Germans were allowed to ride them and schools were taught by German instructors, since they had not trained Lithuanians.

In 1915, when large territories came under Ober Ost's administration as a result of military successes on the Eastern Front Erich Ludendorff, von Hindenburg's second in command, set up a system of managing the large area now under its jurisdiction. Although von Hindenburg was technically in command, it was Ludendorff who was in control of the administration. There were ten staff members, each with a speciality (finance, agriculture, etc.). The area was divided into the Courland District, the Lithuania District and the Bialystok-Grodno District, each overseen by a district commander. Ludendorff's plan was to make Ober Ost a colonial territory for the settlement of his troops after the war as well as provide a haven for German refugees from inner Russia. Ludendorff quickly organized Ober Ost so that it was a self-sustaining region, growing all its own food and even exporting surpluses to Berlin. The largest resource was one that Ludendorff was unable to exploit without difficulty. The locals had no interest in helping obtain a German victory as they had no say in their government and were subject to increasing requisitions and taxes.