Weimar Republic - Military

Military

After the dissolution of the Imperial army, the Reichswehr, in 1918, Germany's military forces consisted of irregular paramilitaries, namely the various right-wing Freikorps groups composed of veterans from the war. The Freikorps were formally disbanded in 1920 (although continued to exist in underground groups), and on January 1, 1921, the Reichswehr (literally; Defence of the realm) was created. The Treaty of Versailles limited the size of the Reichswehr to 100 000 soldiers (consisting of seven infantry divisions and three cavalry divisions), 10 armoured cars and a navy (the Reichsmarine) restricted to 24 ships. No aircraft of any kind was allowed. The main advantage of this limitation however was that the Reichswehr could afford to pick the best recruits for service. However with inefficient armour and no air support, the Reichswehr would have had limited combat abilities. Privates were mainly recruited from the countryside, as it was believed that young men from the towns were prone to socialist behaviour, which would fray the loyalty of the privates to their conservative officers.

Although technically in service of the republic, the army was predominately officered by conservative reactionaries who were sympathetic to right wing organizations. Hans von Seeckt, the head of the Reichswehr, declared that the army was not loyal to the democratic republic, and would only defend it if it were in their interests. During the Kapp Putsch for example, the army refused to fire upon the rebels. However, as right wing as the army was, it hesitated to assist the Nazis, whom they mostly viewed as thugs. The SA was the Reichswehr's main opponent throughout its existence, as they saw them as a threat to their existence, and the army fired at them during the Beerhall Putsch. Upon the establishment of the SS over the SA in 1929, the Reichswehr took a softer look upon the Nazis since the SS seemed more respectable, and openly favoured order over anarchy. In 1935, several years after Hitler came to power, the Reichswehr was disbanded and re-formed as the Wehrmacht.