Imperial German Army

German Army
Deutsches Heer (German)
Standards of the Emperor
Reichskriegsflagge
Motto	Gott mit uns
Founded	16 April 1871 (16 April 1871)
Disbanded	6 March 1919 (6 March 1919)
Service branches	Heer (army) Schutztruppe (colonial troops) Luftstreitkräfte (air force) Abteilung III b (counterintelligence)
Headquarters	Großes Hauptquartier (locations vary) 52°31′12″N 13°22′12″E
Leadership
Commander-in-chief	German Emperor
Governing body	General Staff Supreme Army Command (1916–1918)
Chief of the General Staff	Moltke the Elder (first) Hans von Seeckt (last)
Personnel
Military age	17–45
Conscription	2–3 years; compulsory service
Reaching military age annually	500,000 (1871) 3,562,000- (1918)
Active personnel	14,250,000+ (total served; 1914–18) Abushiri Revolt Hehe Rebellion Bafut Wars Battle of Adibo Boxer Rebellion Adamawa Wars Kavango Uprising(1903) Herero Wars(1904-1908) Maji Maji Rebellion(1905-1908) Sokehs Rebellion(1910-1911) World War I Finnish Civil War Ukrainian War of Independence Greater Poland Uprising German Revolution
Expenditure
Budget	US$45 billion (total; 1914–18) (US$1.3 trillion in 2022)
Related articles
History	Germany during World War I
Ranks	Ranks of the Imperial German military

The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (German: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Prussia, and was dissolved in 1919, after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I (1914–1918). In the Federal Republic of Germany, the term Deutsches Heer refers to the German Army, the land component of the Bundeswehr.

Formation and name

German Army hussars on the attack during maneuvers, 1912

Draftees of the German Army, 1898

The states that made up the German Empire contributed their armies; within the German Confederation, formed after the Napoleonic Wars, each state was responsible for maintaining certain units to be put at the disposal of the Confederation in case of conflict. When operating together, the units were known as the Federal Army (Bundesheer). The Federal Army system functioned during various conflicts of the 19th century, such as the First Schleswig War from 1848 to 1852. However, by the time of the Second Schleswig War of 1864, tension had grown between the main powers of the confederation, the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, and the German Confederation was dissolved after the Austro-Prussian War of 1866.

Prussia formed the North German Confederation and the treaty provided for the maintenance of a Federal Army and a Federal Navy (Bundesmarine or Bundeskriegsmarine). Further laws on military duty also used these terms. Conventions (some later amended) were entered into between the North German Confederation and its member states, subordinating their armies to the Prussian Army in time of war, and giving the Prussian Army control over training, doctrine, and equipment.

Shortly after the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, the North German Confederation also entered into conventions on military matters with states that were not members of the confederation, namely Bavaria, Württemberg, and Baden. Through these conventions and the 1871 Constitution of the German Empire, an Army of the Realm (Reichsheer) was created. The Constitution of the German Empire, dated April 16, 1871, changed references in the North German Constitution from Federal Army to either Army of the Realm (Reichsheer) or German Army (Deutsches Heer).

The contingents of the Bavarian, Saxon, and Württemberg kingdoms remained semi-autonomous, while the Prussian Army assumed almost total control over the armies of the other states of the Empire. After 1871, the peacetime armies of the four kingdoms remained relatively distinct. The term "German Army" was used in various legal documents, such as the Military Penal Code, but otherwise, the Prussian, Bavarian, Saxon, and Württemberg armies maintained their distinct identities. Each kingdom had its own War Ministry, Bavaria and Saxony published their own rank and seniority lists for their officers and the Württemberg list was a separate chapter of the Prussian Army rank lists. Württemberg and Saxon units were numbered according to the Prussian system but Bavarian units maintained their own numbers (the 2nd Württemberg Infantry Regiment was Infantry Regiment No. 120 under the Prussian system).

Command

Main articles: German General Staff and Oberste Heeresleitung

The commander of the Imperial German Army, less the Bavarian contingent, was the Kaiser. He was assisted by a Military Cabinet and exercised control through the Prussian Ministry of War and the Great General Staff. The Chief of the General Staff became the Kaiser's main military adviser and the most powerful military figure in the empire. Bavaria kept its own Ministry of War and General Staff, but coordinated planning with the Prussian General Staff. Saxony also maintained its own Ministry of War and the Ministry of War of Württemberg also continued to exist.

The command of the Prussian Army had been reformed in the wake of the defeats suffered by Prussia in the Napoleonic Wars. Rather than rely primarily on the martial skills of the individual members of the German nobility, who dominated the military profession, the Prussian Army instituted changes to ensure excellence in leadership, organisation, and planning. The General Staff system, which sought to institutionalise military excellence, was the main result. It sought to identify military talent at the lower levels and develop it thoroughly through academic training and practical experience on division, corps, and higher staffs, up to the Great General Staff, the senior planning body of the army. It provided planning and organisational work during peacetime and wartime. The Prussian General Staff, proven in battle in the Wars of Unification, became the German General Staff upon the formation of the German Empire, given Prussia's leading role in the German Army.

Military role in foreign policy decisions

German infantry charging across open ground on the battlefield, 1914

In the German Empire, diplomatic relations were the responsibility of the Chancellor and his Foreign Minister. The German Army reported separately to the emperor, and increasingly played a major role in shaping foreign policy when military alliances or warfare was at issue. In diplomatic terms, Germany used the Prussian system of military attachés attached to diplomatic locations, with highly talented young officers assigned to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, and military capabilities of their assigned nations. They used close observation, conversations, and paid agents to produce very high-quality reports that gave a significant advantage to the military planners. The military staff grew increasingly powerful, reducing the role of the Minister of War, and increasingly asserted itself in foreign policy decisions.

Otto von Bismarck, the Imperial Chancellor from 1871 to 1890, was annoyed by military interference in foreign policy affairs – in 1887, for example, they tried to convince the emperor to declare war on Russia; they also encouraged Austria-Hungary to attack Russia. Bismarck never controlled the army, but he did complain vehemently, and the military leaders drew back. In 1905, when the First Moroccan Crisis was roiling international politics, the Chief of the General Staff Alfred von Schlieffen called for a preventive war against France. At a critical point in the July Crisis of 1914, Helmuth von Moltke, the chief of staff, without telling the emperor or chancellor, advised his counterpart in Austria-Hungary to mobilise against Russia at once. During the First World War, Generalfeldmarschall Paul von Hindenburg increasingly set foreign policy, working directly with the emperor—and indeed shaped his decision-making—leaving the chancellor and civilian officials in the dark. Historian Gordon A. Craig says that the crucial decisions in 1914, "were made by the soldiers and that, in making them, they displayed an almost complete disregard for political considerations."

Chiefs of the German General Staff (1871–1919)

• Helmuth von Moltke the Elder (7 October 1857 – 10 August 1888)
• Alfred von Waldersee (10 August 1888 – 7 February 1891)
• Alfred von Schlieffen (7 February 1891 – 1 January 1906)
• Helmuth von Moltke the Younger (1 January 1906 – 14 September 1914)
• Erich von Falkenhayn (14 September 1914 – 29 August 1916)
• Paul von Hindenburg (29 August 1916 – 3 July 1919)
• Wilhelm Groener (3–7 July 1919)
• Hans von Seeckt (7–15 July 1919)

Structure

The Kaiser had full control of the armed forces but the organisation was highly complex.

In peacetime the Imperial German Army was divided into four basic levels, the Army inspectorate (Armee-Inspektion), the army corps (Armeekorps), the division, and the regiment. During wartime, the staff of the Army inspectorates formed field army commands, which controlled the corps and subordinate units. During World War I, a higher command level, the army group (Heeresgruppe), was created. Each army group controlled several field armies.

Army inspectorate

Germany was divided into army inspectorates, each of which oversaw three or four corps. There were five in 1871, with three more added between 1907 and 1913.

• I Army Inspectorate: Headquartered in Danzig, became the 8th Army on mobilisation (2 August 1914)
• II Army Inspectorate: Headquartered in Berlin, became the 3rd Army on mobilisation (2 August 1914)
• III Army Inspectorate: Headquartered in Hannover, became the 2nd Army on mobilisation (2 August 1914)
• IV Army Inspectorate: Headquartered in Munich, became the 6th Army on mobilisation (2 August 1914)
• V Army Inspectorate: Headquartered in Karlsruhe, became the 7th Army on mobilisation (2 August 1914)
• VI Army Inspectorate: Headquartered in Stuttgart, became the 4th Army on mobilisation (2 August 1914)
• VII Army Inspectorate: Headquartered in Berlin, became the 5th Army on mobilisation (2 August 1914)
• VIII Army Inspectorate: Headquartered in Saarbrücken, became the 1st Army on mobilisation (2 August 1914)

Corps

See also: List of Corps of the Imperial German Army

The basic organisational formation was the army corps (Armeekorps). The corps consisted of two or more divisions and various support troops, covering a geographical area. The corps was also responsible for maintaining the reserves and Landwehr in the corps area. By 1914, there were 21 corps areas under Prussian jurisdiction and three Bavarian army corps. Besides the regional corps, there was also a Guard Corps (Gardecorps), which controlled the elite Prussian Guard units. A corps usually included a light infantry (Jäger) battalion, a heavy artillery (Fußartillerie) battalion, an engineer battalion, a telegraph battalion, and a trains battalion. Some corps areas also disposed of fortress troops; each of the 25 corps had a Field Aviation Unit (Feldflieger Abteilung) attached to it normally equipped with six unarmed "A" or "B" class unarmed two-seat observation aircraft apiece.

In wartime, the army corps became a mobile tactical formation and four Höhere Kavallerie-Kommando (Higher Cavalry Commands) were formed from the Cavalry Inspectorate, the equivalent of corps, being made up of two divisions of cavalry.

The areas formerly covered by the corps each became the responsibility of a Wehrkreis (military district, sometimes translated as corps area). The military districts were to supervise the training and enlistment of reservists and new recruits. Originally each military district was linked to an army corps; thus Wehrkreis I took over the area that I. Armeekorps had been responsible for and sent replacements to the same formation. The first sixteen reserve corps raised followed the same pattern; X. Reserve-Korps was made up of reservists from the same area as X. Armeekorps. However, these links between rear areas and front line units were broken as the war went on and later corps were raised with troops from all over Germany.

Division

See also: List of Divisions of the Imperial German Army

The basic tactical formation was the division. A standard Imperial German division was organised into:

• Division HQ
• Two infantry brigades organised into a brigade HQ and two regiments each (either of the line or light infantry),
• A cavalry brigade organised into a brigade HQ and two regiments
• An artillery brigade organised into an HQ and two regiments
• Combat service and support regiments under division HQ

One of the divisions in a corps area usually also managed the corps Landwehr region (Landwehrbezirk). In 1914, besides the Guard Corps (two Guard divisions and a Guard cavalry division), there were 42 regular divisions in the Prussian Army (including four Saxon divisions and two Württemberg divisions), and six divisions in the Bavarian Army.

These divisions were all mobilised in August 1914. They were reorganised, receiving engineer companies and other support units from their corps, and giving up most of their cavalry to form cavalry divisions. Reserve divisions were also formed, Landwehr brigades were aggregated into divisions, and other divisions were formed from replacement (Ersatz) units. As World War I progressed, additional divisions were formed, and by wars' end, 251 divisions had been formed or reformed in the German Army's structure.

Regiment

The regiment was the basic combat unit as well as the recruiting base for soldiers. When inducted, a soldier entered a regiment, usually through its replacement or training battalion, and received his basic training. There were three basic types of regiment: infantry, cavalry, and artillery. Other specialties, such as pioneers (combat engineers) and signal troops, were organised into smaller support units. Regiments also carried the traditions of the army, in many cases stretching back into the 17th and 18th centuries. After World War I, regimental traditions were carried forward in the Reichswehr and its successor, the Wehrmacht, but the chain of tradition was broken in 1945 as West German and East German units did not carry forward pre-1945 traditions.

Each Imperial German regiment of infantry had headquarters units, three battalions, and one training battalion assigned to the regimental depot. Cavalry, field, and horse artillery regiments were also similarly organised.

National contingents

Imperial and state cockades

The German Empire was formed by 38 duchies and kingdoms each with their traditions of warfare. Although the new army of the united German Empire was nominally "German" and most state forces served integrated into the Prussian Army, the Bavarian Army, the Saxon Army, and the Württemberg Army remained independent national contingents:

The Royal Saxon Army...was the national army of the Kingdom of Saxony one of the four states of the German Reich to retain its own armed forces.

— Lucas & Schmieschek

Nevertheless, in times of war, all of these would pledge allegiance to the Kaiser and the German nation. They did, however, remain organisationally distinct, being able to raise units of their own without assistance from the dominating Prussians. In one instance, Freiherr von Sonden (from Württemberg) was able to "quite legitimately send a request directly to the Ministry of War in Stuttgart for the raising of a new artillery regiment".

Regiments and units from separate constituents were also raised locally and often numbered independently from each other – for example, there was (among others) both a Bavarian 1st Infantry Regiment and a Württemberger 1st Infantry Regiment.

While the aforementioned contingents wore distinctive uniforms, with the differences becoming less over time, the origin of units would be denoted on the uniform in the colours of the rank insignia until the early 20th century. They also had different cockades on the headgear. The Imperial cockade was to be worn above the state cockade on hats and caps, while they were worn on the right (state on the left) of helmets and more specialised headgear.

Reserve system

When the British decided to reform their army in the 1860s, they surveyed the major European forces and decided that the Prussian system was the best one. That system was continued into the Imperial Army after 1871 and resulted in a modest cadre of professional officers and sergeants, and a large reserve force that could be quickly mobilised at the start of a war. The British could not use the system because they rejected conscription. The Japanese, however, were also observing the reserve system and, unlike the British, decided to copy the Prussian model. Barnett (1970) explains that every young man was drafted at age 18, with the upper-class becoming officers:

the Prussian system... was based on service of only three years with the colors... and four years in the reserve. The Prussian standing army had become simply a training cadre for the intake of conscripts. The Prussian army's organization for peace and war was virtually the same. Prussia was divided into army-corps districts for the purposes both of administration and of recruitment. On the outbreak of war the command organizations of the district became that of a corps in the field. Localization of the Army and its recruitment gave the districts pride and interest in their 'own' corps.

Industrial base

The German Empire accounted for 12% of global industrial output in 1914, making it the largest industrial base in Continental Europe, and behind only Great Britain (18%) and the United States (22%) worldwide. The army closely cooperated with industry, especially in the Great War, with particular focus on the very rapidly changing aircraft industry. The army set prices and labour exemptions, regulated the supply of credit and raw materials, limited patent rights so as to allow cross-licensing among firms, and supervised management–labour relationships. The result was very rapid expansion and a high output of high-quality aircraft, as well as high wages that attracted the best machinists. Apart from aircraft, the army's regulation of the rest of the war economy was largely inefficient.

Air Force

The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte, known before October 1916 as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches (The Air Corps of the German Empire), was the over-land air arm of the German Army during World War I. Although its name actually means something very close to the "Air Forces", it remained an integral part of the German Army for the duration of the war. The Kaiserliche Marine of the German Empire had their own, separate Marine-Fliegerabteilung maritime aviation forces, apart from the Luftstreitkräfte of the army.

Ranks of the Imperial German Army

Main article: Military ranks of the German Empire

The German Army from 1871 to 1914 inherited the various traditions and military ranks of its constituent states, thus becoming a truly federal armed service.

Commissioned officer ranks

Critics long believed that the army's officer corps was heavily dominated by Junker aristocrats, so that commoners were shunted into low-prestige branches, such as the heavy artillery or supply. However, by the 1890s, the top ranks were opened to highly talented commoners.

The rank insignia of commissioned officers.

Rank group	General / flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers
Imperial German Army
	Generalfeldmarschall	Generaloberst mit dem Rang als Generalfeldmarschall	Generaloberst		General der Waffengattung		Generalleutnant		Generalmajor		Oberst		Oberstleutnant		Major		Hauptmann/ Rittmeister		Oberleutnant			Leutnant

Other ranks

The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.

Rank group	Non-commissioned officers				Enlisted
Imperial German Army
	Feldwebel	Vicefeldwebel	Sergeant	Unteroffizier	Kapitulant	Einjährig-freiwilliger	Obergefreiter	Gefreiter	Soldat

Dissolution

The Imperial Army was abolished on 6 March 1919, and the provisional Reichswehr was created.

See also

• All Quiet on the Western Front (novel set in World War I about German Army comrades)
• Bavarian Army
• German Army
• German Army order of battle (1914)
• German Army order of battle, Western Front (1918)
• German General Staff
• Oberste Heeresleitung
• Prussian Army
• Reichswehr
• Schutztruppe
• Wehrmacht

General and cited references

• Bunkley, Joel William (1918). Military And Naval Recognition Book: A Handbook On The Organization, Uniforms And Insignia Of Rank Of The World's Armed Forces (2nd ed.). New York: D. Van Nostrand Company.
• Lucas, Andrew; Schmieschek, Jürgen (30 April 2015). Fighting the Kaiser's War: The Saxons in Flanders, 1914/1918. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-4738-4778-1.
• Williams, Dion (1918). "XI: Uniforms and Insignia of Foreign Armies and Navies". Army and Navy Uniforms and Insignia. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company. pp. 216–292. Retrieved 5 July 2022.

Further reading

• Brose, Eric Dorn. The Kaiser's Army: The Politics of Military Technology in Germany during the Machine Age, 1870–1918 (Oxford University Press, 2004)
• Citino, Robert M. The German way of war: from the Thirty Years' War to the Third Reich (University Press of Kansas, 2005)
• Clemente, Steven E. (1992) For King and Kaiser! The Making of the Prussian Army Officer, 1860–1914
• Coetzee, Marilyn Shevin. The German Army League: Popular Nationalism in Wilhelmine Germany (Oxford University Press, 1990)
• Craig, Gordon A. The Politics of the Prussian Army, 1640–1945 (Oxford University Press, 1964)
• Demeter, K. The German Officer Corps in Society and State 1650–1945 (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1965)
• Feldman, Gerald. Army, Industry and Labour in Germany, 1914–1918 (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014)
• Foley, Robert T. "Institutionalized Innovation: The German Army and the Changing Nature of War 1871–1914". RUSI Journal 147.2 (2002): 84–90.
• Herrera, Geoffrey L. "Inventing the Railroad and Rifle Revolution: Information, Military Innovation and the Rise of Germany." Journal of Strategic Studies (2004) 27#2 pp: 243–271. online
• Hull, Isabel V. Absolute Destruction: Military Culture and the Practices of War in Imperial Germany (Cornell University Press, 2004)
• Jackman, Steven D. "Shoulder to Shoulder: Close Control and Old Prussian Drill in German Offensive Infantry Tactics, 1871–1914". Journal of Military History 68.1 (2004): 73–104.
• Kitchen, Martin. A Military History of Germany: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present Day (Indiana University Press, 1975)
• Kitchen, Martin. The German Officer Corps (Oxford UP, 1968)
• Mitchell, Allan. The great train race: railways and the Franco-German rivalry, 1815–1914 (Berghahn Books, 2000)
• Murphy, Patrick. "The Effect of Industrialization and Technology on Warfare: 1854–1878". (2006)
• Muth, Jörg. Command Culture: Officer Education in the US Army and the German Armed Forces, 1901–1940, and the Consequences for World War II (University of North Texas Press, 2011)
• Showalter, Dennis. "From Deterrence to Doomsday Machine: The German Way of War, 1890–1914." Journal of Military History (2000) 64#3 pp: 679–710. JSTOR 120865.
• Showalter, Dennis E. Railroads and rifles: soldiers, technology, and the unification of Germany (Archon Books, 1975)
• Showalter, Dennis E. "Army and Society in Imperial Germany: The Pains of Modernization." Journal of Contemporary History (1983): 583–618. JSTOR 260305.
• Stevenson, David. "Fortifications and the European Military Balance before 1914." Journal of Strategic Studies (2012) 35#6 pp: 829–859.
• Stone, James. The war scare of 1875: Bismarck and Europe in the mid-1870s (Steiner, 2010)
• Stone, James. "Spies and diplomats in Bismarck's Germany: collaboration between military intelligence and the Foreign Office, 1871–1881". Journal of Intelligence History (2014) 13#1 pp: 22–40.

External links

• WWI German Army Artillery & Infantry Attack Reenactment – video on YouTube