In the history of Germany

History of Germany

The concept of Germany as a distinct region in central Europe can be traced to Roman commander Julius Caesar, who referred to the unconquered area east of the Rhine as Germania, thus distinguishing it from Gaul , which he had conquered. The victory of the Germanic tribes in the Battle of the...

, the Ministry of the Reichswehr was the defence ministry of the Weimar Republic

Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...

 and the early Third Reich. The 1919 Weimar Constitution

Weimar constitution

The Constitution of the German Reich , usually known as the Weimar Constitution was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic...

 provided for a unified, national ministry of defence to coordinate the new Reichswehr

Reichswehr

The Reichswehr formed the military organisation of Germany from 1919 until 1935, when it was renamed the Wehrmacht ....

, and that ministry was set up in October 1919, from the existing Prussian War Ministry

Prussian Minister of War

The Prussian War Ministry was gradually established between 1808 and 1809 as part of a series of reforms initiated by the Military Reorganization Commission created after the disastrous Treaty of Paris. The War Ministry was to help bring the army under constitutional control, and, along with the...

 and Reichsmarineamt. It was based in the Bendlerblock

Bendlerblock

The Bendlerblock is a building in Berlin, located on the Stauffenbergstraße , south of the Tiergarten. The building was erected between 1911 and 1914 for the Imperial German Navy Offices. During the Weimar Republic it served as the seat of the Reichswehr command and the Ministry of Defence...

 building. The Wehrgesetz (Defence Law) of 21 May 1935 renamed it the Reichskriegsministerium (Reich War Ministry), which was then abolished in 1938 and replaced with the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht

Oberkommando der Wehrmacht

The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht was part of the command structure of the armed forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.- Genesis :...

.

History

Within the framework of the Gesetzes über die Bildung einer vorläufigen Reichswehr ("Law on the formation of a provisional national-army") of March 1919, the Reichspräsident was commander-in-chief

Commander-in-Chief

A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...

 of the armed forces, with the Reichswehrminister (Defence Minister) exercising command. These arrangements left out the Prussian armed forces, which remained under the command of the Prussian Minister of War

Prussian Minister of War

The Prussian War Ministry was gradually established between 1808 and 1809 as part of a series of reforms initiated by the Military Reorganization Commission created after the disastrous Treaty of Paris. The War Ministry was to help bring the army under constitutional control, and, along with the...

. After the Weimar Constitution

Weimar constitution

The Constitution of the German Reich , usually known as the Weimar Constitution was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic...

 came into force, the war ministries of Ländes of Bavaria

Ministry of War (Kingdom of Bavaria)

The Ministry of War was a ministry for military affairs of the Kingdom of Bavaria, founded as Ministerium des Kriegswesens on October 1, 1808 by King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria. It was located at Ludwigstraße in Munich...

, Saxony, Württemberg

Ministry of War of Württemberg

The Ministry of War of Württemberg was a ministry of the Kingdom of Württemberg, that existed from 1806 to 1919. Its predecessor, the Kriegsratskollegium, was established on 14 March 1705...

 and Prussia were dissolved and command authority was concentrated in the hand of the national Reichswehrminister. Power of command for each branch was given to the head of the Army Command (Heeresleitung) and the head of the Naval Command (Marineleitung). The Ministeramt was established as a third office within the ministry in 1929, with the Ministeramt′s head acting as the Reichswehrminister′s political deputy. The general staff took over the role of the Truppenamt

Truppenamt

The Truppenamt or 'Troop Office' was the cover organisation for the German General Staff from 1919 through until 1933 when the General Staff was re-created. This subterfuge was deemed necessary in order for Germany to be seen to meet the requirements of the Versailles Treaty...

.

The "Verkündung der Wehrhoheit" (proclamation of military sovereignty) of 1935 created a new Oberkommando der Luftwaffe

Oberkommando der Luftwaffe

The Oberkommando der Luftwaffe was the air force High Command of the Third Reich.Air Force Commanders-in-Chief* Reich Marshal Hermann Göring * Field Marshal Robert Ritter von Greim -History:...

 (OKL - dealt with by the Air Ministry) and turned the Heeresleitung into the Oberkommando des Heeres

Oberkommando des Heeres

The Oberkommando des Heeres was Nazi Germany's High Command of the Army from 1936 to 1945. The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht commanded OKH only in theory...

 (OKH) and the Marineleitung into the Oberkommando der Marine

Oberkommando der Marine

The Oberkommando der Marine was Nazi Germany's Naval High Command and the highest administrative and command authority of the Kriegsmarine. It was officially formed from the Marineleitung of the Reichswehr on 11 January 1936. In 1937 it was combined with the newly formed Seekriegsleitung...

 (OKM). The minister was renamed the Wehrmachtsamt. As a result of the Blomberg-Fritsch Affair

Blomberg-Fritsch Affair

The Blomberg–Fritsch Affair were two related scandals in early 1938 that resulted in the subjugation of the German Armed Forces to dictator Adolf Hitler...

, the Reichskriegsminister and Wehrmachtsamt were abolished by Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

 and their duties transferred to the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht

Oberkommando der Wehrmacht

The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht was part of the command structure of the armed forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.- Genesis :...

 (OKW). From 1944, Germany′s Defence Ministry was known as the Reichsministerium für Rüstung und Kriegsproduktion ("Reich Ministry for Armaments and War Production"), alongside the Heeres-Waffenamt

Waffenamt

Waffenamt was the German Army Weapons Agency. It was the centre for research and development of Germany and also during the Third Reich for weapons, ammunition and army equipment to the German Reichswehr and later Wehrmacht...

 under Albert Speer

Albert Speer

Albert Speer, born Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer, was a German architect who was, for a part of World War II, Minister of Armaments and War Production for the Third Reich. Speer was Adolf Hitler's chief architect before assuming ministerial office...

.

Defence Ministers

{ border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" width="95%" Name Began Ended Party Gustav Noske

Gustav Noske

Gustav Noske was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany . He served as the first Minister of Defence of Germany between 1919 and 1920.-Biography:...

13 February 1919 22 March 1920 SPD

Social Democratic Party of Germany

The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...

Otto Geßler 27 March 1920 19 January 1928 DDP Wilhelm Groener

Wilhelm Groener

Karl Eduard Wilhelm Groener was a German soldier and politician.-Biography:He was born in Ludwigsburg in the Kingdom of Württemberg, the son of a regimental paymaster. He entered the Württemberg Army in 1884, and attended the War Academy from 1893 to 1897, whereupon he was appointed to the General...

20 January 1928 30 May 1932 Independent Kurt von Schleicher

Kurt von Schleicher

Kurt von Schleicher was a German general and the last Chancellor of Germany during the era of the Weimar Republic. Seventeen months after his resignation, he was assassinated by order of his successor, Adolf Hitler, in the Night of the Long Knives....

1 June 1932 28 January 1933 Independent Werner von Blomberg

Werner von Blomberg

Werner Eduard Fritz von Blomberg was a German Generalfeldmarschall, Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces until January 1938.-Early life:...

30 January 1933 27 January 1938 Independent (De facto) Wilhelm Keitel

Wilhelm Keitel

Wilhelm Bodewin Gustav Keitel was a German field marshal . As head of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht and de facto war minister, he was one of Germany's most senior military leaders during World War II...

 (as Chef des Oberkommando der Wehrmacht

Oberkommando der Wehrmacht

The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht was part of the command structure of the armed forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.- Genesis :...

 or OKW) 4 February 1938 8 May 1945 Independent

Heads of the Army Command

• Generalmajor Walther Reinhardt
  Walther Reinhardt
  Walther Reinhardt was a German officer who served as the last Prussian Minister of War and the first head of the army command within the Ministry of the Reichswehr.-External links:*...
  
   --- 13 September 1919-March 1920
• Generalmajor Hans von Seeckt
  Hans von Seeckt
  Johannes Friedrich "Hans" von Seeckt was a German military officer noted for his organization of the German Army during the Weimar Republic.-Early life:...
  
   --- March 1920-October 1926
• Generalleutnant Wilhelm Heye
  Wilhelm Heye
  August Wilhelm Heye was a German officer who rose to the rank of Generaloberst and became head of the Army Command within the Ministry of the Reichswehr in the Weimar Republic....
  
   --- October 1926-31 October 1930
• General der Infanterie
  General of the Infantry (Germany)
  General of the Infantry is a rank of general in the Imperial Army, Reichswehr or Wehrmacht - the second-highest regular rank. The same rank spread to the Imperial Russian Army and the Defence forces of Finland between the world wars...
  
   Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord
  Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord
  Kurt Gebhard Adolf Philipp Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord was a German general who served for a period as Commander-in-Chief of the Reichswehr...
  
   --- 1 November 1930-27 December 1933
• Generalleutnant Werner Freiherr von Fritsch --- 1 January 1934-1 June 1935

Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres

• General der Artillerie
  General of the Artillery (Germany)
  General of the artillery may mean:#a rank of general in the Imperial Army, Reichswehr or Wehrmacht - the second-highest regular rank below Generaloberst. Cavalry officers of equivalent rank were called general of the cavalry, and infantry officers of equivalent rank general of the infantry...
  
   Werner Freiherr von Fritsch --- 1 June 1935-4 February 1938

Heads of the Naval Command

• Vizeadmiral Adolf von Trotha
  Adolf von Trotha
  Adolf von Trotha was a German admiral in the Kaiserliche Marine from Koblenz, Rhenish Prussia.-Family:...
  
   --- September 1919-March 1920
• Konteradmiral William Michaelis
  William Michaelis
  William Otto Ernst Michaelis was a German viceadmiral and head of the Naval Command within the Ministry of the Reichswehr in the Weimar Republic.- Biography :...
  
   --- March-September 1920 (kommissar)
• Vizeadmiral Paul Behncke
  Paul Behncke
  Paul Behncke was a German admiral during the First World War, most notable for his command of the Third Battle Squadron of the German High Seas Fleet during the Battle of Jutland....
  
   --- 1 September 1920-30 September 1924
• Vizeadmiral Hans Zenker
  Hans Zenker
  Hans Zenker was a German admiral.-Biography:Born in Bielitz , he entered the Kaiserliche Marine on April 13, 1889. After serving as captain of several torpedo boats, he commannded in turn the light cruisers Lübeck in 1911 and Cöln in 1912-13...
  
   --- 1 October 1924-30 September 1928
• Vizeadmiral Erich Raeder
  Erich Raeder
  Erich Johann Albert Raeder was a naval leader in Germany before and during World War II. Raeder attained the highest possible naval rank—that of Großadmiral — in 1939, becoming the first person to hold that rank since Alfred von Tirpitz...
  
   --- 1 October 1928-1 June 1935

Oberbefehlshaber der Marine

• Admiral
  Admiral
  Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
  
   Erich Raeder --- 1 June 1935-30 January 1943

Heads of the Ministeramts

• Generalleutnant Kurt von Schleicher --- 1 February 1929-1 June 1932
• Generalmajor Ferdinand von Bredow
  Ferdinand von Bredow
  Ferdinand von Bredow was a German Generalmajor and former head of the Abwehr in the Reich Defence Ministry and deputy defence minister in Kurt von Schleicher's cabinet .Bredow was, along with Schleicher, among Adolf Hitler's bitterest...
  
   --- 1 June 1932-30 January 1933
• Oberst
  Oberst
  Oberst is a military rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway. The Swedish rank överste is a direct translation, as are the Finnish rank eversti...
  
   Walter von Reichenau --- 1 February 1933-1 February 1934

Chef des Wehrmachtamtes

• Generalmajor Walter von Reichenau --- 1 February 1934-30 September 1935
• Generalmajor Wilhelm Keitel
  Wilhelm Keitel
  Wilhelm Bodewin Gustav Keitel was a German field marshal . As head of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht and de facto war minister, he was one of Germany's most senior military leaders during World War II...
  
  --- 1 October 1935-4 February 1938

Chef des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht (OKW)

• General der Artillerie Wilhelm Keitel --- 4 February 1938-8 May 1945