The Black Reichswehr ( German: Schwarze Reichswehr ) is an illegal paramilitary organization created in the Weimar Republic as an attempt to circumvent the 100-thousandth limit of the Reichswehr imposed by the Versailles Treaty . In a broad sense, this term can also mean semi-militant formations of various political orientations, like Freikor , formed during the post-war crisis years.
History
The defeat in the First World War turned for the newly created Weimar Republic with the collapse of the economy, soon bound by the hardest conditions of the peace treaties. Among the articles of the Versailles Treaty relating to the future of the German army, one of the most destructive for the latter was the restriction of ground forces to a hundred thousand people, that is, they had to be reduced tenfold compared with the number of the German army during the war. Such a few troops could not equally confront the enemy in the event of a new conflict. After the war, many military personnel officers were dismissed, many officers were reduced to the ranks of soldiers. Solving this problem, the German command drew attention to the experience of the Napoleonic wars , when Scharnhorst , solving a similar problem of a limited army after a defeat in a war, organized compulsory military service, which allowed organizing a large, efficient army after Napoleon's defeats.
The leadership of the Reichswehr organized the training of volunteers in the units issued for non-military labor organizations. Most recruits served for about three months, the service itself was held in the frontier detachments and was distinguished by better quality in comparison with other semi-legal paramilitary organizations of those years. Such units were armed from the caches hidden by German officers from international commissions who monitored the implementation of the agreements. The first name was Bundesweh ( it. Bun de sweh ), but soon it was decided to give up any names. The Black Reichswehr received funding from large German industrialists, first of all, Hugo Steennes (his contribution was so great that the Black Reichswehr was often called "Steennes soldiers"). [1] In 1923, the existence of the Black Reichswehr was discovered during the Küstrin coup . The Ruhr conflict pushed major Black Reichswehr Bukhruker to raise a rebellion in their units and to overthrow the Berlin government. Only a few followed, and the rebellion failed.
The Black Reichswehr continued to work further, the British intelligence mentioned about 7 thousand people who had studied in it in 1929. A year earlier, a reform was carried out to strengthen the control of the Reichswehr over these formations and increase their contingent. After the Nazis came to power, the post-war restrictions were no longer observed, and the need for secret preparation of reserves no longer exists. In general, the role of the Black Reichswehr in the training of reservists is estimated by military historians to be low, mainly due to the relatively small number of trained volunteers, whose three-month training is also considered insufficient.
Notes
Literature
- Corum J.S. "The Roots of the Blitzkrieg": Hans von Sekt and the German military reform / Translation: Evgeny Durnev. @ Military literature [militera.lib.ru], 2007. ≡ Corum, James S. The Roots of Blitzkrieg: Hans von Seeckt and German Military Reform. - USA: University Press of Kansas, 1994. - 276 p. [Modern War Studies] ISBN 978-0-7006-0628-3 .