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32-826: Under the Nazi government , the Ministry of the Reichswehr was renamed the Reich Ministry of War . It was led by Minister of War General Werner von Blomberg , who had also been the last defence minister. The Ministry was abolished in 1938 and replaced with the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (Armed Forces High Command) under the direct command of Adolf Hitler . On 6 March 1919, the Weimar National Assembly – Germany's post-war interim parliament, which

64-634: A cult of personality around Hitler . Top officials reported to Hitler and followed his policies, but they had considerable autonomy. Officials were expected to "work towards the Führer" – to take the initiative in promoting policies and actions in line with his wishes and the goals of the Nazi Party, without Hitler having to be involved in the day-to-day running of the country. He often deferred making decisions, avoided clear delegation and allowed subordinates to compete with one another, especially in

96-591: A large number of different organizations for the purpose of helping them govern and remain in power. They pursued a policy of rearmament and strengthened the Wehrmacht , established an extensive national security apparatus and created the Waffen-SS , the combat branch of the Schutzstaffel (SS). On 30 January 1933, President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor of Germany . This event

128-607: Is known as the Machtergreifung (seizure of power). In the following months, the Nazi Party used a process termed Gleichschaltung (co-ordination) to rapidly bring all aspects of life under control of the party. All civilian organisations, including agricultural groups, volunteer organisations, and sports clubs, had their leadership replaced with Nazi sympathisers or party members. By July 1933, all other political parties had been banned or had dissolved themselves, and

160-681: Is no separation of powers . Since passage of the Enabling Act the Reichsregierung (Reich cabinet) was empowered to enact Reichsgesetze (statute law) without respect to the 1919 constitution. Most of the judicial structures and legal codes of the Weimar Republic remained in use during the Nazi era, but significant changes within the judicial codes occurred, as well as significant changes in court rulings. Most human rights of

192-627: The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht . OKH had been independent until February 1938, when Hitler created the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht which, on paper, subordinated OKH to OKW. After a major crisis developed in the Battle of Moscow , von Brauchitsch was dismissed (partly because of his failing health), and Hitler appointed himself as head of the OKH. At the same time, he limited the OKH's authority to

224-669: The Oberkommando der Marine (OKM). The Minister's Office was renamed the Wehrmacht Office. The Defence Act ( Wehrgesetz ) of 21 May 1935 made the Führer and chancellor (Hitler) supreme commander of the Wehrmacht . Under him, the renamed minister of war ( Reichskriegsminister ) became commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht (§ 3). As a result of the Blomberg–Fritsch affair , Hitler took over as commander-in-chief of

256-597: The Volksgerichtshof (people's court) was established in 1934, only dealing with cases of political importance. In practice, it served only as a kangaroo court , conducting show trials that gave the appearance of legal process while handing down harsh sentences to political enemies. From 1934 to 1945, the court sentenced 10,980 people to prison and imposed the death penalty on 5,179 more who were convicted of high treason. About 1,000 were acquitted. Its most prominent members were Otto Georg Thierack , president of

288-749: The Army of Nazi Germany . It was founded in 1935 as part of Adolf Hitler 's rearmament of Germany . OKH was de facto the most important unit within the German war planning until the defeat at Moscow in December 1941. During World War II , OKH had the responsibility of strategic planning of Armies and Army Groups . The General Staff of the OKH managed operational matters. Each German Army also had an Army High Command ( Armeeoberkommando or AOK). The Armed Forces High Command ( Oberkommando der Wehrmacht ) then took over this function for theatres other than

320-561: The Berlin Declaration on 5 June 1945. As the successor to the government of the Weimar Republic , it inherited the governmental structure and institutions of the previous state. Although the Weimar Constitution technically remained in effect until the German surrender, there were no actual restraints on the exercise of state power. In addition to the already extant Weimar government, the Nazi leadership created

352-629: The Eastern front . The OKH commander held the title of Commander-in-chief of the Army ( Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres ). After the Battle of Moscow , the OKH commander Field marshal Walther von Brauchitsch was removed from office, and Hitler appointed himself as Commander-in-Chief of the Army. From 1938, OKH was, together with Oberkommando der Luftwaffe ( transl.  Air Force High Command ) and Oberkommando der Marine ( transl.  Naval High Command ) formally subordinated to

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384-885: The Law Against the Formation of Parties declared the Nazis the only legal party. Virtually the only organisations not controlled by the NSDAP were the army and the churches. When President Hindenburg died in August 1934, the Law Concerning the Head of State of the German Reich merged the offices of Reich President and Chancellor and conferred the position on Hitler, who thus also became head of state and Supreme Commander of

416-798: The Nazi Party according to the Führerprinzip . Nazi Germany was established in January 1933 with the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany , followed by suspension of basic rights with the Reichstag Fire Decree and the Enabling Act which gave Hitler's regime the power to pass and enforce laws without the involvement of the Reichstag or German president , and de facto ended with Germany's surrender in World War II on 8 May 1945 and de jure ended with

448-659: The Reichswehr in compliance with the limits set in the Treaty of Versailles. In § 8 [2], it stated that: "the Reich President is the supreme commander of the entire Armed Forces. Under him, the Armed Forces minister exercises command over the entire Armed Forces." Paragraph 10 also provided that: [1] An Army Board ( Kammer ) and a Navy Board, whose members are elected by secret ballot, are to be established at

480-795: The Treaty of Versailles (Article 160), the Truppenamt was formed within the Reichswehr Ministry in October 1919. General Hans von Seeckt was its first head. The Reich law to create a new Armed Forces, which had been referred to in the 1919 Law on the Formation of a Provisional National Defence Force, was promulgated as the Defence Act ( Wehrgesetz ) on 23 March 1921 by the Weimar Reichstag . It formally established

512-532: The Wehrmacht by decree on 4 February 1938. Under the same decree, the functions of the Ministry of War were taken over by the High Command of the Wehrmacht ( Oberkommando der Wehrmacht , OKW). The Ministry of War ceased to exist at that point. Nazi government Final solution Parties The government of Nazi Germany was a totalitarian dictatorship governed by Adolf Hitler and

544-480: The Armed Forces. By 1939, party membership was compulsory for all civil service officials. Hitler ruled Germany autocratically by asserting the Führerprinzip (leader principle), which called for absolute obedience of all subordinates. He viewed the government structure as a pyramid, with himself at the apex. Rank in the party was not determined by elections; positions were filled through appointment by those of higher rank. The Nazi Party used propaganda to develop

576-482: The Reich government and maintain peace and order within the Reich until the new Armed Forces ( Wehrmacht ), which is to be organized by Reich law, is created. The position of defence minister was established early in 1919 and filled by Gustav Noske on 13 February. On 20 August, President Friedrich Ebert ordered that the Reichswehr Ministry take over from the federal states ' war ministries on 1 October, although it

608-399: The Reichswehr Ministry as advisory and expert bodies. [2] The Army and Navy Boards are directly subordinate to the defence minister. In § 12, the war ministries of Bavaria , Saxony and Württemberg were dissolved, and command authority was concentrated in the hand of the defence minister. A Minister's Office ( Ministeramt ), which served as a top military authority between the minister and

640-630: The Russian front, giving OKW direct authority over army units elsewhere. This enabled Hitler to declare that only he had complete awareness of Germany's strategic situation, should any general request a transfer of resources between the Russian front and another theatre of operations. Although both OKW and OKH were headquartered in the Maybach complex in Nazi Germany, the functional and operational independence of both establishments were not lost on

672-652: The army and navy leadership, was set up on 1 March 1929. Just over two years after Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party rose to power, the Proclamation of Military Sovereignty ( Verkündung der Wehrhoheit ) of 16 March 1935 created a new Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (OKL) under the Air Ministry and turned the Heeresleitung into the Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH) and the Marineleitung into

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704-768: The command of General Walther Reinhardt , the Prussian Minister of War , until the Ministry was disbanded on 30 September 1919. Reinhardt sat on the first two cabinets of the Weimar Republic as a non-voting member until 30 September, as did Admiral Adolf von Trotha in a similar capacity for the Admiralty until 27 March 1920, when the Bauer cabinet resigned. As a covert replacement for the German Empire 's General Staff (OHL) , which had been banned by

736-408: The constitution of the Weimar Republic were disabled by several Reichsgesetze (Reich's laws). Several minorities, opposition politicians and prisoners of war were deprived of most of their rights and responsibilities. The plan to pass a Volksstrafgesetzbuch (people's code of criminal justice) arose soon after 1933 but didn't come into reality until the end of World War II . As a new type of court,

768-405: The court from May 1936 to August 1942, and Roland Freisler who presided from August 1942 to February 1945. After the war ended, some surviving jurists were tried, convicted, and sentenced as war criminals . Notes Bibliography Oberkommando des Heeres The Oberkommando des Heeres ( lit.   ' Upper Command of the Army ' ; abbreviated OKH ) was the high command of

800-472: The eastern front. This led Hitler to rely more and more on Bormann to handle the domestic policies of the country. On 12 April 1943, Hitler officially appointed Bormann as Personal Secretary to the Führer. By this time Bormann had de facto control over all domestic matters, and this new appointment gave him the power to act in an official capacity in any matter. Historical opinion is divided between "intentionalists" who believe that Hitler created this system as

832-600: The flow of information and access to Hitler. Hitler's cabinet never met after 1938, and he discouraged his ministers from meeting independently. Hitler's leadership style was to give contradictory orders to his subordinates and to place them into positions where their duties and responsibilities overlapped with those of others, to have "the stronger one [do] the job". In this way, Hitler fostered distrust, competition, and infighting among his subordinates to consolidate and maximise his own power. The process allowed more unscrupulous and ambitious Nazis to get away with implementing

864-616: The more radical and extreme elements of Hitler's ideology, such as antisemitism , and in doing so win political favour. It was protected by Joseph Goebbels ' effective propaganda machine, which portrayed Hitler as a heroic and infallible leader. Further, the government was portrayed as a dedicated, dutiful and efficient outfit. Through successive Reichsstatthalter decrees, Germany's states were effectively replaced by Nazi provinces called Gaue . After June 1941 as World War II progressed, Hitler became preoccupied with military matters and spent most of his time at his military headquarters on

896-426: The only means of ensuring both the total loyalty and dedication of his supporters, and the impossibility of a conspiracy; and the "structuralists" who believe that the system evolved by itself and was a limitation on Hitler's totalitarian power. The organization of the Nazi state was as follows: It has to be considered that there is little use talking about a legislative branch in a totalitarian state, where there

928-744: The pre-war years. The government was not a coordinated, co-operating body, but rather a disorganised collection of factions led by members of the party elite who struggled to amass power and gain the Führer's favour. The system of government was formed whereby leading Nazi officials were forced to interpret Hitler's speeches, remarks and writings on government policies and turn them into programs and legislation. Hitler typically did not give written orders; instead he communicated them verbally, or had them conveyed through his close associate, Martin Bormann . He entrusted Bormann with his paperwork, appointments, and personal finances; Bormann used his position to control

960-534: The respective staff during their tenure. Personnel at the compound remarked that even if Maybach 2 (the OKW complex) was completely destroyed, the OKH staff in Maybach 1 would scarcely notice. These camouflaged facilities, separated physically by a fence, also maintained structurally different mindsets towards their objectives. On 28 April 1945 (two days before his suicide ), Hitler formally subordinated OKH to OKW, giving

992-509: Was not until 8 November 1919 that the new ministry was officially opened. The heads of Army Command ( Heeresleitung ) and the Admiralty – which became Navy Command ( Marineleitung ) on 15 July 1920 – were subordinate to the defence minister. The Ministry was for the most part made up of members from the states' war ministries, with the majority coming from the Prussian Ministry of War . The Prussian armed forces remained under

Ministry of the Reichswehr - Misplaced Pages Continue

1024-504: Was tasked with passing necessary laws while it drafted a constitution for the Republic – enacted the Law on the Formation of a Provisional National Defence Force ( Gesetz über die Bildung einer vorläufigen Reichswehr ). It authorized the president of Germany to: disband the existing Army and to form a provisional Reichswehr , which will protect the Reich's borders, enforce the orders of

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