Walther Reinhardt
Prussian Minister of War German Empire | |
---|---|
In office 2 January 1919 – 13 September 1919 | |
President | Friedrich Ebert |
Chancellor | Philipp Scheidemann Gustav Bauer |
Preceded by | Heinrich Scheuch |
Succeeded by | Position abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | Stuttgart, Kingdom of Württemberg, German Empire | 24 March 1872
Died | 8 August 1930 Berlin, Free State of Prussia, Weimar Republic | (aged 58)
Military service | |
Allegiance | German Empire
Imperial German Army
|
Years of service | 1892–1930 |
Rank | German Revolution of 1918-19 |
Awards | Iron Cross, First Class Iron Cross, Second Class Pour le Mérite with Oak Leaves Commander of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords Military Merit Order, 4th Class with Swords and Crown (Bavaria) Knight's Cross of theMilitary Merit Order (Württemberg) |
Walther Gustav Reinhardt (German pronunciation:
Early life and family
Reinhardt was born on 24 March 1872 in Stuttgart as the son of August von Reinhardt (1827–1907), a member of the Personenadel (lifelong, non-hereditary nobility) and officer of the Kingdom of Württemberg (Generalmajor and Commander of the 120th Infantry Regiment), and Emilie Reinhardt, née von Wiedenmann. His brother Ernst (1870-1939) also became an officer (Generalleutnant) and was the father of Hellmuth Reinhardt (1900–89, Generalmajor).[1]
In 1900, Walther Reinhardt married Luise Fürbringer in Berlin. They had three daughters.[1]
Military career and World War I
After his time as a Kadett (cadet), Reinhardt joined the grenadier regiment "Königin Olga" (1st Württembergisches) Nr. 119 in 1891 as a Fähnrich. Once he had finished training as a general staff officer, he was sent to the Großer Generalstab in 1901 and served there with some short interruptions until 1918.[1]
During World War I, Reinhardt first served in 1914–16 at the staff of the XIII Army Corps (Western Front), then as Chief of Staff at 11th Army in Macedonia (1916/17) and 7th Army in France (1917/18). For his actions during the German spring offensive and subsequent battles in the summer of 1918 he received the highest decorations for bravery of the Kingdom of Württemberg and the Kingdom of Prussia.[1]
Rise to Leadership of Reichswehr
In early November 1918, Reinhardt, at the time in the rank of Oberst (
As Prussian Minister of War, Reinhardt became part of the
Reinhardt was strongly opposed to signing the
In the summer of 1919, the administration and command structures of the German armed forces were completely restructured. The
Kapp-Lüttwitz-Putsch and resignation
When Freikorps and regular troops followed orders given by General Walther von Lüttwitz on 13 March 1920 to march on the centre of Berlin, occupy the government buildings and depose the legitimate government, Defence Minister Noske called a meeting of senior military staff in his office at the Bendlerblock. As their commander he asked them to defend the government buildings but was turned down. Reinhardt was one of only two officers who were willing to follow an order to shoot at the revolting troops. Some of the others suggested negotiations, others claimed that the troops would not understand an order to fire, some argued that the regular units would not be able to defeat putschists. General Hans von Seeckt, head of the Truppenamt (the institution that served as the general staff, after the Treaty of Versailles had mandated the general staff to be dissolved) and after Reinhardt the second-most senior officer present, spoke about comradeship with the putschists.[4]: 222 Although he had argued for the Oststaat plan, Reinhardt was loyal to the Ebert/Bauer government and willing to fight for it.[2]: 113 However, as Chef der Heeresleitung he had no troops under his direct command.
Left defenceless, the government had to flee from the capital. However, the putsch was crippled by a refusal of the bureaucracy to cooperate and by a general strike that paralyzed the country. The putsch collapsed within days. However, many in Noske's own party, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), and in the unions felt that Noske had not done enough to stop the putsch. They called for his resignation. On 22 March 1920, Noske resigned. Out of loyalty to Noske, Reinhardt resigned with him. He was replaced as Chef der Heeresleitung by General von Seeckt.[5][6]: 54
Later life
Although he resigned then as Chef der Heeresleitung, Reinhardt remained an active officer. From 1920 to 1924 he was in charge of the
He died in Berlin-Lichterfelde on 8 August 1930.[1]
Decorations and awards
- Iron Cross of 1914, 1st and 2nd class[8]
- Pour le Mérite with Oak Leaves[8]
- Order of the Red Eagle, 4th class[8]
- Commander of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords[8]
- Cross of Honour 2nd class of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords[8]
- Military Merit Order, 4th class with swords and crown (Bavaria)[8]
- Officer's Cross of the Albert Order with Swords[8]
- Knight's Cross of the Military Merit Order (Württemberg)[8]
- Cross of Honour of the Order of the Crown (Württemberg)[8]
- Commander 2nd class of the Friedrich Order[8]
- Service award, 1st class (Württemberg)[8]
- General Honour Decoration for Bravery (Hesse)[8]
- Hanseatic Cross of Hamburg[8]
- War Merit Cross, 1st class (Brunswick)[8]
- Hanseatic Cross of Bremen[8]
- Knight's Cross, First Class of the Ducal Saxe-Ernestine House Order with Swords[8]
- Ottoman War Medal ("Iron Crescent")[8]
- Commander of the Order of Military Merit (Bulgaria)[8]
Works (posthumously)
- Wehrkraft und Wehrwille. Aus dem Nachlaß mit einer Lebensbeschreibung. ("Military Strength and Military Will - From the estate with a biography") Edited by Ernst Reinhardt, 1932.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Biografie Walther Reinhardt (German)". Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
- ^ a b c Winkler, Heinrich August (1993). Weimar 1918-1933. Die Geschichte der ersten deutschen Demokratie (German). München. p. 94.
- ^ Schulze, Hagen (1970), "Der Oststaat-Plan 1919" (PDF), Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte (VFZ) (in German), 18 (2): 123–163
- ISBN 3-463-40423-0.
- ^ Herzfeld, Hans, ed. (1963). Geschichte in Gestalten:3:L-O (German). Fischer, Frankfurt. pp. 231–232.
- ISBN 3-608-91802-7.
- ISBN 9783638664691.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Rangliste des Deutschen Reichsheeres, Mittler & Sohn Verlag, Berlin 1930, S.41
Bibliography
- William Mulligan: The creation of the modern German Army: General Walther Reinhardt and the Weimar Republic, 1914–1930. Berghahn Books, 2005. ISBN 1-57181-908-8.
External links
- Walther Reinhardt in the German National Library catalogue
- Biography - Bundesarchiv
- Acta Borussica Bd.11/II (PDF-Datei; 1,92 MB)