Black Reichswehr
The Black Reichswehr (German: Schwarze Reichswehr) was the unofficial name for the extra-legal paramilitary formation that was secretly a part of the German military (Reichswehr) during the early years of the Weimar Republic. It was formed in 1921 after the government banned the Freikorps that it had relied on until then to supplement the Reichswehr. General Hans von Seeckt thought that the Reichswehr no longer had enough men available to guard the country's borders, but the army could not be expanded because of the manpower restrictions imposed on it by the Treaty of Versailles. In order to circumvent the limitation, Seeckt created the Black Reichswehr as purportedly civilian "labour battalions" (Arbeitskommandos) attached to regular Reichswehr units. The Arbeitskommandos received military training, provisioning and orders from the Reichswehr, although ultimately they were never involved in military action. The Black Reichswehr reached a peak membership estimated at 50,000 to 80,000 in 1923 and was dissolved the same year after a group of its members launched the failed Küstrin Putsch. Its existence became widely known in 1925 when its practice of Fememord, the extra-judicial killing of "traitors" among its ranks, was revealed to the public.
Black Reichswehr
Background[edit]
Treaty of Versailles[edit]
When the Treaty of Versailles set the conditions for peace following Germany's defeat in World War I, it put tight restrictions on the size and weaponry of the German military. It limited the army to a total of 100,000 men and 4,000 officers. Conscription was prohibited, and the military was to be exclusively devoted to the maintenance of internal order and control of the borders. The Treaty also prohibited the construction of aircraft, heavy artillery and tanks, and the production of materials for chemical warfare. The navy was placed under equally tight restrictions and was in particular prohibited from building or acquiring submarines.[2]
The harsh terms of the Treaty, which also included demilitarisation of the Rhineland, payment of reparations to the Allies and Germany being forced to accept sole responsibility for the war, were intended to ensure that Germany could never again pose a military threat to Europe. The Germans saw it as a national humiliation,[3] and revising the Treaty's terms became an important part of the politics of the Weimar Republic. Nationalists were drawn to parties on the Right that promised to rearm Germany and restore its great power status in Europe and the world.[4]
Although the name Black Reichswehr is sometimes applied to all Freikorps that were used by the German government or the Reichswehr, it is most commonly limited to the clandestine units that were directly a part of the Reichswehr. The differing usages can lead to confusion as to whether an individual or even a group belonged to the Freikorps or to the Black Reichswehr. The following men were in the Black Reichswehr under the narrower definition:
In popular culture[edit]
The Black Reichswehr is featured in Babylon Berlin, the German neo-noir television series based on the 2008 novel Der nasse Fisch (The Wet Fish) by Volker Kutscher. In the first two seasons, the organisation is depicted as plotting a coup of the Weimar Republic to restore the German Empire, returning Wilhelm II to the throne and installing Erich Ludendorff as Chancellor. The character of Generalmajor Seegers, the fictional ringleader of the plot, is an amalgamation of several historical Reichswehr officers, including Hans von Seeckt and Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord.