Bavarian Arms Command – historical lexicon of Bavaria

Bavarian army command

Supreme command authority of the Bavarian Army, first formed in 1822-1829 under the direction of Karl Philipp Prince Wrede (1767-1838). After that, the supreme command passed to the Minister of War. In 1919, when the Bavarian government in Bamberg had to recognize that they could not eliminate the council rule in Munich on their own, in nominal terms with the government of the Reich, but actually under the command of General Ernst von Oven (1859-1945) for the Bavarian General Arnold Ritter von Möhl (1867-1944) as Bavarian Commander-in-Chief created a Bavarian Army Command. After the fighting, it exercised the military power in Bavaria, but was already integrated on May 11, 1919 as a group commando 4 in the Reichswehr.

Table of Contents

To the subject "army command"

Under "command" Among other things, the 19th century understood a military authority equipped with command powers. For the entire armed forces of a state there had to be a supreme command due to structural reasons. The name of this authority or the position of commander-in-chief could change for reasons of power policy, constitutional or military-organizational reasons. Nor did the material content of the supreme authority follow a rigid standardization. In Bavaria, in 1801, the elector / king personally took over the supreme command of the army. He ceded it in 1822 to Prince Karl von Wrede (1767-1838), the field marshal of the Bavarian army. Wrede’s authority was called "Army Command". In 1829 it was repealed and transferred its powers including the supreme command to the Minister of War. On "Army Command" thereafter there was no more in the Kingdom of Bavaria. The Bavarian "Army High Command" ("A.O.K.") of the 6th and 19th Army in the First World War were under the command of the Supreme Army Command or the Kaiser as a federal field commander.

Councilor’s Government 1919: Agreement between Bavaria and the Reich

At the beginning of April 1919, when the proclamation of the Soviet Republic of the Republic forced the Bavarian government to move to Bamberg, Minister of Defense Ernst Schneppenhorst (1881-1945) was a minister without troops. The old army had been dissolved.

On the basis of the former units formed volunteer associations, but it proved impossible to eliminate the soviet rule in Munich alone with these troops. In particular, the failed attempts to Dachau and Freising on 15./16. April 1919 made that obvious. Therefore, the Bavarian government was now ready to accept extra-Bavarian military aid, especially since the Reich Government urged that the council rule be ended quickly. On 17 April it was agreed to offer Prussian, Bavarian and Württemberg troops under a general and under the direction of the Reichswehr Minister against Munich. The Bavarian Empire was opposed to Bavarian sensitivities because of too obvious a loss of military sovereignty: the Bavarian general was to take command of the Reichswehr in representation of the Reichswehr Minister.

The Bavarian High Command in the corps Oven

The directive (ie an order issued because of unclear circumstances instead of a command) of the Reichswehr Minister of 23 April 1919 named as Bavarian participants in the operation that "Bavarian rifle corps" (better known as "Free Corps Epp") in Augsburg and "Bavarian forces still to be collected". Representative of the Bavarian government in the armed forces with the rank of one "Bavarian commander-in-chief" Major General Arnold Ritter von Möhl (1867-1944), his chief of staff Major Karl Ritter von Prager (1875-1959).

As long as Möhl did not yet have its own troops, he should join the Prussian Lieutenant-General Ernst von Oven (1859-1945) as plenipotentiary of the government. In this political capacity Hermann Ewinger (born 1887, Deputy III Army Corps) was added. As soon as Möhl had Bavarian forces, he should be authorized to do so, but with the consent of Oven. However, in order to forestall the imperial government, Möhl had already been appointed supreme commander of the Bavarian and Bavarian Wuerttemberg troops by the Bavarian government Hoffmann on April 22. Möhl initially kept his seat in Bamberg. The Bavarian and Württemberg troops, however, were mostly on the Lech and were commanded on site by Major Hans Ritter von Seisser (1874-1973).

On the catenary of the entire operation by Oven as Commander – in – Chief of the "Corps Oven" Bavarian was not shaken. This determined on April 28, that all Bavarian units that are involved in the fighting for Munich (until May 2), under the command of the three "groups" "from Friedeberg", "Haas" and "Deetjen" to have to kick. "Haas" was in soon after "west" renamed, this came new "Group North". The supreme commander Oven was attached at the same time the Bavarian commander-in-chief ("Bavarian High Command", also "High Command Möhl" called). Möhl, formally dated 22/23. April to April 28 had exercised the immediate supreme command of the Bavarian and Wiirtemberg associations, was now only passage command between Oven and the him already imputed associations, as far as they were used before Munich. These troops were mainly "Department of arch villages", "Subgroup Denk" and the Bavarian Rifle Corps.

The exercise of the supreme command by Möhl

The newly formed General Command Bavarian I. Army Corps was not used at Munich and was therefore directly under the command of Möhl. He was but only a few low-impact smaller Freikorps.

To avoid the impression that Prussian troops were in charge in Bavaria’s capital, the supreme command in the city passed to Möhl after the fighting was over. The Prussian and Württemberg associations withdrew from the city center to the suburbs on 11 May. The production of tranquility in southern Bavaria fell to Möhl, although still under the formal direction of Ovens. This left the city only after a quarter of a year, followed by the non-Bavarian troops. Nevertheless, the assumption of military force in Bavaria by Bavarian troops had proceeded swiftly.

Transfer to the Reichswehrgruppenkommando 4

But it was decisive that on 10 May the Bavarian government issued an executive order to the law on the formation of a provisional Reichswehr on 6 March. Thus, it not only recognized the military sovereignty of the Reich, but also accepted the incorporation of the Bavarian units in the framework prescribed by Berlin: The Bavarian High Command was on May 11, 1919 in one of the four group commands of the Reichswehr, the "Reichswehrgruppenkommando 4", umformiert.

literature

  • The suppression of council rule in Bavaria in 1919, edited and published by the Kriegsgeschichtliche Forschungsanstalt of the Army (depictions from the post-war battles of German troops and Free Corps 4), Berlin 1939.
  • Kai Uwe Tapken, The Reichswehr in Bavaria from 1919 to 1924 (Studies on Contemporary History 26), Hamburg 2002.

Further search

Related articles

High Command, Bavarian, High Command Möhl

Recommended citation

Achim Fuchs, Bavarian Army Command, published on 11.05.2006; in: Historical Dictionary of Bavaria, URL: (14.11.2019)

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