Idflieg

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The Idflieg (Inspektion der Fliegertruppen - "Inspectorate of Flying Troops") was the bureau of the German Empire that oversaw German military aviation prior to and during World War I.

German Empire empire in Central Europe between 1871–1918

The German Empire, also known as Imperial Germany, was the German nation state that existed from the unification of Germany in 1871 until the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918.

Germany Federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe

Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central and Western Europe, lying between the Baltic and North Seas to the north, and the Alps to the south. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, France to the southwest, and Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands to the west.

Military aviation use of aircraft by armed forces in combat or other military capacity

Military aviation is the use of military aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling aerial warfare, including national airlift capacity to provide logistical supply to forces stationed in a theater or along a front. Airpower includes the national means of conducting such warfare, including the intersection of transport and war craft. Military aircraft include bombers, fighters, transports, trainer aircraft, and reconnaissance aircraft.

Founded in 1911, the Idflieg was part of the Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches (Imperial German Flying Corps) which became the Luftstreitkräfte in 1916, handling administration, including regulation of service names applied to aircraft produced by domestic companies, characterised according to the armament, wing configuration, crew and role which was intended for the aircraft.

<i>Luftstreitkräfte</i> Air warfare branch of the German Empire

The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte —known before October 1916 as the Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches or simply Die Fliegertruppe—was the World War I (1914–18) air arm of the German Army, of which it remained an integral part. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, although that is not a literal translation of either name. German naval aviators serving with the Marine-Fliegerabteilung remained an integral part of the Imperial German Navy. Both military branches, the army and navy, operated conventional aircraft, observation balloons and Zeppelins.

Inspectors of Flying Troops

Lieutenant-General Friedrich Wilhelm Magnus Heinrich Walter von Eberhardt, generally known as Walter von Eberhardt, was a German military commander during World War I and the Lithuanian–Soviet War of 1918-19. He was the son of later Prussian Major general Heinrich von Eberhardt (1821–1899). His older brothers also made career in the Prussian army. Magnus (1855–1939) raised till General of Infantry, Gaspard von Eberhardt (1858–1928) to Lieutenant general. Notably, he was the first inspector of the flying troops (Idflieg) from 1913 to 1914. In 1930 Unserere Luftstreitkräfte 1914-1918 was published under the editorship of von Eberhardt.

Colonel Richard Roethe (1865–1944) was a German Army officer and an influential figure in German military aviation during World War I. In 1914 he succeeded Colonel Walter von Eberhardt as the Inspector of Flying Troops, remaining in that post until 1916.

Wilhelm Haehnelt was a Luftwaffe General der Flieger in World War II.

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