![]() | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations .(January 2013) |
Marshal of the German Democratic Republic Marschall der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik | |
---|---|
![]() Technician suit insignia | |
![]() Shoulder board | |
Country | ![]() |
Service branch | ![]() |
Abbreviation | Marschall der DDR |
Formation | 25 March 1982 |
Abolished | November 1989 |
Next lower rank | Army General |
Marshal of the German Democratic Republic (German : Marschall der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik), was the highest rank in the National People's Army of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was never held and was abolished in 1989.
The rank of Marschall der DDR was established on 25 March 1982 by decree of the Staatsrat der DDR (State Council of the GDR), but never bestowed. The Staatsrat could promote a general to this rank for exceptional military achievement. The rank was an imitation of the supreme Soviet rank, that of Marshal of the Soviet Union.
Some believe that this rank would only have been granted in wartime and was created as a result of changes in Warsaw Pact military planning. During wartime, a Marschall der DDR was to command an operational army group that included all East German forces including Police and Stasi troops. Prior to this change all East German forces were under the direct control of the Soviet military command.
In November 1989, the acting Minister for National Defense, Admiral Theodor Hoffmann, abolished this rank.
Several designs were considered for the Marshal shoulder board. The final design was a shoulder board 118 mm long and 48 mm wide consisting of interlaced gold and silver cord backed by a red cloth material on which was placed a five-pointed, gilded star with a red ruby in the center. According to Klaus Wather's Uniformeffekten der bewaffneten Organe der DDR Band II, 12 pairs of these shoulder boards were made.[ citation needed ]
Drawings were also made of a Soviet-style "Marshal's star" to be worn on a red neck ribbon but this item was never produced.
Also planned were Marshal rank insignia for the new field uniform. This consisted of a 90 x 60 mm rectangular badge of stone-grey cloth for mounting on the upper uniform sleeve. On this badge was woven a large five-pointed gold colored star with a red center over a 20 mm long horizontal gold bar. For the cap there was an oval badge 50 × 30 mm with the same design as the sleeve insignia.
The National People's Army were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990.
Vizeadmiral is a senior naval flag officer rank in several German-speaking countries, equivalent to Vice admiral.
The Combat Groups of the Working Class was a paramilitary organization in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1953 to 1989.
Listed in the table below are the insignia—emblems of authority—of the British Army. Badges for field officers were first introduced in 1810 and the insignia was moved to the epaulettes in 1880. On ceremonial or parade uniforms these ranks continue to be worn on the epaulettes, either as cloth slides or as metal clips, although on the modern 'working dress' they are usually worn as a cloth slide on the chest. Although these insignia apply across the British Army there is variation in the precise design and colours used and it can take some time to become familiar with them all.
Generalmajor is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries.
Generalleutnant is the Germanic variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries.
Army general, was the highest peacetime general officer rank in the so-called armed organs of the GDR, that is, the Ministry of National Defence, the Stasi, and the Ministry of the Interior. It is comparable to the four-star rank in many NATO armed forces. It was aligned with Soviet military doctrine and other armed forces of the Warsaw Pact.
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has not always used ranks or insignia. In common with the practice of the Red Army at the time of its founding in 1927, neither were used until 1955 when a system of ranks was established. As a result of the Cultural Revolution, ranks were abolished in May 1965. After the Sino-Vietnamese War of 1979, reforms in the PLA began to be made to professionalize the armed forces once more. The 1984 Military Service Law provided for the resumption of rank, but disagreements on what ranks were to be used and who would receive them caused the revival of rank to be delayed until 1988. The following ranks and their respective insignia shown are those used by the People's Liberation Army Ground Force.
General is the highest rank of the German Army and German Air Force. As a four-star rank it is the equivalent to the rank of admiral in the German Navy.
These are the official Royal Navy Officer ranks ordered by rank. These ranks are part of the NATO/United Kingdom ranks, including modern and past. Past insignia is in italic.
United States Army commissioned officers rank insignia in use today.
In the German military, Waffenfarbe is a visual method that the armed forces use to distinguish between different corps or troop functions in its armed services. The Waffenfarbe itself can take the form of the color of the collar patch, of the piping (embellishment) around the shoulder boards or shoulder marks, or—for enlisted ranks—of the piping around the collar and the garrison cap (Schiffchen).
The Royal Air Force uniform is the standardised military dress worn by members of the Royal Air Force. The predominant colours of Royal Air Force uniforms are blue-grey and Wedgwood blue. Many Commonwealth air forces' uniforms are also based on the RAF pattern, but with nationality shoulder flashes. The Royal Air Force Air Cadets wear similar uniforms.
The Heer as the German army and part of the Wehrmacht inherited its uniforms and rank structure from the Reichsheer of the Weimar Republic (1921–1935). There were few alterations and adjustments made as the army grew from a limited peacetime defense force of 100,000 men to a war-fighting force of several million men.
The rank insignia of the federal armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany indicate rank and branch of service in the German Army, German Air Force, or the German Navy.
The Kriegsmarine was the navy of Nazi Germany prior to and during World War II. Kriegsmarine uniform design followed that of the preexisting Reichsmarine, itself based on that of the First World War Kaiserliche Marine. Kriegsmarine styles of uniform and insignia had many features in common with those of other European navies, all derived from the British Royal Navy of the 19th century, such as officers' frock coats, sleeve braid, and the "sailor suit" uniform for enlisted personnel and petty officers.
The Ranks and insignia of the Imperial Russian Armed Forces were the military ranks used by the Imperial Russian Army and the Imperial Russian Navy. Many of the ranks were derived from the German model. The ranks were abolished following the Russian Revolution, with the Red Army adopting an entirely different system.
In the period from 1918 to 1935 of the young Soviet Union any "bourgeois" military ideas were put under general suspicion by the communists, the new political establishment. Among others, the old Russian tradition of wearing epaulets and shoulder straps as rank insignia was rigorously abolished and was replaced with a new tradition of rank designations and insignia for the new Red Army and the nascent Soviet Navy.
Individual rank insignia to the (Army) ground forces and (Navy) naval forces (1935–1940) were established by orders 2590 and 2591, effective from September 22, 1935.
Between 1943 and 1955, the ranks and insignia of the Soviet Armed Forces were characterised by a number of changes, including the reintroduction of rank insignia badges and the adoption of a number of higher ranks.