This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
The Replacement Army (German : Ersatzheer) was part of the Imperial German Army during World War I and part of the Wehrmacht during World War II. It was based within Germany proper and included command and administrative units as well as training and guard troops. Its primary role was to provide replacements for the combat divisions of the regular army. [1]
It was formed in the various German military districts ( Wehrkreise ) and was tasked with the conscription, recruitment, training and replacement of personnel, testing of new military equipment, and administration such as responsibility for soldiers on home leave. [2]
The Ersatzheer contingency plans for Operation Valkyrie were deliberately misused as part of the unsuccessful 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, arrest SS troops, and stage a military coup d'etat through the organization driven by the newly appointed Chief of Staff, Claus von Stauffenberg, in early 1944. Its commander, Generaloberst Friedrich Fromm, had enough power to control the German state because his position controlled the army's procurement and production and the command of all army troops in Germany. [3] Fromm had refused to cooperate in an earlier coup, Operation Spark, but the planners in 1944 still planned to use the Replacement Army. Heinrich Himmler personally took over control of the Replacement Army because of its potential to be used in another assassination attempt. [4]
No. | Portrait | Commander | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | General der Infanterie zur Verwendung Joachim von Stülpnagel (1880–1968) | 26 August 1939 | 31 August 1939 | 5 days | German Army | |
2 | Generaloberst Friedrich Fromm (1888–1945) | 1 September 1939 | 20 July 1944 | 4 years, 323 days | German Army | |
3 | Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler (1900–1945) | 21 July 1944 | 29 April 1945 | 282 days | Schutzstaffel |
No. | Portrait | Chief of Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Obergruppenführer Hans Jüttner (1894–1965) | SS- 21 July 1944 | 29 April 1945 | 282 days | Schutzstaffel |
The Oberkommando des Heeres was the high command of the Army of Nazi Germany. It was founded in 1935 as part of Adolf Hitler's rearmament of Germany. OKH was de facto the most important unit within the German war planning until the defeat at Moscow in December 1941.
Claus von Stauffenberg was a German army officer who is best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair.
The 20 July plot was a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the chancellor and leader of Nazi Germany, and overthrow the Nazi regime on 20 July 1944. The plotters were part of the German resistance, mainly composed of Wehrmacht officers. The leader of the conspiracy, Claus von Stauffenberg, tried to kill Hitler by detonating an explosive hidden in a briefcase. However, due to the location of the bomb at the time of detonation, the blast only dealt Hitler minor injuries. The planners' subsequent coup attempt also failed and resulted in a purge of the Wehrmacht.
Maxwell Davenport Taylor was a senior United States Army officer and diplomat of the mid-20th century. He served with distinction in World War II, most notably as commander of the 101st Airborne Division, nicknamed "The Screaming Eagles."
The German General Staff, originally the Prussian General Staff and officially the Great General Staff, was a full-time body at the head of the Prussian Army and later, the German Army, responsible for the continuous study of all aspects of war, and for drawing up and reviewing plans for mobilization or campaign. It existed unofficially from 1806, and was formally established by law in 1814, the first general staff in existence. It was distinguished by the formal selection of its officers by intelligence and proven merit rather than patronage or wealth, and by the exhaustive and rigorously structured training which its staff officers undertook.
Ferdinand Schörner was a German military commander who held the rank of Generalfeldmarschall in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He commanded several army groups and was the last Commander-in-chief of the German Army.
Operation Valkyrie was a German World War II emergency continuity-of-government operations plan issued to the Territorial Reserve Army of Germany to implement in the event of a general breakdown in national civil order due to Allied bombing of German cities, or an uprising of the millions of foreign forced labourers working in German factories.
Georg Otto Hermann Balck was a highly decorated officer of the German Army who served in both World War I and World War II, rising to the rank of General der Panzertruppe.
Gotthard Fedor August Heinrici was a German general during World War II. Heinrici is considered to have been the premier defensive expert of the Wehrmacht. His final command was Army Group Vistula, formed from the remnants of Army Group A and Army Group Center to defend Berlin from the Soviet armies advancing from the Vistula River.
Hans-Valentin Hube was a German general during World War II who commanded armoured forces in the invasions of Poland, France and the Soviet Union. In the course of the war, Hube led the 16th Infantry Division, XIV Panzer Corps, and the 1st Panzer Army rising to the rank of Generaloberst. He died in an air crash on 21 April 1944.
Friedrich Wilhelm Waldemar Fromm was a German Army officer. In World War II, Fromm was Commander in Chief of the Replacement Army (Ersatzheer), in charge of training and personnel replacement for combat divisions of the German Army, a position he occupied for most of the war. He was executed for failing to act against the plot of 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
Friedrich Olbricht was a German general during World War II. He is known for being one of the plotters involved in the 20 July Plot, an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944.
The Bendlerblock is a building complex in the Tiergarten district of Berlin, Germany, located on Stauffenbergstraße. Erected in 1914 as headquarters of several Imperial German Navy offices, it served the Ministry of the Reichswehr after World War I. Significantly enlarged under Nazi rule, it was used by several departments of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) from 1938, especially the Oberkommando des Heeres and the Abwehr intelligence agency.
Pyotr Kirillovich Koshevoy was a Soviet military commander and a Marshal of the Soviet Union.
Artur Gustav Martin Phleps was an Austro-Hungarian, Romanian and Nazi German army officer who held the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS in the Waffen-SS during World War II. An Austro-Hungarian Army officer before and during World War I, Phleps specialised in mountain warfare and logistics, and had been promoted to Oberstleutnant by the end of the war. During the interwar period he joined the Romanian Army, reaching the rank of General de divizie, and also became an adviser to King Carol. After he spoke out against the government, he was sidelined and asked to be dismissed from the army.
The Upper Rhine High Command, known for three days as Army Group Upper Rhine, was a short-lived headquarters unit of the German Armed Forces (Wehrmacht) created on the Western Front during World War II. The Upper Rhine High Command was formed on 26 November 1944 and deactivated on 25 January 1945. The sole commander of this headquarters unit was Heinrich Himmler.
Maximilian Fretter-Pico was a German general during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany.
The 154th Infantry Division, also known as Commander of the Replacement Troops IV, Division No. 154, 154th Reserve Division, 154th Division and 154th Field Training Division was an infantry division of the German Heer during World War II.
The 159th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the German Heer during World War II. The unit, at times designated Commander of Reserve Troops IX, 159th Division, Division No. 159, and 159th Reserve Division, was active between 1939 and 1945.
The 180th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the German Heer during World War II. The unit, at times designated Commander of Reserve Troops X/II, 180th Division, Division No. 180, and Operation Division No. 180, was active between 1939 and 1945.