Seewehr, literally Sea Defence was the maritime counterpart of the German Landwehr army reserve during the time of the Norddeutscher Bund and of the German Empire. [1]
While the comparatively few infantrymen of the small Marinecorps (Seebataillon) were professional soldiers, the Imperial German Navy relied on conscripts. Sailors of the Imperial German Navy served three years in active duty. Afterwards they were for two years part of the "Reserve", where they had to take part in exercises and parades. Having finished the regular time in his reserve-unit, the soldier became part of the Landwehr and after becoming 40 years old, he would be part of the Landsturm, literally land storm until the age of 45. While sailors until 40 years of age became part of the Seewehr, there was no separately named institution like Seesturm for older soldiers, due to linguistic reasons.
One of the predecessors, the Prussian Seewehr, was created as a volunteer naval militia during the Franco-Prussian War by Eduard Vogel von Falckenstein. [2] The Seewehr was abolished together with the Landwehr after World War I was lost and the Treaty of Versailles demanded a reduction of military forces in Germany.
Landwehr, or Landeswehr, is a German language term used in referring to certain national armies, or militias found in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. In different context it refers to large-scale, low-strength fortifications. In German, the word means "defence of the country"; but the term as applied to an insurrectional militia is very ancient, and lantveri are mentioned in Baluzii Capitularia, as quoted in Hallam's Middle Ages, i. 262, 10th edition.
The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army, the Imperial Austrian Landwehr, and the Royal Hungarian Honvéd.
In German-speaking countries, the term Landsturm was historically used to refer to militia or military units composed of troops of inferior quality. It is particularly associated with Prussia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Sweden and the Netherlands.
The Royal Prussian Army served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.
The Imperial German Army was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. The term Deutsches Heer is also used for the modern German Army, the land component of the Bundeswehr. The German Army was formed after the unification of Germany under Prussian leadership in 1871 and dissolved in 1919, after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I.
The 14th Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed in November 1816 in Trier as a troop brigade and became the 14th Division on September 5, 1818, also relocating its headquarters to Düsseldorf. The division was subordinated in peacetime to the VII Army Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was recruited in the Prussian Province of Westphalia and the Rhine Province, primarily in the densely populated Lower Rhine region.
The 2nd Landwehr Division was an infantry division of the Imperial German Army during World War I. It was formed on the mobilization of the German Army in August 1914 under the "Higher Landwehr Commander 2". The Landwehr was the third category of the German Army, after the regular Army and the reserves. Thus Landwehr divisions were made up of older soldiers, who had passed from the reserves and were intended primarily for occupation and security duties rather than heavy combat. However, the circumstances of war often changed this.
The 5th Ersatz Division was a unit of the German Army, in World War I. The division was formed in June 1915 as a temporary division known as the Division Basedow, named after its commander, Heino von Basedow. It was formed from two previously independent Brigades: 37th Mixed Landwehr and 2nd Reserve Ersatz. The division was converted into the 5th Ersatz Division in June 1916. The 5th Ersatz Division was disbanded in 1919, during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.
The 35th Reserve Division was a unit of the Imperial German Army in World War I. The division was formed on the mobilization of the German Army in August 1914. The division was disbanded during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division began the war as part of the central reserve of Fortress Thorn. Although designated a reserve division, initially, it was primarily composed of Landwehr units. In 1916, it was completely reorganized, receiving new brigade headquarters and newly formed regiments.
The 3rd Landwehr Division was an infantry division of the Imperial German Army during World War I. It was formed on the mobilization of the German Army in August 1914 under the "Higher Landwehr Commander 3". The Landwehr was the third category of the German Army, after the regular Army and the reserves. Thus Landwehr divisions were made up of older soldiers who had passed from the reserves, and were intended primarily for occupation and security duties rather than heavy combat. While the division was a Landwehr formation, at the beginning of the war it also had an attached Ersatz infantry brigade, made up of cadres from various regimental replacement battalions. The division was primarily raised in the Prussian provinces of Posen, Lower Silesia, and West Prussia. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.
The 4th Landwehr Division was an infantry division of the Imperial German Army during World War I. It was formed on mobilization of the German Army in August 1914 under the "Higher Landwehr Commander 4". The Landwehr was the third category of the German Army, after the regular Army and the reserves. Thus Landwehr divisions were made up of older soldiers who had passed from the reserves, and were intended primarily for occupation and security duties rather than heavy combat. The division was primarily raised in the Prussian provinces of Upper and Lower Silesia. It was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.
The 1st Bavarian Landwehr Division was a unit of the Bavarian Army, part of the Imperial German Army, in World War I. The division was formed on August 21, 1914, as the "Reinforced Bavarian Landwehr Division" and was also known initially as the Wening Division, named after its commander, Otto Wening. It became the 1st Bavarian Landwehr Division in September 1914. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.
Eduard Ernst Friedrich Hannibal Vogel von Fal(c)kenstein was a Prussian General der Infanterie.
Maximilian Eduard August Hannibal Kunz Sigismund Vogel von Fal(c)kenstein was a Prussian General der Infanterie and politician.
The Royal Prussian Army was the principal armed force of the Kingdom of Prussia during its participation in the Napoleonic Wars.
The Bavarian Army was the army of the Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom (1806–1919) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereignty (Wehrhoheit) of Bavaria into that of the German State in 1919. The Bavarian Army was never comparable to the armies of the Great Powers of the 19th century, but it did provide the Wittelsbach dynasty with sufficient scope of action, in the context of effective alliance politics, to transform Bavaria from a territorially-disjointed small state to the second-largest state of the German Empire after Prussia.
The Landwehr Corps was a corps level command of the German Army in World War I.
The Guards Rifles Battalion was an infantry unit of the Prussian Army. Together with the Guards Ranger Battalion it formed the light infantry within the 3rd Guards Infantry Brigade in the 2nd Guards Division of the Guards Corps. The battalion consisted of four companies.
The Common Army as it was officially designated by the Imperial and Royal Military Administration, was the largest part of the Austro-Hungarian land forces from 1867 to 1914, the other two elements being the Imperial-Royal Landwehr and the Royal Hungarian Landwehr. However, it was simply known as the Army (Heer) by the Emperor and in peacetime laws, and, after 1918, colloquially called the k.u.k. Armee.
The Imperial-Royal Landwehr, also called the Austrian Landwehr, was the territorial army of the Cisleithanian or Austrian half of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1869 to 1918. Its counterpart was the Royal Hungarian Landwehr. The two Landwehrs, together with the Common Army and the Imperial and Royal Navy, made up the armed forces of Austria-Hungary.