Military district (Germany)
1939-1945 regional command within the German Replacement Army
The military districts, also known in some English-language publications by their German name as Wehrkreise (singular: Wehrkreis), were administrative territorial units in Nazi Germany before and during World War II. The task of military districts was the organization and the handling of reinforcements and resupplies for local military units. The Replacement Army (Ersatzheer) managed the districts. Responsibilities such as training, conscription, supply, and equipment were (at least partially) entrusted to the Ersatzheer.
History
On 30 September 1919, much of the Imperial German Army was dissolved. The Reichswehr (of the Weimar Republic) took its place, and four commands of the type Reichswehrgruppenkommando were created, as well as seven Wehrkreiskommando commands, each assigned to one of the seven initial Wehrkreise of the Weimar Republic (numbered I through VII). The Reichswehrgruppenkommandos (which combined under them several military units across Wehrkreis lines) were soon reduced in number from four to two.
Each of the Wehrkreise were tasked to deploy one division by 1 October 1920 (resulting in the 1st through 7th Divisions of the Reichswehr, with the divisional ordinal number matching the cardinal number of the respective Wehrkreis). These seven (infantry) divisions were additionally joined by three cavalry divisions.
In peacetime, the 13 Wehrkreise were the home to the army corps of the same number and all subordinate units of that formation. The corps commander also commanded the Wehrkreis.
“Military district (Germany)” enters the record as 1939-1945 regional command within the German Replacement Army. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Military, district and Germany can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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