The Black Reichswehr (German: Schwarze Reichswehr) was the unofficial name for the extra-legal paramilitary formation that was secretly a part of the German military (Reichswehr) during the early years of the Weimar Republic. It was formed in 1921 after the government banned the Freikorps that it had relied on until then to supplement the Reichswehr. General Hans von Seeckt thought that the Reichswehr no longer had enough men available to guard the country's borders, but the army could not be expanded because of the manpower restrictions imposed on it by the Treaty of Versailles. In order to circumvent the limitation, Seeckt created the Black Reichswehr as purportedly civilian "labour battalions" (Arbeitskommandos) attached to regular Reichswehr units. The Arbeitskommandos received military training, provisioning and orders from the Reichswehr, although ultimately they were never involved in military action. The Black Reichswehr reached a peak membership estimated at 50,000 to 80,000 in 1923 and was dissolved the same year after a group of its members launched the failed Küstrin Putsch. Its existence became widely known in 1925 when its practice of Fememord, the extra-judicial killing of "traitors" among its ranks, was revealed to the public.
^Hamilton, Richard F. (2014). Who Voted for Hitler?. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 342. ISBN 978-1400855346.
The BlackReichswehr (German: Schwarze Reichswehr) was the unofficial name for the extra-legal paramilitary formation that was secretly a part of the...
such means as the BlackReichswehr, the illegal paramilitary groups it sponsored in contravention of the Versailles Treaty. The Reichswehr saw itself as a...
player in the Reichswehr's efforts to avoid the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles, Schleicher rose to power as head of the Reichswehr's Armed Forces...
monarchists, communists, and Nazis; for years, he has been investigating the BlackReichswehr (seasons 1–2) Leonie Benesch as Greta Overbeck, a down-on-her-luck...
the BlackReichswehr. It consisted of "labour battalions" (Arbeitskommandos), purportedly made up of civilian volunteers attached to Reichswehr units...
of Versailles which limited the size of German's armed forces – a BlackReichswehr was established with a permanent base of 2,000 men and an additional...
officer and Nazi Party official perhaps best known as a leader of the BlackReichswehr in the 1920s. Schulz entered non-commissioned officers' school in Potsdam...
Gebhard Ludwig Himmler (29 July 1898 – 22 June 1982) was a German Nazi functionary, mechanical engineer and older brother of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler...
Freikorps, which was banned in 1921. In the same year, the Reichswehr set up the BlackReichswehr, a secret reserve of trained soldiers networked within its...
the BlackReichswehr, the Sturmabteilung Roßbach, the Bavarian Citizens' Defense and their successor organizations. Within the BlackReichswehr, First...
trying a member of the BlackReichswehr for murder, Seeckt admitted that the BlackReichswehr was controlled by the Reichswehr, and argued that the murders...
the Ruhr uprising. In 1921 the Reichswehr organized the BlackReichswehr, a secret reserve networked within the Reichswehr and organised as labour battalions...
Walter Franz Maria Stennes (12 April 1895 – 19 May 1983) was a leader of the Sturmabteilung (SA, stormtroopers, or "brownshirts") of the Nazi Party in...
paramilitary Freikorps unit. Hierl played a role in organizing the BlackReichswehr paramilitary forces in the early years of the Weimar Republic. He was...
secretly trained by the Reichswehr in order to exceed the limits on troop strength set by the Treaty of Versailles. The BlackReichswehr took its orders from...
to Poland. Under an assumed name, Pannwitz became a leader in the BlackReichswehr in 1923 where he was involved in a number of Feme murders. In the aftermath...
government in 1922. Schwarze Reichswehr — BlackReichswehr. Extra-legal paramilitary formations promoted by the German Reichswehr to circumvent manpower restrictions...
Mare Island Naval Shipyard in San Francisco, "likely" responsible for the Black Tom explosion in Jersey City, New Jersey, and are suspected of other explosions...
Bolko von Richthofen (September 13, 1899 – March 18, 1983) was a German archaeologist and a distant relative of the family of Manfred von Richthofen, the...
Friedrich "Fritz" Warnecke (25 November 1898 – 4 May 1968) was a German general (Generalmajor) in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was a recipient...
Johannes Eberhard Franz Bernhardt (1 January 1897 – 13 November 1980) was a Spanish-German businessman and SS member. He played an important role during...
had two sons. After his studies, Halem initially joined far-right BlackReichswehr paramilitary troops and became involved in Adolf Hitler's Beer Hall...
Gustav Hermann Sorge (24 April 1911 – 3 October 1978), nicknamed "Der eiserne Gustav" ("Iron Gustav") for his brutality, was an SS senior NCO (Hauptscharführer)...
Party (DNVP). In 1921, the Freikorps were banned, and the Reichswehr set up the BlackReichswehr, a secret reserve of trained soldiers networked within its...
active in right-wing radical groups. He was a "lieutenant" in the BlackReichswehr, an illegal paramilitary gang. He was a member of the Stahlhelm and...
Party; became a major embarrassment for Hitler. BlackReichswehr — another name for the Freikorps system 'black' soldiers — the ex-soldiers involved in Freikorps...
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Weimar Republic