Themilitary districts, also known in some English-language publications by their German name asWehrkreise (singular:Wehrkreis),[1]: 27–40 were administrative territorial units inNazi Germany before and duringWorld War II. The task of military districts was the organization and the handling of reinforcements and resupplies for local military units. TheReplacement Army (Ersatzheer) managed the districts. Responsibilities such as training,conscription, supply, and equipment were (at least partially) entrusted to theErsatzheer.[2]: B2
On 30 September 1919, much of theImperial German Army was dissolved. TheReichswehr (of theWeimar Republic) took its place, and four commands of the typeReichswehrgruppenkommando were created, as well as sevenWehrkreiskommando commands, each assigned to one of the seven initial Wehrkreise of the Weimar Republic (numbered I through VII).[3]: 145 TheReichswehrgruppenkommandos (which combined under them several military units acrossWehrkreis lines) were soon reduced in number from four to two.[3]: 147
Each of theWehrkreise 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 respectiveWehrkreis). These seven (infantry) divisions were additionally joined by three cavalry divisions.[3]: 148
In peacetime, the 13Wehrkreise were the home to the army corps of the same number and all subordinate units of that formation. The corps commander also commanded theWehrkreis. Command of theWehrkreis passed to the corps second-in-command at the outbreak of war.
At the start of the war, there were fifteen Districts in Germany. Two Austrian Districts had been added after theAnschluss of 1938. During the war, four were added, and some Districts had territory added to them from other countries conquered by Germany.
Wehrkreis I was headquartered atKönigsberg and contained the territory of the German exclave ofEast Prussia, making it also a coastal state on theBaltic Sea coast.[4]: 2 Wehrkreis I was the home district of theI Army Corps, which was formed in October 1934 from the1st Division of theReichswehr.[5]: 14 Wehrkreis I was expanded to include theMemel Territory after theGerman ultimatum to Lithuania (accepted by Lithuania on 23 March 1939);[1]: 32 theWehrkreis was later given additional territory in the form of theBialystok District and theSudauen region.
Wehrkreis II was headquartered atStettin and included the territories of the historic provinces ofMecklenburg andPomerania, which also gaveWehrkreis II the largest share of the GermanBaltic Sea coast.[4]: 59 Wehrkreis II was the home district of theII Army Corps, which was formed in October 1934 from the2nd Division of theReichswehr.[5]: 95
Wehrkreis III was headquartered atBerlin and contained roughly the territories of the modern-day German state ofBrandenburg and the historic province ofNeumark.[4]: 113 Wehrkreis III was the home district ofIII Army Corps (after June 1942: III Panzer Corps), which was formed in October 1934 from the3rd Division of theReichswehr.[5]: 160f.
Wehrkreis IV was headquartered atDresden and contained the territories of the modern-day German state ofSaxony as well as some southern parts of modern-daySaxony-Anhalt.[4]: 187 Wehrkreis IV was the home district ofIV Army Corps, which was formed in October 1934 from the4th Division of theReichswehr.[5]: 231 It was later expanded through the addition of parts of northern Bohemia after theMunich Agreement of 1938.[1]: 32
Wehrkreis V was headquartered atStuttgart, containing roughly the historic provinces ofBaden,Württemberg, andHohenzollern-Sigmaringen (about equivalent to the modern-day German state ofBaden-Württemberg).[4]: 243 Wehrkreis V was the home district ofV Army Corps, which was formed in October 1934 from the5th Division of theReichswehr.[5]: 231 After theGerman victory over France (1940), it was extended to include parts of Alsace.[1]: 32
Wehrkreis VI was headquartered atMünster and contained the historic province ofWestphalia, much of theLower Rhine, and parts of modern-dayLower Saxony.[4]: 291 Wehrkreis VI was the home district ofVI Army Corps, which was formed in October 1934 from the6th Division of theReichswehr.[6]: 9f. After theGerman occupation of Belgium (1940), parts of eastern Belgium were added toWehrkreis VI.[1]: 32
Wehrkreis VII was headquartered atMunich and contained the south of the modern-day German state ofBavaria.[7]: 2 Wehrkreis VII was the home district ofVII Army Corps, which was formed in October 1934 from the7th Division of theReichswehr.[6]: 53
Wehrkreis VIII was headquartered atBreslau and contained the territory of the historic province ofSilesia.[7]: 51 Wehrkreis VIII was the home district ofVIII Army Corps, which was formed in October 1934, initially disguised as "Heeresdienststelle Breslau". The corps was then given its proper designation as VIII Army Corps in 1935.[6]: 91f. After theMunich Agreement (1938), parts of northernMoravia were added to the district. After theGerman invasion of Poland (1939), the territory was further extended to include parts ofEast Upper Silesia.[1]: 32
Wehrkreis IX was headquartered atKassel and contained territories in central Germany, including parts of modern-dayHesse andThuringia.[7]: 126 Wehrkreis IX was the home district of theIX Army Corps, which was formed in October 1934, initially disguised as "Heeresdienststelle Kassel". The corps was then given its proper designation as IX Army Corps in 1935.[6]: 128f.
Wehrkreis X was headquartered atHamburg. It contained the territories of modern-daySchleswig-Holstein and most of the north of modern-dayLower Saxony, placingWehrkreis X exclusively in charge of the GermanNorth Sea coast, as well as parts of the Baltic Sea coast.[7]: 179 Wehrkreis X was the home district of theX Army Corps, which was formed on 15 October 1935 from the Cavalry Corps.[6]: 163
Wehrkreis XI was headquartered atHanover. It contained territories in northern-central Germany, including large parts of what in the modern day is southeasternLower Saxony and northernSaxony-Anhalt.[7]: 234 Wehrkreis XI was the home district of theXI Army Corps, which was formed on 1 October 1936 with headquarters at Hanover.[6]: 194f.
Wehrkreis XII was headquartered atWiesbaden. Its territory was roughly equivalent to the modern-day German states ofRhineland-Palatinate andSaarland, with the addition of a small part of northern Baden (aroundHeidelberg).[7]: 276 Wehrkreis XII was the home district of theXII Army Corps, which was formed on 1 October 1936 with headquarters at Wiesbaden.[6]: 230f. After theGerman victory over France (1940),Wehrkreis XII was expanded through the addition of parts of Lorraine (such as the Nancy area).[1]: 32
Wehrkreis XIII was headquartered atNuremberg. It contained the territories of the historic provinces ofFranconia andUpper Palatinate in what is today the northern half of modern-dayBavaria.[7]: 319 Wehrkreis XIII was the home district ofXIII Army Corps, which was formed on 1 October 1937 with headquarters at Nuremberg.[6]: 260 The district was expanded after theMunich Agreement (1938) to include parts of western Bohemia.[1]: 32
Wehrkreis XVII was headquartered atVienna. It contained the northeastern third ofAustria, added to the German Reich after the 1938Anschluss.[8]: 2 Wehrkreis XVII was the home district ofXVII Army Corps, which was formed on 1 April 1938 with headquarters at Vienna.[9]: 54f. The district was expanded after theMunich Agreement (1938) to include parts of southern Bohemia.[1]: 32
Wehrkreis XVIII was headquartered atSalzburg. It contained the southwestern and southeastern thirds ofAustria, added to the German Reich after the 1938Anschluss.Wehrkreis XVIII was the home district ofXVIII Army Corps (after 1940: XVIII Mountain Corps), which was formed on 1 April 1938 with headquarters in Salzburg.[9]: 40
Wehrkreis XX was headquartered atDanzig. It contained the historic province ofWest Prussia, occupied by Germany in the 1939Invasion of Poland.[8]: 63
Wehrkreis XXI was headquartered atPosen. It contained the territories of the historicregion by the same name, occupied by Germany in the 1939Invasion of Poland.[8]: 89
TheProtectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was also aWehrkreis,[8]: 114 with respective institutions being created in late 1942.[1]: 32
TheGeneral Government was also aWehrkreis,[8]: 143 with respective institutions being created in 1943.[1]: 32
Several cardinal numbers were not assigned to a particularWehrkreis and skipped in the numbering. These were 14 (XIV), 15 (XV), 16 (XVI) and 19 (XIX). As theWehrkreis system was initially tightly bound to the army corps (with each of the thirteen original districts as well as the two Austrian districts being assigned an army corps of the matching ordinal number with its headquarters in thatWehrkreis), these numbers were skipped as they were taken up by the motorized corps (XIV Army Corps,XV Army Corps,XVI Army Corps,XIX Army Corps). The four corps were not inherently bound to one particular military district (but naturally ended up with some connections to their respective peacetime headquarters regardless).
The concept ofWehrkreise were adopted inIndonesian military in 1948, duringIndonesian National Revolution.[10] The background of such formations were caused by theOperation Product that mounted by theDutch East Indies, which causedRenville Agreement.[10] The agreement forced Indonesian military commanders such asSudirman,T. B. Simatupang, andAbdul Haris Nasution to abandon the traditionallinear defense formation of their army; this was formalized in a "strategy command order" issued by Sudirman that same year, which formally adopted theWehrkreis system, since they viewed the German military district system enabled theDefence in depth in response to the Dutch positional advantages in artificial line that covered in that agreement.[10] General Simatupang noted that he use the term ofWehrkreise from a german book.[11] The establishment of this doctrine resulted in the formation of fiveWehrkreise districts inWest Java.[12]
HistorianRobert Elson rationalize that this strategy enabled the Indonesian army to conduct guerilla warfare in following conflict with Dutch army duringOperation Kraai.[13] General Nasution viewed the Wehrkreise system were important for each Indonesian army districts to mount resistance independently.[14][15] Barry Turner has noted the similarities of IndonesianWehrkreise implemented by Nasution with the Germans in aspect of dividing of tier forces between the mobile force units and the partisan elements.[11] He also noted the similarities of NasutionWehrkreise with theterritorial warfare conducted by Josip Broz Tito.[11] This system also served as basis for Indonesian armyMilitary Regional Command or KODAM.[14]
Suharto, the second and longest serving president Indonesian republic, once serving as brigade commander under jurisdiction ofYogyakarta Wehrkreise III district during theGeneral Offensive of 1 March 1949.[16]
..perang jangka panjang dijabarkan dalam organisasi dan sistem Wehrkreise.. In Indonesian