The German General Staff or Großer Generalstab was the most important German "weapon" for nearly two centuries.

History

Prussia was first among nations to create a separate standing unit dedicated entirely to the rational planning of all aspects of War. It was the work of the Prussian General staff which was one of the main factors responsible for the unification of all the independent German states and the creation of a German Empire under Prussian control in 1870. The Prussian General staff was also responsible for the defeat of the French army in that same year, to the surprise of so many military professionals around the world. With unification it became the German General Staff and began planning for the upcoming war with France.

When imperial Germany was defeated in 1918, the articles of peace specifically forbade the creation or recreation of the General Staff. Despite this, the German officer corps carefully set about planning the next war in a camouflaged general staff hidden within the Truppenamt ("troop office"), an innocuous looking human ressources bureau within the small army permitted by the peace accord and the Treaty of Versailles in particular.

When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933 all he had to do was to follow the Truppenamt-General Staff plan to build up the German war machine. However, the General Staff advised Hitler that the German army would be fully modernised and ready in 1944-45 only. As a result most artillery pieces were still horse drawn at the outbreak of war in 1939. Also, for all the duration German industry could not furnish small arms in sufficient quantities, forcing the Army to rely heavily on older weapons, prizes of war, and adaptations of former designs produced in conquered countries, thus producing an arsenal filled with a stunning array of incompatible pieces, unlike the shorter number of standard small arms used by the allies.

Chiefs of the Prussian General Staff (1808 - 1871)

• Gerhard von Scharnhorst 1 March 1808 - 17 June 1810
• Karl von Hake 17 June 1810 - March 1812
• Gustav von Rauch March 1812 - March 1813
• Gerhard von Scharnhorst March 1813 - 28 June 1813
• August von Gneisenau 28 June 1813 - 3 June 1814
• Karl von Grolman 3 June 1814 - November 1819
• Johann Rühle von Lilienstern November 1819 - 11 January 1821
• Karl von Müffling 11 January 1821 - 29 January 1829
• Wilhelm von Krauseneck 29 January 1829 - 13 May 1848
• Karl von Reyher 13 May 1848 - 7 October 1857
• Helmuth von Moltke (the elder) 7 October 1857 - 10 August 1888

Chiefs of the German General Staff (1871 - 1919)

• Helmuth von Moltke (the elder) 7 October 1857 - 10 August 1888
• Count Alfred von Waldersee 10 August 1888 - 7 February 1891
• Count Alfred von Schlieffen 7 February 1891 - 1 January 1906
• Helmuth von Moltke (the younger) 1 January 1906 - 14 September 1914
• Erich von Falkenhayn 14 September 1914 - 29 August 1916
• Paul von Hindenburg 29 August 1916 - 3 July 1919
• Wilhelm Groener 3 July 1919 - 7 July 1919
• Hans von Seeckt 7 July 1919 - 15 July 1919

Chiefs of Troop Office (1919 - 1933)

• Hans von Seeckt 11 October 1919 - 26 March 1920
• Wilhelm Heye 26 March 1920 - February 1923
• Otto Hasse February 1923 - October 1925
• Wilhelm Wetzell October 1925 - 27 January 1927
• Werner von Blomberg 27 January 1927 - 30 September 1929
• Baron Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord 30 September 1929 - 31 October 1930
• Wilhelm Adam 31 October 1930 - 30 September 1933

Chiefs of the General Staff (1933 - 1945)

• Ludwig Beck 1 October 1933 - 31 October 1938

With the creation of the Wehrmacht in 1936, it became Generalstabs des Heeres (Army General Staff).

Readings

• Addington, Larry H. The blitzkrieg era and the German General Staff, 1865-1941. New Brunswick, N.J., Rutgers University Press, 1971.
• Goerlitz, Walter. History of the German General Staff, 1657-1945. New York, Praeger, 1959.

See also

• Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
• Glossary of WWII German military terms