What happened to the German army?

Can anyone tell me what happened to the German army after WWII? I am under the impression that the German Army was completely disbanded after WWI...and the Allies decided not to make the same mistake after WWII. Was the army kept just as some sort of police force?

SW seems wrong in both counts.

Despite a republican revolution, there was in 1918-19 an internationally recognized government of Germany, whose representatives signed the Versailles Treaty, which limited the German military in various ways (e.g. no submarines, no aircraft, maximum 100,000 in the army etc.) But there was still a German state and a German army after Versailles.

WW2 was different because the Allies demanded in 1942 and got in 1945 'unconditional surrender.' This meant that the German state (Nazified Third Reich) was totally at the mercy of the Allies. These could and did order the dissolution of any institution (e.g. Gestapo, army, navy, law courts) and order the continuation or reform of any other (e.g. public schools, railways, power stations.)

So far as the organized national army was concerned:

1. The German republic maintained a small national army after 1918 and continuously up to the end of WW2.

2. There was no German national army from 1945 until (after) the establishment in 1949 of two rival German states, East and West Germany (DDR and BRD.) Then there were two such national armies, not amalgamated until the two states were amalgamated in the 1990s.

3. Internal order and international defence of Germany were 1945-1949 exclusively in the hands of the four Occupying powers (thus not necessarily uniformly....)

I believe the German (and Japanese) armies were for self defense only. Until a couple of years ago, they weren't allowed to station troops in any other country. This was changed, because they were able to use the ruling to avoid sending troops with the UN, thereby avoiding their UN commitments. I'm not sure about the size and breakdown of the armies

Subject: Re: What happened to the German army?

Organization: Club of Anchor Friends X-Newsreader: WinVN 0.90.4

The German army was put into POW camps. (Some of these POWs were called DEF by the USA and SEP by the UK.) The men were held for varying lengths of time. They were used as slave labor, in the west until 1948 and in the USSR to about 1953.

In contrast, the Japanese army were told to go home. The soldiers were not put into POW camps.

Of course, there were exceptions for troops overseas. In both Europe and Asia captured armies were kept under arms and ready to fight, with new leaders giving the orders.

GFH

******************************************************* ******** http://www.ankerstein.org/ The Anchor Stone Building Set (Anker-Steinbaukasten) Home Page See what makes me tick. ******************************************************* ********

Donald Phillipson schrieb:

Though the Bundesrepublik Deutschland and the Deutsche Demokratische Republik , BRD and DDR had been founded in 1948 and 1949 there did not exist any military structure in both sides. As a result of the Cold War the Allies wanted Germany to rearm and so a heavy discussion in Germany followed , if to do so. At the end in 1957 the Bundeswehr has been founded and started slowly to increase. As an answer also the other side builded its Nationale Volksarmee. Parallel Germany became member of the NATO.

Clemens Pongratz

(Pongratz Clemens) says:

It is true that Patton did not want to take DEF. He viewed capturing POWs as a sport; thus over when the war ended. It is also true that Patton released many who were DEF. He also allowed certain local customs to continue. For these actions he was relieved of command by Eisenhower. According to one of Eisenhower's aides, he had never heard Eisenhower more angry than he was when bawling out Patton. It seems that Patton was not enthusiastic about the Eisenhower policy.

The treatment that you note was the exception, not the rule. OK, Patton let go about 500,000 DEF, so you can cite quite a number of anecdotal experiences. But what of the other 90% of the American held POWs, and the (roughly) equivalent number held by the other western Allies?

GFH

******************************************************* ******** http://www.ankerstein.org/ The Anchor Stone Building Set (Anker-Steinbaukasten) Home Page See what makes me tick. ******************************************************* ********