When Germany’s armed forces were disbanded in 1945, the nation itself had ceased to exist as a sovereign state. The country was divided into four Allied occupation zones, and its central government was dissolved entirely.
Germany was eventually split into two separate states. The British, American, and French zones became the Federal Republic of Germany, or West Germany, in 1949. The Soviet zone became the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany, a one-party communist satellite state.
Both new nations moved cautiously toward reacquiring military forces. The idea of West Germany having an army was deeply controversial so soon after the horrors of World War II. France, in particular, strongly objected to a fresh German standing army on its border after being invaded by Germany in 1870, 1914, and 1940.
However, France was the junior Allied power. The majority of occupation forces were provided by the United States and Britain. As the Cold War took hold, occupation shifted to protection, and the Western Allies formed NATO to defend against a potential Soviet invasion of Western Europe.
It was felt to be both reasonable and sensible for West Germany to rearm. The goal was to allow the new nation to help defend itself and Europe from the threat Stalin potentially posed to peace.
The first serious military-style force in West Germany was the Bundesgrenzschutz, or Federal Border Service, established in 1951. It was a paramilitary police force that grew to a strength of 16,500 men by 1956. It was equipped for light combat with armored cars, anti-tank weapons, and infantry weapons.
Its uniform echoed the World War II era, even using the M1935-style steel helmet. The unmistakable wartime silhouette was used so Soviet troops on the border would not mistake the border guards for U.S. or British troops. The fear was an accidental exchange of fire during extremely tense border relations.
But with an authorized strength of only 20,000 men, the border service was no army. The next stage came in 1955 when the necessary laws were passed by the West German parliament. With the blessing of the Allied powers, the Bundeswehr came into existence ten years after the disbandment of the wartime Wehrmacht.
The tricky part was deciding what kind of armed force it should be. Nearly everything associated with Hitler’s Wehrmacht was rejected. The Bundeswehr does not follow the traditions of any previous German army, including the Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic or the old Imperial German Army.
Instead, it cherry-picked certain elements from the past. Some famous German military figures are lauded, principally Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Clausewitz. The army officers who attempted to assassinate Hitler, principally Henning von Tresckow and Count von Stauffenberg, are held up as exemplars for the new army.
The core idea of the Bundeswehr was that it would be an armed force of citizen defenders of a democratic state, subordinated to the elected German government. The new soldiers were told they would have many difficulties overcoming both the shadows of the past and the problems of the future.
West Germany faced one large and obvious problem in creating the Bundeswehr: who was to lead it. The new force needed experienced military officers of general rank. The West German government and people would not accept foreign leaders, as the organization was meant to be an equal defense partner to Britain, America, and other NATO countries.
The leaders had to be Germans. That left only one possible source: former Wehrmacht generals who had served Hitler and the Nazis in a war of European conquest. This was exactly the image and associations the West Germans were so keen to avoid.
A careful vetting process produced a handful of former generals who appeared to have relatively clean records regarding war crimes accusations or close association with the Hitler government. They were duly appointed to the new army.
The first Inspector General of the Bundeswehr was an experienced World War II general named Hans Speidel. During the war, Speidel had been chief of staff to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and was an active plotter against Hitler. He was awarded the Knight’s Cross for gallantry.
Speidel was arrested following the July 1944 bomb plot against Hitler and held by the Gestapo. His boss, Rommel, was forced to commit suicide to avoid public disgrace and reprisals against his family. Speidel managed to survive the war and was liberated by French troops.
Speidel became the first four-star general in the Bundeswehr and ensured the smooth integration of the new force into NATO. In 1957, he became Supreme Commander of Allied NATO ground forces in Central Europe, headquartered in Paris. It was the first time since World War II that a German general had commanded a force outside Germany. Speidel died in 1984 at age 87.
The post of Inspector General was next filled in 1957 by General Adolf Heusinger, formerly chief of the Army General Staff under Hitler. Heusinger had actually been present at the Wolf’s Lair on July 20, 1944, when Colonel von Stauffenberg’s briefcase bomb exploded beneath the briefing table.
Heusinger, standing next to Hitler at the time, was injured. He later received the extremely rare July 20, 1944 Wound Badge, a special honor bestowed by Hitler on those officers present when the bomb detonated. Only 24 were issued, and Heusinger received the silver grade.
Heusinger was later arrested by the Gestapo and questioned, as there was circumstantial evidence that he knew some of the conspirators. No evidence directly implicated him in the plot, and he was released in October 1944. He did not actively involve himself in the plot, feeling it was his obligation to fulfill his duty as a soldier to the Reich.
In 1950, Heusinger became military advisor to Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, the first leader of West Germany. He served as Inspector General until 1961, then was appointed chairman of the NATO Military Committee in Washington, D.C., until his retirement in 1964.
His record may not have been as clean as it appeared at the time. The Soviet Union wanted him on war crimes charges throughout the 1960s for German army actions in the Soviet Union, though he was never arrested or indicted. Heusinger died in 1982 at age 85.
His place as Inspector General was taken by another World War II general, Friedrich Foertsch, appointed in 1961. Foertsch was another Knight’s Cross holder and had ended the war as a Generalmajor and chief of staff of Army Group Courland on the Eastern Front.
At the German surrender, Foertsch was taken prisoner by the Soviets and placed on trial for war crimes committed by forces under his authority. These included the destruction of the Soviet cities of Novgorod and Leningrad, as well as works of art. In 1950, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison but was released in 1955 and allowed to go to West Germany.
Foertsch served as a divisional commander in the Bundeswehr before succeeding Heusinger as its leader. He retired in 1963 and died in 1976 at age 76.
Foertsch’s successor was the last World War II German general to command the Bundeswehr and, incidentally, the last World War II German general to die. Heinz Trettner had been a Luftwaffe paratrooper, later commanding the 4th Parachute Division at war’s end. He was a holder of the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves for gallantry.
Trettner served mainly on the Italian front after the invasion of Crete. His division was implicated in at least one massacre of civilians at Veneto in late April 1945. He headed the Bundeswehr from 1964 to 1966, resigning early after clashing with civilian ministers. Trettner died in 2006, one day before his 99th birthday.
The heads of the army, air force, and navy were also initially World War II generals. The first Inspector of the Army was Hans Röttiger, a panzer general and former chief of staff to Field Marshal Albert Kesselring in Army Group C. He commanded the new West German army from 1957 to 1960 and died in office in 1960, the day before his 64th birthday.
Heading the new German air force, still called the Luftwaffe, was one of the most famous World War II generals under Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring: Josef Kammhuber. His name is forever associated with the Kammhuber Line, a night fighter defense system designed to protect Germany from the massive nighttime bombing campaign by RAF Bomber Command.
The line was built up of radars, night fighters, and flak batteries. Though Kammhuber received the Knight’s Cross, he fell out of favor in 1943 and took a command in Norway until returning to night fighters in 1945. After being released by the Allies, he spent some time in Argentina training Juan Perón’s air force before rejoining the Luftwaffe, which he commanded from 1956 to 1962. He died in 1986 at age 89.
Finally, the head of the West German navy, the Bundesmarine, was a distinguished World War II Kriegsmarine admiral named Friedrich Ruge. Another Knight’s Cross holder, he served through the Polish and French campaigns before being appointed Field Marshal Rommel’s naval advisor in France in late 1943. Later, he became director of ship construction in Germany.
Ruge basically created the Bundesmarine. After retirement, he became a university professor. He died in 1985 at age 90.
Many subordinate officers in the Bundeswehr were also former World War II veterans, and some rose to become generals and admirals in the new forces. One point of interest is that all of the men mentioned had received many decorations and medals for their wartime service.
In 1957, West Germany permitted the introduction of denazified versions of these medals. Servicemen and veterans could wear their World War II medals on uniforms or civilian clothing. The medal designs remained the same, but all swastikas were removed. Nazi political awards were, of course, still forbidden.
The communist East German army was also initially commanded by World War II German generals, but that is a story for another time.