Replacement Army
{{Short description|Former part of the German Army}}
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The Replacement Army ({{Langx|de|Ersatzheer}}) was part of the Imperial German Army during World War I and part of the Wehrmacht during World War II. It was based within Germany proper and included command and administrative units as well as training and guard troops. Its primary role was to provide replacements for the combat divisions of the regular army.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rCWMBQAAQBAJ&dq=role+of+the+army+Ersatzheer&pg=PA517|title=Germany at War: 400 Years of Military History [4 volumes]: 400 Years of Military History|last=Ph.D|first=David T. Zabecki|date=2014-10-28|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781598849813|language=en}}
Third Reich
It was formed in the various German military districts (Wehrkreise) and was tasked with the conscription, recruitment, training and replacement of personnel, testing of new military equipment, and administration such as responsibility for soldiers on home leave.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xV7kE1vainsC&dq=army+Ersatzheer&pg=PA224|title=Beyond the Beachhead: The 29th Infantry Division in Normandy|last=Balkoski|first=Joseph|date=2005|publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=9780811732376|language=en}}
The Ersatzheer contingency plans for Operation Valkyrie were deliberately misused as part of the unsuccessful 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, arrest SS troops, and stage a military coup d'etat through the organization driven by the newly appointed Chief of Staff, Claus von Stauffenberg, in early 1944. Its commander, Generaloberst Friedrich Fromm, had enough power to control the German state because his position controlled the army's procurement and production and the command of all army troops in Germany.{{cite book |last1=Ziemke |first1= Earl F. |last2=Bauer |first2= Magna E. |year=1985 |isbn=9780160019425 |title=Moscow To Stalingrad: Decision In The East |publisher=U.S. Army Center of Military History |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-EF-Decision/index.html }} Fromm had refused to cooperate in an earlier coup, Operation Spark, but the planners in 1944 still planned to use the Replacement Army. Heinrich Himmler personally took over control of the Replacement Army because of its potential to be used in another assassination attempt.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_BvDCwAAQBAJ&dq=role+of+the+army+Ersatzheer&pg=PA10|title=US Infantryman vs German Infantryman: European Theater of Operations 1944|last=Zaloga|first=Steven J.|date=2016-01-20|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=9781472801388|language=en}}
=Leadership=
;Commanders
{{Officeholder table start
| showorder = y
| showimage = y
| image_title = Portrait
| officeholder_title = Commander
| showtermlenght = y
| showparty = n
| showdefencebranch = y
}}
{{Officeholder table
| order = 1
| image =
| military_rank = General der Infanterie zur Verwendung
| officeholder = {{Interlanguage link|Joachim von Stülpnagel|de}}
| officeholder_sort = Stülpnagel, Joachim
| officeholder_note =
| born_year = 1880
| died_year = 1968
| term_start = 26 August 1939
| term_end = 31 August 1939
| timeinoffice = {{age in years and days|1939|08|26|1939|08|31}}
| defence_branch = {{army|Nazi Germany}}
}}
{{Officeholder table
| order = 2
| image = Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1969-168-07, Friedrich Fromm.jpg
| military_rank = Generaloberst
| officeholder = Friedrich Fromm
| officeholder_sort = Fromm, Friedrich
| officeholder_note =
| born_year = 1888
| died_year = 1945
| term_start = 1 September 1939
| term_end = 20 July 1944
| timeinoffice = {{age in years and days|1939|09|01|1944|07|20}}
| defence_branch = {{army|Nazi Germany}}
}}
{{Officeholder table
| order = 3
| image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-S72707, Heinrich Himmler.jpg
| military_rank = Reichsführer-SS
| officeholder = Heinrich Himmler
| officeholder_sort = Himmler, Heinrich
| officeholder_note =
| born_year = 1900
| died_year = 1945
| term_start = 21 July 1944
| term_end = 29 April 1945
| timeinoffice = {{age in years and days|1944|07|21|1945|04|29}}
| defence_branch = {{flag|Schutzstaffel}}
}}
{{Officeholder table end}}
;Chief of Staff
{{Officeholder table start
| showorder = y
| showimage = y
| image_title = Portrait
| officeholder_title = Chief of Staff
| showtermlenght = y
| showparty = n
| showdefencebranch = y
}}
{{Officeholder table
| order = 1
| image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-J28010, Hans Jüttner.jpg
| military_rank = SS-Obergruppenführer
| officeholder = Hans Jüttner
| officeholder_sort = Jüttner, Hans
| officeholder_note =
| born_year = 1894
| died_year = 1965
| term_start = 21 July 1944
| term_end = 29 April 1945
| timeinoffice = {{age in years and days|1944|07|21|1945|04|29}}
| defence_branch = {{flag|Schutzstaffel}}
}}
{{Officeholder table end}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Refbegin}}
- {{Cite book |year=2013 |title=German Replacement Army (Ersatzheer) April 1944, Part 1 |publisher=BiblioGov |isbn=978-1-288-58410-9}}
- {{Cite book |year=2013 |title=German Replacement Army (Ersatzheer) April 1944, Part 2 |publisher=BiblioGov |isbn=978-1-288-58417-8}}
{{Refend}}
External links
- {{cite web |work=Combined Arms Research Library |title=The German Replacement Army |url=http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/utils/getfile/collection/p4013coll8/id/2020/filename/2009.pdf |language=German |accessdate=5 February 2015 |archive-date=26 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200326174254/http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/utils/getfile/collection/p4013coll8/id/2020/filename/2009.pdf |url-status=dead }}
Category:Military units and formations of the Wehrmacht
Category:Military units and formations of Germany in World War I