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Reichswehreid

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The Reichswehreid and from August 1934 Führereid was the name for three different versions of the oath of allegiance of the German Armed Forces, called Reichswehr from 1919 to 1935, and then Wehrmacht until 1945.

Contents

1919–1933

The Original Reichswehreid came into effect on 14 August 1919, shortly after Reichspräsident Friedrich Ebert had signed the Weimar Constitution for the German Reich (the so-called Weimar Republic). The Treaty of Versailles limited the Reichswehr to a total of 100,000 men.

1933–1934

In January 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Reichskanzler and the Enabling Act and Gleichschaltung came in effect. As a result, a new wording was adopted on 1 December 1933:

It has to be noted that all references to the constitution and the office of Reichspräsident, then held by aging war hero Paul von Hindenburg, had already been removed. Instead, more emphasis was put on religion and patriotism.

1934–1945

In August 1934, after Hindenburg died, Hitler merged the offices of Reichsprasident and Reichskanzler, and declared himself Führer and Reichskanzler. War Minister Werner von Blomberg issued a new wording which became known as Führereid, the "Hitler oath":

Now Volk and Fatherland had been superseded by the person of Hitler himself, who would be Führer and supreme commander. In addition, the obedience was now to be unconditional.

In 1935, the Reichswehr was renamed Wehrmacht.

References

Reichswehreid Wikipedia