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Military district (Germany)

The military districts, also known in some English-language publications by their German name as Wehrkreise, were administrative territorial units in Nazi Germany before and during World War II. The task of military districts was the organization and the handling of reinforcements and resupplies for local military units. The Replacement Army (Ersatzheer) managed the districts. Responsibilities such as training, conscription, supply, and equipment were entrusted to the Ersatzheer.

History
On 30 September 1919, much of the Imperial German Army was dissolved. The Reichswehr (of the Weimar Republic) took its place, and four commands of the type Reichswehrgruppenkommando were created, as well as seven Wehrkreiskommando commands, each assigned to one of the seven initial Wehrkreise of the Weimar Republic (numbered I through VII). The Reichswehrgruppenkommandos (which combined under them several military units across Wehrkreis lines) were soon reduced in number from four to two. Each of the Wehrkreise were tasked to deploy one division by 1 October 1920 (resulting in the 1st through 7th Divisions of the Reichswehr, with the divisional ordinal number matching the cardinal number of the respective Wehrkreis). These seven (infantry) divisions were additionally joined by three cavalry divisions. In peacetime, the 13 Wehrkreise were the home to the army corps of the same number and all subordinate units of that formation. The corps commander also commanded the Wehrkreis. Command of the Wehrkreis passed to the corps second-in-command at the outbreak of war. At the start of the war, there were fifteen Districts in Germany. Two Austrian Districts had been added after the Anschluss of 1938. During the war, four were added, and some Districts had territory added to them from other countries conquered by Germany. == List of military districts ==
List of military districts
Wehrkreis I Wehrkreis I was headquartered at Königsberg and contained the territory of the German exclave of East Prussia, making it also a coastal state on the Baltic Sea coast. Wehrkreis I was the home district of the I Army Corps, which was formed in October 1934 from the 1st Division of the Reichswehr. Wehrkreis I was expanded to include the Memel Territory after the German ultimatum to Lithuania (accepted by Lithuania on 23 March 1939); After the German occupation of Belgium (1940), parts of eastern Belgium were added to Wehrkreis VI. Wehrkreis VII was the home district of VII Army Corps, which was formed in October 1934 from the 7th Division of the Reichswehr. Wehrkreis XVII was the home district of XVII Army Corps, which was formed on 1 April 1938 with headquarters at Vienna. The district was expanded after the Munich Agreement (1938) to include parts of southern Bohemia. Wehrkreis XVIII Wehrkreis XVIII was headquartered at Salzburg. It contained the southwestern and southeastern thirds of Austria, added to the German Reich after the 1938 Anschluss. Wehrkreis XVIII was the home district of XVIII Army Corps (after 1940: XVIII Mountain Corps), which was formed on 1 April 1938 with headquarters in Salzburg. Wehrkreis XX Wehrkreis XX was headquartered at Danzig. It contained the historic province of West Prussia, occupied by Germany in the 1939 Invasion of Poland. Wehrkreis XXI Wehrkreis XXI was headquartered at Posen. It contained the territories of the historic region by the same name, occupied by Germany in the 1939 Invasion of Poland. Protectorate Bohemia-Moravia The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was also a Wehrkreis, with respective institutions being created in late 1942. Generalgouvernement The General Government was also a Wehrkreis, with respective institutions being created in 1943. == Gaps in numbering ==
Gaps in numbering
Several cardinal numbers were not assigned to a particular Wehrkreis and skipped in the numbering. These were 14 (XIV), 15 (XV), 16 (XVI) and 19 (XIX). As the Wehrkreis system was initially tightly bound to the army corps (with each of the thirteen original districts as well as the two Austrian districts being assigned an army corps of the matching ordinal number with its headquarters in that Wehrkreis), these numbers were skipped as they were taken up by the motorized corps (XIV Army Corps, XV Army Corps, XVI Army Corps, XIX Army Corps). The four corps were not inherently bound to one particular military district (but naturally ended up with some connections to their respective peacetime headquarters regardless). == Usage outside Germany ==
Usage outside Germany
The concept of Wehrkreise were adopted in Indonesian military in 1948, during Indonesian National Revolution. The background of such formations were caused by the Operation Product that mounted by the Dutch East Indies, which caused Renville Agreement. Historian Robert Elson rationalize that this strategy enabled the Indonesian army to conduct guerilla warfare in following conflict with Dutch army during Operation Kraai. General Nasution viewed the Wehrkreise system were important for each Indonesian army districts to mount resistance independently. Barry Turner has noted the similarities of Indonesian Wehrkreise implemented by Nasution with the Germans in aspect of dividing of tier forces between the mobile force units and the partisan elements. This system also served as basis for Indonesian army Military Regional Command or KODAM. == See also ==
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