German Enlistee Troops

[DixieDivision1418]

What units were German men usually assigned to on enlisting? Military service was not mandatory, but men were liable to serve, serving as either regulars or a few types of reservist as they grew older. 

[Guest]

Mate,

 

Sorry but do you mean those with a German name?

 

In Australia we like many former or present Commonwealth Countries had large groups of former Germans in there.

 

Those who after some checking by the Govt, could enlist where ever they wanted to, at lest in this country.

 

Thousands of Former Germans served in the Services, most served because they didn't want to be left out to show there louity to there new country.

 

The later commander of the AIF Corps in France was of German desent.

 

Cheers

 

S.B

[DixieDivision1418]

43 minutes ago, stevebecker said:

Mate,

 

Sorry but do you mean those with a German name?

 

In Australia we like many former or present Commonwealth Countries had large groups of former Germans in there.

 

Those who after some checking by the Govt, could enlist where ever they wanted to, at lest in this country.

 

Thousands of Former Germans served in the Services, most served because they didn't want to be left out to show there louity to there new country.

 

The later commander of the AIF Corps in France was of German desent.

 

Cheers

 

S.B

Thank you, I had intended it to mean men in the German Empire, but this is helpful as well.

[KizmeRD]

What do you mean by saying that military service was not mandatory? As far as I'm aware every able-bodied German male (with exception of certain members of the royal houses, or those convicted of serious offences) were required to serve a mnimum of two years active service followed by 5 years in the reserve, followed by another 5 years in Landswehr I, then further service in Landwehr II to the age of 39, and finally in the Landsturm to the age of 45. Slightly different rules applied to cavalry/mounted artillery. Recruitment was carried out at regimental level.

[AOK4]

3 hours ago, KizmeRD said:

What do you mean by saying that military service was not mandatory? As far as I'm aware every able-bodied German male (with exception of certain members of the royal houses, or those convicted of serious offences) were required to serve a mnimum of two years active service followed by 5 years in the reserve, followed by another 5 years in Landswehr I, then further service in Landwehr II to the age of 39, and finally in the Landsturm to the age of 45. Slightly different rules applied to cavalry/mounted artillery. Recruitment was carried out at regimental level.

 

In principle, yes. However, there was a legal limit to how much men could be serving during peace time, meaning that many men who were liable to service, didn't have to and were posted to the Ersatz Reserve.

[KizmeRD]

I think the main issue with regards to the engagement of all those liable for military service was more to do with not having enough money to maintain such an army. From what I know, only about 50 percent actually did their two years active service. All of them however were maintained on the military role, available for mobilization in the event of war.

 

DixieD - Have you read 'Imperial German Army 1914-18 organisation, structure, orders of battle' by Herman Cron? If not I recommend it to you.

Michael

Edited 16 January , 2020 by KizmeRD

[DixieDivision1418]

Thank you, I know very little about the structure of the armies. 

 

As an example, if I'm a German man living in Frankfurt an der Oder in 1914, are these the possibilities?

1) If I'm 20-22, I'm serving in a regular infantry unit (in 5th Infantry Division, in this case), presumably I'm already at the barracks and only have to be mobilized

2) If I'm 23-28, I'm called back to join my reserve unit (in 5th Reserve Division)

3) I enlist? In this case, what unit will I most likely be put in?

[KizmeRD]

DixieD. - Following the introduction of universal military service, a system of registration was set-up listing all able-bodied men. From January 1st of the calendar year in which a man turned 20 he became liable for call-up. The total number of military personnel required any one year was determined by the the army, so it could well be that there were more conscripts available than were actually required. In such cases, a lottery system was used to determine who ultimately got conscripted. Those not required for active army were nevertheless still assigned to the ersatz reserve. 

The competent military authority for young man living in Frankfurt a.O. prior to the Great War was (as you say) the 5th Division of the Prussian Army (which was subordinated to the III Army Corp.). Assuming your conscript was assigned to become an infantry man, it appears most likely that he would have been allocated to either the 8th Regiment of Grenadiers (9th Brigade) or the 12th Regiment of Grenadiers (10th Brigade) since both of these units were headquartered in Frankfurt a.O.

 

So...

(1) if he was already enlisted, he would not have been mobilised (as he was already serving in an active service unit).

(2) If he was in the reserves, he would have been mobilised immediately for war service with his unit.

(3) If he was not (yet) liable for compulsory military service (i.e. over 17 but not yet 20) he could freely choose which regiment he wanted to join, but he would first have had to undergo some sort of basic military training before being competent to be deployed. 

 

In August 1914 this system allowed rapid expansion of the German army, from a little over 700,000 to more than 3.8 million in just a couple of weeks.

 

 

[DixieDivision1418]

Was it common for officers to serve with units from their area or was it simply wherever there was opening?