Ministry of War of Württemberg

The Ministry of War of Württemberg (German: Württembergisches Kriegsministerium) was a ministry of the Kingdom of Württemberg, that existed from 1806 to 1919. It was located in Stuttgart at Olgastraße 13.

History

The predecessor of the Ministry of War, the Kriegsratskollegium, was established on 14 March 1705. Each of the four German kingdoms (Württemberg, Prussia, Saxony and Bavaria) continued, according to an 1870 military treaty, to have their own war ministries from the Unification of Germany until the adoption of the 1919 Weimar Constitution, that provided for a unified, federal ministry of defence.^[1]

Kingdom of Württemberg

Upon the establishment of the Kingdom of Württemberg, King Frederick I dissolved all councils and created a constitutional monarchy within the German Empire, with four votes in the Federal Council (German: Bundesrat) and 17 in the Imperial Diet (German: Reichstag). The kingdom possessed a bicameral legislature with the upper chamber, (German: Standesherren), being appointed by the King and the lower house, (German: Abgeordnetenhaus), electing its own chairman (after 1874).^[1]

The highest executive power rested in the hands of the Ministry of State (German: Staatsministerium), consisting of six ministers: Justice, Foreign Affairs (with the royal household, railways, posts and telegraphs), Interior, Public Worship and Education, War, and Finance. There was no official Prime Minister in Württemberg until 1876, when the Mittnacht Government was reconsolidated. The Ministers who emerged as speakers in the State Parliament were generally regarded by their contemporaries as primus inter pares of the Ministerial Council, and the respective governments were named after these Ministers.^[2]

The kingdom ended with the abdication of King William II in November 1918, but the political system experienced no further convulsions of a serious character, with a constitution that resembled those of the other German states.^[3]^[4]

Organization

As of 1806, the Ministry was organized with a President, Vice-President, six councils, two secretaries, two clerks and a registrar. The Department of War (German: Departement des Kriegswesens) was renamed War Department (German: Kriegsdepartement) in 1811 and was now subordinate to a "President" with a "Vice President". From 1822 the War Department was called the War Council (German: Kriegsrat) and was directly subordinate to the Minister of War. In 1829 the War Council was dissolved.^[1]

Leaders

Presidents of the Department of War/War Council

1806–1806: Ferdinand Friedrich von Nicolai
1806–1811: Duke William Frederick Philip of Württemberg
1811–1816: Friedrich von Phull^[5]
1817–1829: Ernst von Hügel

Minister of War

1806–1815: Duke William Frederick Philip of Württemberg
1816–1829: Frederic von Franquemont
1829–1842: Ernst von Hügel
1842–1848: Johann Georg von Sontheim
1848–1849: August von Rüpplin
1849–1850: Fidel von Baur-Breitenfeld
1850–1865: Moriz von Miller
1865–1866: Kuno von Wiederhold
1866–1867: Oskar von Hardegg
1867–1870: Rudolf von Wagner-Frommenhausen
1870–1874: Albert von Suckow
1874–1883: Theodor von Wundt
1883–1892: Gustav von Steinheil
1892–1901: Max Schott von Schottenstein
1901–1906: Albert von Schurlen
1906–1918: Otto von Marchtaler
1918–1918: vacant
1918–1918: Albert Schreiner
1918–1919: Ulrich Fischer
1919–1919: Immanuel Herrmann

Office

The office of the War Ministry was in Stuttgart at Olgastraße 13.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Ashton, Bodie A. (12 January 2017). The Kingdom of Württemberg and the Making of Germany, 1815-1871. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-350-00008-7. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
^ Mulligan, William (2005). The Creation of the Modern German Army: General Walther Reinhardt and the Weimar Republic, 1914-1930. Berghahn Books. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-57181-908-6. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
^ von Blume 1922, p. 1090.
^ Wiens, Gavin (28 March 2023). The Imperial German Army Between Kaiser and King: Monarchy, Nation-Building, and War, 1866-1918. Springer Nature. p. 278. ISBN 978-3-031-22863-6. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
^ Gill, John H. (28 March 2011). With Eagles to Glory: Napoleon and His German Allies in the 1809 Campaign. Frontline Books. p. 164. ISBN 978-1-84832-582-1. Retrieved 24 April 2023.

Sources

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Württemberg". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 856–859.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: von Blume, Wilhelm (1922). "Württemberg". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 32 (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company. pp. 1089–1090.

[Ashton2017-1] Ashton, Bodie A. (12 January 2017). The Kingdom of Württemberg and the Making of Germany, 1815-1871. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-350-00008-7. Retrieved 24 April 2023.

[Mulligan2005-2] Mulligan, William (2005). The Creation of the Modern German Army: General Walther Reinhardt and the Weimar Republic, 1914-1930. Berghahn Books. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-57181-908-6. Retrieved 24 April 2023.

[FOOTNOTEvon_Blume19221090-3] von Blume 1922, p. 1090.

[Wiens2023-4] Wiens, Gavin (28 March 2023). The Imperial German Army Between Kaiser and King: Monarchy, Nation-Building, and War, 1866-1918. Springer Nature. p. 278. ISBN 978-3-031-22863-6. Retrieved 24 April 2023.

[Gill2011-5] Gill, John H. (28 March 2011). With Eagles to Glory: Napoleon and His German Allies in the 1809 Campaign. Frontline Books. p. 164. ISBN 978-1-84832-582-1. Retrieved 24 April 2023.

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