Chapter 1901： The future of the German army

That’s right, it’s the colonial gains. The Eastern Front was almost created by the Bavarian Army and the Austro-Hungarian Army. Prussia can be divided into a large part. In the same way, although the Western Front is mainly resisted by Prussian and other federal members’ armies, The Bavarian Army has also participated in large-scale offensives, and various support has never been interrupted. At least for now, there are more than 500 Vespa assault guns in the Western Front! The Bavarian Air Force threw more than 2,000 aircraft on the Western Front! This loss is more than the other fronts combined, so Bavaria also has the right to take a share of the future African colony!

Of course, as for the specific division, it will be known after the war is over. After all, it is not even clear how many African colonies can be obtained after the war. How many colonies can be obtained depends entirely on how badly the Royal Navy can be beaten this time. After this point, the Kaiser and the parliament can only pin their hopes on Crown Prince Ruprecht and the High Seas Fleet.

That’s great. After discussing how to end this war, now everyone will discuss the last question of this meeting, which is how the army will deal with it after the war is over!

Whether it is politically or in terms of adapting to the needs of future wars, Germany's military system needs to be changed. In terms of army composition, before the First World War, Germany's main military forces were two, one was the Prussian Army and the other was the Bavarian Army. The former occupies an overwhelming advantage, accounting for about 70% of Germany's total military power in peacetime! And Bavaria probably accounts for less than 20%. The rest are other states.

According to this ratio, in peacetime, the Prussian army can take on the main tasks. The Bavarian Army is just an auxiliary. As for other states, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is soy sauce. But things were different after the war. Because, the originally powerful Prussia was destined to be divided into two parts, and according to the basic law of Germany: the army belongs to the state. The original Prussian army was destined to be divided into two. But the Kingdom of Bavaria used the opportunity of World War I to emerge suddenly! And in this way, no state will have an absolute advantage in military power!

The basis of military power is national power and population. According to this principle, the three states within the future imperial army, Bavaria, Federal Prussia, and the Kingdom of Prussia, are three countries with roughly the same size and power. And the power of these three companies accounted for almost 80% of the empire, so theoretically, the number of troops owned by each of these three companies should account for about 30% of the empire!

That’s great. It’s okay for countries to raise their own armies, but how do they bear the responsibility for national defense? How to deal with the management of the army? You know, there is actually no national command system within Germany. Prussia and Bavaria have their own general staff in peacetime. It's just that Prussia is very strong, so during the war, the Prussian General Staff directly became the Imperial General Staff, but now? The three companies are almost the same, and each has its own general staff in peacetime. What about the command system of the imperial team in wartime? Is it just like the one played in the parliament, directly holding an election? What do you want?

There is also the usual national defense obligations of the imperial squad. What about the border troops? What about the colonial garrison? Who is responsible for naval construction? Do you want the air force? how to do? This is all a problem! It turned out that there was an extremely powerful Prussia to bear most of the responsibilities, but now? Take the three together? How to coordinate the relationship? These are headaches, to some extent even more headaches than winning a war.

"On the issue of the future military structure, I think it is necessary to establish an army at the level of the imperial government that is independent of and subordinate to the imperial government. This army will undertake tasks that other states cannot undertake, such as Responding to emergencies and suppressing colonial rebellions, the empire now owns more than 4 million square kilometers of land in Africa. In the future, this area is likely to more than double. It is unlikely that countries will deploy large numbers of troops in distant Africa. Then it is necessary to deploy some military police forces in peacetime and mobilize a mobile force to launch operations when there is a disturbance."

"Moreover, politically speaking, we belong to an empire after all, united under one banner, but if the empire does not have an army under a unified command, we are more like a confederacy than a unified country." Albert Said.

"Then how is this empire's army formed? Where does the military expenditure come from? How is the command structure established? To whom?" Grand Duke Baden asked.

"Military expenditures are naturally provided by the central government. The imperial squad is subordinate to the prime minister and cabinet. The command system of the imperial squad is the Ministry of National Defense. The Minister of Defense is held by civilians, nominated by the prime minister, and accountable to the prime minister." Albert said.

"Isn't this what the British do?" Grand Duke Baden sneered. "And the British and French who implemented this set were beaten by us. What kind of military does a civilian know? Look at the navy under Churchill Hehe, I don’t know what the ancestors of the British navy see Today, the record of the British Royal Navy will not jump out of the grave angrily!" Grand Duke Baden mocked mercilessly.

"But soldiers have proven to be unreliable. If they want to influence politics with a sword in their hands, the consequences must be very serious." Barthes said.

"But if a civilian who doesn't understand anything is assigned to the post of Minister of Defense, can he do it well? In everything, efficiency is the priority. Those who can serve as Minister of Defense must understand the military!" Grand Duke Baden said.

"Doesn't that allow soldiers to take charge of the army?" Barthes said. "We are back to square one."

"Different soldiers are different. Some soldiers don't care about politics. If such a person is appointed as the Minister of Defense, then the problem of military involvement in politics can be solved. And some people? He has both soldiers and politicians. Dual status, but because of his detached status and fair dealings, he can also serve as the Minister of Defense, but people who have never held a gun cannot serve as Minister of Defense!" Grand Duke Baden said meaningfully.

Soldiers and soldiers are not the same. A soldier like Crook is unacceptable to the Grand Duke of Baden and Albert, because Crook is a soldier. But it’s okay for Grand Duchess like Ruprecht or Albrecht to intervene in politics, because soldiers are just a badge of their status, and they are essentially politicians. In politics, they will consider it from a political perspective, not a military one. Think about the problem in your head!

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