General (Germany)
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- Please see "General" for other countries which use this rank
Early history
The German rank of General most likely saw its first use with the religious orders of the Holy Roman Empire, albeit in modified forms and usage from the current understanding of General. By the 16th century, with the rise of standing armies, the German states had begun to appoint Generals from the nobility to lead armies in battle. The earliest German General ranks were in all likelihood modifications of ranks used by the British Army. This accounts for the extreme similarity between the English and German versions of the word “General”.By the 17th and 18th century, the rank of General was present in all the militaries of the German states and saw its greatest usage by the militaries of Bavaria and Prussia. It was these two militaries that created the concept of the “General Staff”, which was often manned entirely by members of the German nobility. Thus, in this stage of the German rank of General, a standard developed that to be a German General implied membership in the noble class as a Count, Duke, or Baron (this also accounts for most German Generals of this era having the prefix “von” before their names).
The 19th century saw the German rank of General present in the Napoleonic Wars and the standard uniforms and insignia, used for over a century, also developed during this period. The ranks of German Generals were established in five grades, denoted by the rank of General followed by a suffix denoting the seniority level of General. Thus, by 1850, the German General ranks has been established as the following:
- Generalmajor (Major General)
- Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General)
- General (General)
- Generaloberst (Colonel General)
- Generalfeldmarschall (Generalfieldmarshal)
A special grade, known as Generaloberst mit dem Rang eines Generalfeldmarshall was first used in Bavaria to denote Colonel Generals who were given the authority of Field Marshals. It was also during this period that the insignia of German Generals was established to be a heavy golden shoulder board with up to four pips denoting seniority as a General. The rank of Generalfeldmarschall displayed a crossed set of Marshal batons on the shoulder board. German generals also began wearing heavy golden oak leaves on their collars, in contrast to the colored collar bars worn by the rest of the German military forces.
The First World War saw German Generals gaining the first world wide recognition with such figures as Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff becoming Generals during the First World War. The insignia for General remained relatively unchanged from the 19th century and the rank was also common in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The rank of General saw its widest usage in German history during the Second World War. Due to the massive expansion of the German military, a new “wave” of Generals was promoted in the 1930s which would lead Germany into the war. A standard practice also developed to denote the particular corps that a General served in, leading to such titles as General der Infantrie. Special ranks for staff officers, such as the Chief Veterinarian of the Wehrmacht, were also created separate from the rank of General but carrying the same level of power.
With the formation of the Luftwaffe, Air Force Generals began to use the same General ranks formerly used the German Army. In 1941, the Waffen-SS began using General ranks in addition to SS ranks. Such a Waffen-SS title would be SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS. The Ordnungspolizei also used similar police ranks.
Modern usage
After World War II, the militaries of East and West Germany began forming and, by 1948, the German rank of General was back in both countries, modified to the three grades of Generalmajor, Generalleutnant, and General. The West German forces introduced the rank of Brigadegeneral in 1950 and the East German military maintained a rank known as Armeegeneral to replace the former rank of Field Marshal.Upon the Reunification of Germany, the combined military of Germany adapted a four rank General office system to mirror other nations in NATO. The current grades of both the German Army and Air Force are as follows:
- Brigadegeneral (Brigadier General)
- Generalmajor (Major General)
- Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General)
- General (General)
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