ABSTRACT
At the conclusion of The Great War, the German Army was in disarray and reduced
to a fraction of its former strength through the Versailles treaty restrictions imposed
by the victorious allies in 1919. Germany was permitted only a 100,000 man army
and only a 4,000 man officer corps, greatly reducing manpower and eliminating
its ability to defend the country’s borders. The restrictions also forbade possession
of heavy artillery, poison gas, any form of air power, and heavy armor, as well as
the industries to make them. The General Staff system was abolished, although
it was deftly reconstituted in a reorganized entity named the Truppenamt which
retained the same spirit, status, and many of the functions as the old General Staff,
as which it was often referred during the Versailles period. Furthermore, the German
economy was in ruins, insuring that besides the treaty restrictions the Army would
have minimal funding. To insure that the Allies’ goal of handicapping Germany’s
military potential succeeded, the Inter-Allied Control Commission was established
to monitor the German military’s compliance with the treaty restrictions.
