ABSTRACT
Ebert's unwillingness to sanction far-reaching revolutionary changes and his desire to prepare for elections had led him to rely on the old German army to keep order. Its officers complied, thereby saving their own skins and strengthening their foothold in the new Republic by helping Ebert to crush his political enemies on the extreme left [Doc. 18a]. That this process was not easy to reverse was confirmed by the law of March 1919 on the provisional Reichswehr (as the new German army was called). Although this specifically referred to the army being formed on a 'democratic basis', it was difficult to see how this could be realised, in so far as the law in effect sanctioned the status quo by permitting the recently formed Freikorps to form the basis of the Reichswehr, under the control of the old officers [225]. Essentially anti-Republican forces thus formed the core of the new army. Its structure was further determined by the military provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, which eventually became law in Germany once the treaty was accepted. According to the treaty, the army was to be composed of seven infantry and three cavalry divisions under no more than two army corps headquarters. The army was not to exceed 100,000 men, serving for twelve years, although up to 4,000 officers were permitted to enlist for twenty-five years. No more than 5 per cent of the effective forces were to be replaced each year. The army was to possess no offensive weapons, no aeroplanes, no tanks, and other arms allowed to Germany were listed in detail. The celebrated Great General Staff was to be abolished, as were the military academies and cadet schools. All measures of mobilisation or preparation for mobilisation were forbidden, as was the manufacture or import of poison gas and other war materials. Any weapons surplus to those permitted by the Allies had to be handed over in due course. Similar detailed provisions were made for the German navy, including the express forbidding of submarine manufacture [223; 225].
