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Germany 1930s ▶ Early Wehrmacht Uniforms - Infanterie-Regiment 101 Recruits Infantry Training Infanterieausbildung
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Transition to the Wehrmacht: Reichswehr soldiers swear the Hitler oath in August 1934, with hands raised in the traditional schwurhand gesture. On 1 March 1935 the Luftwaffe was established. On 16 March 1935 Germany introduced conscription – in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. In the same act, the German government renamed the Reichswehr as the Wehrmacht (defence force). On 21 May 1935 the Reichsheer was renamed the Heer (Army) and the Reichsmarine the Kriegsmarine.
Infantry Regiment 101 was raised in Wehrkreis IV on October 15, 1935, when the units were decommissioned after the expansion of the Reichswehr. The regimental staff was established in Dresden, Wehrkreis IV, and stationed there for the time being. The I Battalion of the Regiment was raised by the I Battalion of Infantry Regiment 11 in Döbeln, also Wehrkreis IV. The II Battalion of the Regiment was raised by the Training Battalion of Infantry Regiment 31 in Freiberg, also Wehrkreis IV. The III Battalion of the regiment was raised by the Training Battalion of Infantry Regiment 11, also in Dresden, and was stationed there for the time being. The regiment was subordinated to the 4th Infantry Division with its formation. By 6 October 1936, the regimental staff and III Battalion had been transferred from the regiment to Leisnig, also Wehrkreis IV. At the same time, a Supplementary Battalion from Infantry Regiment 101 was also raised at Döbeln by redesignation from Supplementary Battalion 21. The II Battalion of the regiment was reorganized in the fall of 1938 as the I. Battalion of the Infantry Regiment 72. In exchange, a new II Battalion of the Regiment was raised in Oschatz, also in Wehrkreis IV, by surrendering Infantry Regiments 11 and 32. At the same time the Ergänzungs-Bataillon was renamed I. Ergänzungs-Bataillon of Infanterie-Regiment 101. Also at the beginning of November 1938, a II. Ergänzungs-Bataillon vom Infanterie-Regiment 101 was raised in Grimma, also Wehrkreis IV. The regiment was now subordinated to the 14th Infantry Division.
Reichswehr: During the Weimar Republic and the first years of the Third Reich from 1921 to 1935, the Reichswehr was the official name of the German armed forces, which were organized as a professional army at that time. After the German Army (Reichsheer) had been dissolved in January 1919 and was to be transformed into a peace army, the Reich government decided in March 1919 to form a provisional Reichswehr. Due to the conditions of the Versailles Treaty of 1919, the scope and armament of the Reichswehr were subject to severe restrictions. After the "regaining of military sovereignty" (reintroduction of compulsory military service, etc.) announced by Adolf Hitler in 1935, the Reichswehr was incorporated into the new Wehrmacht. The Reichswehr acted as a state within a state, and its leadership was an important political power factor within the Weimar Republic. The Reichswehr partly supported the democratic form of government, as in the Ebert-Groener Pact, and partly it supported anti-democratic forces with the Black Reichswehr. The Reichswehr saw itself as a cadre army, which should receive the expertise of the old imperial military and thus form the basis for rearmament. The forced reduction of strength of the German army from 4,500,000 in 1918 to 100,000 after Treaty of Versailles, enhanced the quality of the Reichsheer because only the best were permitted to join the army. However the changing face of warfare meant that the smaller army was impotent without mechanization and air support, no matter how much effort was put into modernising infantry tactics. During 1933 and 1934, after Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, the Reichswehr began a secret program of expansion. In December 1933, the army staff decided to increase the active strength to 300,000 men in 21 divisions. On 1 April 1934, between 50,000 and 60,000 new recruits entered and were assigned to special training battalions. The original seven infantry divisions of the Reichswehr were expanded to 21 infantry divisions, with Wehrkreis headquarters increased to the size of a corps HQ on 1 October 1934. These divisions used cover names to hide their divisional size, but, during October 1935, these were dropped. Also, during October 1934, the officers who had been forced to retire in 1919 were recalled; those who were no longer fit for combat were assigned to administrative positions – releasing fit officers for front-line duties.
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