States and the Army part two
The Hanseatic Cities and four principalities did not form their own military. Rather, Prussia had units stationed in their capital cities and often those Prussian units have been erroneously considered units of the hosting state; however, they were not—they belonged directly to the Prussian army. The conscripts from these states entered directly into the Prussian army through separate military conventions. This was really a holdover from the North German Confederation, i.e., the Militärkonvention zwischen dem Norddeutschen Bunde und Hamburg vom 23 Juli 1867. This made sense at the time; however, these agreements froze regimental structure and eventually led to a very convoluted recruiting and naming system. For instance, in 1871, Infanterie- Regiment Graf Bose (1. Thüringisches) Nr. 31 moved from Erfurt in Thuringia to Altona, a suburb of Hamburg and lost any connection to Thuringia except in name.
The states that had no contingents had links to particular units and formations. Third Battalion Infanterie-Regiment Graf Bülow v. Dennewitz (6. Westfälisches) Nr. 55, for example, was associated with the Principality of Lippe. The Principality of Schwarzburg-Sonderhausen was associated with First Battalion 3. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 71. The Principality of Waldeck was associated with Third Battalion Infanterie-Regiment von Wittich (3. Kurhessisches) Nr. 83. The Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe was associated with Westfälisches Jäger Batallion Nr. 7. The Hanseatic city of Hamburg was associated with Infanterie-Regiment Hamburg (2. Hanseatisches) Nr. 76. The Hanseatic city of Lübeck was associated with First and Second Battalion Infanterie-Regiment Lübeck (3.Hanseatisches) Nr. 162. The Hanseatic city of Bremen was associated with First and Second Battalion Infanterie-Regiment Bremen (1. Hanseatisches) Nr. 75.
All states eventually entered into military conventions with Prussia. These conventions ceded to the King of Prussia what constitutional powers the states may have had relative to military matters. Unlike the North German Confederation, each of the armies was placed under the Kaiser in the event of war. The King of Saxony and the King of Württemberg could appoint officers within their contingents; however, the appointment of generals was only with the consent of the Kaiser. The Kaiser personally approved the appointment of every army corps commander. The King of Bavaria had no such restrictions; he still had the right to appoint commanding generals of the Bavarian army corps without endorsement by the Kaiser. Their sovereignty over the military was in name only. The rulers did retain military honors and the right to appoint aides-de-camp.
The small states paid a certain price to the Prussian treasury for each soldier absorbed into the Prussian army. Prussia then paid the men, promoted them, and received their oath of allegiance. Officers of the small states were normally required to provide a written document to their ruler reinforcing their faith as loyal subjects, but then submerged themselves in the Prussian army. In many cases, the rulers of the small states, published farewell greetings to their troops.
So why was Prussia so dominant? In addition to great success in the wars of the 19th century, when the 22 states of the North German Confederation united, Prussia represented 80 percent of the total population and 85 percent of the total area. (Of that population of 30 million, 24 million were Prussian; 2 million were Saxon, leaving 4 million to be divided among the other 20 members.) Article 61 of the North German Confederation Constitution gave Prussia the power of having all military legislation immediately introduced into the entire territory of the union. It was the same with the change of words from “the entire territory of the union” to “the empire.” Prussia gained the constitutional right to dictate military regulations and instructions; other legislation had to be adopted immediately by all contingents in the empire. By 1914, 19 of the 25 army corps were from Prussia and 75 percent of the Army was Prussian.