The Reichskriegsgericht (, RKG; ) was the highest

military court A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

between 1900 and 1945.

Legal basics and responsibilities

After the

Prussian Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...

-led

Unification of Germany The unification of Germany (, ) was a process of building the first nation-state for Germans with federalism, federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without Habsburgs' multi-ethnic Austria or its German-speaking part). I ...

, the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

with effect from 1 October 1900 had established a particular

court-martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

jurisdiction () to try soldiers of the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

, with the ''Reichsmilitärgericht'' (RMG) as the supreme court. The presiding judge in the rank of a general or admiral was appointed directly by the

German Emperor The German Emperor (, ) was the official title of the head of state and Hereditary monarchy, hereditary ruler of the German Empire. A specifically chosen term, it was introduced with the 1 January 1871 constitution and lasted until the abdicati ...

. From 1910, the court had its seat in a newly erected prestigious building in

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, German military law enabled military courts to try not only soldiers but also civilians held to have violated the military law. In the post-war

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

(1919-1933), the separate jurisdiction for military personnel was abolished by the law of 17 August 1920, based on Article 106 of the

Weimar Constitution The Constitution of the German Reich (), usually known as the Weimar Constitution (), was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era. The constitution created a federal semi-presidential republic with a parliament whose ...

. After the

Nazi seizure of power The rise to power of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919, when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He quickly rose t ...

in 1933, courts-martial were reinstated by law of May 12, with effect from 1 January 1934. During the

German re-armament German rearmament (''Aufrüstung'', ) was a policy and practice of rearmament carried out by Germany from 1918 to 1939 in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, which required German disarmament after World War I to prevent it from starting an ...

and the deployment of the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

armed forces, the ''Reichskriegsgericht'' was re-established as supreme court on 1 October 1936. According to the Wartime Criminal Code of Procedure (''Kriegsstrafverfahrensordnung'', KStVO) enacted by German ''Fuhrer''

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

and Field Marshal

Wilhelm Keitel Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel (; 22 September 188216 October 1946) was a German field marshal who held office as chief of the (OKW), the high command of Nazi Germany's armed forces, during World War II. He signed a number of criminal ...

on 17 August 1938, the RKG had jurisdictional competence over acts of

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

, and aiding the enemy (''Kriegsverrat''); if the defendant was not directly liable to prosecution by his commander-in-chief. The court also had sole responsibility for all legal proceedings against highest-ranking Wehrmacht officers. Gedenktafel Kriegsdienstverweigerer

For all severe cases of ''

Wehrkraftzersetzung ''Wehrkraftzersetzung'' or ''Zersetzung der Wehrkraft'' ( German for "corroding of defensive strength") was a sedition offence in German military law during the Nazi Germany era from 1938 to 1945. ''Wehrkraftzersetzung'' was enacted in 1938 b ...

'' ("undermining military force") according to Wartime Special Penal Code (''Kriegssonderstrafrechtsverordnung'', KSSVO), the RKG was the first and last instance. By this accusation, the court sentenced numerous

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

s to death. By ordinance of 18 May 1940, proceedings against civilians were handed over to '' Sondergericht'' courts; from 29 January 1943, the " People's Court" (''Volksgerichtshof'') had exclusive jurisdiction over all accusations of public ''Wehrkraftzersetzung'' and intentionally evading military service. The President of the ''Reichskriegsgericht'' was able to affirm or to set aside a judgement; as was Hitler in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht.

References

Literature

* Norbert Haase: ''Das Reichskriegsgericht und der Widerstand gegen die nationalsozialistische Herrschaft,'' Berlin 1993, (= Katalog der Sonderausstellung der Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand) * Günter Gribbohm: ''Das Reichskriegsgericht - Die Institution und ihre rechtliche Bewertung'', Berliner Wiss.-Verlag, Berlin 2004,

External links

Justizgeschichte aktuell: Karrieren und Selbstrechtfertigungen

- Reichskriegsgericht (Gedenktafel, Geschichte, Literatur)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reichskriegsgericht Military of Nazi Germany Military courts Court-martial Courts in Germany

Legal basics and responsibilities

See also

References

Literature

External links