| Baltische Landeswehr | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Active | November 1918 - July 3, 1919 |
| Allegiance | Baltic
nobility |
| Size | 10,500 |
| Patron | Rüdiger von der Goltz |
| March | Goose-Step |
| Engagements | Estonian War of Independence, Latvian War of Independence, Aftermath of World War I |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Rüdiger von der Goltz, Alfred Fletcher |
| Insignia | |
| Identification symbol |
Shoulder strap piping in light blue and white, the Baltic colors. |
Baltische Landeswehr ("Baltic Land Defence") was the name of the unified armed forces of the Baltic nobility from November 1918 to July 3, 1919.[1]
Contents |
Legally, the Commander-in-Chief of the Landeswehr was Rüdiger von der Goltz, a position he gained in November 1918. Administration and military authority initially lay with the war ministry under Major Alfred Fletcher.
After the November 11, 1918, armistice the Inter-Allied Commission of Control insisted that the German troops remain in the Baltic countries to prevent the region from being re-occupied by the Red Army. As many of the demoralised German soldiers were being withdrawn from Latvia, a Freikorps unit called the Iron Brigade (German: Eiserne Brigade, later expanded and renamed the Iron Division[2][3]) was formed and deployed in Riga and used to delay the Red advance. New volunteers arriving from Germany and remnants of the German 8th Army were subsequently added to the Iron Division, which was assigned under the command of General von der Goltz. Also, the Baltic Germans and some Latvians formed the Baltische Landeswehr, led by Major Alfred Fletcher.
In late February 1919 only the seaport of Liepāja (Libau) and surroundings remained in the hands of the German and Latvian forces. In March 1919, General Rüdiger von der Goltz was able to win a series of victories over the Red Army, first occupying port of Ventspils (Windau), and then advancing south and east to retake Riga. After the Bolsheviks had been driven out from most of Latvia, the Allies ordered the German government to withdraw its troops from the Baltic region. However, the Germans succeeded in negotiating a postponement, arguing that this would have given the Bolsheviks a free hand. General von der Goltz then attempted to seize control of Latvia with the assistance of the local German population. The murder of three men of the Baltische Landeswehr led to the coup d'état of April 16, 1919, by the proclamation of the Government of a Lutheran clergyman, Andrievs Niedra. Parleys, in which the United States and the United Kingdom took part, did not prevent the advance on Riga and the capture of this city on May 22, where Baron Hans von Manteuffel made an entry with a small detachment, and died leading his men. Latvian national government was deposed while the Freikorps moved on to capture Riga on May 23, 1919. Latvians sought assistance from the Estonian People's Army (Eesti Rahvavägi) which had been occupying Northern Latvia since earlier that year. In June 1919, General von der Goltz ordered his troops not to advance east against the Red Army, as the Allies had been expecting, but north, against the Estonians. On June 19, the Iron Division and Landeswehr units launched an attack to capture areas around Cēsis (Wenden), however in the battles over the following few days they were defeated by the Estonian 3rd Division army (led by Ernst Põdder) and the North Latvian Brigade. On the morning of June 23, the Germans began a general retreat toward Riga. The Allies again insisted that the Germans withdraw their remaining troops from Latvia and intervened to impose a ceasefire between the Estonians and the Landeswehr when the Estonians were about to march into Riga. In the meantime, an Allied mission composed of British troops under General Sir Hubert de la Poer Gough had arrived in the Baltic with the task of clearing the Germans from the region and organizing native armies for the Baltic States. To ensure its return to Latvian control, the Baltische Landeswehr was placed under British authority.
After taking command of the Baltische Landeswehr in mid-July 1919, Lieutenant-Colonel Harold Alexander (the future Field Marshal the Earl Alexander of Tunis and Governor General of Canada, 1946-1952), gradually dismissed the German elements. The Germans released from the Baltische Landeswehr were incorporated into the Deutsche Legion in September 1919. The legion served under the West Russian Volunteer Army commanded by Colonel Prince Pavel Bermondt-Avalov. The British insisted that General von der Goltz leave Latvia, and he turned his troops over to Bermondt-Avalov's West Russian Volunteer Army. General von der Goltz later claimed in his memoirs that his major strategic goal in 1919 had been to launch a campaign in cooperation with the white Russian forces to overturn the Bolshevik regime by marching on Saint Petersburg and to install a pro-German government in Russia.
Prominent Baltic officers from the Landeswehr era include:
(the ranks are the highest ranks reached in the Third Reich era)
Members of the Baltische Landeswehr wore shoulder strap piping in light blue and white, the Baltic colors.
   | "Hans von Manteuffel" honor title - Axis History Factbook: Cuff Titles of the SA |
| | Estland - estland: Kriegserinnerungen - Vor dem Unterzeichnen des Grenzvertrags mit der Russischen Förderation am 18.Mai 2005 |
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