Walther Reinhardt
1872-1930
- German officer, last rank: General of the Infantry
- Prussian Minister of War
- Head of the Army Command of the Reichswehr
Reinhardt’s father was an officer of the Army of Württemberg. Like his father, Reinhardt started his military career there. Reinhardt reached high-level ranks during the war, serving in a number of its theaters. Just before the end of the war, at the beginning of November 1918, he was transferred to the Prussian Ministry of War to serve as a department head. After the revolution started, Reinhardt served as Prussia’s last minister of war, from January to September 1919. With the army’s reorganization and Gustav Noske appointed the Reich’s Minister of Defense, the Ministry of War was dissolved. However, Reinhardt still managed to consolidate his standing, taking the helm of the new Reichswehr (Imperial Army). He worked to bolster the Reichswehr’s respect for the republic, whereas his competitor Hans von Seeckt, the head of the Truppenamt (general staff), was hostile towards the democratic state. Accordingly, in contrast to Seeckt, Reinhardt promoted the use of the Reichswehr to put down the Kapp Putsch. Due to the events surrounding the Kapp Putsch, Noske and Reinhardt resigned. Reinhardt’s successor was - of all people - the republic’s enemy Hans von Seeckt.