Abstract The image of the Reichswehr as an autonomously armed ›state within the state‹ not only includes the blanket rejection of the pacifist movement by the leadership of the German military, but also its categorical ›campaign‹ against critics of illegal armament. According to this image, the Reichswehr was supported by the anti-republican Weimar judiciary in treason trials in order to prevent pacifist journalists from expressing their opinions publicly. In this respect, the demands of the Reichswehr Ministry for a tightening of the treason laws are also seen as a further attempt to advance the criminal prosecution of anti-armament activists. Based on the cabinet deliberations on a general reform of criminal law, this paper aims to examine the extent to which the position of the Reichswehr Ministry expressed its fundamental understanding of German pacifism. Among other sources, two internal memoranda from the Reichswehr Ministry that have not yet been considered in this context will be analyzed in particular to demonstrate that the Ministry advocated a differentiated categorisation of German pacifists, which was always based on the concept of the ›politically convinced offender‹ (»politischer Überzeugungstäter«).
Amelie Tscheu (2026) studied this question.