National People's Army


The National People's Army were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic from 1956 until 1990.
The NVA was organized into four branches: the Landstreitkräfte, the Volksmarine, the Air Forces of the National People's Army and the Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic. The NVA belonged to the Ministry of National Defence and commanded by the National Defense Council of East Germany, which was headquartered in Strausberg - east of East Berlin. From 1962, conscription was mandatory for all DDR males aged between 18 and 60 requiring an 18-month service, and it was the only Warsaw Pact military to offer non-combat roles to conscientious objectors, known as "construction soldiers". The NVA reached 175,300 personnel at its peak in 1987.
The NVA was formed on 1 March 1956 to succeed the Kasernierte Volkspolizei and under the influence of the Soviet Army became one of the Warsaw Pact militaries opposing NATO during the Cold War. The majority of NATO officers rated the NVA the best military in the Warsaw Pact based on discipline, thoroughness of training, and quality of officer leadership. The NVA did not see significant combat but participated in the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, deployed military advisors to other Communist states, and manned the Berlin Wall, where they were responsible for numerous deaths.
The NVA was dissolved on 2 October 1990 with the DDR before German reunification, and its facilities and equipment were handed over to the Bundeswehr, which also absorbed most of its personnel below the rank of non-commissioned officer.

History

Founding

The German Democratic Republic established the National People's Army on 1 March 1956 from the Kasernierte Volkspolizei. This formation culminated years of preparation during which former Wehrmacht officers and communist veterans of the Spanish Civil War helped organize and train paramilitary units of the People's Police. Though the NVA featured a German appearance – including uniforms and ceremonies patterned after older German military traditions – its doctrine and structure showed the strong influence of the Soviet Armed Forces.

''Wehrmacht'' Veterans

During its first year, about 27 percent of the NVA's officer corps had formerly served in the Wehrmacht. Of the 82 highest command positions, ex-Wehrmacht officers held 61; however, very few of them had served in high ranks. The military knowledge and combat experience of these veterans were indispensable in the NVA's early years, although by the 1960s most of these World War II veterans had retired.

Notable former officers in the NVA command

The following list includes the NVA generals who were awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War.
The following list includes the NVA generals who were awarded the German Cross in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War.
  • Generalmajor Rudolf Bamler
  • Generalmajor Bernhard Bechler
  • Generalmajor Otto Korfes
  • Generalmajor Arno von Lenski
  • Generalleutnant Vincenz Müller
  • Generalmajor

    Deployment

The NVA never took part in full-scale combat, although it participated in a support role in the suppression of the Prague Spring of 1968, provided medical support during the Soviet–Afghan War, and NVA officers often served as combat advisers in Africa. Some of the first NVA advisors went to the Republic of the Congo in 1973. During the 1980s at various times the NVA had advisors in Algeria, Angola, Ethiopia, Guinea, Iraq, Libya, Mozambique, South Yemen, and Syria. In 1984, there were 10,000 NVA personnel serving on the African continent, primarily in Angola and Mozambique. However, the NVA general staff limited their role to advisory and technical functions, resisting Soviet pressure to commit regular combat formations to African conflicts.
When the Soviet Union prepared to occupy Czechoslovakia in 1968, the DDR government committed the 7th Panzer Division and the 11th Motorised Infantry Division to support the intervention, becoming the first deployment of German troops outside Germany for the first time since the Second World War. But the East German participation raised Czech ire, and the two divisions were "kept out of sight in the Bohemian forests" and allowed to travel only at night. In a few days they were withdrawn.
In the early 1970s the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany high command assigned to the NVA the wartime mission of capturing West Berlin. The NVA plan for the operation, designated "Operation Centre", called for some 32,000 troops in two divisions, accompanied by the GSFG's Soviet 6th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade. The plan was regularly updated until 1988, when a less ambitious plan that simply aimed at containing Berlin was substituted.
In the autumn of 1981 the NVA stood ready to intervene in Poland in support of a possible Soviet invasion, but the declaration of martial law in Poland averted the crisis.
The NVA went into a state of heightened combat readiness on several occasions, including the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, and, for the last time, in late 1989 as protests swept through the DDR.
During the Peaceful Revolution that led to the downfall of the DDR's communist government, some NVA forces were placed on alert but were never deployed against protesters. At the same time, the Soviet government ordered its troops in the DDR to remain in barracks. After the forced retirement of SED and state leader Erich Honecker and other conservatives from the ruling Politburo at the height of the crisis in October 1989, the new SED leadership ruled out using armed force against the protesters.

Ideology

Like the ruling communist parties of other Soviet-aligned countries, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany assured control by appointing loyal party members to top positions and by organizing intensive political education for all ranks. The proportion of SED members in the officer corps rose steadily after the early 1960s, eventually reaching almost 95 percent.
The NVA saw itself as the "instrument of power of the working class". According to its doctrine, the NVA protected peace and secured the achievements of socialism by maintaining a convincing deterrent to imperialist aggression. The NVA's motto, inscribed on its flag, read: "For the Protection of the Workers' and Farmers' Power".
The DDR's National Defense Council controlled the armed forces, but the mobile forces came under the Warsaw Pact Unified Command. Political control of the armed forces took place through close integration with the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, which vetted all officers. Military training and the growing militarization of East German society bolstered popular support for the military establishment. From a Leninist perspective, the NVA stood as a symbol of Soviet-East German solidarity and became the model communist institution – ideological, hierarchical, and disciplined. The NVA synthesized communist and Prussian symbolism, naming its officers' academy, the Friedrich Engels Military Academy, after Karl Marx's co-author Friedrich Engels, and its highest medal after Prussian Army General Gerhard von Scharnhorst.

Composition

In its first six years the NVA operated as an all-volunteer force. West Germany, in contrast, re-introduced universal military service in 1956. The DDR first introduced conscription in 1962. According to the Parallel History Project on Cooperative Security:
The manpower of the NVA consisted of some 85,000 soldiers in 1962, climbed to 127,000 by 1967, and remained essentially steady through 1970. In 1987, at the peak of its power, the NVA numbered 175,300 troops. Approximately 50% of this number were career soldiers, while the others were short-term conscripts.
According to a 1973 study, NVA leaders from the late 1950s through the 1960s came predominantly from working-class backgrounds, with few from middle-class or professional families and no representatives of the aristocracy present in the upper echelons. Excepting specialized military or political instruction, most NVA leaders reported primary school as their highest level of formal education.

Post-unification

The NVA disbanded with the dissolution of the East German government in October 1990. Under the process of "Army of Unity", NVA facilities and equipment were handed over to the Bundeswehr, the federal defense force of the unified Germany. Bundeswehr Eastern Command was set up for the control of units or facilities in the territory of former East Germany, and was led by Lieutenant General Jörg Schönbohm. Most facilities closed, and equipment was either sold or given to other countries. Most of the NVA's 36,000 officers and NCOs were let go, including all officers above the rank of Oberstleutnant. The Bundeswehr retained only 3,200 – after a demotion of one rank. In addition, all female soldiers and all soldiers over the age of 55 were discharged.
Until 1 March 2005, Germany listed time served in the NVA as time "served in a foreign military". Service in the NVA did not count for points towards federal pensions in the unified Germany. Retired NVA soldiers and officers received only minimal pensions after unification: a thirty-year veteran would receive a pension smaller than a graduate-student stipend. After the reform of 2005, service in the NVA became known as "served outside of the Bundeswehr".
Many former NVA officers feel bitter about their treatment after unification. While receiving only minimal pensions, few have been able to find jobs except as laborers or security guards. Former NVA officers are not permitted to append their NVA rank to their name as a professional title; no such prohibition applies to rank attained in the Wehrmacht or in the Waffen-SS during the Nazi era.
One of the few former NVA facilities to remain open was a base in Storkow near Berlin, which housed the NVA's camouflage and deception center. This became the Bundeswehr Unit for Camouflage and Deception.