The initial commander of LIV Army Corps was Erick-Oskar Hansen, who would hold that office until 20 January 1943. The German DHM in Romania was one of two army deployments by Germany that were initially intended for noncombat circumstances, next to the German military mission in Finland. Hansen was previously the head of the DHM, but had only little faith in Germany's Romanian allies. Hansen described the Romanian units as 'useless for difficult offensive actions'. The creation of LIV Army Corps was part of the immediate preparation for the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, "Unternehmen Barbarossa". Romania, under the leadership of Ion Antonescu, had agreed to take part in the invasion. Romania would provide four divisions and six brigades to the initial invasion force, with another nine divisions and two brigades in reserve. Furthermore, the Romanian government allowed German units like the LIV Army Corps to operate from Romanian territory.