Baden-Württemberg Offensive

* Treaty of Aachen, French withdrawal from Frankfurt and the Wiesbaden bridgehead
* Establishment of Baden-Württemberg in December 1920
Charles Mangin
Rudolf Egelhofer
200,000 soldiers

The **Baden-Württemberg Offensive** was an offensive operation undertaken by French forces in the closing two months of the German Civil War. It was the largest scale Allied intervention in the war, and the only major operation undertaken by the French Army. With the anti-communist White Movement collapsing against an offensive by Spartacist forces, the French intervened to secure their border and support the remnants of the Whites.

## Offensive

### Background

With defeat clearly imminent for the White Movement by mid-1920, the French government, then under conservative Prime Minister Alexandre Millerand, faced the prospect of a bordering socialist nation that could potentially undermine stability at home. To establish a buffer zone, draft plans for a military intervention in the south were finalized in August. These plans were enacted on 17 October 1920 shortly following the Spartacist capture of Stuttgart. The bulk of the force of approximately 200,000 total French troops were tasked with advancing into Baden from across the Rhine and from the occupied bridgehead zone in Kehl. Additional forces were tasked with securing the northern flank by occupying the Starkenburg region of Hesse south of the Main river, where they had already established a bridgehead extending up to the city of Darmstadt. The city of Frankfurt was also to be occupied by troops from the Wiesbaden bridgehead across the Rhine river.

### October

The Spartacist Volksarmee had only just captured Stuttgart on 15 October and stood exhausted and depleted after months of fighting. Although resistance from the Whites had practically collapsed in Northern Germany by the beginning of October, fierce fighting had continued in Württemberg, where the government of the Whites had been based. The fall of Stuttgart, followed on 23 October by the fall of Königsberg in East Prussia, marked the demise of the Weimar Republic and thus the organized White resistance. Around 50,000 White forces remained in action after the fall of Stuttgart and fought a disorganized withdrawal westwards, delaying the Spartacist advance into Baden. Thus, when the French offensive began the Spartacists had yet to advance to positions on the border, leaving nothing to oppose the initial advance across the Rhine. Contact was established with the remnant White forces, including the relatively intact 31st Division under General Oskar von Watter. Watter offered terms of surrender under guarantees that his forces would not be treated as prisoners of war, but to his surprise the French instead requested that he take command over all remaining White forces and reorganize them to fight as allies against the Spartacists. Watter agreed and, despite some disagreements within the White ranks, had within a week successfully managed to reorganize the remnants into three divisions, which reinforced the southern axis of the front in November.

The first notable contact with the Spartacists came on 19 October at the city of Pforzheim as French forces advanced towards Stuttgart. Pforzheim had just been captured by the Spartacists on 17 October, leaving them little time to establish defensive positions despite a prompt halt of all offensive operations after news had been received of the French intervention. The Spartacists lacked a cohesive defensive line in the towns west of Stuttgart, which the French exploited to bypass Pforzheim from the south. After some skirmishes the Spartacists hastily withdrew from the city that night and retreated towards Stuttgart. An evacuation of civilians to the east was ordered in Stuttgart, which had already seen significant depopulation from the previous battle. Skirmishes in the outskirts of Stuttgart commenced in the early hours of 20 October, centered around the neighboring villages of Leonberg and Eltingen. The situation turned increasingly dire later in the day as more French forces arrived, with the Spartacists being vastly outnumbered. Despite initial skirmishes failing to break the Spartacist lines, the French eventually achieved a full breakthrough the following day on 21 October, capturing the villages west and south of Stuttgart, as well as the city of Ludwigsburg to the north. Supported by armored cars, the French advanced into the city itself and fought a series of street battles against the Spartacists, who sought to delay for as long as possible. The Spartacists initially sought to establish a defensive line along the Neckar river, but this quickly became untenable after the fall of Heilbronn to the north and Tübingen to the south on 22 October. By the morning of 23 October the capture of Stuttgart in its entirety could be confidently declared by the French, who suffered relatively light losses. They promptly set about installing a new city administration led by White officers, planting the seeds of a collaborationist government. The city of Reutlingen was also captured that same night, leaving the French in control of all major cities in the region aside from Ulm.

Simultaneously with this main axis of advance, the French also advanced into the Starkenburg region south of the Main river, taking control of the cities of Darmstadt and Offenbach with no resistance on 17 October. The Main river line was then secured by seizing control of areas of Bavaria west and south of the Main river, including the town of Amorbach, while Aschaffenburg was also seized as a bridgehead on 18 October. Having achieved these immediate goals, some of these forces then proceeded eastwards into the mountainous Odenwald region and then towards the city of Würzburg, seeking to establish full control over the Main river line. To the north, the French also advanced into Frankfurt and Hanau from their Wiesbaden bridgehead, facing no resistance just as with their prior punitive occupation in December 1919 in response to White offensive operations against the Spartacists in the Ruhr. This northern direction would see little action during the intervention, with the Spartacists reluctant to attack the bridgeheads in fear of prompting a large-scale Entente invasion.

Having recognized the rapidly deteriorating situation and the lack of favorable defenses in the wake of the fall of Stuttgart and the Neckar river line, the Spartacists opted to initiate a staggered withdrawal to the east, where they could establish positions on the Iller and Danube rivers to shield the approach to Augsburg and Munich. Natural defenses on the Nuremburg direction were more scarce, forcing the creation of a multi-layered defensive line. Reserve troops began preparing fortifications ahead of time, while additional forces were gathered from other fronts to reinforce. As this plan prioritized the defense of Bavaria, the abandonment of Württemberg and Baden was accepted as a temporary but necessary measure. French advances were delayed with brief but effective skirmishes, avoiding high casualties while buying valuable time.

Although critical goals had been set for the offensive a concrete plan as to the limits of the operation were never established by the French command. Millerand, overjoyed by the rapid advances, now pushed for the complete occupation of Southern Germany, including the entirety of Bavaria. It was reasoned that the loss of Bavaria would prompt the defeat of the Spartacist-backed Reds in the Austrian Civil War, and secure a connection with Czechia, which had already suffered territorial losses to the Spartacists and Hungarians. Despite Millerand's optimism the offensive operation had generated a political crisis in France, compounding existing controversy over material aid for the Whites and leniency towards the enforcement of the Treaty of Versailles due to the German Civil War. Furthermore, the Spartacists had gathered significant sympathies worldwide, successfully propagandizing themselves as a peaceful and democratic government under assault by imperialist powers. These sympathies likewise spread to France, and with the war seemingly settled there stood little support for a continuation of hostilities among the general populace. Fears were also manifested within the French Army over potential mutinies as with the failed Black Sea intervention against the Bolsheviks in 1919. These fears were not unfounded, as the enthusiasm among French troops in the intervention never stood high, with hostility from the local populace, Spartacist propaganda, and increasing casualties taking a severe toll on morale. With the commencement of the military intervention Millerand placed his political career in the line of fire, relying on the assurance of a quick and bloodless victory against the Spartacists to save himself.

### November

After a brief pause the French Army commenced the offensive into Bavaria on 2 November. They seized control of the town of Würzburg that same day, which served as a symbolic victory given the town had served as the primary revolutionary base in Franconia since the start of the civil war. The French continued their advance, now moving towards Schweinfurt, but here they met their first major resistance from the Volksarmee. A bloody battle commenced in the town between 3 and 5 November, with the French ultimately failing to take complete control of the town. The area was not considered of high importance and the losses were considered unacceptable, so the French forces were withdrawn back to Würzburg and the northern front turned into a stalemate. On the part of the Spartacists, their tenacious defense of the town was based on fears that its loss could be a gateway to French ambitions in Thuringia, a region considered completely unacceptable to lose especially after brutal fighting earlier in the year against the Whites. Furthermore, it was felt that although provoking the full might of the Entente needed to be avoided, it was simultaneously necessary to avoid appearing completely defenseless, which could have just as easily provoked an invasion.

Meanwhile, a larger French offensive took place directed at the town of Augsburg, a crucial rail junction. The Volksarmee had anticipated this and built a strong defensive line, knowing that the fall of Augsburg would open the gates to Munich. Fighting west of the town prevented the French from reaching it on 2 November, with the first French forces reaching the outskirts on the morning of 3 November. Here the bloodiest battle of the operation commenced, with the Volksarmee reusing the tactics that had worked in Berlin, drawing the French into an urban battle they were not prepared for. The bulk of the town, consisting of the areas west of the Lech river, was finally captured on 8 November after five days of costly fighting. The Volksarmee prevented the French from crossing the river despite repeated attempts, and they were soon forced to abandon their ambitions to push towards Ingolstadt. Simultaneous operations in the central direction towards Nuremburg were also bogged down well short of the city.

On 10 November the Volksarmee launched a counteroffensive primarily directed in the south, which succeeded in recapturing Augsburg on 12 November. The French subsequently withdrew to more defendable positions along the Iller river, ceding most of their gains. The French also withdrew under the Volksarmee offensive on the Nuremburg direction, falling back to the Württemberg border with the exception of the town of Nördlingen, which would be captured by the Volksarmee after a brief battle on 13 November. By now the French were outnumbered, with 250,000 soldiers facing 400,000 of the Volksarmee. With the campaign in the east concluded and little pressure faced elsewhere, the Volksarmee was free to transfer large amounts of experienced forces to beat back the French. Having completed their deployments, the Volksarmee pushed their advantage, aiming to break through in Württemberg and retake Stuttgart. Breaking the Iller river line was considered the most important as it would lead to the capture of Ulm and open the road to Stuttgart, and shield the flank of any advances to the north. However, the French were able to dig in and establish a cohesive line, and were also being reinforced by the three White divisions under Oskar von Watter. The Volksarmee had drawn up their plans hastily and had falsely interpreted the French retreat to the Iller as a sign of a breakdown in cohesion. Spartacist attempts at a breakthrough in Kempten and Ulm were defeated after a couple days of fighting, and attempts at breaking the French defenses north of Würzburg were likewise defeated. Only minor incursions were made elsewhere along the Württemberg border, where the French were able to use the terrain to their advantage. By 14 November the front had turned into a clear stalemate.

### Aftermath

With the front stagnant, the Spartacists, who were desperate for an end to the war and fearful of a larger scale Allied intervention, were ready to seek peace, as was Millerand, who was facing a vote of no confidence in parliament and desperately needed to end the operation to save himself. An armistice was achieved on 15 November and a ceasefire line was delineated. The French were able to retain control over all of Baden, Württemberg and Starkenburg, as well as all of their positions south of the Main river in Bavaria, along with the town of Würzburg and the region of Bavaria west of the Iller river, including the towns of Kempten and Lindau, as well as a small area in Bavaria north of the Danube including the town of Elchingen, famously the site of an important battle between Napoleonic France and Austria a little over 115 years prior. The German Civil War came to an official end four days later on 19 November with the signing of the Treaty of Aachen, which reaffirmed the ceasefire line among other terms, but in return prompted the French to withdraw from their bridgehead across the Rhine at Wiesbaden, including the recently occupied town of Hanau and the portion of Frankfurt north of the Main river. The Kingdom of Baden-Württemberg was established by the French in December as a buffer state in the captured regions, and the ceasefire line became its de facto border.