Prussian Guards' History

DIE KAISERLICHE GARDE 1914-18

“….a very fine stamp of men,by far the finest Germans I have ever seen; the only troops I have ever seen taller even than our own men….”
C.E.W.Bean,Australian Correspondent,September 1916,observing German Guard prisoners on the Somme.

“Even if these Guard Regiments of ours haven’t got their peacetime cadre any more—those men must all be lying in their graves by now,in France or Russia—the present Guardsmen are still an elite…”
Diary of Herbert Sulzbach,January 1917.

“This is my ninth offensive.Now I’ve had a belly full.”
Guard Oberst, quoted May 1918, in the Muller Diaries.

With a history stretching back to 1688, the Imperial Guard of the Royal Prussian Army was considered the premier fighting force of the German Army in the First World War,effectively maintaining its elite status and fighting prowess throughout the four years of that conflict.

While never greatly expanded from its 1914 base,the general Allied view that the majority of its divisions were“superior and suitable for all attack and defensive fighting” meant this was a force to be reckoned with. Likewise it became something of a badge of honour for an Allied servicemen to state that he had “fought against the Prussian Guard”.

In 1914 the Garde was an exclusively Prussian organization,recruited from the provinces of Prussia,including the Imperial Reichsland region of Alsace-Lorraine.The minimum height requirement was 5 feet 7 inches.of sound physique and bearing. In 1911 around 64% of conscripted recruits for the German Army came from a rural background (including the Garde Corps) so “robust farm youths” formed the majority of the enlisted men.

The officers were traditionally drawn from the Junker class of land-owning families,many aristocrats,even as candidates from the middle class were increasingly being accepted as officers in many other regiments.In 1914 for example all the officers of the 3. Garde-Regiment zu Fuss were entirely aristocratic,highlighting the social distinction,the status (and wealth)required to obtain a sought aftered Garde Officer position.

While a Guardsmen received no special battle training nor carried special weaponary in 1914 to distinguish him from the ordinary infantryman,the “the mystique of their status did result in performances well above the average”.The experiences of the Franco-Prussian War had etched in the popular mind an elite force equivalent to the shock troops of Napoleon’s Guard. Emperor Wilhelm 1’s comments that “My Guard has found its grave in front of Saint-Privat” became a standard quote in German history books after 1870.

The very Prussian martial background of the Corps also must be mentioned.In one British officer’s words these were “a hard lot” of men upholding the honour and traditions of the Prussian state.The ingrained obligation to military service found in these northern Germans,many descendants of hardy families of Germans,Dutch and Huguenots that ‘colonised’ the region east of the Elbe from the 13th Century onwards, also with a strict and prominent Protestant work ethic,made them good soldiers.

Notwithstanding that, one Australian General who had fought against them commented that the toughest opponent he encountered in World War One was the Bavarian 4th Division.


Copyright 2008, Peter H of Australia, Moderator, Axis History Forum