The formation of landwehr during the Prussian liberation war of 1813 on the example of Silesia

Abstract

After the defeat of the Napoleonic army in the Russian campaign in 1812–1813, Prussia renounced the alliance with France and entered the war known as the “liberation war”. The King of Prussia, Frederick William III, addressed his subjects with an appeal “An mein Volk” (“To my people”), calling for a fight against Napoleon. One of the pillars of this struggle was the creation of units of a voluntary military formation composed of the "people" - the landwehr. After defeating Napoleon landwehr became part of the legend of the Prussian army's strength, which was to cover the ignominious defeat of the Prussian army during the autumn campaign of 1806. Formations like the landwehr were known as early as the 18th century, but their formation was forbidden because of the fear of violating the prevailing social relations. In the end, however, in the spring of 1813, in the spring of 1813, it was decided to establish a landwehr. Despite the initial optimism, its creation encountered numerous difficulties, including the lack of willing recruits, the widespread phenomenon of desertion and problems with weapons. These problems were obvious in the Prussian province of Silesia. The article presents the genesis of this formation, the uniforms and equipment of the landwehr, problems related to recruiting soldiers to the landwehr in Lower and Upper Silesia, and the final division of the landwehr into military units.