The German Question, Part Ninety-Two

"A Divisive Treaty" Part Four
"Limits On the German Armed Forces"

The Versailles Treaty put limits on German military forces. There were many different provisions to this part, the details of which are far too extensive for this article. The main conditions were: The German Army; that is, the ground force, was limited to 100,000 men, of which no more than 4000 could be officers. Compulsory military service; that is, a "draft" (or "conscription"), was not allowed. Officers kept on from the "old" Army, had to remain in service until at least the age of 45. Newly commissioned officers had to serve for 25 consecutive years. Any new enlistees, or existing privates or non commissioned officers had to sign on for a 12 consecutive year period. Places like universities were not permitted to give any kind of military instruction, or to be affiliated in any way with the German military leadership. The Army was to be used solely to secure Germany's borders and to maintain order within the country.

The German Navy was to have no submarines and it was limited in the number of other vessels and their size, with no super heavy battleships permitted. Navy personnel was limited to 15,000, of which no more than 1500 could be officers. The terms of service for the Navy officers and enlisted men were the same as for the Army (see above).

Germany was to have no military air force, although she was permitted some seaplanes, but they were expressly prohibited from carrying weapons or bombs of any kind. Dirigibles (airships) were forbidden.

Weapons could not be imported into Germany, nor could Germany export weapons.

WORD HISTORY:
Sow-This is the noun for a "female swine." It, like "swine," goes back to the Indo European root "su." This then gave Old Germanic "sugo," which then gave Old English both "sugu" and "su," for "a female swine." Later, this became "sowe," before the modern version. Other Germanic languages have: German "Sau," pronounced as the English word, except the "s" is pronounced "z," so like "zow." As in English, it means "female swine," but it can also just mean "swine/pig," especially in the southern areas. Further, also like English, it can have the derogatory meaning. Low German has both "Suu" and "Söög, Dutch has "zeug,"  Frisian "such," Swedish and Norwegian "sugga" and Danish "so." As can be seen, the "g" sound (represented by "ch" in Frisian) has been retained in a number of Germanic languages.