Early Life and Career
Weichs was born into a noble family at Dessau in Anhalt, a son of an Army colonel. He entered the Bavarian Cavalry in 1900 and fought with them in World War I. From 1915 until 1918 he served with the General Staff of the 3rd Bavarian Army Corps. After the war he remained in the newly created Reichswehr where he worked at a number of General Staff positions and later served as an instructor. Transferred from the 3rd Cavalry Division to command Germany's 1st Panzer Division upon its formation in October 1935, he led the unit in maneuvers that impressed Army Commander in Chief Werner von Fritsch. Weichs' aristocratic and cavalry credentials demonstrated the continuing influence of these military elites in Germany's modernizing force.
In October 1937 he became the commander of the 13th Army Corps, that later served in the 1938 German annexation of the Sudetenland.
Read more about this topic: Maximilian Von Weichs
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