Enlistment in The Prussian Army During The War of Liberation
Burg was awaiting his final exam at the Academy of the Arts (German: Akademie der Künste) in Berlin, when he volunteered on 14 February 1813 for the military service to fight for ‘Prussia’s freedom and rebirth’, as he put it. The troop of his choice was the Guard Infantry Battalion (German: Garde-Normal-Bataillon) in Breslau, an elite unit of the infantry. After only a few days, he was discharged from this unit on the grounds that Jews were “under the existing laws and the prevailing circumstances” not allowed to serve in the Guard. The rejection of Jewish soldiers in the Guard appears to have been a matter of course for the established circles. State Chancellor Karl August von Hardenberg, usually a supporter of equal rights for the Jews, left Burg’s two requests for re-enlistment in the Guard unanswered. Hereupon, Burg decided to apply at the artillery, a branch of the service, which was considered less prestigious by the Prussian nobility and more suitable for the middle-classes. To not risk another discharge, Burg applied to the service chief of the Artillery (German: Generalinspekteur der Artillerie), Prince August of Prussia, who secured for him the admission. Since Burg’s accomplishments were widely recognized, the lieutenants of his unit recommended him after just nine months of service to become an officer. However, the promotion was vetoed by the base commander (German: Platzkommandant) Captain Karl Moritz Ferdinand von Bardeleben, stating that “as long as (he) had something to say, no Jew shall be officer in the artillery”. Consequently officer cadets, who had been trained by Burg, were promoted before him. Even his transfer to a combat unit did not help him to get promoted earlier. Only a mention of bravery could have accelerated his promotion. But his unit did not receive a front deployment.
Burg was not the first Prussian officer of Jewish faith. Other Prussian Jews had already become officers at the beginning of the war. They were soldiers in combat units who had been promoted during combat, or they belonged to the militia, the Free Corps (German: Jägerdetachements) or the Landwehr (National Guard). Burg became finally second lieutenant on 18 August 1815 and was transferred to the First Artillery Brigade (East Prussia) in Danzig as a company officer.
Read more about this topic: Meno Burg
Famous quotes containing the words army, war and/or liberation:
“It is necessary to turn political crisis into armed crisis by performing violent actions that will force those in power to transform the military situation into a political situation. That will alienate the masses, who, from then on, will revolt against the army and the police and blame them for this state of things.”
—Carlos Marighella (d. 1969)
“The War was decided in the first twenty days of fighting, and all that happened afterwards consisted in battles which, however formidable and devastating, were but desperate and vain appeals against the decision of Fate.”
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965)
“It’s not greed and ambition that makes wars—it’s goodness. Wars are always fought for the best of reasons, for liberation or manifest destiny, always against tyranny and always in the best interests of humanity. So far this war, we’ve managed to butcher some 10,000,000 people in the interest of humanity. The next war, it seems we’ll have to destroy all of man in order to preserve his damn dignity.”
—Paddy Chayefsky (1923–1981)