British Forces Germany
40-766: British Army of the Rhine ( BAOR ) was the name given to British Army occupation forces in the Rhineland , Germany , after the First and Second World Wars , and during the Cold War , becoming part of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) tasked with defending the North German Plain from the armies of the Warsaw Pact . The BAOR constituted the bulk of British forces in West Germany , and
80-685: A diplomatic test of will three years before the outbreak of the Second World War . To the west the area stretches to the borders with Luxembourg , Belgium and the Netherlands ; on the eastern side it encompasses the towns and cities along the river and the Bergisches Land area up to the Westphalian ( Siegerland ) and Hessian regions. Stretching down to the North Palatine Uplands in
120-578: A rational, simplified, centralized system controlled by Paris and run by Napoleon's relatives. The most important impact came from the abolition of all feudal privileges and historic taxes, the introduction of legal reforms of the Napoleonic Code , and the reorganization of the judicial and local administrative systems. The economic integration of the Rhineland with France increased prosperity, especially in industrial production, while business accelerated with
160-635: A tradition that continued in the naming of the current German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia . In the early 1800s, Rhinelanders settled the Missouri Rhineland , a German cultural region and wine producing area in the U.S. State of Missouri , and named it after noticing similarities in soil and topography to the Rhineland in Europe . By 1860, nearly half of all settlers in Missouri Rhineland came from Koblenz , capital of
200-522: Is a rapid reaction force maintained by NATO . It is capable of deploying a High Readiness Force (Land) Headquarters at short notice for operations and crisis response. The ARRC was created on 1 October 1992 in Bielefeld based on the former I (British) Corps (I (BR) Corps). It was originally created as the rapid reaction corps sized land force of the Reaction Forces Concept that emerged after
240-665: Is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine , chiefly its middle section . It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy Roman Empire , Prussia and the German Empire . Historically, the term " Rhinelands " refers (physically speaking) to a loosely defined region embracing the land on the banks of the Rhine, which were settled by Ripuarian and Salian Franks and became part of Frankish Austrasia . In
280-640: Is also regionally aligned with the European region as part of defence engagement. In 2017 the ARRC was tasked with responsibility for the land component of the NATO Response Force (NRF) and played an integral part in one of NATO's capstone exercises, Exercise NOBLE JUMP 2017. The ARRC relinquished it responsibilities as the land component of the NRF on 10 January 2018 to NATO Rapid Deployable Corps - Italy. In October 2019,
320-458: Is one of the prime German industrial areas, containing significant mineral deposits ( coal , lead , lignite , magnesium , oil , and uranium ) and water transport. In Rhineland-Palatinate agriculture is more important, including the vineyards in the Ahr , Mittelrhein , and Mosel regions. Headquarters Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps The Allied Rapid Reaction Corps ( ARRC )
360-695: The 6th Armoured Brigade ), Soltau (home of the 7th Armoured Brigade ) and Minden (home of the 11th Armoured Brigade ). Following the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review , the permanent deployment of British Army units in Germany was reduced. The last military base was handed to the German Bundeswehr in February 2020. The commanders were: Rhineland The Rhineland ( German : Rheinland [ˈʁaɪ̯nˌlant] ; Dutch : Rijnland ; Kölsch : Rhingland ; Latin : Rhenania )
400-600: The High Middle Ages , numerous Imperial States along the river emerged from the former stem duchy of Lotharingia , without developing any common political or cultural identity. A "Rhineland" conceptualization can be traced to the period of the Holy Roman Empire from the sixteenth until the eighteenth centuries when the Empire's Imperial Estates (territories) were grouped into regional districts in charge of defence and judicial execution, known as Imperial Circles . Three of
440-745: The North German plain is marked by the lower Ruhr . In the south, the river cuts the Rhenish Massif . The area encompasses the western part of the Ruhr industrial region and the Cologne Lowland . Some of the larger cities in the Rhineland are Aachen , Bonn , Cologne , Duisburg , Düsseldorf , Essen , Koblenz , Krefeld , Leverkusen , Mainz , Mönchengladbach , Mülheim an der Ruhr , Oberhausen , Remscheid , Solingen , Trier and Wuppertal . Toponyms as well as local family names often trace back to
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#1733084652619480-513: The Rhine Province . The western part of the Rhineland was occupied by Entente forces from the end of the First World War until 1930. Under the 1919 Treaty of Versailles , German military presence in the region was banned, a restriction which the government of Weimar Germany pledged to honor in the 1925 Locarno Treaties . Nazi Germany remilitarized the territory in 1936 as part of
520-452: The BAOR was made up of approximately 13,360 troops, consisting of staff, cavalry, Royal Artillery , Royal Engineers , infantry, machine gun corps , tanks and the usual ancillary services. The troops were located principally in the vicinity of Cologne at an approximate cost per month of £300,000. The Cologne Post was a newspaper published for members of the BAOR during this period. From 1922
560-532: The BAOR was organised into two brigades: 1st Rhine Brigade 2nd Rhine Brigade The commanders were: The second British Army of the Rhine was formed on 25 August 1945 from the British Liberation Army . Its original function was to control the corps districts which were running the military government of the British zone of Allied-occupied Germany . After the assumption of government by civilians, it became
600-847: The East bank of the Rhine, between the Main and the Lahn, were the settlements of the Mattiaci , a branch of the Germanic Chatti , while farther to the north were the Usipetes and Tencteri . Julius Caesar conquered the Celtic tribes on the West bank, and Augustus established numerous fortified posts on the Rhine, but the Romans never succeeded in gaining a firm footing on the East bank. As
640-746: The Frankish heritage. The lands on the western shore of the Rhine are strongly characterized by Roman influence, including viticulture . In the core territories, large parts of the population are members of the Catholic Church . At the earliest historical period, the territories between the Ardennes and the Rhine were occupied by the Treveri , the Eburones and other Celtic tribes , who, however, were all more or less modified and influenced by their Germanic neighbors. On
680-650: The Italian Division "Acqui" , the Danish Division , the 1st Canadian Division , the 3rd (United Kingdom) Division , and the U.S. 4th Infantry Division were assigned to form part of the ARRC if the corps were to be deployed. In 2021, the United Kingdom's 104 Theatre Sustainment Brigade was transferred under direct control of HQ ARRC. The United Kingdom's 1st Signal Brigade joined by October 2021. In 2024, 7th Air Defence Group and 8th Engineer Brigade of
720-844: The NATO Force Generation process are passed into his Operational Command for the duration of the operational deployment. ARRC took command of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan on 4 May 2006 and then relocated from Rheindahlen to Imjin Barracks , outside Gloucester in England, in 2010 before deploying to support the ISAF Joint Command Headquarters in Afghanistan in 2011. ARRC
760-678: The Rhine and within 50 kilometers east of the Rhine. In 1920, under massive French pressure, the Saar was separated from the Rhine Province and administered by the League of Nations until a plebiscite in 1935, when the region was returned to Germany. At the same time, in 1920, the districts of Eupen and Malmedy were transferred to Belgium (see German-Speaking Community of Belgium ). In January 1923, in response to Germany's failure to meet its reparations obligations , French and Belgian troops occupied
800-497: The Rhineland and other regions along the Rhine. German territory west of the Rhine had been off-limits to the German military. In 1945, the Rhineland was the scene of major fighting as the Allied forces overwhelmed the German defenders. In 1946, the Rhineland was divided into the newly founded states of Hesse , North Rhine-Westphalia , and Rhineland-Palatinate . North Rhine-Westphalia
840-568: The Rhineland disintegrated into numerous small independent principalities, each with its separate vicissitudes and special chronicles. The old Lotharingian divisions became obsolete, and while the Lower Lorraine lands were referred to as the Low Countries , the name of Lorraine became restricted to the region on the upper Moselle that still bears it. After the Imperial Reform of 1500/12,
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#1733084652619880-450: The Rhineland until 1814 and radically and permanently liberalized the government, society and economy. The Coalition of France's enemies made repeated efforts to retake the region, but France repelled all the attempts. The French swept away centuries worth of outmoded restrictions and introduced unprecedented levels of efficiency. The chaos and barriers in a land divided and subdivided among many different petty principalities gave way to
920-618: The Ruhr district, strictly controlling all important industrial areas. The Germans responded with passive resistance, which led to hyperinflation , and the French gained very little of the reparations they wanted. French troops left the Ruhr in August 1925. The occupation of the remainder of the Rhineland ended on 30 June 1930. On 7 March 1936, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, German troops marched into
960-559: The alliance in 1949. Its primary combat formation was British I Corps . From 1952, the commander-in-chief of the BAOR was also the commander of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) in the event of a general war with the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies. The BAOR's 50 Missile Regiment Royal Artillery was formerly armed with tactical nuclear weapons , including the MGM-52 Lance surface-to-surface tactical nuclear missile. In 1967,
1000-466: The command formation for the troops in West Germany only, rather than being responsible for administration as well. As the potential threat of Soviet invasion across the North German Plain into West Germany increased, BAOR became more responsible for the defence of West Germany than its occupation. It became the primary formation controlling the British contribution to NATO , after the formation of
1040-626: The east of the river fell to East Francia , while that to the west remained with the kingdom of Lotharingia . By the time of Emperor Otto I (d. 973) both banks of the Rhine had become part of the Holy Roman Empire , and in 959 the Rhenish territory was divided between the duchies of Upper Lorraine , on the Mosel, and Lower Lorraine on the Meuse. As the central power of the Holy Roman Emperor weakened,
1080-752: The end of the Cold War , with a mission to redeploy and reinforce within Allied Command Europe (ACE) and to conduct Petersberg missions out of NATO territory. The first commander, appointed in 1992 was General Sir Jeremy Mackenzie . From 1994 the ARRC was based in the Rheindahlen Military Complex , Germany . It commanded the Land Forces of NATO's first ever deployment as part of the Implementation Force operation in Bosnia in 1995/6 and
1120-647: The force was reduced in strength to 53,000 soldiers, compared with 80,000, ten years earlier. With the end of the Cold War, the 1993 Options for Change defence cuts resulted in BAOR being reduced in size, and in 1994 it became British Forces Germany . This force, roughly 25,000 strong, was divided between Headquarters Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps , 1st Armoured Division , other combat support and combat service support forces, and administrative elements headed by United Kingdom Support Command (Germany) . Garrisons which closed at this time included Soest (home of
1160-565: The headquarters has been re-roled (with five other corps HQs of other NATO nations) as a High Readiness Force (Land) HQ (HRF(L)) with a broader mission. The formation HQ is under Operational Command of Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR). The ARRC has a national Force Pool of Combat, Combat Support and Combat Service Support units with which to train and execute its mission. However, in reality COMARRC commands no forces until he receives an Activation Order from SACEUR. On receipt of ACTORD, forces from troop contributing nations, generated through
1200-534: The intelligentsia demanded the maintenance of the Napoleonic Code (which stayed in effect for a century). A Prussian influence began on a small scale in 1609 by the occupation of the Duchy of Cleves . A century later, Upper Guelders and Moers also became Prussian. The Congress of Vienna expelled the French and assigned the whole of the lower Rhenish districts to Prussia, who left them in undisturbed possession of
1240-540: The liberal institutions to which they had become accustomed under the French. The Rhine Province remained part of Prussia after Germany was unified in 1871. The occupation of the Rhineland took place following the Armistice with Germany of 11 November 1918. The occupying armies consisted of American , Belgian , British and French forces. Under the Treaty of Versailles , German troops were banned from all territory west of
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1280-539: The new efficiency and lowered trade barriers. The Jews were liberated from the ghetto. There was limited resistance; most Germans welcomed the new regime, especially the urban elites, but one sour point was the hostility of the French officials toward the Roman Catholic Church, the choice of most of the residents. The reforms were permanent. Decades later workers and peasants in the Rhineland often appealed to Jacobinism to oppose unpopular government programs, while
1320-565: The power of the Roman empire declined the Franks pushed forward along both banks of the Rhine, and by the end of the 5th century had conquered all the lands that had formerly been under Roman influence. By the 8th century, the Frankish dominion was firmly established in western Germania and northern Gaul. On the division of the Carolingian Empire at the Treaty of Verdun the part of the province to
1360-587: The south, this area, except for the Saarland , more or less corresponds with the modern use of the term. The southern and eastern parts are mainly hill country ( Westerwald , Hunsrück , Siebengebirge , Taunus and Eifel ), cut by river valleys, principally the Middle Rhine up to Bingen (or very rarely between the confluence with the Neckar and Cologne ) and its Ahr , Moselle and Nahe tributaries. The border of
1400-441: The ten circles through which the Rhine flowed referred to the river in their names: the Upper Rhenish Circle , the Electoral Rhenish Circle and the Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle (very roughly equivalent to the present-day German federal state of North Rhine Westphalia ). In the twilight period of the Empire, after the War of the First Coalition , a short-lived Cisrhenian Republic was established (1797–1802). The term covered
1440-402: The territory was part of the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian , Upper Rhenish , and Electoral Rhenish Circles . Notable Rhenish Imperial States included: In spite of its dismembered condition and the sufferings it underwent at the hands of its French neighbors in various periods of warfare, the Rhenish territory prospered greatly and stood in the foremost rank of German culture and progress. Aachen
1480-439: The whole French conquered territory west of the Rhine (German: Linkes Rheinufer ), but also including a small portion of the bridgeheads on the eastern banks. After the collapse of the French empire , the regions of Jülich-Cleves-Berg and Lower Rhine were annexed to the Kingdom of Prussia . In 1822 the Prussian administration reorganized the territory as the Rhine Province ( Rheinprovinz , also known as Rhenish Prussia),
1520-911: Was a part of British Forces Germany (BFG). The BFG was made up of elements of the three services based in West Germany; the BAOR controlled Army units stationed there. The first British Army of the Rhine was set up in March 1919 to implement the occupation of the Rhineland . It was originally composed of five corps, composed of two divisions each, plus a cavalry division: II Corps : Commanded by Sir Claud Jacob IV Corps : Commanded by Sir Alexander Godley VI Corps : Commanded by Sir Aylmer Haldane IX Corps : Commanded by Sir Walter Braithwaite and later by Ivor Maxse X Corps : Commanded by Sir Thomas Morland Cavalry Division (formed from 1st Cavalry Division ) Most of these units were progressively dissolved, so that by February 1920 there were only regular battalions: In August 1920 Winston Churchill , as Secretary of State for War, told Parliament that
1560-424: Was again deployed as the headquarters commanding Land Forces during the Kosovo War in 1999. In 1997 assigned forces included the 7th Panzer Division ; 2nd Greek Mechanised Division; 1st Turkish Mechanised Division (9th Armoured and 28th Mechanised Brigades, plus a third brigade, as assigned); 1st Armored Division ; plus other formations, including the 1st and 3rd Divisions , British Army. Since 2002 however
1600-429: Was the place of coronation of the German emperors, and the ecclesiastical principalities of the Rhine played a large role in German history. At the Peace of Basel in 1795, the whole of the left bank of the Rhine was taken by France. The population was about 1.6 million in numerous small states. In 1806, the Rhenish princes all joined the Confederation of the Rhine , a puppet of Napoleon. France took direct control of
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