The safeguarding of national interests by Bavaria, Saxony, Wuerttemberg and Baden
The end of the First World War and the revolutionary upheaval of 1918/19 also meant the end of the military sovereignty of the German states. In the interest of the unity of a future German army, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Wuerttemberg and Baden relinquished their military reservation rights in favour of the German Reich (empire). In return, however, the South German states of Bavaria, Saxony, Wuerttemberg and Baden demanded that some of the “principles” in the new defence law to be drafted were to take into account the preservation of their interests.
They set down their demands in a jointly formulated agreement. This included, among other things, that the state governments should propose the state commandants to be appointed by the President of the Reich. Within their duty area, these should be responsible for safeguarding the interests of the respective states. The military units provided by the individual states should also form a closed association of fellow-countrymen in future, whose commander in Bavaria was intended to be the state commandant.