Landwehr

In World War I, German second-line reserve troops. All German conscripts, on completion of their mandatory service, were transferred to the ‘first ban’ of the Landwehr for five years, during which time they attended regular training camps. At the end of this period they passed into the ‘second ban’ until they were 39, when they moved into the Landsturm.

In time of war the troops of the first ban were used as reserves for fighting formations and those of the second ban for line of communication duties, but due to the shortages of troops 1917–18 this distinction was lost. In the Austrian army the Landwehr was a standing reserve pool into which regular troops and recruits were drafted when there was no immediate need for them at the front.