ABSTRACT
The Prussian Interior Ministry – although far from liberal in its policies – also increasingly recognised the political and practical problems of military involvement in the policing of social and political protest. Historical interpretations of the demilitarisation process in Germany tend to focus very narrowly on the new policies of the Interior Ministry in explaining why military involvement in Germany decreased markedly during the Wilhelmine era. Senior civil servants within the Interior Ministry and in the provincial administration favoured policies that would limit their dependency on the military authorities and strengthen their control over the policing policies implemented by local authorities. Whilst the position of the War Ministry and military leaders in Berlin remained ambiguous over the question of domestic military involvement, the generals in charge of the provincial army corps were increasingly reluctant to using their troops for policing purposes.
