Reichswehr Walther Gustav Reinhardt (German pronunciation: [ˈvaltɐ ˈʁaɪnhaʁt]; 24 March 1872 in Stuttgart – 8 August 1930 in Berlin) was a German officer who served as the last Prussian Minister of War and the first head of the army command (Chef der Heeresleitung) within the newly created Ministry of the Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic.

During the Kapp Putsch of 1920, Reinhardt remained loyal to the elected government and was one of the few senior officers of the Reichswehr willing to order troops to fire at the revolting units.

[1] In early November 1918, Reinhardt, at the time in the rank of Oberst (colonel), became Leiter der Demobilmachung (head of demobilisation) at the Prussian Ministry of War.

When the revolution erupted in Berlin, Reinhardt organised the protection of the Reichskanzlei and won the special trust of Friedrich Ebert, the new head of government.

[1] As Prussian Minister of War, Reinhardt became part of the cabinet of Philipp Scheidemann that took office on 13 February 1919, replacing the Council of the People's Deputies.

[1] In fact, in the spring and summer of 1919 Reinhardt was one of the main proponents of the Oststaat [de] plan that called for a temporary secession of Germany's eastern provinces.

Although the German army at the time had superior forces in the area, they were unable to put them into the field due to pressure from the Allies who had designated the Polish government part of the Entente.

Opposition from the government, especially Minister of Defence Gustav Noske, and the OHL, notably Wilhelm Groener, prevented the plan from being put into practice.

The existing War Ministries of the individual German states (Bavaria, Saxony, Württemberg and Prussia) were dissolved or integrated into the new Reichswehrministerium in Berlin.

[1] In 1923, Reinhardt was endowed with executive power and tasked with suppressing the left-wing uprising during the Reichsexekution against Thuringia (reestablishing the central government's authority by force of arms).

These were lectures at the university and the Hochschule für Politik in Berlin for selected officers, aimed at providing them with a broader perspective than that offered by a narrowly military education.

Although personally loyal to the Republic, he continued to oppose the military disarmament imposed by the Treaty of Versailles and published writings aimed at improving the ability of the German youth to put up a fight.