“(1) A Ministerial Council for Reich Defense shall be established as a standing committee out of the Reich Defense Council.
“(2) The standing members of the Ministerial Council for Reich Defense shall include: General Field Marshall Goering as chairman; Fuehrer’s Deputy [Hess]; Commissioner General (or Plenipotentiary) for Reich Administration [Frick]; Commissioner General (or Plenipotentiary) for Economy [Funk]; Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery [Dr. Lammers]; Chief of the High Command for the Armed Forces [Keitel].
“(3) The chairman may draw on other members of the Reich Defense Council including further personalities for advice.” (2018-PS).
Again, all members of this group were also members of the ordinary Cabinet.
The Reich Defense Council, for secret war planning, was created by the Cabinet on 4 April 1933 (cf. the unpublished Reich Defense Law of 21 May 1935 (2261-PS)). The membership of that Council when first created is shown by the minutes of the second session of the working committee of the delegates for Reich Defense, dated 22 May 1933 and signed by Keitel (EC-177):
| “Composition of the Reich Defense Council: | |
| President: Reichs Chancellor | |
| Deputy: Reichswehr Minister | |
| Permanent Members: | Minister of the: |
| Reichswehr | |
| Foreign Affairs | |
| Interior | |
| Finance | |
| Economic Affairs | |
| Public Enlightenment and Propaganda | |
| Air | |
| Chief of the Army Command Staff | |
| Chief of the Navy Command Staff | |
“Depending on the case: The remaining ministers, other personalities, e.g., leading industrialists, etc.” (EC-177)
All but the Chiefs of the Army and Navy Command Staff were at that time members of the ordinary cabinet.
The composition of this Reich Defense Council was changed by an unpublished law on 4 September 1938, which provided as follows (2194-PS):
“* * * (2) The leader and Reich Chancellor is chairman in the RVR. His permanent deputy is General Field Marshall Goering. He has the right to call conferences of the RVR. Permanent members of the RVR are