Wehrmacht

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the band, see Wehrmacht (band).

Wehrmacht (listen) (help·info) ("armed forces", literally "defence force(s)") was the name of the armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. During World War II, the Wehrmacht consisted of the army (Heer), the navy (Kriegsmarine), the air force (Luftwaffe), and de facto- Waffen SS.

Contents

[edit] Origin and use of the terms

Before the rise of the NSDAP, the term Wehrmacht was used in a generic sense to describe armed forces of any nation, being utilized as the "home defence" version of the more general Streitmacht. For example, the term Britische Wehrmacht would identify the British armed forces. Article 47 of the Weimar Constitution of 1919 declared "Der Reichspräsident hat den Oberbefehl über die gesamte Wehrmacht des Reiches" (meaning: "The Reichspräsident holds supreme command of all armed forces of the Reich"). To make a distinction, the term Reichswehr was commonly used to identify the German armed forces.

In 1935, the Reichswehr was renamed Wehrmacht. After World War II and under the Allied occupation of Germany, the Wehrmacht was abolished. When West Germany remilitarized in 1955, its newly-created armed forces became known as the Bundeswehr ("Federal Defence Force"). East Germany's armed forces, formally established in 1956, were known as the National People's Army (Nationale Volksarmee). When East Germany (the German Democratic Republic) was incorporated into "West Germany" (the Federal Republic of Germany) in 1990, much of the Volksarmee property and some of the staff were also incorporated into the Bundeswehr.

Hence the term Wehrmacht customarily refers to Germany's armed forces during the Third Reich era and World War II, both in German and English. Note: It is incorrect to equate Wehrmacht with only the army (Heer). Wehrmacht vehicles used by Heer, Luftwaffe or Marine had license plates with WH, WL or WM.

[edit] History

After World War I ended with the capitulation of the German empire, the treaty of Versailles imposed severe constraints on the size of Germany's armed forces. The army was limited to one hundred thousand men with an additional fifteen thousand in the navy. The fleet was to consist of at most six battleships, six cruisers, and twelve destroyers. Tanks and heavy artillery were forbidden and the air force was dissolved. A new post-war military (the Reichswehr) was established on 23 March 1921. General conscription was abolished under another mandate of the Versailles treaty.

Germany immediately began covertly circumventing these conditions. A secret collaboration with the Soviet Union began after the treaty of Rapallo. Major-General Otto Hasse traveled to Moscow in 1923 to further negotiate the terms. Germany helped the Soviet Union with industrialisation and Soviet officers were to be trained in Germany. German tank and air force specialists would be trained in the Soviet Union and German chemical weapons research and manufacture would be carried out there along with other projects. Around three hundred German pilots received training at Lipetsk, some tank training took place near Kazan and toxic gas was developed at Saratov for the German army.

Balkenkreuz, a stylized version of the Iron Cross, the emblem of the Wehrmacht
Balkenkreuz, a stylized version of the Iron Cross, the emblem of the Wehrmacht

After the death of President Paul von Hindenburg on 2 August 1934, all officers and soldiers of the German armed forces swore a personal oath of loyalty to Adolf Hitler. By 1935, Germany was openly flouting the military restrictions set forth in the Versailles Treaty, and conscription was reintroduced on 16 March 1935. While the size of the standing army was to remain at about the 100,000-man mark decreed by the treaty, a new group of conscripts this size would receive training each year. The conscription law introduced the name Wehrmacht, so not only can this be regarded as its founding date, but the organisation and authority of the Wehrmacht can be viewed as Nazi creations regardless of the political affiliations of its high command (who nevertheless all swore the same personal oath of loyalty to Hitler). The insignia was a stylised version of the Iron Cross (the so-called Balkenkreuz, or beamed cross) that had first appeared as an aircraft and tank marking in late World War I. The existence of the Wehrmacht was officially announced on October 15 1935.

The number of soldiers who served in the Wehrmacht during its existence from 1935 until 1945 is believed to approach 18.2 million. This figure was put forward by historian Rüdiger Overmans and represents the total number of people who ever served in the Wehrmacht, and not the force strength of the Wehrmacht at any point in time. About 2.3 million Wehrmacht soldiers were killed in action; 550,000 died from non-combat causes; missing in action and unaccounted for after the war 2.0 million; and 459,000 POW deaths, of whom 77,000 were in the custody of the U.S., UK, and France; POW dead includes 266,000 in the post war period after June 1945, primarily in Soviet captivity. Approximately 11 million were captured by enemy forces.[citation needed]

[edit] Command structure

Legally, the Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht was Adolf Hitler in his capacity as Germany's head of state, a position he gained after the death of President Paul von Hindenburg in August 1934. In the reshuffle in 1938, Hitler became the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and retained that position until his suicide on 30 April 1945. Administration and military authority initially lay with the war ministry under Generalfeldmarschall Werner von Blomberg. After von Blomberg resigned in the course of the Blomberg-Fritsch Affair (1938) the ministry was dissolved and the Armed Forces High Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht or OKW) under Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel was put in its place. It was headquartered in Wünsdorf near Zossen, and a field echelon (Feldstaffel) was stationed wherever the Führer's headquarters were situated at a given time.

The OKW coordinated all military activities but Keitel's sway over the three branches of service (army, air force, and navy) was rather limited. Each had its own High Command, known as Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH, army), Oberkommando der Marine (OKM, navy), and Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (OKL, air force). Each of these high commands had its own general staff.

Flag for the C-I-C of the German Armed Forces (1935-1938)
Flag for the C-I-C of the
German Armed Forces (1935-1938)
  • OKW — the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces
Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces - Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel (1938 to 1945)
Chief of the Operations Staff (Wehrmachtführungsstab) - Colonel-General Alfred Jodl
  • OKH — the Supreme Command of the Army
Army Commanders-in-Chief
Colonel-General Werner von Fritsch (1935 to 1938)
Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch (1938 to 1941)
Führer and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler (1941 to 1945)
Field Marshal Ferdinand Schörner (1945)
Chief of Staff of the German Army - General Ludwig Beck (1935 to 1938); General Franz Halder (1938 to 1942); General Kurt Zeitzler (1942 to 1944); General Oberst Heinz Guderian (1944 to 1945) General Hans Krebs (1945, committed suicide in the Führer Bunker)
  • OKM — the Supreme Command of the Navy
Navy Commanders-in-Chief
Grand Admiral Erich Raeder (1928 to 1943)
Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz (1943 to 1945)
General Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg (1945)
  • OKL - the Supreme Command of the Air Force
Air Force Commanders-in-Chief
Reich Marshal Hermann Göring (to 1945)
General Field Marshal Robert Ritter von Greim (1945)

The OKW was also tasked with central economic planning and procurement, but the authority and influence of the OKW's war economy office (Wehrwirtschaftsamt) was challenged by the procurement offices (Waffenämter) of the single branches of service as well as by the Ministry for Armament and Munitions (Reichsministerium für Bewaffnung und Munition), into which it was merged after the ministry was taken over by Albert Speer in early 1942.

[edit] War years

Wehrmacht soldiers during combat with Pak36 anti-tank gun.
Wehrmacht soldiers during combat with Pak36 anti-tank gun.
German cavalry and motorized units entering Poland from East Prussia during the Invasion of Poland of 1939
German cavalry and motorized units entering Poland from East Prussia during the Invasion of Poland of 1939

Powerful tank and air forces enabled quick successes (Blitzkrieg) during early stages of the war when nation after nation was overrun and occupied within weeks. This convinced military leaders that a new concept of broad armament made sense, rather than the conventional deep armament which provided supplies over a long period of time. However, when powerful adversaries (the United Kingdom, Soviet Union and United States) began offering tenacious resistance, the blitzkrieg tactics could not be applied and the relatively low state of armament, shortage of fuel supply etc. became a problem for the Wehrmacht.

The Wehrmacht's military strength was managed through mission-based tactics (rather than order-based tactics) and an almost proverbial discipline. In public opinion, the Wehrmacht was and is sometimes seen as a high-tech army, since new technologies were introduced during World War II, including the reprisal weapons, the Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket interceptor, the Me 262 jet fighter, and midget submarines. These technologies were featured by propaganda, but were often only available in small numbers or late in the war, as overall supplies of raw materials and armaments became low. For example only forty percent of all units were motorised, baggage trains often relied on horses and many soldiers went by foot or, sometimes, used bicycles (many stolen from the local population).

Max Hastings, respected British author, historian and ex-newspaper editor, said in a radio interview on WGN Chicago "...there's no doubt that man for man, the German army was the greatest fighting force of the second world war". This view was also explained in his book "Overlord: D-Day and the battle for Normandy". In the book World War II : An Illustrated Miscellany, Anthony Evans writes: 'The German soldier was very professional and well trained, aggressive in attack and stubborn in defence. He was always adaptable, particularly in the later years when shortages of equipment were being felt'. These views of the Wehrmacht are an attempt to evaluate their fighting abilities and not trying to excuse or justify the aims or actions of the Nazi regime.

Among the foreign volunteers who served in the Wehrmacht during World War II were ethnic Germans, Dutch, and Scandinavians along with people from the Baltic states and the Balkans. Russians fought in the Russian Liberation Army or as Hilfswilliger. Non-Russians from the Soviet Union formed the Ostlegionen. These units were all commanded by General Ernst August Köstring and represented about five percent of the Wehrmacht.

[edit] Theaters and campaigns

Troops in Russia in 1941
Troops in Russia in 1941

[edit] War crimes

Main article: War crimes of the Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht committed numerous war crimes during World War II — terror bombing of open cities, massacres of civilians, summary executions of Soviet political officers as sanctioned by the Commissar Order, and executions of prisoners of war and civilian hostages as punishment for partisan activities in occupied territories. Though the massive exterminations associated with the Holocaust were primarily committed by the SS and the Einsatzgruppen, the Wehrmacht was also involved, as Wehrmacht officers and soldiers cooperated with the Einsatzgruppen in many locations rounding up Jews and others for internment or execution. Members of the Wehrmacht often participated in massacres themselves, as to some extent did members of virtually all the military forces engaged, including the Japanese, the Soviets and occasionally even the Western Allies.

As the extent of the Holocaust became widely known by the end of the war, many former members of the Wehrmacht promoted the view that it was "unblemished" by the crimes allegedly committed exclusively by the SS and the political police forces, which both were not part of the Wehrmacht. Though it convicted OKW chief Wilhelm Keitel and chief of operations Alfred Jodl for war crimes, the Nuremberg tribunal did not declare the Wehrmacht to be a criminal organization, as it did with party organizations such as the SS. This was seen by many Germans as an exoneration of the Wehrmacht. Among German historians, the deep involvement of the Wehrmacht in war crimes, particularly on the Eastern Front, became widely accepted in the late 1970s and the 1980s. However, public awareness in Germany has been lagging behind - as exemplified by controversial and often emotionally charged reactions to an exhibition on these issues in the mid-1990s [1] Polish historians also want the German public to become more aware of the Wehrmacht's atrocities regarding the Polish September Campaign[2].

[edit] Politics of the Wehrmacht

Due to the constitution of Weimar Republic any soldier of the Reichswehr was neither allowed to become a member of a political party nor to vote in an election because there was a strict separation between politics and the armed forces. The same applied later to the Wehrmacht. Most of its leadership was politically conservative and therefore not in favour of a Nazi revolution conducted by “uneducated proletarians". But after Hitler gained power he had promised to rebuild Germany's military strength and thus some officers became sympathetic towards the National Socialist movement. Political influence in the military command began to increase later in the war when Hitler's flawed strategic decisions began showing up as serious defeats for the German army and tensions mounted between the military and the government. Not only did Hitler appoint unqualified personnel to lead his armies[citation needed], but also gave to his commanders impossible orders, such as to shoot all officers and enlisted men who retreated from a front line.

[edit] Resistance to the Nazi regime

Main article: German Resistance

From all groups of German Resistance those within the Wehrmacht were the most feared by the Nazis. Actually there were several attempts by members of the Wehrmacht like Henning von Tresckow or Erich Hoepner to assassinate Hitler as an ignition of a coup d'état. Rudolf Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff and Axel Freiherr von dem Bussche-Streithorst even tried to do so by suicide bombing. Those and many other officers in the Wehrmacht such as Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg and Wilhelm Canaris strictly declined the atrocities of the Hitler regime. Combined with Hitler's problematic if not senseless military leadership, this also culminated in the famous July 20 plot (1944), when a group of Wehrmacht officers led by von Stauffenberg tried again to kill Hitler and overthrow his regime. Following this (last known) attempt every officer of the Wehrmacht who approached Hitler was searched from head to foot by his SS guards. As a special degradation all German military personal were ordered to replace the standard military salute with the Hitler salute from this date on. To which extent the German military forces were in opposition to the Hitler regime or supported it is nevertheless highly disputed amongst historians up to our days.

[edit] Prominent members

Erwin Rommel, 1941
Erwin Rommel, 1941

Prominent German officers from the Wehrmacht era include:

[edit] After World War II

Following the unconditional German surrender on 7 May 1945 (which went into effect on 8 May 1945) Germany was forbidden to have an army. It was over ten years before the tensions of the Cold War led to the creation of separate military forces in the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic. The West German military, officially created on 5 May 1955, took the name Bundeswehr, meaning Federal Defence Forces, which pointed back to the old Reichswehr. Its East German counterpart, created on 1 March 1956, took the name National People's Army (Nationale Volksarmee). Neither side could do without experienced soldiers so each army initially had substantial numbers of officers who were former Wehrmacht members.

[edit] Ranks and comparative table

Ranks (enlisted men and officers)
Wehrmacht British Americans
Schütze Private Private
Oberschütze * Private Private E-2
Gefreiter Private Private 1st class
Obergefreiter Private Corporal
Stabsgefreiter * Private Corporal
Unteroffizier Corporal Sergeant
Unterfeldwebel * Sergeant Staff Sergeant
Feldwebel Staff Sergeant Sergeant First Class
Oberfeldwebel WO II Master Sergeant
Stabsfeldwebel * WO I Sergeant Major
Leutnant Second Lieutenant Second Lieutenant
Oberleutnant Lieutenant 1st Lieutenant
Hauptmann Captain Captain
Major Major Major
Oberstleutnant Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant Colonel
Oberst Colonel Colonel
  • (*) These ranks were rare.
    • An Unteroffizier should have been promoted directly to Feldwebel, but if he refuses promotion or is not reputed abreast of the rank, but must absolutely be promoted, he becomes Unterfeldwebel. **Stabsfeldwebel was a special rank reserved for those who signed 12 year contracts in the prewar Army.
    • The Oberschütze rank was given to soldiers not fit for promotion to Gefreiter due to age and maturity, or due to mediocre military skills.
    • Stabsgefreiter, instituted in 1942, recognized long-service private soldiers who were unable or unwilling to be promoted to a non-commissioned officer rank.
  • Hauptfeldwebel was an administrative appointment roughly equal in terms of duties and responsibilities to a Company Sergeant Major in the Commonwealth or 1st Sergeant in the U.S. Army. Any NCO could have been appointed Hauptfeldwebel, just as a Staff Sergeant, a Technical Sergeant or a Master Sergeant in the American Army could have been proposed for the First Sergeant position.
  • Promotions in the German Army were given in two main circumstances: the first, was after the soldier passed his experience period. For example, a Schütze should have been promoted to Gefreiter after 6 months experience, a Gefreiter was promoted to Obergefreiter after 2 years and so on. During the war this rule was sometimes overruled by promotions addressed because of proven bravery in battle or ability in command.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Max Hastings, Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy 1944, 1985, reissued 1999, Pan, ISBN 0-330-39012-0
  • Max Hastings, Armageddon: The Battle for Germany 1945, 2004, Macmillan, ISBN 0-333-90836-8
  • Anthony A Evans, World War II: An Illustrated Miscellany, 2005, Worth Press, ISBN 1-84567-681-5
  • Geoffrey P. Megargee, "War of Annihilation. Combat and Genocide on the Eastern Front, 1941", 2006, Rowman & Littelefield, ISBN 0-7425-4481
  • W.J.K. Davies, German Army Handbook, 1973, Ian Allen Ltd., Shepperton, Surrey, ISBN 0-7110-0290-8
  • Fest, Joachim; Plotting Hitler's Death -- The Story of the German Resistance, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1996. ISBN 0-8050-4213-X

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../w/e/h/Wehrmacht.html"