What+was the+Wehrmacht?



The //Wehrmacht// was the German armed forces from 1935 to 1945. It was divided down into three main branches. These were the //Heer,// the //Kreigsmarine,// and the //Luftwaffe.// The //Heer// was the army or land operations of the //Wehrmacht.// The //Kreigsmarine// was the navy, and the //Luftwaffe// was the air force. This unified force was a weapon in itself, and with the help of superior training and advanced weaponry, it will always go down in history as one of the most feared and hated armies to of ever existed.

The //Wehrmacht// came into existence in 1935 when Adolf Hitler, as acting dictator of Germany, publicaly announced the construction of a German air force and the re-instituting of conscription. These two acts went directly against the Treaty of Versilles established after the events of World War I. These were just some of the first steps to the creation of one of the most infamous forces ever created.Hitler was known for having the habit of making things more complex. He broke down the command of the //Wehrmacht// with a headquarters for each of the branches. In addition to this he made the // Oberkommando der Wehrmacht// or OKW, which was the high command of the armed forces. OKW was seriously flawed in its structure, and it never functioned as a proper unified planning headquarters. After the invasion of Russia Hitler claimed that he was far superior to any of his generals or tacticians, and so he claimed supreme command over the armed forces.



The //Wehrmacht// was doomed from its beginning with Hitler in command. Resources were being given to the wrong operations, and having 4.5 million men under arms was not helping. In reality the German armed forces were not properly prepared for total war until 1944 (Holmes).

An army cannot become famous because of its flaws however. Despite the major flaws and setbacks of the //Wehrmacht,// its achievements are legendary. The combat performance of German troops was consistently 20 to 30% above that of Allied troops. The forces themselves were not the problem, it was Hitler's strategic errors that brought their downfall. The //Wehrmacht// is forever famous for its consistent die hard defense of Europe in a war that everyone knew they were losing. Specifically for the constant counter attacks launched against the Allies as they fell back, such as the Battle of the Bulge, which inflicted massive losses upon the Allies in just the first few days. One instance of the extremely superior training these men were given was in April, 1945, when a single German tank destroyed 14 Russian tanks in one day while covering the evacuation of the German city of Vienna (Holmes). For more on German armor, go here.

The //Wehrmacht// could not be considered what they are today though without the support of their people. The German armed forces were massively adored by their country, even in constant defeat. This and very high indoctrination are what kept the forces fighting in the face of doom. They would be punished if they failed, but massively awarded if they succeeded, even in death. Their training was built on honor and fortitude, that was the one thing command was successful in implementing. This army was Germany's greatest weapon. The organization of troops focused on military power instead of logistics. Combat soldiers represented 84.5% of the German army in any given theater while the U.S. only had 50% of its troops for combat. (Holmes) " German soldiers were not simply better trained than their opponents, but were delivered from the Replacement Army to the front line by way of ‘marching battalions’ which gave regiments a strong incentive to polish the training of their own replacements... the average German senior NCO was better trained than the average Allied junior officer, while German officer training routinely incorporated periods of front-line service " (Holmes). If it had not been for their crippled command, the //Wehrmacht// could of very likely won the Great War for Hitler, easily being his greatest weapon of the war.

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