Wehrmacht

Wehrmacht

At the time of Hitler took power in 1933 year, The German army was a significant force, Cunned by a peace conference in Versailles. The Reichswer was only to count on the treaty according to the provisions of the treaty 100 thousand. professional soldiers, not equipped with any tanks, planes, nor heavy works. Navy could be able to be able to be able to be able to 15 000 people, only 10% officers, The tonnage of all units could not exceed 16 800 ton.

Hitler came to the conclusion, that the expansion of the army is the most important goal of his internal policy, For it was the army that was a tool, which could enable him to achieve his political and ideological goals. However, bypassing Versailles orders through cooperation with the Soviet Union, conducted so far since the layout in Rapallo, It was not enough to restructure the German armed forces. In May 1935 The year Hitler terminated the disarmament clauses and began intense, Official reinforcements. Since then, the total economic effort of the Third Reich has just rested on the modernization and enlargement of the Wehrmacht, to which the name was renamed the current Reichswehra.

The reinforcements went quite quickly, in all military aspects. Infantry, from volunteer 100 The thousandth army turned into a powerful force in the number of over a hundred divisions, in which perfectly equipped and trained soldiers included. Armored forces and aviation were also expanded, which were created from scratch. Within four years, the Germans managed to create an armored power of almost 3300 tanks supported by over over 4 Thousands of modern aircraft (What Hitler owed mainly to his aviation minister, Goering). However, matters with the Navy dealt more slowly (Navy), However, she made quite a lot of progress anyway. If in 1933 year, the Germans actually had only one significant ship, it's already in 1939 year this number increased to 47 ships (in this 5 battleships) i 57 submarines. However, Such the development of the army has affected the production of consumer goods significantly, According to the propagated password “cannons instead of butter”. However, this was not much important in the face of the need to build a strong army.

However, Despite large numbers, Many German generals considered, that Wehrmacht was not in 1939 year ready for a long war. It was in fact. Contrary to appearances, The German economy and administration was unable to provide troops with constant supply and supply of equipment. This impossibility crossed out the possibility of waging any war for exhaustion.

With this in mind, Hitler accepted the doctrine for his army. instant wars (Blitzkireg), developed by General Hans Guderian (“Danger, Panzer!”) thanks to which the Wehrmacht was able to conquer the territory of a given country in a relatively short time, what was to postpone the threat of war on exhaustion and the collapse of the German army. Blitzkrieg relied on a strong concentration of land and air troops as well as the incredible speed and effectiveness of maneuvers, aimed at encircling and taking an enemy army in a tick. The impact was based on the cooperation of armored troops and aviation.

The attack usually took place at dawn, To surprise and disorganize as much as possible, what was one of the main goals. It was most often preceded by artillery preparation. Then, above the given territory, they flew a huge number of aircraft, providing the attacking troops from air and eliminating all threats in the form of fighters, or enemy bombers. After mastering the air zone by aviation, Tanks entered the battle, removing all tactical problems, and eliminating resistance points, requiring the use of heavier guns. Then, Already for cleaning the area, Infantry entered the fire.

This tactic compensated for any shortcomings of the German army. Its effectiveness Wehrmacht effectively proved during the September campaign.

The table below illustrates the state of armored and aviation forces, per day 31 August 1939 year (The number of aircraft applies to those intended for operations in Poland):