The German Wehrmacht became a symbol of the Second World War.
The Entente's victory over Germany was crownedVersailles Peace Treaty, signed in Compiègne at the end of 1918. The incredibly difficult conditions for surrender were supplemented by the demand for the actual liquidation of the army. The German Republic was allowed to have a small professional army with a total strength of one hundred thousand men, and equally reduced naval forces. The military structure, created on the remains of the army of the German Empire, was called Reichver. Despite such a small number, Reichver under the command of General von Sect was able to become a base for the deployment of a new army of the Third Reich and soon there were no those who did not know what the Wehrmacht was.
The coming to power of the National Socialists, headed byHitler in 1933 had the goal of Germany's withdrawal from the rigid framework of the Treaty of Versailles. The Reichswehr had a well-trained and highly motivated personnel reserve to transform it into a real army. Adopted shortly after Hitler took power, the law on the Wehrmacht sharply extended the scope of military construction. Despite the envisaged increase in the armed forces fivefold, in the first years it was not completely clear what the Wehrmacht is. His appearance, distinguished by dynamic aggressiveness, high discipline and readiness to fight with any enemy in any conditions, has not yet developed. The Wehrmacht embraced the best traditions of the Prussian and German Imperial Army, receiving in addition to them a powerful ideological base on the basis of the ideology of National Socialism.
Nazi ideology had a significant impacton the personnel and fate of the Wehrmacht. Many perceive him as a party army, whose main task was the spread of National Socialism to the conquered territories. To some extent, this was so. But life is more complex than dogma, and within the Wehrmacht the old Prussian and German military traditions remained in force. It was they who made him such a formidable opponent and powerful tool of Nazi domination. It is very difficult to formulate what the Wehrmacht is ideologically. It fancifully combined the soldiers' partnership and party fanaticism. Defense of Fatherland and the construction of a new ideological Empire. The preservation of the corporate spirit of the Wehrmacht was facilitated by the creation of SS troops, which accumulated the most fanatical elements of the Third Reich.
The war demonstrated strengths and weaknessesthe army of Hitlerite Germany. When the Second World War began, the Wehrmacht represented the most powerful land army in the world. The excellent personnel base and the highest motivation were supplemented by the industrial and scientific potential of Germany and Austria. The course of the war proved the highest combat capabilities of this army. But with maximum clarity it became obvious that the best tool is useless for achieving adventurous goals. The history of the best army of the beginning of World War II warns against the temptation to repeat the sad experience. Reich strove for war, and his army was the symbol of the word "war". Wehrmacht, known today, without it would not exist. The losses incurred during the battles changed the staffing. Instead of a highly professional army, the Wehrmacht increasingly acquired the characteristics of the people's militia. The adventurous line of the Reich leadership set the same unbearable tasks for him. The restructuring of thinking from war to conquer the territories to defend their own country under such conditions proved impossible. With the reduction of the fronts, the rhetoric of propaganda changed, but its meaning did not change. The decline in professionalism, as a consequence of large losses, was not compensated for by the inflow of soldiers who were determined to defend the state. At the end of the war, the Wehrmacht looked like a loose conglomerate of individual combat-ready units, blurred by the demoralized mass of draftees and folkshturmists. They did not have time to perceive the Prussian military traditions to become soldiers, and did not have the motivation to perish for the Nazi regime.
The defeat of Hitler's Germany by 1945 becameinevitable. When the Second World War ended, the Wehrmacht ceased to exist. Together with him, much of what was the basis of the German army's combat capability has gone into the past. Despite the declared anti-fascism, the Soviet Union most fully preserved the traditions and spirit of the Prussian army in the reconstituted army of the GDR. Perhaps this is due to the deep generality inherent in the Russian and German armies before the First World War. Many soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht continued their service in the army of the GDR, transferring to it the old traditions. They managed to demonstrate this during the suppression of the 1968 Czechoslovak rebellion. This event reminded what the Wehrmacht is. The FRG army underwent more transformation for interaction with Anglo-American troops, which had a completely different structure and history.
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