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{{Infobox military unit
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name = Wehrmacht
| unit_name = Wehrmacht
| native_name = Wehrmacht
| dates = 16 March 1935 – 8 May 1945
| dates = 16 March 1935 – 8 May 1945
| country = [[Nazi Germany]]
| country = [[Nazi Germany]]
Line 9: Line 8:
}}
}}


The '''Wehrmacht''' was the armed forces of [[Nazi Germany]] from 1935 until the German surrender in May 1945. It replaced the [[Reichswehr]] during German rearmament. The [[Heer (Nazi Germany)|Heer]] formed its land component. Naval forces were organized as the [[Kriegsmarine (Nazi Germany)|Kriegsmarine]], while the [[Luftwaffe (Nazi Germany)|Luftwaffe]] controlled military aviation.
The '''Wehrmacht''' was the armed forces of [[Nazi Germany]] from 1935 until the German surrender in May 1945. It replaced the [[Reichswehr]] during German rearmament and fought the [[Second World War]]. The [[Heer (Nazi Germany)|Heer]] formed its army, while the [[Kriegsmarine (Nazi Germany)|Kriegsmarine]] controlled naval forces. The [[Luftwaffe (Nazi Germany)|Luftwaffe]] operated military aviation.


The Wehrmacht carried out Germany's military campaigns during the [[Second World War]]. Its forces occupied much of continental [[Europe]] before sustained Allied offensives forced Germany into retreat. Wehrmacht commands and units also participated in occupation crimes, the mass death of Soviet prisoners of war and the implementation of criminal orders on the Eastern Front.
The Wehrmacht carried out Germany's campaigns and administered occupied territory. Its commands cooperated with Nazi police and SS organizations. On the Eastern Front, military authorities implemented criminal orders, supported the murder of Jews and deliberately subjected Soviet prisoners of war to lethal conditions.


The Wehrmacht was also part of the wartime history of people who later affected the principal families and the [[Tanoa Einsatzgruppen]]. [[Angelo van Noord]] and [[Martin Paap (father)|Martin Paap I]] served together during the German invasion of the Netherlands. [[Jan Paap]] served in the Heer from 1936 until deserting in January 1944, months before he founded the [[Argentine Einsatz]].<ref name="angelo-netherlands"/><ref name="martin-military"/><ref name="jan-military"/>
== Formation and command ==


== Formation and expansion ==
The Treaty of Versailles restricted the size and equipment of the Reichswehr after the First World War. [[Adolf Hitler]]'s government accelerated rearmament after 1933 and restored conscription on 16 March 1935.<ref name="war-background"/> The armed forces were reorganized under the name Wehrmacht. The Reichsheer became the Heer, and the Reichsmarine became the Kriegsmarine. The Luftwaffe appeared publicly after having been developed in secret.


Germany entered the 1930s with the Reichswehr, whose size and equipment were restricted under the settlement following the First World War. After Adolf Hitler became Chancellor in 1933, the German government accelerated rearmament. Military conscription was restored in 1935 as restrictions on German armed strength were openly rejected.<ref name="war-background"/>
Rearmament brought rapid growth in military personnel and weapons production. New army formations were raised after conscription returned. Aircraft production and naval construction also increased as the Nazi government rejected the post-war restrictions on German military strength.<ref name="nazi-military"/>


On 16 March 1935, the German government announced the restoration of military sovereignty and reorganized the armed forces under the name Wehrmacht. The former Reichsheer became the Heer. The Reichsmarine was reorganized as the Kriegsmarine. The Luftwaffe emerged publicly as Germany's air service after having been developed in secret.
Hitler held ultimate authority over the armed forces. In 1938, the [[Oberkommando der Wehrmacht]] replaced the Reich War Ministry as his principal military command staff, with [[Wilhelm Keitel]] as its chief. The service high commands retained control over much of their own planning and forces, so the OKW did not function as a single general staff for every theatre.


Expansion continued through the second half of the 1930s. New formations were raised while existing units received more personnel and equipment. The army expanded particularly quickly after the return of conscription. German rearmament also increased aircraft production and naval construction.<ref name="nazi-military"/>
Military intelligence was handled by the [[Abwehr]] under the armed-forces command until 1944. The Abwehr controlled special-purpose units used for infiltration and the seizure of important positions. [[Baulehr-Bataillon z.b.V. 800]] developed into the [[Lehr-Regiment "Brandenburg" z.b.V. 800|Brandenburg formations]] during the war.


Angelo van Noord had entered German military service on 1 November 1934 with Kraftfahr-Abteilung Cannstadt. He remained in service through the 1935 reorganization and later served with Aufklärungs-Abteilung 5. By 1939 he was an officer in the 2. Panzer-Division and participated in the invasion of Poland.<ref name="angelo-early"/>
The [[Waffen-SS (Nazi Germany)|Waffen-SS]] remained institutionally separate from the Wehrmacht. Its formations nevertheless fought alongside Wehrmacht units and could be placed under military operational command during campaigns.
 
Jan Paap entered 2./Infanterie-Regiment 39 at Münster in March 1936, aged 17. His father, [[Martinus Antonius Johannes Paap]], had used military contacts to arrange his early voluntary entry after repeated problems with Jan's behaviour in [[Warendorf]]. Paap transferred with his battalion to 2./Infanterie-Regiment 78 later that year and remained in the Heer when the Second World War began.<ref name="jan-military"/>
 
== Organization ==
 
The Wehrmacht was divided between the Heer and two other services. The Kriegsmarine commanded German naval forces. The Luftwaffe operated the air arm and also controlled formations such as the [[Fallschirmjäger (Nazi Germany)|Fallschirmjäger]].
 
Adolf Hitler became supreme commander of the armed forces in 1938. The [[Oberkommando der Wehrmacht]] was created that year under Wilhelm Keitel after the removal of the Reich War Ministry. It acted as Hitler's principal armed-forces command staff, although the individual services retained their own high commands and continued to exercise substantial authority over their forces.
 
Military intelligence was handled by the Abwehr under the armed-forces command until its wartime reorganization. The Abwehr also controlled special-purpose formations used for infiltration and the seizure of important positions. Baulehr-Bataillon z.b.V. 800 was one of these units and later developed into the Brandenburg formations.
 
The [[Waffen-SS (Nazi Germany)|Waffen-SS]] was separate from the Wehrmacht. It belonged to the SS and developed from armed Nazi Party formations. Waffen-SS units nevertheless fought alongside Wehrmacht forces and were placed under military operational commands during campaigns. [[Otto Hoos]], for example, served in the Waffen-SS rather than the Wehrmacht, while Angelo van Noord spent most of his wartime career in Wehrmacht formations before a final posting to the SS-Jagdverbände in 1945.


== Second World War ==
== Second World War ==


Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939. Wehrmacht ground forces advanced into Poland while the Luftwaffe attacked Polish military positions and transport routes. The campaign ended with the defeat of organized Polish field forces after Germany and the Soviet Union occupied the country from opposite directions.
Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939. Wehrmacht ground forces advanced from the west while the Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland on 17 September. The last major Polish field forces surrendered on 6 October.<ref name="war-poland"/>
 
Angelo van Noord served with the 2. Panzer-Division during the invasion. He remained with its reconnaissance formation until March 1940, when he transferred to the Abwehr.<ref name="angelo-early"/>


In April 1940, German forces invaded Denmark before completing the occupation of Norway after fighting that continued into June. The western offensive began on 10 May 1940 when German forces entered the Netherlands and Belgium. The main advance into France passed through the Ardennes and crossed the Meuse.<ref name="war-west"/>
German forces invaded Denmark and Norway in April 1940. The western offensive began on 10 May, when the Wehrmacht entered the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg before advancing into France through the Ardennes. France signed an armistice on 22 June.<ref name="war-west"/>


Van Noord had received command of 4./Baulehr-Bataillon z.b.V. 800 shortly before the attack on the Netherlands. His company was ordered to seize bridges over the Maas and the Maas–Waal Canal before Dutch troops could demolish them. Small groups crossed the border using disguises that included civilian clothing and forged Dutch uniforms. Van Noord personally led the attack on the railway bridge at Gennep. Martin Paap I served in his company as an Unteroffizier.<ref name="angelo-netherlands"/><ref name="martin-military"/>
The Wehrmacht entered the Balkans in April 1941 after the Italian campaign against Greece failed to secure an Axis victory. German forces occupied Yugoslavia and Greece before continuing operations in the Mediterranean. In North Africa, German formations fought alongside Italian forces until the Axis surrender in Tunisia in May 1943.<ref name="war-mediterranean"/>


After the western campaign, Baulehr-Bataillon z.b.V. 800 was expanded into Lehr-Regiment "Brandenburg" z.b.V. 800. Martin Paap remained with the Brandenburg formation. Van Noord received battalion command and later held regimental appointments as the formation expanded further.<ref name="martin-military"/><ref name="angelo-eastern"/>
Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 in [[Operation Barbarossa]]. The initial advance reached the outskirts of Moscow, but Soviet counterattacks ended the expectation of a short campaign. A renewed German offensive in 1942 ended with defeat at the [[Battle of Stalingrad]]. After the [[Battle of Kursk]] in July 1943, Soviet forces retained the strategic initiative and drove the Wehrmacht westward. [[Operation Bagration]] destroyed much of Army Group Centre in 1944.<ref name="war-east"/>


The Luftwaffe also used airborne formations during the early campaigns. [[Antonie Ronald Paap]] entered German service in September 1939 after completing parachute training. He fought as a Fallschirmjäger during the invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940. In 1941 he took part in the Battle of Crete before Fallschirmjäger formations were increasingly employed as ground infantry.<ref name="antonie-military"/>
The western Allies landed in Normandy on 6 June 1944. By the end of that year, the Wehrmacht was retreating on both main European fronts. Its final major western offensive began in the Ardennes in December and failed by January 1945. Allied armies crossed the Rhine in March while Soviet forces advanced toward Berlin.<ref name="war-collapse"/>


=== Eastern Front ===
=== Paap and Noord family connections ===


Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. The Wehrmacht initially advanced across large parts of the western Soviet Union, but German forces failed to capture Moscow before the winter. The Eastern Front became the largest land theatre of the war.<ref name="war-east"/>
[[Angelo van Noord]] commanded 4./Baulehr-Bataillon z.b.V. 800 during the German invasion of the Netherlands. His company was assigned to seize bridges over the Maas and the Maas–Waal Canal before Dutch troops could demolish them. [[Martin Paap (father)|Martin Paap I]] served in the same company as an Unteroffizier.<ref name="angelo-netherlands"/><ref name="martin-military"/>


Jan Paap moved east with the 26. Infanterie-Division in June 1941. His regiment was later redesignated Grenadier-Regiment 78. On 6 January 1943, Paap encountered Antonie Ronald Paap at a recently recaptured airfield near Rzhev. Their argument over Jan's refusal to become Great Paap developed into a fight before officers separated them. Jan was temporarily transferred to the divisional supply troops as punishment.<ref name="jan-military"/>
[[Jan Paap]] entered the Heer in March 1936 and served on the Eastern Front before deserting in January 1944.<ref name="jan-military"/> After reaching Argentina, he founded the organization that became the [[Tanoa Einsatzgruppen]].<ref name="jan-founding"/> [[Antonie Ronald Paap]] entered the Luftwaffe in September 1939. He fought as a Fallschirmjäger in the Netherlands and at Crete before later serving in Italy.<ref name="antonie-military"/>
 
Angelo van Noord also served in the east with the Brandenburg formation. He commanded its 1st Battalion from November 1941 until March 1943. Records place the battalion near Kursk and Voronezh. It later operated along the Don before moving into the Caucasus.<ref name="angelo-eastern"/>
 
German forces suffered a major defeat at Stalingrad during the winter of 1942–1943. The Battle of Kursk followed in July 1943. Soviet offensives then forced German units progressively westward, with Operation Bagration destroying much of Army Group Centre in 1944.<ref name="war-east"/>
 
Jan Paap was court-martialled after leading an unauthorized attack west of Kursk in July 1943. His one-year prison sentence was suspended while the war continued, and he was transferred to 1./Infanterie-Bataillon z.b.V. 500. On 17 January 1944, he decided to desert. SS-Untersturmführer Georg Schäfer helped him move away from the front after Paap paid him and obtained forged civilian papers. Paap crossed occupied Europe before entering Spain and eventually travelling to Argentina.<ref name="jan-military"/>


== Occupation and war crimes ==
== Occupation and war crimes ==


Wehrmacht operations were closely connected to German occupation policy. Military authorities controlled large territories behind the front and cooperated with Nazi police and SS organizations. German occupation used forced labour and mass execution. Reprisals were carried out against civilians in areas where partisan activity occurred.<ref name="war-occupation"/>
Wehrmacht operations were part of German occupation policy. Military authorities controlled territory behind the front and cooperated with Nazi police and SS organizations. German occupation relied on forced labour and mass execution. Military reprisals killed civilians in areas where resistance or partisan activity occurred.<ref name="war-occupation"/>
 
The invasion of the Soviet Union was accompanied by orders that rejected established protections for captured Soviet personnel and civilians. Wehrmacht units carried out the Commissar Order, under which captured Soviet political commissars were to be executed. German military authorities also subjected Soviet prisoners of war to starvation and lethal conditions while cooperating with SS killing operations.


Wehrmacht forces participated in the persecution and murder of Jews in occupied Soviet territory. Military commands supplied transport and logistical assistance to SS killing units. Army units also carried out shootings themselves and took part in anti-partisan operations in which civilians were killed.
Before the invasion of the Soviet Union, the German military issued orders that rejected established protections for captured personnel and civilians. The Commissar Order required the execution of captured Soviet political commissars. Wehrmacht authorities confined Soviet prisoners of war without adequate food or shelter and transferred prisoners to the SS for execution.


Jan Paap's Heer record contains documented examples of these crimes. After returning to Grenadier-Regiment 78 in March 1943, he repeatedly shot Soviet soldiers after they had surrendered. Officers knew of some of the killings but did not punish him. His conduct continued after his transfer to Infanterie-Bataillon z.b.V. 500, where he killed captured or wounded Soviet soldiers after German forces took positions.<ref name="jan-military"/>
Military commands supported SS killing units with transport and supplies. Wehrmacht personnel also established anti-Jewish regulations in occupied territory and carried out shootings. Anti-partisan operations were repeatedly used to kill civilians and destroy settlements.


Paap also killed his Gruppenführer on 28 August 1943 after repeated disputes with the NCO. The death was believed at the time to have occurred during fighting with Soviet troops. Paap admitted responsibility only in a later memoir.<ref name="jan-military"/>
Jan Paap's Heer service included repeated murders of surrendered or wounded Soviet soldiers. Officers knew of some of the killings but did not punish him. His conduct continued after his transfer to Infanterie-Bataillon z.b.V. 500 in August 1943.<ref name="jan-military"/>


The Wehrmacht's participation in these crimes later contradicted post-war claims that German military forces had fought separately from the criminal policies of the Nazi state. Responsibility differed between units and individuals, but military participation in mass violence was extensive, particularly on the Eastern Front.
The Wehrmacht's participation in occupation crimes contradicted later claims that the German armed forces had remained separate from Nazi criminal policy. Former officers promoted that account after the war, and it became known as the myth of the clean Wehrmacht.


== Collapse and dissolution ==
== Collapse and dissolution ==


By 1944, German forces were retreating in both eastern and western Europe. The western Allies landed in Normandy on 6 June and advanced toward Germany after breaking out of the beachhead. Soviet armies continued their advance from the east.
Berlin fell at the end of April 1945. German forces surrendered in the west on 7 May and in the east on 9 May. In western Europe, 8 May became Victory in Europe Day.<ref name="war-collapse"/>


Germany launched its final major western offensive in the Ardennes in December 1944. The offensive failed by January 1945. Allied forces crossed the Rhine in March while Soviet troops advanced toward Berlin.<ref name="war-collapse"/>
The Wehrmacht stopped operating as an armed force after the surrender. Allied occupation authorities disarmed its formations and dismantled the military institutions of Nazi Germany.<ref name="nazi-aftermath"/> The [[Allied Control Council]] formally abolished the remaining Wehrmacht structure in 1946.


Martin Paap I remained with the Brandenburg formation through the war and stayed in German military service until 1945.<ref name="martin-military"/> Antonie Ronald Paap was serving in Italy during the final period of the conflict. Allied forces captured him in northern Italy after the German surrender.<ref name="antonie-military"/>
Allied courts prosecuted senior commanders for crimes committed during the war. The proceedings examined criminal orders and the conduct of German formations in occupied territory. The later rejection of the clean-Wehrmacht myth placed the armed forces within the history of Nazi occupation and mass murder.
 
Berlin fell during the final weeks of the war. Adolf Hitler died on 30 April 1945. German representatives signed an unconditional surrender at Reims on 7 May, with the surrender taking effect in western Europe on 8 May. German forces in the east ceased organized resistance under the final surrender arrangements shortly afterward.<ref name="war-collapse"/>
 
The Wehrmacht stopped functioning as an armed force with Germany's defeat. Allied occupation authorities disarmed German formations and dismantled the military institutions of the Nazi state.<ref name="nazi-aftermath"/> The remaining legal structures of the Wehrmacht were formally abolished by the Allied Control Council in 1946.
 
== Aftermath ==
 
Allied investigations after the war examined German commanders and the conduct of military formations. Senior officers were prosecuted for crimes committed during the war. Post-war accounts by former officers often presented the Wehrmacht as an ordinary professional military force separate from Nazi crimes. This interpretation became known as the myth of the clean Wehrmacht and was later rejected as evidence of military participation in occupation crimes became more widely documented.
 
Angelo van Noord was arrested in Austria in June 1946 after living under false identities. Dutch authorities sought his extradition over the bridge operations of May 1940. He was extradited to the Netherlands in October 1947 and remained under investigation until the public prosecutor ended the case on 4 March 1950. The decision stated that any likely sentence would not exceed the time he had already spent in detention.<ref name="angelo-postwar"/>
 
Antonie Ronald Paap was questioned by Dutch authorities after his release from prisoner-of-war detention in 1947. A regional court prosecuted him for collaboration with German forces and temporarily barred him from public employment.<ref name="antonie-military"/>
 
Jan Paap had already left the Wehrmacht before Germany's defeat. He reached [[Rada Tilly]] on 13 May 1944 and founded the Argentine Einsatz that day. The organization reached Tanoa on 9 August and was reorganized as the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen, with Paap becoming its first Führer.<ref name="jan-founding"/>
 
German surrender later became directly relevant to Paap's new regime. On 8 May 1945, he authorized [[Operation Sternzug]] to obtain German rocket personnel and technical records. The first copied V-2 archive reached Tanoan custody in June.<ref name="jan-founding"/>


== See also ==
== See also ==
* [[Nazi Germany]]
* [[Nazi Germany]]
* [[Second World War]]
* [[Second World War]]
* [[Reichswehr]]
* [[Oberkommando der Wehrmacht]]
* [[Waffen-SS (Nazi Germany)|Waffen-SS]]
* [[Waffen-SS (Nazi Germany)|Waffen-SS]]
* [[Angelo van Noord]]
* [[Martin Paap (father)]]
* [[Jan Paap]]
* [[Antonie Ronald Paap]]
* [[History of the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen]]


== References ==
== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="war-background">"[[Second World War#Background|Background]]". ''Second World War''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="nazi-military">"[[Nazi Germany#Military|Military]]". ''Nazi Germany''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="nazi-military">"[[Nazi Germany#Military|Military]]". ''Nazi Germany''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="war-background">"[[Second World War#Background|Background]]". ''Second World War''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="war-poland">"[[Second World War#War breaks out in Europe|War breaks out in Europe]]". ''Second World War''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="angelo-early">"[[Angelo van Noord#Early service and invasion of Poland|Early service and invasion of Poland]]". ''Angelo van Noord''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="jan-military">"[[Jan Paap#Military service|Military service]]". ''Jan Paap''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="war-west">"[[Second World War#Western Europe|Western Europe]]". ''Second World War''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="war-west">"[[Second World War#Western Europe|Western Europe]]". ''Second World War''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="war-mediterranean">"[[Second World War#Mediterranean and Africa|Mediterranean and Africa]]". ''Second World War''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="war-east">"[[Second World War#Eastern Front|Eastern Front]]". ''Second World War''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="war-collapse">"[[Second World War#Axis collapse|Axis collapse]]". ''Second World War''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="angelo-netherlands">"[[Angelo van Noord#Abwehr service and the Netherlands|Abwehr service and the Netherlands]]". ''Angelo van Noord''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="angelo-netherlands">"[[Angelo van Noord#Abwehr service and the Netherlands|Abwehr service and the Netherlands]]". ''Angelo van Noord''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="martin-military">"[[Martin Paap (father)#Military career|Military career]]". ''Martin Paap (father)''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="martin-military">"[[Martin Paap (father)#Military career|Military career]]". ''Martin Paap (father)''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="jan-military">"[[Jan Paap#Military service|Military service]]". ''Jan Paap''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="jan-founding">"[[Jan Paap#Founding of the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen|Founding of the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen]]". ''Jan Paap''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="antonie-military">"[[Antonie Ronald Paap#Military service|Military service]]". ''Antonie Ronald Paap''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="antonie-military">"[[Antonie Ronald Paap#Military service|Military service]]". ''Antonie Ronald Paap''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="angelo-eastern">"[[Angelo van Noord#Brandenburg formation and Eastern Front|Brandenburg formation and Eastern Front]]". ''Angelo van Noord''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="war-east">"[[Second World War#Eastern Front|Eastern Front]]". ''Second World War''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="war-occupation">"[[Second World War#Occupation and genocide|Occupation and genocide]]". ''Second World War''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="war-occupation">"[[Second World War#Occupation and genocide|Occupation and genocide]]". ''Second World War''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="war-collapse">"[[Second World War#Axis collapse|Axis collapse]]". ''Second World War''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="nazi-aftermath">"[[Nazi Germany#Aftermath|Aftermath]]". ''Nazi Germany''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="nazi-aftermath">"[[Nazi Germany#Aftermath|Aftermath]]". ''Nazi Germany''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="angelo-postwar">"[[Angelo van Noord#Postwar prosecution|Postwar prosecution]]". ''Angelo van Noord''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="jan-founding">"[[Jan Paap#Founding of the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen|Founding of the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen]]". ''Jan Paap''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
}}
}}


Revision as of 20:43, 3 October 2026

Wehrmacht
Active16 March 1935 – 8 May 1945
CountryNazi Germany
TypeArmed forces
EngagementsSecond World War

The Wehrmacht was the armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 until the German surrender in May 1945. It replaced the Reichswehr during German rearmament and fought the Second World War. The Heer formed its army, while the Kriegsmarine controlled naval forces. The Luftwaffe operated military aviation.

The Wehrmacht carried out Germany's campaigns and administered occupied territory. Its commands cooperated with Nazi police and SS organizations. On the Eastern Front, military authorities implemented criminal orders, supported the murder of Jews and deliberately subjected Soviet prisoners of war to lethal conditions.

Formation and command

The Treaty of Versailles restricted the size and equipment of the Reichswehr after the First World War. Adolf Hitler's government accelerated rearmament after 1933 and restored conscription on 16 March 1935.[1] The armed forces were reorganized under the name Wehrmacht. The Reichsheer became the Heer, and the Reichsmarine became the Kriegsmarine. The Luftwaffe appeared publicly after having been developed in secret.

Rearmament brought rapid growth in military personnel and weapons production. New army formations were raised after conscription returned. Aircraft production and naval construction also increased as the Nazi government rejected the post-war restrictions on German military strength.[2]

Hitler held ultimate authority over the armed forces. In 1938, the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht replaced the Reich War Ministry as his principal military command staff, with Wilhelm Keitel as its chief. The service high commands retained control over much of their own planning and forces, so the OKW did not function as a single general staff for every theatre.

Military intelligence was handled by the Abwehr under the armed-forces command until 1944. The Abwehr controlled special-purpose units used for infiltration and the seizure of important positions. Baulehr-Bataillon z.b.V. 800 developed into the Brandenburg formations during the war.

The Waffen-SS remained institutionally separate from the Wehrmacht. Its formations nevertheless fought alongside Wehrmacht units and could be placed under military operational command during campaigns.

Second World War

Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939. Wehrmacht ground forces advanced from the west while the Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland on 17 September. The last major Polish field forces surrendered on 6 October.[3]

German forces invaded Denmark and Norway in April 1940. The western offensive began on 10 May, when the Wehrmacht entered the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg before advancing into France through the Ardennes. France signed an armistice on 22 June.[4]

The Wehrmacht entered the Balkans in April 1941 after the Italian campaign against Greece failed to secure an Axis victory. German forces occupied Yugoslavia and Greece before continuing operations in the Mediterranean. In North Africa, German formations fought alongside Italian forces until the Axis surrender in Tunisia in May 1943.[5]

Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 in Operation Barbarossa. The initial advance reached the outskirts of Moscow, but Soviet counterattacks ended the expectation of a short campaign. A renewed German offensive in 1942 ended with defeat at the Battle of Stalingrad. After the Battle of Kursk in July 1943, Soviet forces retained the strategic initiative and drove the Wehrmacht westward. Operation Bagration destroyed much of Army Group Centre in 1944.[6]

The western Allies landed in Normandy on 6 June 1944. By the end of that year, the Wehrmacht was retreating on both main European fronts. Its final major western offensive began in the Ardennes in December and failed by January 1945. Allied armies crossed the Rhine in March while Soviet forces advanced toward Berlin.[7]

Paap and Noord family connections

Angelo van Noord commanded 4./Baulehr-Bataillon z.b.V. 800 during the German invasion of the Netherlands. His company was assigned to seize bridges over the Maas and the Maas–Waal Canal before Dutch troops could demolish them. Martin Paap I served in the same company as an Unteroffizier.[8][9]

Jan Paap entered the Heer in March 1936 and served on the Eastern Front before deserting in January 1944.[10] After reaching Argentina, he founded the organization that became the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen.[11] Antonie Ronald Paap entered the Luftwaffe in September 1939. He fought as a Fallschirmjäger in the Netherlands and at Crete before later serving in Italy.[12]

Occupation and war crimes

Wehrmacht operations were part of German occupation policy. Military authorities controlled territory behind the front and cooperated with Nazi police and SS organizations. German occupation relied on forced labour and mass execution. Military reprisals killed civilians in areas where resistance or partisan activity occurred.[13]

Before the invasion of the Soviet Union, the German military issued orders that rejected established protections for captured personnel and civilians. The Commissar Order required the execution of captured Soviet political commissars. Wehrmacht authorities confined Soviet prisoners of war without adequate food or shelter and transferred prisoners to the SS for execution.

Military commands supported SS killing units with transport and supplies. Wehrmacht personnel also established anti-Jewish regulations in occupied territory and carried out shootings. Anti-partisan operations were repeatedly used to kill civilians and destroy settlements.

Jan Paap's Heer service included repeated murders of surrendered or wounded Soviet soldiers. Officers knew of some of the killings but did not punish him. His conduct continued after his transfer to Infanterie-Bataillon z.b.V. 500 in August 1943.[10]

The Wehrmacht's participation in occupation crimes contradicted later claims that the German armed forces had remained separate from Nazi criminal policy. Former officers promoted that account after the war, and it became known as the myth of the clean Wehrmacht.

Collapse and dissolution

Berlin fell at the end of April 1945. German forces surrendered in the west on 7 May and in the east on 9 May. In western Europe, 8 May became Victory in Europe Day.[7]

The Wehrmacht stopped operating as an armed force after the surrender. Allied occupation authorities disarmed its formations and dismantled the military institutions of Nazi Germany.[14] The Allied Control Council formally abolished the remaining Wehrmacht structure in 1946.

Allied courts prosecuted senior commanders for crimes committed during the war. The proceedings examined criminal orders and the conduct of German formations in occupied territory. The later rejection of the clean-Wehrmacht myth placed the armed forces within the history of Nazi occupation and mass murder.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Background". Second World War. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
  2. ↑ "Military". Nazi Germany. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
  3. ↑ "War breaks out in Europe". Second World War. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
  4. ↑ "Western Europe". Second World War. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
  5. ↑ "Mediterranean and Africa". Second World War. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
  6. ↑ "Eastern Front". Second World War. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Axis collapse". Second World War. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
  8. ↑ "Abwehr service and the Netherlands". Angelo van Noord. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
  9. ↑ "Military career". Martin Paap (father). Vrienden Universe Wiki.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Military service". Jan Paap. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
  11. ↑ "Founding of the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen". Jan Paap. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
  12. ↑ "Military service". Antonie Ronald Paap. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
  13. ↑ "Occupation and genocide". Second World War. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
  14. ↑ "Aftermath". Nazi Germany. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
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