Wehrmacht Essays

Allied strategic bombing of Germany during the Second World War was in the main significant. The key themes to be looked at in this essay are the effects that allied strategic bombing had on the dislocation and demoralisation of German civilians; Germany’s economic ability to produce and transport goods for the war effort; other key aspects of the German war effort and, finally, other theatres of the War. The evidence of the effectiveness of allied strategic bombing of Germany strongly suggests that

What does it take for a genocide to be officially declared as a “genocide” and widely recognized by different nations as such? During the rise of World War I, in 1915, the Ottoman Empire set a plan to eliminate the Armenian race and portray it as a “threat” to the development of the Turkish nation. Over the course of just 3 years, this plan annihilated over 3/4 of the Armenian population in the Empire, or 1.5 million individuals. This devastating historical event might sound familiar, because just

What were the motivations and goals of the participants of Operation Valkyrie? Operation Valkyrie, better known as the July Plot of 1944, was a significant assassination attempt against Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Nazi Germany, during World War II. This plot was led by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, with a group of high-ranking military officers and civilians who sought to assassinate Hitler and his inner circle to bring an end to the war and prevent further destruction of Germany. The plot

Conformity and group mentality are major aspects of social influence that have governed some of the most notorious events and experiments in history. The Holocaust is a shocking example of group mentality, or groupthink, which states that all members of the group must support the group’s decisions strongly, and all evidence leading to the contrary must be ignored. Social norms are an example of conformity on a smaller scale, such as tipping your waiter or waitress, saying please and thank you, and

Operation Valkyrie was a plot to overthrow Adolf Hitler and the German government. Over 200 German officers decided to do this to save Germany from total destruction. The officer 's plans included assassinating Hitler in his bunker and using the reserve army to gain control of Berlin and eventually all of Germany. The plan failed after the bomb went off and did not kill Hitler. The plot took place in East Prussia (present-day Poland). The plotters were executed once the coup fell through. Operation

Narrator- It’s June 6th 1944, and a man by the name of Dwight D. Eisenhower sits in his office, planning for the invasion and liberation of the beaches of Normandy, France, which is later know as the famous battle D-Day. Eisenhower- It seems all men are accounted for… although the weather seems a bit dangerous to travel in. Narrator- A knock suddenly sounds on the door, with a well respected Ally general on the other side.... Eisenhower- Come in? General Bradley- Sir! Is the mission ready

the Wehrmacht has pushed out of Germany and Poland, on its way east, to the front of the Soviet Union to battle the Stalin, the Red Army and the forces of Bolshevism. While on this journey to the Eastern front the job descriptions between special groups like the Einsatzgruppen and the Wehrmacht began to blur significantly. The purpose of groups like the Einsatzgruppen was to do the work of the Holocaust while the purpose of the Wehrmacht was to fight the war. The problem was the Wehrmacht had been

to work towards a military background, starting at the age of 19. By attending the War Academy in Berlin, Stauffenberg slowly made his way up the ranks, from officer cadet, to eventually becoming Oberst of the Nazi party’s military force, the Wehrmacht. His lengthy, and ultimately successful, law enforcement career was what made him a prime candidate for officer in the German army, and upon his initiation, Stauffenberg had immediately become a loyal member of the Nazi party. Stauffenberg had played

During the opening years of World War II the German Wehrmacht dominates the battlefield with at tactical strategy of aggressive high speed combined arms warfare that gains the nickname “Blitzkrieg” or Lightening War. The blitzkrieg while an outstanding tactical method did not prove to be a war-winning innovation for the Germans due to failures in national strategy. Also, given time all tactical innovations will be countered by the enemy. Three examples of these failures in national strategy are;

The SS itself had also needed its heavy lifting to be done, which lead to the creation of the Waffen SS. The Waffen SS were similar but different from the Wehrmacht, they had the military power as the Wehrmacht had, but were able to engage on civilian targets, that the SS had wanted executed. The SS were not only involved in executing citizens, but they were also equipt with the most advanced technology Germany had to offer, making

Adolf Hitler. One of the most hated man in the world. He was mean, controlling, and incredibly racist. If you didn't have blonde hair and blue eyes, you were a disgrace to mankind. at least in his eyes. But how did Hitler come to power? How did he build his powerful army? Why did he have to create the nazi army? What drove him to construct concentration camp that destroyed millions of lives just for being Jewish? Everyone has their different theories and opinions. Just like Omer Bartov had his own

(Body) The tactic “Blitzkrieg” was mostly unheard of until it was successfully tested during the 1938 Spanish civil war in the town of Guernica. The town only had 5000 residents at the time. One day A Heinkel bomber followed by many attack planes stormed the town, initially causing heavy confusion in the civilians and many casualties. This showed the effectiveness of the air force in Blitzkrieg first phase. After the bombers’ attack, infantry and tanks followed with many rounds of ammo killing

been invaded without oil obtained from America. According to The Perils of Indifference by Elie Wiesel, he stated that, “It has been suggested, and it was documented, that the Wehrmacht could have not conducted its invasion of France without oil obtained from American sources.” (90) Finally, if America didn’t give Wehrmacht oil, they could have not conducted its invasion on France. Therefore, the war would have not started if America didn’t give oil to

Around 800,000 to one million individuals were killed at Treblinka Death Camp from July 23, 1942 to October 19, 1943 in Eastern Poland; 90 precent of all detainees was killed inside of two hours of entry. The bodies were then taken by Sonderkommandos to the open cremation pit on a peak. The pit had iron rails bound in layers inside of it like grillwork, on which the bodies were burned. Jews were intermittently forced to enter the pit and filter through the fiery remains for any bones that should

during World War One. At the time, France was one of the most powerful countries in the world. Its army, the Free French Forces, was crowned as the most potent army in Europe. Along with the Maginot Line, the French army seemed to be unbreakable. The Wehrmacht shattered that perception on May 10th, 1940, where they displayed to the world that nothing can stand in their way. This remarkable military achievement of Germany is backed by their superior quality in the military which enabled them to utilise

called Operation Barbarossa. Unlike other operations, this plan took place between the summer and ended almost at the beginning of winter. Hitler would take the war onto the Eastern Front with his army of 4 million Axis personnel, consisting of Wehrmacht, Russians, volunteers, and mechanized units. All was going according to plan as within a few weeks of the invasion, the German Army had seized land about 500km from the border. The motivation for Hitler to invade the Soviet Union was to have control

effectively in a “culture dominated by the fleeting image of the screen.” This drive for the permanence of the Shoah in Germany’s national history is visible through exhibitions, television documentaries and films, namely, the famous ‘Crimes of Wehrmacht’ exhibition which toured Berlin in 1995 and 1999. This focussed on the planning and implementation of annihilation against Jews and other victims of war according to organisers Hannes Heer and Gerd Hankel. The exhibition

World War II was dominated by the Axis powers initially; Nazi Germany had pushed a couple hundred miles into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and killed, wounded, or captured nearly six-hundred thousand soviet soldiers. By the end of Operation Barbarossa, eight-hundred thousand soldiers of the Red Army had been killed, and another six million were wounded or captured. The battle on the eastern front was not looking good for Russia as they were being pushed back and slaughtered on

Over the last few weeks I have continued reading Behind Hitler’s Lines by Thomas H. Taylor. Since my last journal, many events have happened in Behind Hitler’s Lines. Joe and his fellow prisoners lure a guard dog into their hut and then proceed to club and eat the dog for extra food. Joe also attempted another escape with two other prisoners and is successful. They escape through a fence after bribing a guard to ignore their attempt. They then wait for a train to pass by and jump on it. They ride

In All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, one of the protagonists Werner Pfennig is introduced as a boy who has been recruited to be a part of the Wehrmacht. It was his responsibility to locate and destroy anti-German radio broadcasts during World War II. Werner came to be known through his actions, and though it was debatable whether or not these actions were heroic, Werner’s character can be seen as intrinsically good. As a child, he was told he would go on to do “something great,” and he