German Military History - Essay Example

German Military History Contents Introduction 3 Hitler’s Doctrine 3 Military technology 5 Conclusion 8 References 9 Introduction The role of the army in the historical development of Germany as a country has long been studied by the historians in this field. The army in Germany has played a major role in the process of maintaining a social order that is anachronistic and has an impact in bringing change. The German military history has undergone major changes throughout the years ranging from the Bismarck’s reign to the dominance of the Third reach. The German army has proved to be the most important institution in the country. Researchers who have conducted research on this army have focused on different topics ranging from overview of the wars and campaigns, use of the doctrines of war and analysis of the technology used. While armies all across the world have been studied in great detail what makes the German army so special is the fact that it is the army that has played such an important role in three very different forms of regime that were in power in the country. The different political systems ranged from monarchy of Bismarck and Wilhelm 2, democratic rule of Weimar to the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler. However it is argued that it was the Nazi era under the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler that was the most defining moment in the history of Germany. The following paper is a discussion of the military history of German especially from the point of view of the Nazi Germany era. Hitler’s Doctrine Hitler was born in Austria, Hungary in the year 1889. His family shifted to Germany later on. During the First World War, Hitler served as a dispatch runner on western front in France and Belgium. He served in several battles for Germany and was decorated with the iron cross for bravery. Hitler came to know of Germany’s defeat when he was at the hospital recovering for the wounds he had received during the war. Hitler was very much hurt when the war effort of Germany failed. Like many other Germans at that time, Hitler believed that the main reason behind Germany’s failure was that although the German army was undefeated in the field they were back stabbed by the civilian leaders and Marxists back home. The bitterness of Hitler over the failure of the war efforts of Germany led to shape his ideology1. As consequences of the First World War Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles held Germany responsible for the war as per the article 231. As per the treaty, Germany had to severely limit the size of the military, dismantle the air force and limit the naval force of the country. The use of advanced technology in the military was severely restricted. As part of the Treaty it was also required that several economic sanctions were imposed upon the country and the country had to give up several of the territories. The Germans regarded the Treaty as a humiliation for the country. The political, economic and social condition of the country also deteriorated after the war. This situation of the country would be later exploited by Hitler to gain political power in the country2. After the war was over Hitler returned to Munich and remained with the army as he had no other work to do. Hitler had no formal education and would not get any work. He soon came to the notice of Anton Drexler who was the founder and head of the DAP later called the NAZI party to increase the appeal due to his strong oratory skills. At the party, Hitler also met Dietrich Eckhart who was also the founder member of DAP and became Hitler’s mentor. Soon after his election as the chairman of the NAZI party and following the success of the coup, by Fascist leader Mussolini against the government in Italy, Hitler decided to organize a coup and throw the Bavarian government and then overthrow the government of Berlin. However the coup failed and Hitler was held in imprisonment. After serving in the prison for a year Hitler was released. At this time the crash of the American stock exchange led Germany to great depression. When the Nazi led by Hitler came to power in 1933 Hitler granted his party absolute power and thus led to the formation of a legal dictatorship in the country. Hitler did not follow or regard the Treaty of Versailles. When he came to power he began a rapid process of remilitarization. The military spending of the Nazi government quickly helped in the restoration of the economy of the country. This made Hitler very popular with the people and the military of the country. The spending on building infrastructure was also emphasized upon and this led to the building of several impressive infrastructures during this time. German forces were renamed as Wehrmacht. The army was named Heer and Hitler encouraged the army to experiment on military innovation in a race with the rival countries3. Hitler also established an independent air force and named it Luftwaffe. The remilitarization ultimately helped Germany in acquiring major portion of Europe under its control. Military technology In the early twentieth century of scientific endeavors, Germany was regarded as the preeminent academic centre of the world. The number of Noble prizes that were won by the German scientists and the number of publications by the German scientists in the prominent physics journals in the world in this period compared with other countries in the world, undermine the momentum that was gained by German scientists during this period4. The number of papers that were written by the German scientists in nuclear physics highlights the fact that Germany had become a super power on every advance field science during this period. The main pillars of modern Physics like Max Plank, Erwin Schrödinger, Albert Einstein, and Werner Heisenberg were all German nationals. At the time when Weimer administration was in power there was a rapid influx of the Jewish population to teaching positions that were available at the universities. This was due to the fact that there were limited number of career opportunities that were available to them and a career in the academics was an easy path to social advancements. However the racial prejudice of the Nazi towards the Jew population led to creation of tension in between the government and the scientific community which led to the fact that in later years there was distances created in between the government and academia5. The movement by the Nazi party led by Hitler depended on a large scale to the development of technology and adoption of the technological advancement. Hitler’s strategy to fight lightning war was very much dependent on the success of the government lead to the massive implementation of technology. Hitler did not want to support academia in general but especially the efforts of German scientists in the war effort in building new military technologies that would give the military a definite edge over the rivals6. Hitler thus supported the German academia but mainly to achieve his dreams and prove the superiority of the German army. The reason behind the popularity of the Nazi party was due to the fact that it was based on the promise of technological advancement along with the appeal to the public at the grass root level. The scientific and the engineering community were also willing to contribute towards the development of military technology. With the depression setting in the 1930s the engineering and the scientific community found comfort in the fact that the Nazi government promised to build their careers by investing in the military technology. The membership of the younger faculty of the University of the Several Nazi Party backed by political unions increased and this led to the fact that the young members used these affiliations to advance their careers. As the German Scientific thought was increasingly being directed to military technology it was found that the scientists and engineers often sidestepped from their main research to research based on military spending so that they could receive funding for their research. In these years there were several military weapons that were invented by the German scientists which later on went to revolutionize war efforts. During the war Germany developed several weapons. In 1944, for example, the Germans developed the first assault rifle in the world. The assault rifle was named as Sturmgewehr 44 and was extremely successful in the battles against the enemies7. The Germans also developed Gewehr 43 which was a semi automatic rifle designed to replace the Karabiner 19K that was a bolt action rifle. The new machine was developed for better accuracy and performance to be used in the infantry. Another important German war machine was the tanks that were used by the army. Germans were the first to develop the Panzer forces or the organization of the tanks into divisions which was the first such effort in the whole world8. The tanks were initially used for propaganda purpose however the fact that the tanks were effective and powerful led to the further development of better tanks. The tanks were better armored and the tanks of the allies were no match for the tanks that were used by Germany9. The Germans were also the first to develop jets to be used in the war. However the jets were developed too late and could not make a major impact in the war10. Another important contribution of the German scientists in the development of military technology was tied to the development of rocket powered ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. Conclusion After running through the report, it can be said that the Germans were really effective in the development of military technology particularly in the Nazi period. The development of the military technology was fuelled by Hitler’s dream to conquer the world and bring back the prestige to the nation that it had lost in the First World War. The rise of Hitler and creation of Nazi Germany can be related to the defeat of the country in the First World War and the humiliating condition of the Treaty of Versailles that were imposed upon the country. Hitler came to the power with the promise to revive the economy of the country and regain the lost faith that the country had lost in the First World War. Hitler was almost successful in his efforts as the technological innovation and the patronage of the academia along with the belief of the people in his ideology led to the fact that at a time the entire Europe was in German control. Though the Germans led by Hitler were ultimately defeated, this chapter of the Nazi era seems to be brightest in the German war history. References Breitman, Richard. Nazi Germany (1933-1945). German history in documents and images.n.d. Retrieved 2nd june 2015 from < http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/chapter.cfm?subsection_id=93 >  Horowitz, Michael C., and Allan C. Stam. "How prior military experience influences the future militarized behavior of leaders." International Organization 68, no. 03 (2012): 527-559. Kirk, Tim. Nazi Germany.Routledge, 2014. Mackenzie, S. P. The Second World War in Europe.Routledge, 2013. Ripley, Tim. The Wehrmacht: The German Army in World War II, 1939-1945. Routledge, 2014. The armor site. 2009. The life and times of Germanys Tiger tank: Panzer kampf wagen Tiger Ausf. E. Retrieved 2nd June 2015 from< http://www.fprado.com/armorsite/tiger1.htm > Vries, Guus De. MKB42, MP43, MP44 and the Sturmgewehr 44. Casemate Publishers. 2001. Cornwell, John. Hitlers Scientists: Science, War, and the Devils Pact. Penguin. 2004. Epstein, Catherine. Nazi Germany: Confronting the Myths. John Wiley & Sons. 2015. Medawar, Jean and Pyke, David. Hitlers Gift: The True Story of the Scientists Expelled by the Nazi Regime. Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. 2013. Read More