Nazi troops. Names of the main organizations of the Third Reich The structure of the high command of the Wehrmacht

Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler was the Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht.

Story

Historically, the word "Wehrmacht" in German-speaking countries denoted the armed forces of any country, it received its current meaning during the coming to power of the NSDAP.

The Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces was Hitler, to whose allegiance the personnel of the armed forces were required to take an oath. The OKW had four departments: the operational department (A. Jodl), military intelligence and counterintelligence - Abwehr (V. Canaris), the economic department, which was in charge of supplying and arming the army (G. Thomas), and a general purpose department. General (from 1940 - Field Marshal) Wilhelm Keitel was appointed chief of staff of the Supreme High Command of the Armed Forces.

Organizational structure of OKW:

Supreme Commander: Fuhrer and Chancellor

Commander-in-Chief: Minister of War

Commander of the Air Force 1938-1941

Supreme Commander and Minister of War: Fuhrer and Chancellor

Commander of the Ground Forces

Commander of the Navy

Commander of the Air Force 1941-1945

Supreme Commander, Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief of the Land Forces: Fuhrer and Chancellor

Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces

Commander of the Navy

Commander of the Air Force

As part of the rate, a department was created, called the headquarters of the operational leadership. It included the department of national defense (department "L" - the operational department) and the department of communications. Until August 8, this department was called not the headquarters, but the operational directorate of the armed forces. In the spring of the year, it also began to include a press and propaganda department. The chief of staff of the operational leadership reported directly to the chief of staff of the OKW and was responsible for all the departments mentioned. At the beginning of the war, the chief of staff of the headquarters was Keitel.

The OKW also included (at the beginning of the war):

• Directorate of War Economics and Armaments (Thomas)
• General Directorate of the Armed Forces (Reinecke) together with legal and administrative departments
• Directorate of Intelligence and Counterintelligence (Canaris).

The structure of the high command of the Wehrmacht

Each branch of the military had its own commander-in-chief, chief of staff and headquarters, who were subordinate to the chief of staff of the operational leadership of the Wehrmacht, and he, in turn, to the chief of staff of the headquarters, headed by Hitler, as supreme commander.

In May 1942, the establishment of the "Insignia of the Eastern Peoples" was announced. The right to award them was granted to the Minister of the Eastern Territories and the Inspector General of the Eastern Troops [of the Wehrmacht].

population

After the war and the division of Germany into two parts, the armed forces of the two countries were created, called respectively "National People's Army" (GDR) and "Federal Defense Forces" (Bundeswehr - Germany).

Links

• "Squires of the Nation": The Wehrmacht and the Special Forces of the SS (1934-1939). Yaroslavl Pedagogical Bulletin (Russian).

see also

In the absence of a land front in Europe, the German leadership decided to defeat the Soviet Union during a short-term campaign in the summer and autumn of 1941. To achieve this goal, the most combat-ready unit of the German armed forces 1 was deployed on the border with the USSR.

Wehrmacht

For Operation Barbarossa, out of the 4 headquarters of army groups available in the Wehrmacht, 3 were deployed ("North", "Center" and "South") (75%), out of 13 headquarters of field armies - 8 (61.5%), out of 46 headquarters of army corps - 34 (73.9%), out of 12 motorized corps - 11 (91.7%). In total, 73.5% of the total number of divisions available in the Wehrmacht was allocated for the Eastern Campaign. Most of the troops had combat experience gained in previous military campaigns. So, out of 155 divisions in military operations in Europe in 1939-1941. 127 (81.9%) participated, and the remaining 28 were partially manned by personnel who also had combat experience. In any case, these were the most combat-ready units of the Wehrmacht (see table 1). The German Air Force deployed 60.8% of the flying units, 16.9% of the air defense troops and over 48% of the signal troops and other units to support Operation Barbarossa.

German satellites

Together with Germany, its allies were preparing for a war with the USSR: Finland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Italy, who allocated the following forces for waging war (see table 2). In addition, Croatia provided 56 aircraft and up to 1.6 thousand people. By June 22, 1941, there were no Slovak and Italian troops on the border, who arrived later. Consequently, there were 767,100 men, 37 calculated divisions, 5,502 guns and mortars, 306 tanks, and 886 aircraft in the German allied troops deployed there.

In total, the forces of Germany and its allies on the Eastern Front numbered 4,329.5 thousand people, 166 settlement divisions, 42,601 guns and mortars, 4,364 tanks, assault and self-propelled guns and 4,795 aircraft (of which 51 were at the disposal of the Air Force High Command and together with 8.5 thousand people of the Air Force personnel are not taken into account in further calculations).

Red Army

Under the conditions of the outbreak of war in Europe, the armed forces of the Soviet Union continued to increase, and by the summer of 1941 they were the largest army in the world (see Table 3). In the five western border districts, 56.1% of the ground forces and 59.6% of the air force were stationed. In addition, since May 1941, the concentration of 70 divisions of the second strategic echelon from the internal military districts and from the Far East began in the Western Theater of Operations (TVD). By June 22, 16 divisions (10 rifle, 4 tank and 2 motorized) arrived in the western districts, in which there were 201,691 people, 2,746 guns and 1,763 tanks.

The grouping of Soviet troops in the Western theater of operations was quite powerful. The general balance of forces by the morning of June 22, 1941 is presented in Table 4, judging by the data of which the enemy outnumbered the Red Army only in terms of the number of personnel, because his troops were mobilized.

Mandatory clarifications

Although the above data gives a general idea of ​​the strength of the opposing factions, it should be borne in mind that the Wehrmacht completed the strategic concentration and deployment in the theater, while in the Red Army this process was in full swing. How figuratively described this situation A.V. Shubin, "a dense body was moving from the West to the East at high speed. From the East, a more massive, but looser block was slowly moving forward, the mass of which was growing, but not at a fast enough pace" 2 . Therefore, the correlation of forces at two more levels should be considered. Firstly, this is the balance of forces of the parties in various strategic directions on the scale of the district (front) - army group, and secondly, on individual operational directions in the border zone on the scale of the army - army. At the same time, in the first case, only the ground forces and the Air Force are taken into account, and for the Soviet side, the border troops, artillery and aviation of the Navy are also taken into account, but without information on the personnel of the fleet and internal troops of the NKVD. In the second case, only ground forces are taken into account for both sides.

Northwest

In the North-West direction, the troops of the German Army Group "North" and the Baltic Special Military District (PribOVO) opposed each other. The Wehrmacht had a rather significant superiority in manpower and some in artillery, but was inferior in tanks and aircraft. However, it should be borne in mind that only 8 Soviet divisions were located directly in the 50 km border strip, and another 10 were located 50-100 km from the border. As a result, in the direction of the main attack, the troops of the Army Group "North" managed to achieve a more favorable balance of forces (see Table 5).

Western direction

In the Western direction, the troops of the German Army Group Center and the Western Special Military District (ZapOVO) with part of the forces of the 11th Army of PribOVO confronted each other. For the German command, this direction was the main one in Operation Barbarossa, and therefore Army Group Center was the strongest on the entire front. 40% of all German divisions deployed from the Barents to the Black Sea (including 50% motorized and 52.9% tank) and the largest air fleet of the Luftwaffe (43.8% aircraft) were concentrated here. Only 15 Soviet divisions were located in the offensive zone of Army Group Center in the immediate vicinity of the border, and 14 were located 50-100 km from it. In addition, troops of the 22nd Army from the Ural Military District were concentrated on the territory of the district in the Polotsk region, from which, by June 22, 1941, 3 rifle divisions arrived at the place, and the 21st mechanized corps from the Moscow Military District - with a total number of 72,016 people, 1241 guns and mortars and 692 tanks. As a result, the troops of the ZAPOVO, contained in peacetime states, were inferior to the enemy only in personnel, but surpassed him in tanks, aircraft, and slightly in artillery. However, unlike the troops of Army Group Center, they did not complete their concentration, which made it possible to smash them piece by piece.

Army Group Center was supposed to carry out a double envelopment of the ZapOVO troops located in the Bialystok ledge, with a blow from Suwalki and Brest to Minsk, so the main forces of the army group were deployed on the flanks. From the south (from Brest) the main blow was delivered. On the northern flank (Suwalki) the 3rd Panzer Group of the Wehrmacht was deployed, which was opposed by units of the 11th Army of PribOVO. Troops of the 43rd Army Corps of the 4th German Army and the 2nd Panzer Group were deployed in the zone of the Soviet 4th Army. In these areas, the enemy was able to achieve significant superiority (see table 6).

Southwest

In the South-Western direction, Army Group South, which united German, Romanian, Hungarian and Croatian troops, was opposed by parts of the Kiev Special and Odessa Military Districts (KOVO and OdVO). The Soviet grouping in the South-Western direction was the strongest on the entire front, since it was she who was supposed to deliver the main blow to the enemy. However, even here the Soviet troops did not complete their concentration and deployment. So, in KOVO in the immediate vicinity of the border there were only 16 divisions, and 14 were located 50-100 km from it. In the OdVO, there were 9 divisions in the 50-km border zone, and 6 were located in the 50-100-km zone. In addition, troops of the 16th and 19th armies arrived in the districts, from which by June 22 concentrated 10 divisions (7 rifle, 2 tank and 1 motorized) with a total number of 129,675 people, 1,505 guns and mortars and 1,071 tanks. Even without being staffed according to the wartime staff, the Soviet troops outnumbered the enemy grouping, which had only some superiority in manpower, but was significantly inferior in tanks, aircraft, and somewhat less in artillery. But on the direction of the main attack of Army Group South, where the Soviet 5th Army was opposed by units of the 6th German Army and the 1st Panzer Group, the enemy managed to achieve a better balance of forces for himself (see Table 7).

The situation in the North

The most favorable for the Red Army was the ratio on the front of the Leningrad Military District (LVO), where it was opposed by Finnish troops and units of the German army "Norway". In the Far North, the troops of the Soviet 14th Army were opposed by the German units of the mountain infantry corps "Norway" and the 36th Army Corps, and here the enemy had superiority in manpower and insignificant in artillery (see Table 8). True, it should be borne in mind that, since hostilities on the Soviet-Finnish border began in late June - early July 1941, both sides were building up their forces, and the data given do not reflect the number of troops of the parties by the start of hostilities.

Results

Thus, the German command, having deployed the main part of the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front, was unable to achieve overwhelming superiority not only in the zone of the entire future front, but also in the zones of individual army groups. However, the Red Army was not mobilized and did not complete the process of strategic concentration and deployment. As a result, units of the first echelon of covering troops were significantly inferior to the enemy, whose troops were deployed directly at the border. Such an arrangement of Soviet troops made it possible to smash them piece by piece. On the directions of the main attacks of the army groups, the German command managed to create superiority over the troops of the Red Army, which was close to overwhelming. The most favorable balance of forces developed for the Wehrmacht in the zone of Army Group Center, since it was in this direction that the main blow of the entire Eastern campaign was dealt. In other directions, even in the bands of the covering armies, the Soviet superiority in tanks affected. The overall balance of forces allowed the Soviet command to prevent the enemy's superiority even in the directions of his main attacks. But in reality the opposite happened.

Since the Soviet military-political leadership incorrectly assessed the degree of threat of a German attack, the Red Army, having begun in May 1941 the strategic concentration and deployment in the Western theater of operations, which was to be completed by July 15, 1941, was taken by surprise on June 22 and did not have neither offensive nor defensive grouping. Soviet troops were not mobilized, did not have deployed rear structures, and were only completing the creation of command and control bodies in the theater of operations. On the front from the Baltic Sea to the Carpathians, out of 77 divisions of the Red Army covering forces in the first hours of the war, only 38 incompletely mobilized divisions could repulse the enemy, of which only a few managed to take up equipped positions on the border. The rest of the troops were either in places of permanent deployment, or in camps, or on the march. If, however, we take into account that the enemy immediately threw 103 divisions into the offensive, then it is clear that an organized entry into the battle and the creation of a solid front of Soviet troops was extremely difficult. By preempting the Soviet troops in strategic deployment, by creating powerful operational groupings of their fully combat-ready forces in the chosen directions of the main attack, the German command created favorable conditions for seizing the strategic initiative and successfully conducting the first offensive operations.

Notes
1. For more details, see: Meltyukhov M.I. Stalin's missed chance. Scramble for Europe 1939-1941 (Documents, facts, judgments). 3rd ed., corrected. and additional M., 2008. S. 354-363.
2. Shubin A.V. The world is on the edge of the abyss. From global crisis to world war. 1929-1941. M., 2004. S. 496.

Historically in a word "Wehrmacht" in German-speaking countries, the armed forces of any country were designated, it received its current meaning at the time of the coming to power of the NSDAP.

The Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces was Hitler, to whose allegiance the personnel of the armed forces were required to take an oath. The OKW had four departments: the operational department (A. Jodl), military intelligence and counterintelligence - the Abwehr (V. Canaris), the economic department, which was in charge of supplying and arming the army (G. Thomas), and a general purpose department. General (from 1940 - Field Marshal General) Wilhelm Keitel was appointed chief of staff of the Supreme High Command of the Armed Forces.

Organizational structure of OKW:

Supreme Commander: Fuhrer and Chancellor.

Commander-in-Chief: Minister of War.

1938-1941

Supreme Commander and Minister of War: Fuhrer and Chancellor.

Commander of the Ground Forces.

Commander of the Navy.

Commander of the Air Force.

1941-1945

Supreme Commander, Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief of the Land Forces: Fuhrer and Chancellor.

Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces.

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

Commander of the Navy.

Commander of the Air Force.

As part of the rate, a department was created, called the headquarters of the operational leadership. It included the department of national defense (department "L" - the operational department) and the department of communications. Until August 8, 1940, this department was called not the headquarters, but the operational directorate of the armed forces. In the spring of 1939, it also began to include a press and propaganda department. The chief of staff of the operational leadership reported directly to the chief of staff of the OKW and was responsible for all the departments mentioned. At the beginning of the war, the chief of staff of the headquarters was V. Keitel.

The OKW also included (at the beginning of the war):

• Directorate of War Economy and Armaments (Thomas).
• General Directorate of the Armed Forces (Reinecke) together with legal and administrative departments.
• Directorate of intelligence and counterintelligence (V. Canaris).

The structure of the high command of the Wehrmacht

Each branch of the military had its own commander-in-chief, chief of staff and headquarters, who were subordinate to the chief of staff of the operational leadership of the Wehrmacht, and he, in turn, to the chief of staff of the headquarters, headed by Hitler as supreme commander.

In May 1942, the establishment of the "Insignia of the Eastern Peoples" was announced. The right to award them was granted to the Minister of the Eastern Territories and the Inspector General of the Eastern Troops [of the Wehrmacht].

population

By the beginning of 1939, 12 army corps were formed from 38 divisions with a total strength of 582,000 people. By the beginning of World War II, the total number of Wehrmacht was 3,214,000 people, on 06/22/1941 - 7,234,000. In 1943, the number of Wehrmacht reached 11 million people. In total in 1939-1945. 21,107,000 men were drafted into the German armed forces.

The system of military ranks in the Wehrmacht

When considering the rank system of the German Wehrmacht, the following points should be kept in mind:

1. Each of the four components of the Wehrmacht had its own system of military ranks, significantly different from the other three.
2. Each component did not have a unified system of military ranks. Each branch of the military, the service had its own titles.
3. All persons who were part of this type of troops were divided into two main groups: a) military personnel proper; b) military officials. The names of the ranks of military personnel and military officials differed quite significantly.
4. Military officials were divided into three main groups, each of which had its own ranks:
   1. actually military officials;
   2. military musicians;
   3. military priests.
5. Students of officer schools had their own ranks.
6. A single rank for ordinary soldiers in the Wehrmacht, like the Red Army, (Red Army, Red Navy, private) did not exist even within the military branch. Ordinary soldiers were named according to their specialty, position, and the German word "Der Soldat" is simply a collective name.

Surrender

On the night of May 8–9, 1945, Field Marshal Keitel, General Admiral von Friedeburg and Colonel General Stumpf signed an act of unconditional surrender on behalf of the High Command of the German Armed Forces.

The last military formations of the Wehrmacht were disarmed by September 1945.

At the Nuremberg trials, the international tribunal declared criminal organizations

Wehrmacht "invincible and legendary" [Military art of the Reich] Runov Valentin Aleksandrovich

DEVELOPMENT OF THE WEhrmacht DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR

A. Hitler and his inner circle chose the armed forces as the main instrument for implementing their policy aimed at gaining world domination. Therefore, all military events that preceded and took place during the Second World War on the part of Germany were closely connected with the Wehrmacht. The first serious step in the development of the Wehrmacht was made already in the first three years after its creation, at a time when Germany was just getting ready to announce its aggressive course. It was during the period from 1935 to 1938 that the structures of the three types of armed forces were clearly identified, associations and formations of the military branches were created, operational control bodies were deployed, and a number of professional personnel underwent combat testing on the battlefields in Spain.

The Anschluss of Austria and the capture of Czechoslovakia in 1938–1939 contributed to the quantitative growth and qualitative improvement of the Wehrmacht along with the use of the human and economic resources of Germany. After this bloodless operation, the entire Austrian army of 38 thousand people was included in the Wehrmacht. Six divisions were formed on the territory of Austria, including one tank division. The trophies captured from the Czechoslovak army were enough to equip another 15 infantry and 3 tank divisions formed in Germany with weapons and military equipment. By the spring of 1939, the Wehrmacht already numbered 1,131 thousand people and included 51 personnel divisions. It was still the so-called peacetime army. For open aggression in the framework of the policy of conquest, more numerous armed forces were required.

In August 1939, a prearranged mobilization was carried out in Germany through the call of the reserve of the first stage and some additional ages. Thanks to this, by September 1, 1939, the German armed forces had quadrupled, reaching 4.5 million people. By this time, the structure of the Wehrmacht and its strategic leadership had already fully developed, which basically remained unchanged throughout the Second World War. The Wehrmacht included three types of armed forces, as well as SS troops.

Orientation towards the continental nature of hostilities predetermined the significant predominance of the ground forces, which accounted for more than 70% of the total personnel of the total number of armed forces. With the outbreak of World War II, the German ground forces were divided into the active army, intended directly for combat operations, and the reserve army, in which replenishment was being prepared. The main strategic formation of the active army in the theater or strategic direction was the army group. Depending on the tasks ahead, it included two or three field armies and one or two tank groups (later tank armies). The field army united several corps, each of which included up to five divisions.

The reserve army was intended to carry out mobilization through the military districts, to train personnel for the active army in spare parts and military educational institutions. It also served as a source for replenishment of the personnel of all branches of the armed forces. It was also entrusted with the protection of rear facilities and prisoner of war camps, the treatment of sick military personnel, the provision of the needs of the Wehrmacht in small arms, vehicles, fuels and lubricants, horse composition, chemical, medical, veterinary property. The reserve army included security troops and territorial formations of military districts, military hospitals stationed in Germany.

The SS troops were in fact the armed forces of the Nazi Party. They were included in the active army after the outbreak of World War II and were subordinate to the commanders of formations and associations, which they included only in operational terms. Until 1939, there were only separate paramilitary SS units, which were used for security service and "restoring order" in case of any internal unrest. The first unit of the SS troops since September 1939 was the SS personal guard brigade of the Leibstandarte "Adolf Hitler", which since June 1941 acted as a motorized division. In October-November 1939, three SS divisions were formed, and in the first half of 1941, two more. They were formed from persons especially devoted to the Nazi regime and were, in essence, a kind of guard of the Nazi regime. The number of SS troops during the war continuously increased and by March 1945 exceeded 800 thousand people, which amounted to about 11% of the total strength of the Wehrmacht.

The recruitment of the German armed forces was carried out on the basis of universal military service, introduced by the law on the creation of the Wehrmacht of March 16, 1935. In May 1940, 27.6 million persons liable for military service were registered in the country, which included men born in 1883-1919. Of these, 19.4 million were deemed fit for military service. These human resources allowed the leadership of Germany to continuously replenish the armed forces. By the time of the attack on the USSR, they numbered 7.3 million people, and they were the largest and most powerful military machine that the history of mankind has ever known. Most of the military personnel had already participated in hostilities, and the command staff was distinguished by professionalism and had significant combat experience.

The command of the Wehrmacht paid great attention to the professional training of military personnel, including privates and junior commanders. At the same time, the emphasis was on their knowledge of their weapons and skillful possession of them within the framework of the tactics of various types of combat. Initially, the training of the mobilized took place in the spare parts of the reserve army for four months and was carried out in accordance with the practical needs of the war. Shagistics and memorization of statutory provisions were excluded from the curricula. The main attention was paid to the possession of weapons. In training and exercises, only live ammunition and shells were used. This sometimes led to losses, but justified itself at the front. With technical specialists (repairmen, suppliers, gunsmiths, etc.) additional classes were held (from two to six months).

Particularly high demands were placed on the training of junior commanders. The non-commissioned officer had to not only be able to perform all the functions of his subordinates, but also have certain skills in managing the battle of several dozen people. The overwhelming majority of non-commissioned officers received this rank only after special training, which lasted for six months and the delivery of a number of tests.

Officers from among the junior commanders were trained for nine months at special courses. At the same time, the calculation was made on the fact that this person had already fully comprehended the art of owning weapons and organizing a battle with a small unit consisting of homogeneous fighters. He was trained as a combined arms commander, capable of directing the battle of larger units, reinforced with artillery or interacting with tanks. There were very rare cases of conferring officer ranks without studying at military schools or courses. This mainly concerned military personnel of non-combat units (financiers, doctors, and other rear servicemen).

The German soldiers knew their job well, were disciplined, distinguished by their stamina in battle. Much attention was paid to their indoctrination. In accordance with the theoretical postulates of the Nazis, they were inspired by the ideas of the racial superiority of the Germans over other nations, the need to acquire a new "living space" for Germany, and the invincibility of the Wehrmacht.

In order to unite the soldiers, the command of the Wehrmacht formed separate parts of the active army with replenishment, as a rule, from the same locality. Training in the reserve army took place within the boundaries of "their" military district. There was a close connection between the spare part and the corresponding part in the active army. Reinforcement for an infantry division was usually prepared by a specific reserve infantry regiment, consisting of three battalions, which had the same numbers as the three infantry regiments of this division. Replenishment from these battalions came only to their respective regiments. Spare parts of other military branches acted in a similar way. In order to maintain the constancy of the composition of the units of the active army, all the recovered wounded and sick were sent to the front in their former unit.

During the Great Patriotic War, German troops were forced to fight alongside the troops of their allies, which were Finland, Romania, Hungary, Italy and Slovakia. After the outbreak of the war, Croatia, Spain and Vichy France also offered to send their volunteers to the Eastern Front.

In July 1941, an expeditionary corps of three divisions with 62,000 men was formed in Italy. By August 5, he was transferred to Romania and a week later took part in the battles against the Soviet troops on the western bank of the Bug, north of Nikolaev. Already on June 24, Slovakia sent its elite "fast brigade" in the amount of 3.5 thousand people to the East to help the Wehrmacht, and in July it began to form a 45,000-strong corps. But in fact, only two Slovak divisions operated on the Soviet-German front until the autumn of 1944. The initiative to send Croatian volunteers "to fight against Bolshevism" was shown by the head of the Croatian puppet regime A. Pavelic on the day of the German attack on the USSR. During the following months, the "reinforced Croatian 369th Infantry Regiment" was created, whose soldiers, dressed in German uniforms, took part in the battles on the Eastern Front from September 1941.

Spain sent one division to the Soviet-German front. Formed on the basis of the principle of voluntariness, it received the name "blue". Already on July 13, 1941, this division was loaded into echelons and sent to the German military town near Nuremberg. There, the Spaniards were dressed in Wehrmacht uniforms. Their hallmark was a patch on the right sleeve of the uniform with the word "Spain" against the background of the Spanish national flag. The Blue Division arrived at the front in October 1941.

In France, the recruitment of volunteers for the war against the USSR was carried out by pro-fascist parties and organizations. The so-called French Volunteer Legion enrolled persons aged 19 to 30 who had military training and were distinguished by good physical data. The Germans promised to free two French soldiers from captivity for each volunteer. Of the 6 thousand legionnaires, a special 638th infantry regiment was formed, included in the 7th infantry division of the Wehrmacht. In the late autumn of 1941, this regiment was sent to the Eastern Front and in December took part in the battles with the Red Army.

It should be noted that "volunteers" from France, Spain and Croatia, as well as Slovak and, to some extent, Italian troops did not play a significant role. They served more the goals of Nazi propaganda, which sought to present the war against the USSR as a "crusade to save Europe from the Bolshevik danger." The German command did not place special hopes on the armed forces of Romania, Hungary, Finland and other countries. Among them, the Finns fought most stubbornly. At the expense of the allies, secondary sectors of the Eastern Front were covered, while German troops concentrated on the directions of the main attacks.

The defeat of the Wehrmacht near Moscow in December 1941 caused tension in making up for losses, which turned out to be much higher than the German command had envisaged. There was a shortage of personnel. Therefore, the contingent of 1922 born in the Wehrmacht, which was planned to be used in the operations of 1942, had to be transferred to the active army at the end of 1941. 17 divisions were transferred to the east from the west and the Balkans. At the same time, due to the difficult situation on the Eastern Front, in January 1942, a ban on vacations for personnel was introduced. It was canceled three months later, and even then only partially.

At the beginning of 1942, A. Hitler turned to the Allies with a request for additional help, and they readily responded to the Fuhrer's appeal. The Italians sent the newly formed 8th Army (10 divisions) to the war against the USSR in the amount of 220 thousand people. Romania provided 2 armies, which included 15 divisions, and, in addition, reinforced its troops with 11 more divisions. From Hungary, the 2nd Army arrived on the Eastern Front, consisting of 10 divisions, the number of which reached about 200 thousand people. All these troops took part in the offensive of the Wehrmacht in the summer of 1942, and almost all were defeated near Stalingrad. After that, the Italians no longer participated in military operations against the Red Army, and the number of Romanian and Hungarian troops was sharply reduced. In October 1943, apart from the Finns, there were 136,000 soldiers and officers of the states allied to Germany and another 52,000 foreigners on the Eastern Front in various volunteer units of the Wehrmacht. On the whole, it must be said that the hope of the Nazis for an increase in military power at the expense of the Allies did not come true. By that time, the contradictions between Germany and its allies had sharply intensified, and they began to look for ways out of the war.

The total strength of the German armed forces continued to grow until 1944. The system of total mobilization has come into effect. If in 1941 only persons who had reached the age of 20 and older were called up for military service, then in 1943-1944. - from the age of 17, and from February 1945, even 16-year-old teenagers began to be put under arms. In 1943–1944 the Wehrmacht numbered 9.4 million, but compared to previous years, the quality of its personnel has deteriorated markedly.

A decrease in the number of conscripts trained in the reserve army led to the creation in 1942 of field training and reserve divisions. Usually they were formed from reserve battalions, but had a limited number of supporting units and services. Unlike the training units of the reserve army, these divisions were located outside Germany in order to simultaneously perform two tasks: to train conscripts in military affairs and to carry out occupation functions. But the restless rear, especially the actions of the partisans, often forced them to interrupt the educational process, and therefore the conscripts did not receive proper military training. When the war approached the borders of Germany itself, most of these formations were hastily converted into regular divisions of the army in the field. And although at the expense of them the command of the Wehrmacht received additional troops at its disposal, the once-established process of preparing reinforcements by the end of 1944 completely went wrong. This was not slow to affect the combat capability of the army in the field.

The growing losses forced the German command to find non-standard ways to replenish the army in the field. Along with carrying out total mobilization, it was necessary to redistribute personnel between the branches of the armed forces. Back in the autumn of 1942, Hitler ordered Goering to separate 100 thousand people from the Air Force and organize their training for use in infantry formations. Goering, not interested in reducing the forces subordinate to him, offered twice as many people, but with the condition that special airfield divisions be created from them, which would organizationally remain part of the Air Force. Hitler accepted his offer. A total of 21 airfield divisions were created. But in terms of their combat qualities, they were much inferior to the infantry formations of the ground forces, and therefore they turned out to be unreliable at the front. The vast majority of them were defeated in the first half of 1943. The surviving formations were completed by other infantry formations. From November 1943, the airfield divisions were transferred to the ground forces.

In addition to the air field, as part of the Air Force in 1943-1945. more than ten so-called parachute divisions were formed. At the beginning of 1945, three marine infantry divisions were formed as part of the Navy. All of them acted as ground formations, but also did not differ in high combat effectiveness, since their personnel were not trained in ground combat techniques.

Despite all the efforts of the Nazi leadership, the size of the German army in the summer of 1944 has been steadily declining, while the number of ground troops has become more and more (in February 1945 - 375 divisions compared to 327 divisions at the end of 1942). In general, there were 3.7 million people in the active army (without the Air Force and Navy), including 214 thousand Hungarian soldiers and officers. The fact that the number of formations at the final stage of the war was increasing was of great propaganda importance for the Nazi leadership, since it created the illusion among the German people that the Wehrmacht's forces were not decreasing and that the war could still be won. In fact, the combat power of the Wehrmacht was largely undermined. At the same time, it must be admitted that many regular divisions of the ground forces retained a high combat capability until the very last days of the war.

The difficulties that arose at the front forced the Nazi command in 1942 to create auxiliary military units from Soviet prisoners of war who, for one reason or another, agreed to serve the Germans. The non-commissioned officers and officers of the Wehrmacht commanded these units and the units that were part of them.

On September 25, 1944, by a special decree of Hitler, the creation of the Volkssturm was announced - militia units subordinate to the Nazi Party. It included the entire male population of Germany, regardless of property status, aged 16 to 60, capable of carrying weapons and not drafted into the Wehrmacht. Propaganda portrayed the Volkssturm as a symbol of the unity of the nation. It was assumed that he would not only take part in the battles at the front, but also become the basis of partisan detachments.

However, the Volkssturm did not live up to the expectations of the Nazi leaders. Its numerous battalions, formed in late 1944 - early 1945 and numbering almost 1.5 million people, had poor military training and were poorly armed. At the first collision with the enemy, they disintegrated. Only in the eastern regions of Germany, where there were many members of the Nazi Party from wealthy peasants in the Volkssturm units, did they stubbornly resist the advancing Soviet troops. The very fact of the creation of the Volkssturm testified that Nazi Germany had exhausted its human resources, found itself in a state of crisis, and then agony.

From the second half of 1944, women and girls began to be widely recruited into the German armed forces. By mid-November, there were already 300 thousand people. Women replaced men in military medical and headquarters institutions, as well as in searchlight units of the Air Force. Until January 15, 1945, another 150,000 women were drafted into the Wehrmacht, mainly for service in the air defense forces. From February 1945, women from the age of 18 were included in the Volkssturm. Often, young men and women from the Volkssturm were sent to the active army without any additional military training.

By order of the OKW dated March 28, 1945, all formations and units of the Wehrmacht were ordered to be used in combat, regardless of their state of combat readiness. Nevertheless, the combat effectiveness of some of the 40 new divisions formed in 1945 was quite high. Among them, the division of tank destroyers created in January 1945 stood out. Organizationally, it consisted of battalions that operated on the central sector of the Soviet-German front. Each of them had several groups of tank destroyers. These units were led by junior officers who had experience in fighting tanks with melee weapons. The personnel were armed with faustpatrons, hand-held smoke grenades, anti-tank mines, etc. The groups moved on bicycles, which increased their mobility. Sudden strikes in place and time by groups of tank destroyers were often very sensitive.

At the same time, it must be admitted that the defeats of the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front had a negative effect on the mood of the servicemen. In Germany itself and its armed forces, there were many dissatisfied with the protracted war, who understood the futility of its continuation. Among the generals and officers, there was growing indignation at the methods of leading the armed struggle on the part of Hitler as commander-in-chief, because his demand to "stand to the death" on the occupied lines led to an increase in losses and a decrease in the maneuverability of troops. The generals were also greatly indignant at Hitler's persistent attempts to dictate decisions in the field of operational art and tactics.

But the Fuhrer firmly pursued a course to continue the war, and he considered all those who doubted its victorious outcome as traitors. To increase the morale and combat power of the troops, by order of December 22, 1943, he introduced the service of the National Socialist leadership in the Wehrmacht. Its highest body was the headquarters under the supreme command of the Wehrmacht, which was headed by General X. Reinecke. The headquarters "acted on the direct orders" of Hitler and maintained the closest connection with the Imperial Chancellery of the Nazi Party (NSDAP). Similar headquarters were established under the high commands of the branches of the armed forces. Corresponding departments were created in army groups, armies and army corps, full-time officers were introduced in divisions, and freelance positions of officers for the National Socialist leadership were introduced in regiments and battalions. Their task was to raise the level of political education of military personnel. They were appointed from among the officers who had front-line experience and were members of the NSDAP.

By the spring of 1944, all officers in the National Socialist leadership were appointed and actively involved in the work. But this did not lead to a noticeable improvement in the combat effectiveness of the troops, and the activities of these officers caused a mixed reaction. The persecution of dissidents and suspects undermined trust in each other among officers and soldiers. Denunciations became a frequent occurrence. Cohesion and mutual understanding weakened in military collectives.

As the front approached the borders of Germany, Hitler sought to increasingly strengthen the influence of the Nazi Party on the armed forces. After the failed attempt on his life on July 20, 1944, instead of the statutory salute in the Wehrmacht, a party greeting was introduced. When meeting with each other, the soldiers threw their right hand forward up with the exclamation "Heil Hitler!". In addition, they were allowed to retain their membership in the NSDAP, which had previously been suspended under the law of May 21, 1935, for the period of service of a party member in the armed forces. By Hitler's decree of September 20, 1944, military courts no longer heard cases of military personnel related to political crimes. From now on, they were transferred to the so-called people's courts, which were, in fact, the instrument of the Nazis' reprisals against dissidents.

The grenadier divisions created in July 1944 were renamed the people's grenadier divisions. The term "people's" was supposed to symbolize the close connection of the army with the people. The divisions formed in August 1944 began to be called in the same way, which were assigned the numbers of previously defeated infantry divisions, their banners, remnants of personnel and combat traditions were transferred. By the end of the war, there were about 50 such divisions in the Wehrmacht. In disciplinary and legal terms, they were all subordinate to the Reichsführer SS Himmler, who on July 20, 1944 was also appointed commander of the reserve army.

In general, the role of the Waffen-SS in the last year of the war increased dramatically. From August 1944, all foreign units and formations were transferred to their composition. In October, the first SS army headquarters (6th SS Panzer Army) was formed. To the pre-existing SS Panzer Corps in 1944-1945. seven SS army corps were added. A large number of officers of the ground forces were assigned to the highest headquarters of the SS troops with the assignment of the corresponding SS ranks, and officers of the SS troops were assigned to the supreme command of the Wehrmacht. From December 1944, freelance National Socialist leaders appeared in platoons and squads. This position was awarded to non-commissioned officers and soldiers - members of the NSDAP, who had proven themselves from a military point of view. They were instructed to resolutely suppress any panic moods, to ensure that the Fuhrer’s order was carried out in their units, the main of which at that time was the order to “stand to the death” at the occupied line.

Thus, during the Great Patriotic War, the leadership of Germany, under the pressure of military failures, in order to strengthen the resistance of the Red Army, was forced to take the same steps that the Soviet leadership had taken at the beginning of the war. In the Wehrmacht, the influence of the ruling party was maximized, orders appeared similar to the famous Stalinist order 227 “Not a step back”, a course was taken to deploy guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines, the Wehrmacht began to replenish at the expense of allied formations and even prisoners of war, and they were drafted into its ranks teenagers and women.

As for the German infantry and artillery weapons, in terms of their tactical and technical characteristics, they differed little from the Soviet ones. During the war years, it was mainly only its modernization. Machine guns and machine guns have become more advanced. From small arms in 1944, a new MP-44 automatic assault rifle was adopted, which combined the main parameters of an assault rifle, rifle and light machine gun. Compared to a conventional rifle cartridge, a shortened cartridge was created for it. Her magazine was designed for 30 rounds. The fire was carried out both by single shots and in short bursts. Until the end of the war, Germany produced only 400 thousand of these rifles, so there is no need to talk about the mass production of these weapons. Since 1943, the German infantry has widely used a new individual anti-tank weapon - the Faustpatron. It was a single-shot grenade launcher with an over-caliber cumulative grenade that pierced 200-mm armor from a distance of 90 meters. Although in 1944-1945. serial production of faustpatrons was launched, their use did not give a high effect. According to German data, in the first half of 1944 they destroyed less than 10% of Soviet tanks.

There was some lag behind the German army from the Soviet in mortars. Only when faced with Soviet 120-mm mortars did the Germans engage in similar production. Since 1944, such a mortar began to enter service with Wehrmacht infantry battalions, which significantly increased their firepower.

Already the first months of the armed struggle on the Eastern Front showed the vulnerability of the armor protection of German medium tanks. Their frontal armor did not exceed 40 mm and was penetrated by the 76 mm gun of the Soviet T-34 tank. An attempt to strengthen the armor by filming the frontal part of the tank did not solve the problem of armor resistance. Therefore, from the end of 1942, Germany began to produce more powerful combat vehicles: the T-VI Tiger-1 heavy tank with an 88-mm cannon, and a little later, the Panther T-V tank with an elongated 75-mm cannon. The T-IV medium tank was modernized in 1943, and the production of the T-III tank was completely discontinued. In 1944, the Panther and Tiger tanks already accounted for half of all armored vehicles at the front. In terms of their armor resistance, they surpassed the Soviet T-34 tanks.

Along with tanks, Germany had a large number of assault guns and tank destroyers. Unlike tanks, they did not have a rotating turret, but they were equipped with a larger caliber gun. In addition, their production was much cheaper than tanks. If the latter were intended mainly for the offensive, then assault guns were used mainly as a defensive tool. Since the middle of 1943, when the Wehrmacht was forced to go on the defensive on all fronts, their share among armored vehicles has been continuously increasing. Since August 1944, they were already producing more than tanks, and in January 1945 there were as many as tanks. The result from the use of assault guns in the fight against Soviet tanks at the final stage of the war was twice as high as from conventional anti-tank guns.

The basis of the aircraft fleet of the German Air Force was combat aircraft, the production of which was established by the beginning of World War II. In the course of it, they were modernized mainly by increasing the power of the engines and strengthening the weapons. New models of aircraft appeared primarily in fighter aviation, which was explained by the needs of defense. In 1943–1945 The main German fighter instead of the Messerschmitt M-109 was the Focke-Wulf FV-190, which developed speeds of up to 625 kilometers per hour. Since 1944, Germany began to produce jet aircraft. The Me-262 jet fighter, whose speed reached 870 kilometers per hour, was used mainly as an air defense tool in the fight against Anglo-American bombers; it was almost never used on the Eastern Front. If in the first period of the war, German aircraft were more perfect in their main tactical and technical indicators, then at its final stage they were already inferior to most Soviet aircraft.

In general, the armed forces of Germany at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War were a well-oiled military machine and surpassed the Red Army in terms of professionalism of personnel, combat readiness and the use of modern forms of struggle. The defeat near Moscow in the winter of 1941/42 and the forced transition to a protracted war caused the first crisis phenomena, which gradually increased. The new contingents that arrived in the German active army were inferior to the previous ones in terms of their combat training. The command of the Wehrmacht tried to compensate for the decrease in the quality level of personnel and the reduction in the number of military formations by equipping the troops with more advanced modernized weapons and military equipment. Despite this, the combat power of the Wehrmacht, compared with the Red Army that opposed it, was rapidly decreasing, although it continued to be a strong and formidable opponent until the last days of the war.

The tank and motorized units of the Wehrmacht were distinguished by high combat effectiveness. In terms of the effectiveness of their actions, until the end of the war, they surpassed the corresponding Soviet formations. The combat capabilities of the infantry divisions of the Wehrmacht and the Red Army by the end of the war were approximately equal, but in its first period they were two to three times the potential of Soviet infantry formations. Although the armament of the Wehrmacht during the war with the USSR was improved and was no worse than the Soviet one in quality, and even better in some types, the quantitative gap was increasing. By the end of 1944, the superiority of the Soviet troops over the Germans in the number of weapons became overwhelming, especially in artillery, tanks and aircraft.

But no effort by the Nazi leadership in 1944 and 1945 could have raised the fallen combat capability of the troops. The result of continuous strikes from the east and west were more and more tangible losses, it was more and more difficult to restore the defeated units and formations, to provide them with weapons and ammunition. Anticipating the inevitability of defeat, the Wehrmacht soldiers cared not so much about protecting the crumbling Third Reich, but about their personal future. Describing the situation, Goebbels wrote in his diary on March 7, 1945: “... the German troops are tired, exhausted in battles and do not want to fight the enemy anymore ... We no longer have such military forces to again win a decisive moment at a decisive moment. victory."

Nevertheless, despite the crisis in which Germany found itself by the beginning of 1945, the German troops continued to stubbornly resist the advancing Red Army until the very last days of the war, while showing enviable military skill. The professionalism of the commanding staff and the majority of ordinary soldiers, high military training and combat experience acquired before the attack on the USSR, the effectiveness of German weapons and military equipment affected. It must be admitted that throughout the war the Wehrmacht was a strong and skillful opponent.