German Army (1935–1945) in the context of "Oberkommando der Wehrmacht"

The Wehrmacht (German pronunciation: [ˈveːɐ̯maxt] , lit. 'defence force') were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer (army), the Kriegsmarine (navy) and the Luftwaffe (air force). The designation "Wehrmacht" replaced the previously used term Reichswehr (Reich Defence) and was the manifestation of the Nazi regime's efforts to rearm Germany to a greater extent than the Treaty of Versailles permitted.

After the Nazi rise to power in 1933, one of Adolf Hitler's most overt and bellicose moves was to establish the Wehrmacht, a modern offensively-capable armed force, fulfilling the Nazi regime's long-term goals of regaining lost territory as well as gaining new territory and dominating its neighbours. This required the reinstatement of conscription and massive investment and defence spending on the arms industry.

Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Manstein (born Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Lewinski; 24 November 1887 – 9 June 1973) was a German military officer who served as a Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) in the Heer (Army) of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was subsequently convicted of war crimes and sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment.

Born into an aristocratic Prussian family with a long history of military service, Manstein joined the army at a young age and saw service on both the Western and Eastern Front during the First World War (1914–18). He rose to the rank of captain by the end of the war and was active in the inter-war period helping Germany rebuild its armed forces. In September 1939, during the invasion of Poland at the beginning of the Second World War, he served as Chief of Staff to Gerd von Rundstedt's Army Group South. Adolf Hitler chose Manstein's strategy for the invasion of France of May 1940, a plan later refined by Franz Halder and other members of the OKH.

Army Group A (German: Heeresgruppe A) was the name of three distinct army groups of the Heer, the ground forces of the Wehrmacht, during World War II.

The first Army Group A, previously known as "Army Group South", was active from October 1939 to June 1941 and notably served in the Battle of France as the decisive army group in the implementation of the "Sickle Cut" military plan that inflicted crushing subsequent defeats on the French armed forces at occasions such as the Battle of Sedan, Battle of Boulogne and Battle of Dunkirk and that ultimately led to the Armistice of 22 June 1940. Army Group A was subsequently used in the German occupation of France and temporarily became the first Oberbefehlshaber West in German-occupied France. It was eventually replaced in this function by Army Group D and redeployed to German-occupied Poland in preparation for Operation Barbarossa. At the commencement of that attack, Army Group A was renamed "Army Group South" on 22 June 1941, ending the first deployment.

The Tiger I (German: [ˈtiːɡɐ] ) was a German heavy tank of World War II that began operational duty in 1942 in Africa and in the Soviet Union, usually in independent heavy tank battalions. It gave the German Army its first armoured fighting vehicle that mounted the 8.8 cm (3.5 in) KwK 36 gun (derived from the 8.8 cm Flak 36, the famous "eighty-eight" feared by Allied troops). 1,347 were built between August 1942 and August 1944. After August 1944, production of the Tiger I was phased out in favour of the Tiger II.

While the Tiger I has been called an outstanding design for its time, it has also been criticized for being overengineered, and for using expensive materials and labour-intensive production methods. In the early period, the Tiger was prone to certain types of track failures and breakdowns. It was expensive to maintain, but generally mechanically reliable. It was difficult to transport and vulnerable to immobilisation when mud, ice, and snow froze between its overlapping and interleaved Schachtellaufwerk-pattern road wheels, often jamming them solid.

The Waffen-SS (German: [ˈvafn̩ʔɛsˌʔɛs]; lit. 'Armed SS') was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary Schutzstaffel (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both German-occupied Europe and unoccupied lands. With the start of World War II, tactical control was exercised by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW, "High Command of the Armed Forces"), with some units being subordinated to the Kommandostab Reichsführer-SS (lit. 'Command Staff Reich Leader-SS') directly under Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler's control. It was disbanded in May 1945.

The Waffen-SS grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions during World War II. Combining combat and police functions, it served alongside the German Army (Heer), Ordnungspolizei (Order Police), and other security units. Originally, it was under the control of the SS Führungshauptamt (SS operational command office) beneath Himmler.

The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the north of France, between 26 May and 4 June 1940. The operation began after large numbers of Belgian, British, and French troops were cut off and surrounded by German troops during the six-week Battle of France.

After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, France and the British Empire declared war on Germany and imposed an economic blockade. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was sent to help defend France. After the Phoney War of October 1939 to April 1940, Germany invaded Belgium, the Netherlands, and France on 10 May 1940. Three panzer corps attacked through the Ardennes and drove northwest to the English Channel. By 21 May, German forces had trapped the BEF, the remains of the Belgian forces, and three French field armies along the northern coast of France. BEF commander General Viscount Gort immediately saw evacuation across the Channel as the best course of action, and began planning a withdrawal to Dunkirk, the closest good port.

During World War II, Soviet prisoners of war (POWs) held by Nazi Germany and primarily in the custody of the German Army were starved and subjected to deadly conditions. Of nearly six million who were captured, around three million died during their imprisonment.

In June 1941, Germany and its allies invaded the Soviet Union and carried out a war of extermination with complete disregard for the laws and customs of war. Among the criminal orders issued before the invasion was for the execution of captured Soviet commissars. Although Germany largely upheld its obligations under the Geneva Convention with prisoners of war of other nationalities, military planners decided to breach it with the Soviet prisoners. By the end of 1941, over 3 million Soviet soldiers had been captured, mostly in large-scale encirclement operations during the German Army's rapid advance. Two-thirds of them had died from starvation, exposure, and disease by early 1942. This is one of the highest sustained death rates for any mass atrocity in history.

The Aggregat series (From the German for "Aggregate" or "Assembly") was a set of ballistic missile designs developed in 1933–1945 by a research program of Nazi Germany's Army (Heer). Its greatest success was the A4, more commonly known as the V2.