The Wehrmacht: The dark engine of Nazi Germany's war machine

After the Nazi Party came to power in 1933, Hitler moved quickly to dismantle the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles.

Even before the public reintroduction of conscription in 1935, Germany had secretly trained pilots and tank crews in the Soviet Union under secret agreements such as the Lipetsk fighter school.

In March 1935, conscription was formally brought back and the Wehrmacht was officially established as the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.

This new structure replaced the older Reichswehr, which had been limited to 100,000 men under the treaty’s terms.

Though the personal loyalty oath to Hitler had already been introduced in 1934 for the Reichswehr, it continued under the Wehrmacht, which reinforced the regime’s political control over the military.

This loyalty would enable the regime to enforce its ideological and racial policies with the full support of the armed forces. 

The Wehrmacht consisted of three main branches. The Heer, the Army, served as the largest and most important force responsible for ground operations across the European continent.

The Kriegsmarine, the Navy, focused on securing German interests at sea, particularly through its U-boat campaign against Allied shipping.

The Luftwaffe, the Air Force, under Hermann Göring, became a powerful symbol of German rearmament and took part in both tactical support and strategic bombing.

All three reported to the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, or OKW, the High Command of the Armed Forces, which coordinated military operations on behalf of Hitler.

Beneath this level, each service operated its own internal command structure and logistical systems. 

The Wehrmacht’s early strength came from its motorised infantry and armoured divisions, known as Panzer units.

Vehicles such as the Panzer III and Panzer IV formed the backbone of German armoured warfare in the early and mid-war years.

As the war progressed, heavier tanks like the Tiger I and Panther were introduced. These tanks had greater firepower and armour.

By the late stages of the war, the Panther had become the principal medium tank in German service, while the Panzer III was largely obsolete.

German engineers also developed mobile artillery, self-propelled guns, and the feared 88mm Flak gun, which proved highly effective against both aircraft and tanks.

Germany eventually produced approximately 1,350 Tiger I tanks and between 6,000 and 6,500 Panther tanks, though maintenance difficulties and difficult production made them hard to use in battle. 

In the air, the Luftwaffe used advanced fighters like the Messerschmitt Bf 109, of which more than 33,000 were produced, and bombers such as the Heinkel He 111 and Junkers Ju 87 Stuka, which played critical roles during early invasions.

Naval forces included modern battleships like the Bismarck and a large fleet of U‑boats, which tried to cut off British supply lines in the Battle of the Atlantic.

However, the Germans' excessive confidence in technology often came at the expense of mass production.

Compared to the simplicity and volume of Allied equipment such as the Soviet T-34 tank or the American M4 Sherman, German designs were less suited to long industrial fighting.

Allied powers eventually surpassed German industry in scale, which led to a growing gap in numbers and reliability of equipment by the war’s later stages. 

At the outbreak of war, the Wehrmacht implemented a fast-paced strategy known as Blitzkrieg, or “lightning war.”

This doctrine emphasised fast movement and surprise that enabled focused offensives, and it used tanks, motorised infantry and close air support to break through enemy lines and encircle entire armies.

The invasions of Poland in 1939 and France in 1940 demonstrated the success of these tactics.

In France, German forces pretended to attack through Belgium to draw Allied armies northward, while Panzer divisions under Heinz Guderian pushed through the lightly defended Ardennes, effectively bypassing the Maginot Line and encircling Allied forces at Dunkirk.

Rather than rely on static defences, German forces coordinated movements across fronts to weaken and confuse their opponents before they could properly react. 

Strategically, the Wehrmacht relied on flexible operations and mission-based command, or Auftragstaktik, which gave lower-ranking officers the freedom to adapt to changing battlefield conditions.

This spread‑out system allowed for quick decision-making and often moved faster than Allied responses in the early stages of the war.

Early Soviet failures were partially due to a rigid, top-down command structure that could not match German tactical initiative.

However, as the conflict wore on, Germany’s global ambitions stretched forces too thin.

The decision to invade the Soviet Union in 1941 opened a very large front that proved impossible to sustain.

The failure to secure a quick victory in the East forced the Wehrmacht into a protracted and unwinnable war of attrition. 

One of the Wehrmacht’s earliest demonstrations of strength came with the invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939.

In just over a month, German forces, which coordinated with the Soviet Union, dismantled the Polish state and triggered Britain and France’s declarations of war.

By mid-1940, the Wehrmacht had conquered Denmark, Norway, the Low Countries, and France.

The fall of France in June 1940 shocked the world and signified the height of Germany’s conventional military power in Europe. 

When the Wehrmacht turned eastward in June 1941, it began Operation Barbarossa, the largest invasion ever carried out.

Over three million German troops entered Soviet territory and captured large regions, which caused heavy losses.

By the end of 1941, German forces had suffered around 600,000 to 650,000 casualties on the Eastern Front. Key battles such as Moscow (1941), Stalingrad (1942–43), and Kursk (1943) changed the situation in favour of the Soviets.

The defeat at Stalingrad cost Germany an entire field army, with around 91,000 troops taken prisoner and total losses approaching 250,000 to 280,000, and proved that the Wehrmacht was not unbeatable.

In North Africa, the Wehrmacht suffered a major setback at the Second Battle of El Alamein in late 1942, which marked the beginning of a general retreat.

In the West, the Wehrmacht failed to stop the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944 and launched a final offensive during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, which failed due to problems with supplies and strong Allied opposition.

By 1945, its remaining forces were retreating on every front. 

Several high-ranking officers directed the Wehrmacht’s operations across its various branches.

Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch initially served as the commander-in-chief of the army but was replaced by Hitler in 1941 after the failure to capture Moscow.

Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, a conservative aristocrat, led operations during the invasions of France and later in the West, including during the Ardennes Offensive in 1944.

Erich von Manstein became one of the most respected strategic minds in the German command and was responsible for designing the successful assault on France through the Ardennes.

Others, like General Heinz Guderian, played crucial roles in the development and application of armoured warfare tactics. 

In the air, Hermann Göring, once a World War I ace, oversaw the Luftwaffe as its commander-in-chief.

His performance, however, deteriorated as the war progressed, particularly after the failure to gain air superiority during the Battle of Britain.

Naval command was dominated by Admiral Karl Dönitz, who masterminded the U-boat campaign and later succeeded Hitler as head of state for a brief period in 1945.

Beneath these figures stood hundreds of generals and officers who carried out the Wehrmacht’s campaigns.

Though only a limited number were prosecuted in post-war trials, historians have since demonstrated the complicity of many Wehrmacht units in war crimes.

Numerous commanders and formations willingly participated in atrocities including the execution of Soviet political commissars and reprisal killings of civilians; they also provided logistical support for mass murder by SS Einsatzgruppen. 

By late 1943, the Wehrmacht began to lose its ability to launch attacks. On the Eastern Front, Soviet counterattacks pushed German forces westward, inflicting massive casualties.

In the West, Allied bombing damaged German industry, while resistance fighters and guerrilla attacks lowered morale and used up German resources.

The Wehrmacht, once a swift and disciplined force, found itself stuck in defensive fights in many areas.

Germany’s war effort struggled with broken supply lines and fuel shortages, while Allied forces had better technology and more troops. 

In the final months of the war, the Wehrmacht fought desperately but did not have enough soldiers, fuel, or equipment to stop the advancing Allies.

Hitler’s refusal to permit tactical withdrawals led to unnecessary losses, while internal purges and distrust weakened command performance.

In March 1945, Hitler issued the Nero Decree (officially titled the "Demolitions on Reich Territory Decree"), ordering the destruction of Germany’s remaining infrastructure to prevent its use by the Allies.

This action further crippled his own forces. The final battle for Berlin, which was fought by depleted Wehrmacht units, the Volkssturm, and Hitler Youth conscripts, ended with the Soviet capture of the city on 2 May 1945.

By then, Berlin was encircled, Hitler had committed suicide, and what remained of the Wehrmacht surrendered unconditionally.

Its senior leaders either committed suicide, were killed in battle, or stood trial at Nuremberg for crimes committed under the Nazi regime.

The Wehrmacht, once considered an elite fighting force, ended in failure after contributing to one of history’s most devastating conflicts.