Download or read book The Imperial German Army The History and Legacy of Germany s Armed Forces During World War I written by Charles River Editors and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2019-02-14 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes soldiers' accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading World War I, also known in its time as the "Great War" or the "War to End all Wars," was an unprecedented holocaust in terms of its sheer scale. Fought by men who hailed from all corners of the globe, it saw millions of soldiers do battle in brutal assaults of attrition which dragged on for months with little to no respite. Tens of millions of artillery shells and untold hundreds of millions of rifle and machine gun bullets were fired in a conflict that demonstrated man's capacity to kill each other on a heretofore unprecedented scale, and as always, such a war brought about technological innovation at a rate that made the boom of the Industrial Revolution seem stagnant. Naturally, as one of the main belligerents of the war, and arguably the most powerful, Germany led the way in many respects. Between innovation, the scale of manpower, and cutting edge tactics and technology, the Imperial German Army would inflict devastating losses on the enemy, but the war would also prove to be its undoing, even as the seeds of that conflict would lead to far worse a generation later. The Imperial German Army had developed a formidable reputation decades earlier, almost immediately upon the unification of the German Empire under Kaiser Wilhelm I and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in 1871. Prussia dominated the new Germany, and with that came a strong military tradition and hierarchy. Not surprisingly, German leaders who had such power at their disposal were more than willing to use it, and when Kaiser Wilhelm II was crowned, a monarch with a thirst for foreign adventurism took control of Germany. In the decades before 1914, German politics became increasingly authoritarian and its society militarized. In conjunction with that, as the German Empire wanted to become a Great Power, it induced distrust amongst its rivals. Berlin was arguably the most enthusiastic European capital for a war in 1914, and German leaders enacted the long prepared "Schlieffen Plan" almost immediately. Although the German army advanced rapidly in the early weeks of the First World War, it would meet unexpected resistance from the British and French. Bogged down in the trenches of Flanders, the Germans had more success on the Eastern Front against the Russians, and eventually, after the Tsarist regime was overthrown, they emerged victorious there. By early 1918 though, German society was exhausted by war and starving due to a naval embargo. After a last-ditch offensive in early 1918, the British and French forces, now supported by the Americans, finally achieved some success against the weakening German army. November 1918 brought an armistice, and the punitive victor's justice of the Treaty of Versailles left many former German soldiers angry and resentful moving forward. The legacy of the German army's indecisive defeat would resonate for many when these grievances were stoked by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis less than a generation later. The Imperial German Army: The History and Legacy of Germany's Armed Forces during World War I chronicles the German military in the years after the German Empire's formation and World War I. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Germany's army in World War I like never before.
Download or read book The Imperial German Army The History and Legacy of Germany s Armed Forces During World War I written by Charles River Editors and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2019-02-14 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes soldiers' accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading World War I, also known in its time as the "Great War" or the "War to End all Wars," was an unprecedented holocaust in terms of its sheer scale. Fought by men who hailed from all corners of the globe, it saw millions of soldiers do battle in brutal assaults of attrition which dragged on for months with little to no respite. Tens of millions of artillery shells and untold hundreds of millions of rifle and machine gun bullets were fired in a conflict that demonstrated man's capacity to kill each other on a heretofore unprecedented scale, and as always, such a war brought about technological innovation at a rate that made the boom of the Industrial Revolution seem stagnant. Naturally, as one of the main belligerents of the war, and arguably the most powerful, Germany led the way in many respects. Between innovation, the scale of manpower, and cutting edge tactics and technology, the Imperial German Army would inflict devastating losses on the enemy, but the war would also prove to be its undoing, even as the seeds of that conflict would lead to far worse a generation later. The Imperial German Army had developed a formidable reputation decades earlier, almost immediately upon the unification of the German Empire under Kaiser Wilhelm I and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in 1871. Prussia dominated the new Germany, and with that came a strong military tradition and hierarchy. Not surprisingly, German leaders who had such power at their disposal were more than willing to use it, and when Kaiser Wilhelm II was crowned, a monarch with a thirst for foreign adventurism took control of Germany. In the decades before 1914, German politics became increasingly authoritarian and its society militarized. In conjunction with that, as the German Empire wanted to become a Great Power, it induced distrust amongst its rivals. Berlin was arguably the most enthusiastic European capital for a war in 1914, and German leaders enacted the long prepared "Schlieffen Plan" almost immediately. Although the German army advanced rapidly in the early weeks of the First World War, it would meet unexpected resistance from the British and French. Bogged down in the trenches of Flanders, the Germans had more success on the Eastern Front against the Russians, and eventually, after the Tsarist regime was overthrown, they emerged victorious there. By early 1918 though, German society was exhausted by war and starving due to a naval embargo. After a last-ditch offensive in early 1918, the British and French forces, now supported by the Americans, finally achieved some success against the weakening German army. November 1918 brought an armistice, and the punitive victor's justice of the Treaty of Versailles left many former German soldiers angry and resentful moving forward. The legacy of the German army's indecisive defeat would resonate for many when these grievances were stoked by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis less than a generation later. The Imperial German Army: The History and Legacy of Germany's Armed Forces during World War I chronicles the German military in the years after the German Empire's formation and World War I. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Germany's army in World War I like never before.
Download or read book Absolute Destruction written by Isabel V. Hull and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2013-02-15 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a book that is at once a major contribution to modern European history and a cautionary tale for today, Isabel V. Hull argues that the routines and practices of the Imperial German Army, unchecked by effective civilian institutions, increasingly sought the absolute destruction of its enemies as the only guarantee of the nation's security. So deeply embedded were the assumptions and procedures of this distinctively German military culture that the Army, in its drive to annihilate the enemy military, did not shrink from the utter destruction of civilian property and lives. Carried to its extreme, the logic of "military necessity" found real security only in extremities of destruction, in the "silence of the graveyard."Hull begins with a dramatic account, based on fresh archival work, of the German Army's slide from administrative murder to genocide in German Southwest Africa (1904–7). The author then moves back to 1870 and the war that inaugurated the Imperial era in German history, and analyzes the genesis and nature of this specifically German military culture and its operations in colonial warfare. In the First World War the routines perfected in the colonies were visited upon European populations. Hull focuses on one set of cases (Belgium and northern France) in which the transition to total destruction was checked (if barely) and on another (Armenia) in which "military necessity" caused Germany to accept its ally's genocidal policies even after these became militarily counterproductive. She then turns to the Endkampf (1918), the German General Staff's plan to achieve victory in the Great War even if the homeland were destroyed in the process—a seemingly insane campaign that completes the logic of this deeply institutionalized set of military routines and practices. Hull concludes by speculating on the role of this distinctive military culture in National Socialism's military and racial policies.Absolute Destruction has serious implications for the nature of warmaking in any modern power. At its heart is a warning about the blindness of bureaucratic routines, especially when those bureaucracies command the instruments of mass death.
Download or read book The Kaiser s Army written by David Stone and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-06-01 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this comprehensive book, David Stone describes and analyses every aspect of the German Army as it existed under Kaiser Wilhelm II, encompassing its development and antecedents, organisation, personnel, weapons and equipment, its inherent strengths and weaknesses, and its victories and defeats as it fought on many fronts throughout World War I. The book deals in considerable detail with the origins and creation of the German army, examining the structure of power in German politics and wider society, and the nation's imperial ambitions, along with the ways in which the high command and general staff functioned in terms of strategy and tactical doctrine. The nature, background, recruitment, training and military experiences of the officers, NCOs and soldiers are examined, while personal and collective values relating to honour, loyalty and conscience are also analysed. There is also an evaluation of all aspects of army life such as conscription, discipline, rest and recuperation and medical treatment. In addition the army's operations are set in context with an overview of the army at war, covering the key actions and outcomes of major campaigns from 1914 to 1918 up to the signature of the Armistice at Compiègne. For anyone seeking a definitive reference on the German Army of the period – whether scholar, historian, serving soldier or simply a general reader – this remarkable book will prove an invaluable work.
Download or read book The Kaiser s Army written by Eric Dorn Brose and published by Oxford University Press on Demand. This book was released on 2004-10-14 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the period 1870-1918, the German army's view that man was better than machine was challenged by the development and use of machine guns, airplanes and weapons of destruction. This book examines the effects of mechanisation on the Germany army.
Download or read book The German Army and the Defence of the Reich written by Matthias Strohn and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An exploration of the development of military theory and doctrine in the German army between the wars.
Download or read book The Wehrmacht written by Wolfram Wette and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2006-05-15 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a profound reexamination of the role of the German army, the Wehrmacht, in World War II. Until very recently, the standard story avowed that the ordinary German soldier in World War II was a good soldier, distinct from Hitler's rapacious SS troops, and not an accomplice to the massacres of civilians. Wolfram Wette, a preeminent German military historian, explodes the myth of a "clean" Wehrmacht with devastating clarity. This book reveals the Wehrmacht's long-standing prejudices against Jews, Slavs, and Bolsheviks, beliefs that predated the prophecies of Mein Kampf and the paranoia of National Socialism. Though the sixteen-million-member German army is often portrayed as a victim of Nazi mania, we come to see that from 1941 to 1944 these soldiers were thoroughly involved in the horrific cleansing of Russia and Eastern Europe. Wette compellingly documents Germany's long-term preparation of its army for a race war deemed necessary to safeguard the country's future; World War II was merely the fulfillment of these plans, on a previously unimaginable scale. This sober indictment of millions of German soldiers reaches beyond the Wehrmacht's complicity to examine how German academics and ordinary citizens avoided confronting this difficult truth at war's end. Wette shows how atrocities against Jews and others were concealed and sanitized, and history rewritten. Only recently has the German public undertaken a reevaluation of this respected national institution--a painful but necessary process if we are to truly comprehend how the Holocaust was carried out and how we have come to understand it.
Download or read book Imperial German Army 1914 18 written by Hermann Cron and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work is a detailed account of the composition, structure and organization of the World War I German army. It contains over 150 pages of detailed orders-of-battle and extensive lists of regiments and brigades, and all arms-of-service from infantry to sanitary troops.
Download or read book Standing Fast written by Timothy A. Wray and published by . This book was released on 2011-06 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The German Military in the Age of Total War written by Wilhelm Deist and published by . This book was released on 1985 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The German Army on the Eastern Front written by Jeff Rutherford and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2018-05-30 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Histories of the German army on the Eastern Front generally focus on battlefield exploits on the war as it was fought in the front line. They tend to neglect other aspects of the armys experience, particularly its participation in the racial war demanded by the leadership of the Reich. This ground-breaking book aims to correct this incomplete, often misleading picture. Using a selection of revealing extracts from a wide range of wartime documents, it looks at the totality of the Wehrmachts war in the East. The documents have previously been unpublished or have never been translated into English, and they offer a fascinating inside view of the armys actions and attitudes. Combat is covered, and complicity in Hitlers war of annihilation against the Soviet Union. There are sections on the conduct of the war in the rear areas logistics, medical, judicial and the armys tactics, motivation and leadership. The entire text is informed by the latest research into the reality of the conflict as it was perceived and understood by those who took part.
Download or read book Operation Valkyrie written by Winfried Heinemann and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2021-11-08 with total page 479 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 20 July 1944 is usually associated with the bomb plot to murder Hitler. However, what distinguishes Colonel Stauffenberg’s plan from all others is that the attempt on the Führer’s life was only to be the initial stage of a full military coup d’état. The aim was to overthrow the murderous regime, and to end the war as soon as possible. The conspiracy has long been analyzed from political, social, religious, or moral points of view. This book asks what the military dimension of the plan was. What traditions in the German army were at work, how was planning and preparation done, and why did the plot fail eventually? What is more: how did the conspiracy affect the German armies created in East and West after World War II, and also the Austrian Army? As the politicians among the conspirators thought in categories of Imperial Germany or at least the Weimar Republic, the officers among them were conditioned by the Reichswehr. Yet, Stauffenberg and some others were also bright intellectuals who were willing to incorporate their war experience into their plans, rendering them surprisingly modern at times. The coup d’état had been planned as meticulously as circumstances in war-torn Berlin allowed. However, as most officers had foreseen, once it became public knowledge that Hitler had survived Stauffenberg’s bomb, army units refused to act. The myth surrounding the "Führer" effectively prevented any military action against him. Still, the failed uprising had its effects: the regime took the opportunity to tilt the balance of power further in favor of Himmler and his fiefdom (SS, Gestapo, Police), to the detriment of the army which Hitler felt was too reactionary anyway. The leadership of the West German Bundeswehr always saw the failed uprising as part of its tradition, but it took time for this attitude to percolate down to the rank and file. For decades, some of the former Wehrmacht soldiers viewed Stauffenberg and his friends as "traitors". The book is the first to approach this important event in German history from a specifically military point of view, and that results in some surprising new results.
Download or read book A History Of U s Military Forces In Germany written by Daniel J. Nelson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-04-08 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discussing why the U.S. will remain in the FRG for the foreseeable future, this book examines the U.S. military presence in Germany. It shows how that presence has affected the development of the political and diplomatic relationship between the two countries.
Download or read book The Rise of the Wehrmacht 2 Volumes written by Samuel W. Mitcham and published by Praeger. This book was released on 2008-06-30 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Rise of the Wehrmacht is the first comprehensive work to deal with the German war effort in World War II from this point of view. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that it covers the entire war effort from the point of view of the German military that actually conducted and fought the war, something that has never been done before on this scale. Excellent books have been written about the German Army, Navy, the Luftwaffe, and the SS, as well as about the Panzer branch, the parachute arm, the U-Boat forces, etc., but this is the first to cover them all in depth. Mitcham also covers the German Wehrkreise (roughly translated as military district) system in depth and recognizes its importance, both in the formation and expansion of the German Army before the war and in its continuing importance throughout the conflict. He deals with the German rearmament in greater depth and detail than has been done before, points out the importance of the police in the development of Germany's reserves before and during World War II, and offers new insights into the evolution and development of the German military doctrine of Kesselschlact (the decisive battle of encirclement and annihilation). In addition, The Rise of the Wehrmacht explains the problems the Wehrmacht faced because of its too rapid expansion. This expansion was far more rapid than the German generals intended and resulted in many problems, especially in terms of equipment shortages and a shortage of qualified officers. Finally, Mitcham addresses the contributions of the Hitler Youth to the war effort, where their work on farms, fire and rescue crews, in nursing, and as postal workers, for example, provided essential services to German infrastructure.
Download or read book Impact Of German Military Resistance Movements Upon Field Commanders Of The German Army 1933 1944 written by Major George D. Hardesty Jr. and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A revolutionary tradition did not exist in the Imperial German Army. But during the years 1918-1944 events occurred which produced such an impact on the moral fibre of the German Officer Corps that eventually a few of them participated in a conspiracy against Hitler. This work seeks only to throw light on those aspects of German military history that portray the gradual disintegration of the monolithic structure of the German Army that occurred prior to 20 July 1944. The study has been divided into four major parts: the revolutionary days following the defeat of World War I, 1918-1920; the development of the Reichswehr and the rise to power of Hitler, 1920-1933; the transition from Reichswehr to Wehrmacht, 1933-1938; and the period of active opposition to Hitler, 1938-1944. The analysis, generally, follows a chronological course, and results in an examination of those events which influenced the German officers who were the field commanders of World War II. In this tragedy, it would appear that the German Officer Corps was less to blame for its actions—or lack of action within the broader framework of the German nation—than has often been believed to be the case, primarily because the actions of the officers were often the result of factors beyond the control of soldiers. Such a conclusion may be at variance with that of other writers on the subject. The weight of evidence examined, however, will not support a different conclusion, particularly when one analyzes the conduct of tactical units at Field Army and lower echelons of command. In this century the soldiers of the German Army have undergone two severe tests. It remains only for history to establish the answer to this question: Has this been the German Army’s guilt or the German Army’s fate?
Download or read book Germany at War 4 Volumes written by David T. Zabecki and published by ABC-CLIO. This book was released on 2014-10-28 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written by experts for use by nonexperts, this monumental work probes Germany's "Genius for War" and the unmistakable pattern of tactical and operational innovation and excellence evident throughout the nation's military history. Despite having the best military forces in the world, some of the most advanced weapons available, and unparalleled tactical proficiency, Germany still lost both World Wars. This landmark, four-volume encyclopedia explores how and why that happened, at the same time examining Germany as a military power from the start of the Thirty Years' War in 1618 to the present day. Coverage includes the Federal Republic of Germany, its predecessor states, and the kingdoms and principalities that combined to form Imperial Germany in 1871. The Seven Years' War is discussed, as are the Napoleonic Wars, the Wars of German Unification (including the Franco-Prussian War), World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. In all, more than 1,000 entries illuminate battles, organizations, leaders, armies, weapons, and other aspects of war and military life. The most comprehensive overview of German military history ever to appear in English, this work will enable students and others interested in military history to better understand the sociopolitical history of Germany, the complex role conflict has played in the nation throughout its history, and why Germany continues to be an important player on the European continent. Pulls together all the historical military threads that resulted in modern Germany Examines wars, battles, leaders, weapons, and strategy and tactics Features contributors from 14 countries, including official historians from America, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Estonia Offers biographies of selected German military leaders who made significant contributions in non-German wars, such as Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, Christian von Zweibrücken, and Johann Gottlieb Rall (American Revolution) and Carl Schurz (American Civil War) Includes 77 original documents, more than half of which were translated into English for the first time for this encyclopedia
Download or read book Imperial Germany and War 1871 1918 written by Daniel J. Hughes and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2018-03-26 with total page 696 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An in-depth, finely detailed portrait of the German Army from its greatest victory in 1871 to its final collapse in 1918, this volume offers the most comprehensive account ever given of one of the critical pillars of the German Empire—and a chief architect of the military and political realities of late nineteenth-century Europe. Written by two of the world’s leading authorities on the subject, Imperial Germany and War, 1871–1918 examines the most essential components of the imperial German military system, with an emphasis on such foundational areas as theory, doctrine, institutional structures, training, and the officer corps. In the period between 1871 and 1918, rapid technological development demanded considerable adaptation and change in military doctrine and planning. Consequently, the authors focus on theory and practice leading up to World War I and upon the variety of adaptations that became necessary as the war progressed—with unique insights into military theorists from Clausewitz to Moltke the Elder, Moltke the Younger, Schlichting, and Schlieffen. Ranging over the entire history of the German Empire, Imperial Germany and War, 1871–1918 presents a picture of unprecedented scope and depth of one of the most widely studied, criticized, and imitated organizations in the modern world. The book will prove indispensable to an understanding of the Imperial German Army.
