German Army (1935-1945)

The German Army, in German the Deutsches Heer, was the land forces component of the Wehrmacht, the regular armed forces of Nazi Germany, from 1935 until it effectively ceased to exist in 1945; it was formally dissolved in August 1946. About 13.6 million volunteers and conscripts served in it during the Second World War. It reached its goal of 36 divisions only 17 months after Hitler announced rearmament in 1935, and it grew again in 1938 when five divisions of the Austrian Army joined it after the annexation of Austria. The Oberkommando des Heeres, the Army High Command, directed it from 1936, although Hitler took personal command after the failed Moscow offensive of December 1941. It combined ground and air units into combined arms forces and won quick early victories in the style later called Blitzkrieg. The army was also extensively involved in war crimes, including complicity in the Holocaust and the mass death of Soviet prisoners of war.