** war and social upheaval: World War II -- Germany German World War II weapons industry








German World War II Weapons Industry


Figure 1.--.

The World War I Versailles Peace Treaty (1919) placed major limitations on the German military. Throughout the Weimar Republic, the German military conducted covert limitations to evade those limitations. When the NAZIs seized power (1933) a major rearmament program was launched. That program rapidly created the most powerful military in the world. The most fearsome arm was the the Luftwaffe which gave Hitler the ability to make the British and French backdown at Munich. Soon the Luftwaffe and Panzers stunned the world with victories in Poland (1939) and France (1940). The Germans were so successful that Hitler scaled back military reserarch after the victory in France. Even so German resesearchers created a fearsome aresnal of weapons, many of which were the predecessors of major modern weapon systems including rockets, missles, and jet engines. IG Farbin Tabin and Serin poison gas, but Germany never used gas during the War. In many areas, the Germans were several years ahead of Allied reserachers. Germany's weakness was that it did have the industrial capacity to win the War once Operation Barbarossa failed to knock the Soviet Union out of the War and Hitler declared War on America (1941). This weakness was in part exacerbated by the inefficent utilization of resources. German weapons were often wonderfully crafted, but sometimes complicated and requiring extensive maintenance. There was also a penchant for gigantism reflected in Bismarck, huge railway cannons, and the Tiger Tank. One area that Germany fell behind the Allies was nuclear research, in part because Hitler viewed it as Jewish science.

Versailles Treaty

The World War I Versailles Peace Treaty (1919) placed major limitations on the German military. Germany was requited to abolish compulsory universal military service. The army had to be reduced to 96,000 men and 4,000 officers who had to be recruited voluntarily. Production and importation of nearly all war material had to cease. The navy had ti be limited to six battleships, six light cruisers, and 12 torpedo boats. No submarines (U-boats) were permitted. The navy had to be limited to 15,000 officers and men. Al military and naval aviation had to be terminated by October 1, 1919. The Treaty came to be called "the shame of Versailles" and was an issue the NAZIs used effectively in their rise to power.

Weimar Evasion of the Versialles Limitations

Throughout the Weimar Republic, the German military conducted covert limitations to evade those limitations. This was primarily conducted by the Reichwhr. A sophisticated operation insured that the actual strength of Germany's army was well above the 100.000 Treaty level. Tanks were tested in the Soviet Union under the cterms of the Rapollo Treaty. Rocket reserarch was launched because of the limitations on artillery. The Navy also engaged in illegal activities, opening a design bureau in the Netherlands to workmon U-boats. As a result, important arms programs were already active when the NAZIs seized power.

NAZI Rearmament Program

When the NAZIs seized power (1933), Hitler ordered a massive rearmament program was launched. Germany did not have the monet fir it. Huge anounts were borriwed to finance the program. Economics Minister Hjalmar Schacht helped hide the level of borrowing. That program rapidly created the most powerful military in the world, in part because the Western democrcies cut military spending to the bone. Hitler and the NAZIs planned from the beginning for a massive rearmament program--Aufrüstung. NAZI propaganda promoted the idea that Germany must rearm. The NAZI objectives could in fact only be achieved by war. The NAZIs did not, however, begin a massive rearmament program immediately upon seizing power in 1933. Hitler's first objective was to secure control of Germany and he did not want to precipitate foreign intervention before he was ready. The German military itself has already sponsored secret armament programs during the Weimar era in violation of the Versailles Treaty. The NAZIs thus had a solid foundation upon which to base a revived military. The NAZIs sharply expand weapon research. The German military expanded in secret during 1933-34. Hitler by March 1935, felt sufficiently secure to publicize his military. The NAZIs announced that they expansion - which broke the terms of the Versailles Treaty. Europe learned that the Nazis had a modern 2,500 plane Luftwaffe and a Wehrmacht with 300,000 men. Hitler publicly announced that he was instituting a compulsory military conscription and planned to expand the Wehrmacht to 550,000 men. Actual armaments production began in earnest in 1936. The NAZIs in 1936 doubled armaments spending over 1935 levels. It was in 1936 that NAZI arms spending first exceeded the combined total for transportation and construction spending. The nature of arms spending also increased. NAZI arms spending initially focused on research, development, and capital investment. The NAZIs in 1936 began concentrating on producing actual military equipment. This is one of the least economically beneficial types of government spending. .

NAZI War Ecomomy

The German approach to a war economy was to covert the economies of occupied countries to the production of arms and war production. And to virtually pillage occupied countries to ship food and consumer goods back to the Reich so civilian consumption levels could be maintained. This began immediately with the conquest of Poland. And the conquest of Denmark and Norway (April 1940), Western Europe (May-June 1940) and the Balkans (April 1941) provided even more opportunities for plunder. Thus conditions in Germany did not deteriorate in the first two years of the war. Food and many consumers was still readily available. This was a policy Hitler ordered because of the impact of shortages on German morale during World War I. This photograph in Germany except for all the military uniforms do not look like a country at War. Nor were air raids at first much of aroblem. Hitler believing the War had been won, actually scaled back war production in 1940-41. He was concerned about stressing the home front. This decession delayed critical work on weapons development (such at jet aircraft). Hitler was very concerned with maintaining German civilian consumption levels. Hitler even before the War began was concerned about the home front. He was aware that food shortages had destroyed civilian morale and that the collapse of the homec front. Disorders at home were the principal factor in the Kaiser's abdication. The cut backs proved to be a terrible miscalculation. The NAZIs neither used Germany''s potential or effeciently used the potential of the occupied countries. When the War turned against Germany, the NAZIs found themselves fighting countries with far greater resources and industrial capacity. Hitler even ordered cut backs in military production after the victory over France. This did not begin to change until the advances in the East began befire Moscow (December 1941). As German workers had to be conscripted for military service, workers for the factories were meeded. Jews could have been used for the factories, but Hitler instead decided to kill them in what we now call the Holocaust. Thus the NAZIs began to concript foreign workers to work in German factories. Thd NAZIs as the war dragged on, also began to conscript workers from occupied countries to camps for forced or slave labor, often under horendous conditions. The NAZIs using this system were able to maintain production levels in the Reich. There were, however, huge declines in production levels in the occupied countries. This is why that even though the NAZIs occupied much of Europe, there were no massive increases in production levels comensurate with the pre-War industrial or agricultural production of Europe. Hitler eventually put Albert Speer in charge of war production. German industry began to be used more efficently. Battlefield losses and the Allied strategic bombing campaign, however, gradually eroded the German ability to continue the War. A key here was petroleum.

The Luftwaffe

The Germans during World War I created an air arm during World War I (1914-18). The airplane was first used in any significant way in World war I. It played a useful, but marginal role. The Allies were able to outproduce the Germans, but both side made important technological strides. The German air ace the Red Baron (von Rictoff) was the most famous pilot of the War. When he was killed, Herman Goering took over command of the the Flying Circus. The German air forces were dissolved after the War, as required by the Treaty of Versailles. Even so the German military continued to develop technology through secret arrangements with foreign countries. German companies built planes in other countries, especially the Netherlands. Glider clubs throughout Germany provided training for future pilots. The operations were expanded when the NAZIs seized control (1933). Soviets and Japanese. Adolt Hiter ordered G�ring to formally establish thevLuftwaffe (February 26, 1935). The Versailles Treaty was still in force. The Luftwaffe became most fearsome arm was the the Luftwaffe which gave Hitler the ability to make the British and French backdown at Munich.

Blitzkrieg

Soon the Luftwaffe and Panzers stunned the world with victories in Poland (1939) and France (1940).

Hitler Scales Back Research

The Germans were so successful that Hitler scaled back military reserarch after the victory in France. It is quite striking how astutely Hitler persued his policies through the fall of France (1940). After suceeding in the West, Hitler's management of affairs is one disastrous decession after the other. Scaling back programs that did not seem to have immedidate application was pne of these. Of particular importance was the jet airplane origram. Had Hitler not done this, the ME-262 would have been available to the Luftwaffe perhaps 2-years earlier. This could well have devestated the Allied strategic bombing campaign and made made D-Day imposdible.

Innovative German Weapons

Even so German resesearchers created a fearsome aresnal of weapons, many of which were the predecessors of major modern weapon systems including rockets, missles, and jet engines. The German V-weapons were terrifying weapons, but mostly caused civilian casualties whch by 1944 not going the change the direction of the War. The V-2 was a major technological achieveent, but with a conventional warhead of no real military value. The V-1 in contrast was a much more simple weapon. But its simplicity was in fact its great assett. It could be mass produced t low cost. Had the Germans focused on te V-1 instead of waring resources on the V-2, the V-1 might have made an important contribution to the War. A brage of V-2s raining don on te Channel ports could hve defeated or disrupted the Normandy landings. Jet aircraft could have significntly affected e coure of the War. The ME-262 was the most caopable fighter of the War. Had Hitler not interfered, it might hve made a substantial du=ifference in the War. And the Germans were developing other jets that were easier and less epensive to produce and thus might have been vailable in large numbers.

Poison Gas

IG Farbin Tabin and Serin poison gas, but Germany never used gas during the War. We do not fully understand the German poison gas program and the decession not to use the gas stockpiles developed.Germany had chemical weapons. The weapons were outlawed by the Versailles Treaty following World War I (1919). The German military had a range of programs to evade the Versailles limitations. I am not sure to what extent they worked on gas weapons during the Weimar era. After the NAZIs seized power (1933) the Germans launched a chenical warfare program and by the start of the War (1939) had sbstantial stockpiles. Unlike other weapons system, however, Hitler who had been gassed during World War I did not look favorably on gas weapons. I have no information at this time on German policy discussions concerning gas weapons. The conventional wisdom is that Germany did not need them at the beginning of the War and was afaid to use r=them once the Allies gained air supremecy. The military in Germany was issued gas masks. The Luftwaffe's superority at the beginning of the War made bombing attacks of less concern to civilians. Goering assured the public that it was not possible for the Allies to bomb Berlin. I'm not sure about the extent to which German civilians were prepared for gas attacks. We note photographs of Hitler Youth boys training to use gas masks.

NAZI Science

Germany in the early 20th century had the strongest scientific establishment in Europe. German scientists rotinely received the largest number of Nobel prices in scientific fields. This did ot chnge until the NAZI's seized power in 1933. After the NAZI seizure, Jewish scientists as well as anti-NAZIs their position. After 1933, America became increasingly dominate in Nobel scientific awards. Despite a decline in German scientific dominance, the NAZIs still had access to a huge scientific establishment for their weapons and armament program.

Industrial Weakness

In many areas, the Germans were several years ahead of Allied reserachers. Germany's weakness was that it did have the industrial capacity to win the War once Operation Barbarossa failed to knock the Soviet Union out of the War and Hitler declared War on America (1941). Not only was Germany's industrial capacity smaller than that of the Allies, but Germany failed to efficently used the capacity of the conquered nations or of Germany industry itself. Speer made major improvements in German war industries when he was given authority to manage war production, but by this time the War was already lost for Germany, the Russian were bleeding the Wehrmacht in the East and the Brirish and Americans were destroying Germany's industrial base by strategic bombing attacks.

Inefficent Weapons Program

This weakness was in part exacerbated by the inefficent utilization of resources. German weapons were often wonderfully crafted, but sometimes complicated and requiring extensive maintenance. There was also a penchant for gigantism reflected in Bismarck, huge railway cannons, and the Tiger Tank. The resources used for Bismarck alone if they had been used to build U-Boats might well have succeeded in knocking Britain out of the War in 1940-41.

Nuclear Weapons

One area that Germany fell behind the Allies was nuclear research. It is widely assumed that the Germans did not produce an atmoic bomb during World War II because they lacked the resources to devote to the project during the War. The actual reason is much more complicated. Actually tremendous resources were avaoilable to the NAZIs. Many were poorly utilized. Some claim that the leading German scientists led the research now a fruitless path on purpose. There is little evidence to substantiate this claim. We do know that other factors affected the NAZI bomb program. Driving out leading physicists because they were Jews or sympathetic to the Jews deprived the NAZIs of some of the greatest minds in physics. The failure to use the sciences of captive narions and the view of nuclear physics as Jewish scince were other factors. Also Hitler was uninterested in long-term projects.






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Created: 5:47 AM 1/27/2005
Last updated: 12:42 AM 9/28/2008