How the Germans created the "invincible" Wehrmacht
How the Germans defeated in the First World War were able to revolutionize military affairs and create "invincible" armed forces in the 20 years between the two world wars.
The defeat of 1918 was a bitter lesson for the German military and the nation. Humiliation inflamed the Germans, made them susceptible to various novelties, made the "gloomy genius" work to the fullest. Also, do not forget the military traditions of the Prussian school, the "knight-dogs".
Stormtroopers
Already during the First World War, the Germans invented the tactics of assault groups.
In 1917, the Germans began to form assault battalions. They had 1–5 assault companies, 1–2 machine-gun teams, a squad of flamethrowers, a company of trench mortars, and a battery of light cannons.
Entrepreneur and constructor of firearms weapons Hugo Schmeisser 1917-1918 developed an automatic weapon (submachine gun), allowing automatic fire at a distance of up to 200 meters. The MP-18 assault rifle with a magazine for 20 or 32 rounds became the main weapon of attack aircraft.
It was the embryo of a new German army.
There was no disunity between the privates and the officers of the assault units, as in the army of the Second Reich, where the officers were often from the noble junkers. They went to their deaths together. They were better fed than regular army units, freed from daily routines like digging and renewing trenches, and given more time to rest. But in the offensive, the attack aircraft were at the forefront of the attack, broke through the enemy's positional defenses, captured strongpoints, and broke through the trench lines. It was the attack aircraft that allowed the Germans to inflict heavy blows on the Anglo-French troops in 1918 and even threaten a breakthrough to Paris.
Assault battalions have become a novelty in the art of war.
Subdivisions were formed for fleeting, bloody battles. Brotherhoods of people connected by blood, common cause and idea were created. It remains to supplement them with reconnaissance, dive bombers and tanks, to give the soldiers submachine guns instead of rifles, to supply field radio stations, to put them on motorcycles, cars and armored personnel carriers in order to keep up with the armored forces, so that the Wehrmacht of the Second World War is obtained.
Soldier of a German assault group, armed with an MP18. France 1918
The assault units also created a new type of Germans, veteran stormtroopers, who would later massively support the National Socialists. Stormtroopers will maintain their morale in the most difficult years for Germany - 1919-1921, when the nation will be broken by defeat in the war. They will join the ranks of the volunteer corps (freikors), those who suppress the actions of the Red Germans, will not allow the proclamation of Soviet power in Bavaria. Freikor's detachments will defend German lands from the Poles, and will retain most of Silesia for Germany.
Stormtroopers were so popular that the Nazis would create their own stormtroopers in 1921 on their base (Sturmabteilung, abbreviated SA, also known as the "brown shirts"). They played a decisive role in the rise of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP). In 1934, Hitler destroyed the top of the SA, led by E. Rohm, in order to strengthen the "vertical" of power. But the SA, in an abbreviated form, existed until 1945. Stormtroopers in the SS unit, became members of the civil administration in the occupied territories, were engaged in propaganda, initial military training, civil defense, etc.
It is interesting that, having defeated the Germans in the war of 1914-1918, the British, French and Germans did not notice or did not take this assault tactics seriously. For which they later paid. In the tsarist army, from the best, most disciplined soldiers and non-commissioned officers, similar units were created - shock, assault, death battalions, which were supposed to compensate for the general decomposition and disintegration of the army. But later this experience was forgotten, it had to be remembered already during the Great Patriotic War.
Painting by the artist Wilhelm Emil "Elka" Eber "It was SA" (So war die SA), 1938
Father of the German military revolution
Hans (Hans) von Seeckt was born into a noble family in 1866. He was a real aristocrat, chose a military career. He served as a Guards Grenadier, graduated from the Academy of the Prussian General Staff.
By the beginning of the First World War, he was the headquarters commander of the 3rd corps. He fought on the Western and Eastern fronts, participated in the defeat of Serbia. In 1916 he helped the Austrians, in 1917 he took the post of chief of the General Staff of the Turkish army. Since 1919, he became the head of the military directorate, under whose name the General Staff was actually hiding, which was banned by the Versailles Peace Treaty.
In 1920, Seeckt was appointed head of the Army Directorate, in fact the Commander-in-Chief of the Reichswehr. Germany had the right to have only a 100-strong army, without aviation, heavy artillery, tanks and chemical weapons.
The general developed the direction of assault detachments - he created a mobile, elite, professional army, where each soldier owns several military specialties. Chauffeurs could drive tanks and were artillerymen, cooks became machine gunners, logisticians could command weapons no worse than riflemen, sergeants could command platoons, and lieutenants could command battalions.
As a result, Seeckt created a highly professional nucleus, which became the basis of the future Wehrmacht. Each private in the future could become a non-commissioned officer or an officer.
Seeckt himself in 1921 noted:
That is, the German general actually foresaw and predetermined the development of the armed forces of the countries of the world after the Second World War to the present day.
Seeckt believed that Germany's main problem in the east was Poland, whose interests were incompatible with those of the Germans. Therefore, it is necessary to be friends with Soviet Russia, which was also an enemy of Poland.
Germany and Russia were defeated in the war, had similar problems and common interests. As a result, Germany began to provide Russia with financial and technical assistance in creating a military industry, and the Germans were able to evade the provisions of the Versailles agreement on disarmament. On the territory of the USSR, training centers were created to train military personnel - tankers, pilots, military chemists.
Seeckt evaluated Russia from the point of view of reason. He presciently noted that the West would again try to use Germany against the Russians. But such a war will only lead to new troubles in Germany.
Russia had too much resource and human potential to be defeated. Russia experienced a terrible catastrophe, but quickly revived and rose.
Seeckt saw the future in Russia, she could not die.
In 1926, the general was dismissed. In the 30s, he helped Chiang Kai-shek create an army, which then opposed the Communists and the Japanese.
- wrote General Frido von Senger in the book "No Fear, No Hope". He described his impressions of the lightning defeat of the Western armies (Dutch, Belgians, French and British) in May-June 1940.
Johannes "Hans" Friedrich Leopold von Seeckt (1866-1936)
Blitzkrieg strategy
Seeckt nurtured the idea of the method of war, which was later called "blitzkrieg" (lightning war), and attached great importance to aviation. He was able to partially circumvent the ban on the German Air Force. He created a flight center at the headquarters, where he gathered experienced aviation commanders. Distributing them to districts, the commander created Air Force cells. They could not fly and at first they were engaged in propaganda, played games with the participation of an imaginary air force, created the foundations of the future tactics of the Luftwaffe.
The sect managed to change the psychological climate in the army, to eliminate the division into the officer caste, separated from the sergeants and privates by an impenetrable barrier. This was the weakness of the army of the Second Reich, the Russian Empire (it went over to the Red Army, the Soviet and the Russian army). Now any soldier could become an officer and general if he had the appropriate abilities.
The tradition of the Prussian senseless drill, which turned the soldier into a soulless machine, a "tin soldier", was done away with. Everything went according to the charter, without hazing. Both commanders and ordinary soldiers had to show initiative, independence, lively thought. All were professionals in their field, tied by a fighting brotherhood.
There were only 4 officers in the Reichswehr. The Kaiser's army was large, and during the war it became even larger. Therefore, the selection was very tough. They took the best of the best. To receive the next rank, the commander passed an oral and written examination. If he didn’t give it up, he quit to make room. That is, the commander constantly had to learn, update and replenish knowledge, taking into account the development of military affairs. The officer had to speak several languages, drive a car, use communications, know history and have a high cultural level. Seckt himself, nicknamed "Sphinx" in Turkey (for silence and outward severity), had extensive knowledge, was fluent in French and English, and was well versed in art.
The rank and file were also carefully selected. The recruits lived in comfortable barracks and ate well. The useless drill and shagistika were drastically reduced. The emphasis was on combat training, exercises and physical development.
To ensure that the field army was always ready for battle, Seeckt regularly conducted field maneuvers: the work of the headquarters, the interaction of various types of troops was checked, and shortcomings were revealed. The Germans have learned to bypass the prohibitions of the Entente. The role of tanks in the exercises was performed by vehicles sheathed with plywood or simply dummies. The core of the aviation was formed while on the ground. The pilots simulated air attacks, taught the infantry to camouflage, and carried out imaginary aerial reconnaissance and bombing. In essence, the methods of interaction between the air force and ground forces, aerial reconnaissance, bombing and fighter cover of the advancing units were being worked out.
As a result, the excellent interaction between tanks, artillery, infantry and air force became the hallmark of the German armed forces during the Second World War. The Germans, even with the help of games, were able to learn a lot.
It is interesting that the German commanders wisely used the experience of the Red and White armies in the Russian Civil War.
This is a fast, agile war, with deep breakthroughs, envelopes and rounds of the enemy. With large-scale operations of mobile units - then the cavalry, which was the forerunner of armored, motorized divisions and groups.
Also, the Reds showed the Germans the great effect of the "fifth columns" - underground workers, partisans and saboteurs. After all, this is how the Reds destroyed the rear of Kolchak and Denikin, softened the rear of the invaders.
The Germans took it all very well, modified it and used it against their enemies.
To be continued ...
- Alexander Samsonov
- https://ru.wikipedia.org/
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