Portal:Military of Germany
War and the military
Military of Ancient Rome- Australia
- Bangladesh
- Canada
- Germany
- Greece
- Pakistan
- Turkey
- United Kingdom (British Army
- Royal Air Force
- Royal Navy)
- United States ( Army
- Marine Corps
- Navy
- Air Force
- Coast Guard) … Military history of Africa
- France
- the Ottoman Empire …… American Civil War
- American Revolutionary War
- Cold War
- Crusades
- Italian Wars
- Napoleonic Wars
- War of 1812
- World War I
- World War II …… Battleships
- Biological warfare
- Submarine
- Tank
- Weapons of mass destruction …… NATO
- Terrorism
The Bundeswehr (German for "Federal Defence Force"; <phonos file="De-Bundeswehr.ogg">listen</phonos>) consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities. The States of Germany are not allowed to maintain armed forces of their own, since the German Constitution states that matters of defense fall into the sole responsibility of the federal government.
The Bundeswehr is divided into a military part (armed forces or Streitkräfte) and a civil part with the armed forces administration (Wehrverwaltung), Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr; BAAINBw). The military part of the federal defense force consists of Army (Heer), Navy (Marine), Air Force (Luftwaffe), Joint Support Service (Streitkräftebasis), and Central Medical Services (Zentraler Sanitätsdienst) branches.
By international agreement, the Bundeswehr may not exceed an active strength of 370,000. The Bundeswehr currently has 247,100 active troops. Of these, 188,112 are professional soldiers, 25,566 18–25-year-old conscripts, who used to serve for at least six months, until conscription was ended in January 2011, and 33,417 volunteer conscripts serving a longer military service. In addition the Bundeswehr has approximately 350,000 reserve personnel.
Women have served in the medical service since 1975. From 1993 to 2000, they were also allowed to serve as enlisted personnel and non-commissioned officers in the medical service and the army bands. In 2000, in a lawsuit brought up by Tanja Kreil, the European Court of Justice issued a ruling allowing women to serve in more roles than previously allowed. Since 2001 they can serve in all functions of service without restriction, but they were not subject to conscription. There are presently around 14,500 women on active duty and a number of female reservists who take part in all duties including peacekeeping missions and other operations. In 1994, Verena von Weymarn became Generalarzt der Luftwaffe ("Surgeon General of the Air Force"), the first woman ever to reach the rank of general in the armed forces of Germany. Template:/box-footer
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found.
Bismarck was the first of two Bismarck-class battleships built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the primary force behind the German unification in 1871, the ship was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg in July 1936 and launched nearly three years later in April 1939. Work was completed in August 1940, when she was commissioned into the German fleet. Along with her sister ship Tirpitz, Bismarck was the largest battleship ever built by Germany, and the heaviest built by any European power.
Bismarck conducted only one offensive operation, codenamed Rheinübung, in May 1941. The ship, along with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, was to break out into the Atlantic Ocean and raid Allied shipping from North America to Great Britain. The two ships were detected several times off Scandinavia, however, and British naval units were deployed to block their route. At the Battle of Denmark Strait, Bismarck engaged and destroyed the battlecruiser HMS Hood, the pride of the Royal Navy, and forced the battleship HMS Prince of Wales to retreat with heavy damage, although in the end Bismarck herself was hit three times and suffered an oil leak from a ruptured tank following the hits.
The destruction of Hood spurred a relentless pursuit by the Royal Navy with dozens of warships involved. Two days later, while steaming for the relative safety of occupied France, Bismarck was attacked by Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal; one hit was scored that jammed the battleship's steering gear and rendered her unmanoeuvrable. The following morning, Bismarck was destroyed by a pair of British battleships. The cause of her sinking is disputed: some in the Royal Navy claim that torpedoes fired by the cruiser HMS Dorsetshire administered the fatal blow, while German survivors argue that they scuttled the ship. In June 1989, Robert Ballard discovered the location of Bismarck's wreck. Several other expeditions have surveyed the sunken battleship in an effort to document more completely the condition of the ship and to determine the cause of the ship's loss. (Read more)
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found.
Werner Mölders (18 March 1913 – 22 November 1941) was a World War II German Luftwaffe pilot and the leading German fighter ace in the Spanish Civil War. Mölders became the first pilot in aviation history to claim 100 aerial victories—that is, 100 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft, and was highly decorated for his achievements. He was instrumental in the development of new fighter tactics which led to the finger-four formation. He died in an air crash in which he was a passenger.
Mölders joined the Luftwaffe in 1934 at age 21. In 1938, he volunteered for service in the Condor Legion, which supported General Francisco Franco's Nationalist side in the Spanish Civil War, and shot down 15 aircraft. In World War II, he lost two wingmen in the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain, but shot down 53 enemy aircraft. With his tally standing at 68 victories, Mölders and his unit, the Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51), were transferred to the Eastern Front in June 1941 for the opening of Operation Barbarossa. By the end of 22 June 1941, the first day of Barbarossa, he had added another four victories to his tally and a week later, Mölders surpassed Manfred von Richthofen's 1918 record of 80 victories. By mid-July, he had 100.
Prevented from flying further combat missions for propaganda reasons, at the age of 28 Mölders was promoted to Oberst, and appointed Inspector General of Fighters. He was inspecting the Luftwaffe units in the Crimea when he was ordered to Berlin to attend the state funeral of Ernst Udet, the World War I flying ace. On the flight to Berlin, the Heinkel He 111 in which he was travelling as a passenger encountered a heavy thunderstorm during which one of the aircraft's engines failed. While attempting to land, the Heinkel crashed at Breslau, killing Mölders and two others. The German Wehrmacht of the Third Reich and the Bundeswehr of the Federal Republic of Germany both honoured him by naming two fighter wings, a destroyer and barracks after him.
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found.
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found.
- ...that Germany still held 1.2 million Russian prisoners of war in December 1918, nine months after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk obliged it to release them?
- ... that had she been completed, the German aircraft carrier I would have been the largest German carrier of World War II, longer even than the Graf Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers?
- ... that Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weissenfeld was an Austrian aristocratic night fighter flying ace who fought for the German Luftwaffe in World War II?
- ... that one of Germany's Kaiser-class battleships, SMS Prinzregent Luitpold, never received a planned diesel engine to supplement her turbines, so her range was much less than her sister ships?
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| German Empire | Nazi Germany | East Germany | Germany | |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| World War I | World War II | War | NATO |
Template:/box-header WikiProject Military history
- Attention needed
- ...to referencing and citation • ...to coverage and accuracy • ...to structure • ...to grammar • ...to supporting materials
- Cleanup needed
- U-boat Rudolf Schmundt
- Requested articles
- Austrian Legion • Maximilian Bauer • Bombardment of Samogneux • Ulrich von Coler • Lothar Erdman • Eduard Graf Paar • Karl Graf von Kirchbach auf Lauterbach • Adolf Freiherr von Rhemen zu Barenfels • Rothbart Haspinger • Karl Graf Huyn • Karl Kritek • Küstenfischkutter • Lichterfelde barracks • Danubian Wars • Wilhelm von Faupel • Otto Program • Samuel Freiherr von Hazai • League for Combat Policy • Michel Pastau • Roehm's Avengers • Walter Rubensdorffer • Josef Ritter Roth von Limanowa-Lapanów • Hugo Martiny von Malastów • Martin Poppel • Operation Mittelmeer • Operation Richard • Josef Speckbacker • Helmuth Volkmann • Military history of Prussia • Duke Franz Albrecht of Saxony-Lauenburg • Ernst Albrecht Freiherr von Eberstein • Joachim Rüdiger Freiherr von der Goltz • Jeremias von Chauvet • Prince Heinrich VI of Reuss-Plauen • Georg Benedikt Freiherr von Ogilvy • Christoph August Graf von Wackerbarth • Erich Gerhard • Caspar Otto von Glasenapp • Wilhelm Magnus von Brünnecke • Wilhelm René de l'Homme de Courbière • Warlimont memorandum • 123rd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
- Expansion needed
- Wilhelm Heye • Operation Schamil • Walter Heitz • Michael Kitzelmann • Martin Becker • Battle of Trutnov • Second Battle of Langensalza • Battle of Jicin • Battle of Bezzecca • Operation Archery • Battle of Åndalsnes • Feldpost • Richard Ruoff • Walter Weiß • Otto Christoph von Sparr • Alexander von Spaen • Friedrich Wilhelm von Grumbkow • Dubislav Gneomar von Natzmer • Wilhelm Dietrich von Buddenbrock • Hans von Lehwaldt • Karl Eberhard Herwarth von Bittenfeld • Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories • Battle of Zeeland • Battle of Maastricht • Battle of Ryn • Battle of Pruszcz Gdański;
- Images needed
- Add an article here!
- Merging needed
- Add an article here!
- Citations needed
- Add an article here!
- Translation needed
- Add an article here!
Albert Kesselring • Albert Speer • Axis naval activity in Australian waters • Battle of Arras (1917) • Battle of Austerlitz • Battle of Bicocca • Battle of Blenheim • Battle of Ceresole • Battle of Dürenstein • Battle of Greece • Battle of Moscow • Battle of Ramillies • Battle of Schellenberg • Battle of Verrières Ridge • Battle of Villers-Bocage • Battle of Vimy Ridge • Bayern-class battleship • Bert Trautmann • Black Friday (1945) • Cologne War • Derfflinger-class battlecruiser • Ernest Augustus I of Hanover • Ernst Lindemann • Falaise pocket • Finnish Civil War • Frederick III, German Emperor • Heinrich Bär • Helgoland-class battleship • Helmut Lent • Hermann Detzner • IG Farben Building • Inner German border • Italian War of 1521-1526 • Italian War of 1542-1546 • Johann von Klenau • Kaiser-class battleship • König-class battleship • Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp • Moltke-class battlecruiser • Nassau-class battleship • Omaha Beach • Operation Brevity • Operation Charnwood • Operation Cobra • Operation Epsom • Operation Perch • Operation Teardrop • Operation Tractable • Operation Uranus • Operation Varsity • Panzer I • Pigeon photography • Rheinmetall 120 mm gun • SMS Baden (1915) • SMS Bayern (1915) • SMS Blücher • SMS Derfflinger • SMS Friedrich der Grosse (1911) • SMS Goeben • SMS Grosser Kurfürst (1913) • SMS Helgoland • SMS Hindenburg • SMS König • SMS Kronprinz (1914) • SMS Lützow • SMS Markgraf • SMS Moltke (1910) • SMS Rheinland • SMS Seydlitz • SMS Von der Tann • SMS Westfalen • SM U-66 • Second Ostend Raid • TAM (tank) • Ulm Campaign • Unification of Germany • Walter Model • War of the Bavarian Succession • War of the Fifth Coalition • War of the League of Cambrai • Werner Mölders
List of Commando raids on the Atlantic wall • List of German World War II jet aces • List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients • List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients of the Kriegsmarine • List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients of the Schnellboot service • List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients of the U-boat service • List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients of the Waffen-SS • List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves recipients (1940-1941) • List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves recipients (1942) • List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves recipients (1943) • List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves recipients (1944) • List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves recipients (1945) • List of armored cruisers of Germany • List of battlecruisers of Germany • List of battleships of Germany • List of foreign recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Action of 28 January 1945 • Arado E.381 • Design A-150 battleship • Battle of Aachen • Battle of Bita Paka • Bombardment of Papeete • Cold War • Deutschland-class battleship • Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld • Erich Hartmann • German battleship Tirpitz • Hans-Joachim Marseille • Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein • Heuschrecke 10 • Jagdgeschwader 1 (World War II) • Juno Beach • Kaunas Fortress • Le Paradis massacre • Max-Hellmuth Ostermann • Moro River Campaign • Operation Freshman • Operation Lüttich • Operation Postmaster • Operation Totalize • Operation Windsor • Operation Winter Storm • Order of Saint Hubert • Organization of the Luftwaffe (1933-1945) • SMS Deutschland (1904) • SMS Hannover • SMS Kaiser (1911) • SMS Kaiserin • SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm • SMS Nassau • SMS Ostfriesland • SMS Posen • SM U-68 • Sd.Kfz. 10 • Second Battle of Kharkov • Walter Nowotny • Wehrmacht forces for the Ardennes Offensive • Wolfgang Lüth
Armored cruisers of Germany • Battleships of Austria-Hungary • Battleships of Germany • German Type IXA submarines • German Type U 66 submarines • German Type UB I submarines • Prinz Adalbert-class armored cruisers • Roon-class armored cruisers • Scharnhorst-class armored cruisers • U-1-class submarines (Austria-Hungary) • U-3-class submarines • U-5-class submarines • U-20-class submarines • U-27-class submarines (Austria-Hungary) • U-43-class submarines (Austria-Hungary)
1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania • 1st Parachute Brigade (United Kingdom) • 28 cm SK L/40 gun • 30.5 cm SK L/50 gun • Action off Lofoten • Adlertag • Admiral Hipper-class cruiser • Adolf Galland • Agnes von Mansfeld-Eisleben • Battle of Amiens (1918) • Battle of Arnhem • Battle of Bautzen (1945) • Battle of Belgium • Battle of Dover Strait (1916) • Battle of Fort Eben-Emael • Battle of Grunwald • Battle of Hill 70 • Battle of Lanzerath Ridge • Battle of Merville Gun Battery • Battle of Messines • Battle of Mont Sorrel • Battle of Ngomano • Battle of Romani • Battle of San Marino • Battle of Schliengen • Battle of Sedan (1940) • Battle of Vauchamps • Battle of Waterloo • Battle of the Heligoland Bight (1939) • Battle of the Netherlands • Battle of the Strait of Otranto (1917) • Battle off Texel • Bismarck-class battleship • Black Brunswickers • Brandenburg-class battleship • Braunschweig-class battleship • Brummer-class cruiser • Charles Fryatt • Christmas truce • Convoy Faith • Cöln-class cruiser • Dornier Do 17 • Emil Lang (fighter ace) • Ersatz Yorck-class battlecruiser • Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty • First Ostend Raid • Franz von Hipper • Friedrich Foertsch • Friedrich Geißhardt • Friedrich Wilhelm, Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Kirchberg • Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg • German Type IXA submarine • German Type UB I submarine • German Type U 66 submarine • German U-boat bases in occupied Norway • German aircraft carrier I (1915) • German aircraft carrier I (1942) • German attacks on Nauru • German battleship Bismarck • German battleship Gneisenau • German battleship Scharnhorst • German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee • German cruiser Admiral Hipper • German cruiser Admiral Scheer • German cruiser Blücher • German cruiser Deutschland • German cruiser Lützow (1939) • German cruiser Prinz Eugen • German cruiser Seydlitz • Geman destroyer Z8 Bruno Heinemann • Geman destroyer Z9 Wolfgang Zenker • Geman destroyer Z11 Bernd von Arnim • German involvement in the Spanish Civil War • German submarine U-27 (1936) • German submarine U-28 (1936) • German submarine U-30 (1936) • German submarine U-36 (1936) • German submarine U-37 (1938) • German submarine U-38 (1938) • German submarine U-39 (1938) • German submarine U-40 (1938) • German submarine U-41 (1939) • German submarine U-42 (1939) • German submarine U-43 (1939) • German submarine U-44 (1939) • German submarine U-47 (1938) • German submarine U-64 (1939) • German submarine U-104 (1940) • German submarine U-105 (1940) • German submarine U-111 (1940) • German submarine U-162 (1941) • German submarine U-255 • German submarine U-853 • German submarine U-2336 • Greater Germanic Reich • Günther Specht • H-class battleship proposals • Heinkel He 111 • High Seas Fleet • Hindu-German Conspiracy • JRM Zmaj • Jade-class aircraft carrier • Joachim Helbig • Johann Jakob von Wunsch • Joseph Goebbels • Junkers Ju 87 • Kaiser Friedrich III-class battleship • Kristallnacht • Kurt Welter • L 20 α-class battleship • Liberation of Arnhem • Mackensen-class battlecruiser • Odin-class coastal defense ship • Operation Aquatint • Operation Bodenplatte • Operation Deadstick • Operation Donnerkeil • Operation Doomsday • Operation Iskra • Operation Paula • Operation Slapstick • Otto Kittel • Panzer 35(t) • Preussen-class ironclad • Prinz Adalbert-class cruiser • Prussian uprisings • Reinhard Scheer • Reinhold von Werner • Rommelspargel • Rudyard Kipling (ship) • SMS Arminius • SMS Brandenburg • SMS Braunschweig • SMS Bremse • SMS Brummer • SMS Deutschland (1874) • SMS Dresden (1917) • SMS Elsass • SMS Friedrich Carl • SMS Friedrich Carl (1867) • SMS Friedrich der Grosse (1874) • SMS Fürst Bismarck (1897) • SMS Gneisenau • SMS Grosser Kurfürst (1875) • SMS Hansa (1872) • SMS Hela • SMS Hessen • SMS Kaiser (1874) • SMS Kaiser Barbarossa • SMS Kaiser Friedrich III • SMS Kaiser Karl der Grosse • SMS Kaiser Wilhelm II • SMS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse • SMS Kronprinz (1867) • SMS König Albert • SMS König Wilhelm • SMS Lothringen • SMS Mecklenburg • SMS Pommern • SMS Preussen (1873) • SMS Preussen (1903) • SMS Prinz Adalbert (1865) • SMS Prinz Adalbert (1901) • SMS Prinz Heinrich • SMS Prinzregent Luitpold • SMS Radetzky • SMS Roon • SMS Schlesien • SMS Schleswig-Holstein • SMS Schwaben • SMS Thüringen • SMS Weissenburg • SMS Wettin • SMS Wittelsbach • SMS Wörth • SMS Yorck • SMS Zähringen • SM U-1 (Austria-Hungary) • SM U-3 (Austria-Hungary) • SM U-4 (Austria-Hungary) • SM U-10 (Austria-Hungary) • SM U-11 (Austria-Hungary) • SM U-67 • SM U-69 • SM U-70 • SM UB-2 • SM UB-3 • SM UB-4 • SM UB-5 • SM UB-6 • SM UB-7 • SM UB-8 • SM UB-9 • SM UB-11 • SM UB-12 • SM UB-13 • SM UB-17 • SM UB-42 • SM UB-44 • SM UB-46 • SM UB-47 • SM UB-50 • Sachsen-class ironclad • Scharnhorst-class battleship • Scharnhorst-class cruiser • Scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow • Sd.Kfz. 8 • Sd.Kfz. 9 • Second Battle of Passchendaele • Siegfried-class coastal defense ship • St Nazaire Raid • Swabian War • Tallinn Offensive • Tartu Offensive • The Hardest Day • Tiger II • U-43-class submarine (Austria-Hungary) • U-52-class submarine • Walter Oesau • Walter Ohmsen • Wittelsbach-class battleship • World War II Template:/box-footer Template:/box-header
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
- What are portals?
- List of portals
- Featured portals
