The German military unveiled their most advanced stealth thermal camouflage technology. The German
Army (
German:
Heer) is the land component of the armed forces of
Germany. The German Army was founded in
1955 as part of the newly formed
West German Bundeswehr together with the
Marine (
German Navy) and the
Luftwaffe (
German Air Force).
As of 31 May
2015, the
German Army has a strength of 60,857 soldiers.[1]
History[edit]
Overview[edit]
A German Army, equipped, organized and trained following a single doctrine, and permanently unified under one command dates from
1871, and the unification of Germany under the leadership of
Prussia. From 1871 to
1919 the title
Deutsches Heer (German Army) was the official name of the German land forces.
Following the German defeat in
World War I and the end of the
German Empire the name army dissolved. From
1921 to 1935 the name of the German land forces was Reichsheer (Army of the
Realm) and from 1935 to
1945 the name Heer was used. The Heer was one of two ground forces of the
Third Reich during
World War II, but unlike the Heer the Waffen SS was not a branch of the
Wehrmacht. The Heer ceased to exist in 1945.
After
World War II Germany was split into two sovereign states and both formed their own militaries: on
12 November 1955 the first recruits began their service in the West German Heer, while on 1 March
1956 the
East German Landstreitkräfte der
NVA (
Land Forces of the
National People's Army) were founded. During the
Cold War the West German Army was fully integrated into NATOs command structure, while the Landstreitkräfte were part of the
Warsaw Pact. Following the
German reunification in
1990 the Landstreitkräfte were partially integrated into the German Army. Since then the German Army has been employed in peacekeeping operations worldwide and since
2002 also in combat operations in
Afghanistan as part of NATOs
International Security Assistance Force.
Traditions can be traced between the
Imperial Deutsches Heer, the Weimar Reichsheer and the Third Reich Heer. However after World War II the architects of the new Heer chose not to continue any traditions of any of the previous armies. The only permitted historical antecedents for today's Heer are the 1807 to
1814 Prussian military reformers and the servicemen who participated actively in the resistance against the
Nazi regime, specifically the officers involved in the
20 July plot.
While the modern
German army prefers to distance itself from the World War II era, it still retains certain uniform accessories from that era and before. For example, the iconic Stahlhelm remains in service, as do the arabesque general collar tab designs.
Cufftitle designs used by the Waffen-SS now appear on both cuffs. The German Army also continues to use the
MG3, a machine gun that looks much like the
MG42 used during World War II.
Founding of the Army[edit]
See also:
Tank formations during the Cold War
Bundeswehr soldiers with
MG1 and
HK G3 during a
1960s maneuver
. In the background is a Schützenpanzer Kurz.
Following World War II the
Allies dissolved the Wehrmacht with all its branches on 20
August 1946. However already one year after the founding of the
Federal Republic of Germany in May 1949 and because of its increasing links with the
West under
German chancellor Konrad Adenauer, the
Consultative Assembly of
Europe began to consider the formation of a
European Defence Community with German participation on 11
August 1950. Former high-ranking German Wehrmacht officers outlined in the Himmeroder memorandum a plan for a "German contingent in an international force for the defense of
Western Europe." For the German land forces the memorandum envisioned the formation of a
250,000 strong army. The officers saw the need for the formation of twelve
Panzer divisions and six corps staffs with accompanying
Corps troops, as only armored divisions could muster a fighting force to throw back the numerically far superior forces of the Warsaw Pact.[3]
On
26 October 1950 Theodor Blank was appointed "officer of the
Federal Chancellor for the Strengthening of
Allied Troops questions". This
Defence Ministry forerunner was known somewhat euphemistically as the
Blank Office (
Amt Blank), but explicitly used to prepare for the rearmament of
West Germany (Wiederbewaffnung).[4] By
March 1954 the Blank Office had finished plans for a new German army.
Plans foresaw the formation of six infantry, four armoured, and two mechanised infantry divisions, as the German contribution to the defense of Western Europe in the framework of a European Defence Community.[3] On
8 February 1952 the
Bundestag approved a German contribution to the defense of Western Europe and on
26 February 1954 the
Basic Law of the
Republic was amended with the insertion of an article regarding the defence of the sovereignty of the federal government.[5]
Following a decision at the
London Nine
Power Conference of
28 September to 3
October 1954,
- published: 16 Mar 2016
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