What were the main strengths and

weaknesses of the German armed

forces in WWII?
By Antony Targett

Germany wielded a powerful army which was thought to be indestructible but

was later revealed to have many vital weaknesses that caused its eventual
downfall. Germany was the instigator of the Second World War and separated the

majority of the world into two groups which are now known as the Axis and the
Allies. Germany brought about the destruction of many small countries, large
cities and millions of people, Germany also used the land and people they had
conquered for their own goals. WWII started because of the simple reason that
Germany wanted more land including the land that they had lost in WWI. The
German soldiers who fought in World War I wanted the land reclaimed these
soldiers and other likeminded Germans grouped together under the leader Adolf
Hitler who went on to become the tyrant military and political leader of Germany.
Many other citizens of Germany wanted war due to the poor economy at the time
as a war would benefit the economy greatly, if of course they were victorious.
They began building their army and began their first attack on Poland in 1938
which went on to start the World War in 1939. Germany went on to attack and
declare war on many other countries. To the world they were seen as
unstoppable due to their supreme air force, army and navy, but due to a few
crucial misjudgements and preventable mistakes the war turned and Germany
was put on to the back foot which eventually led to their defeat. This happened
despite of having considered by some the most powerful armed forces in the
world during the war. Many of the other armies that the Nazis came face to face
with were defeated with precision and haste but there were a few main battles
where each area of their armed forces lost and cost Germany dearly in the war.
These areas known as a whole as the Wehrmacht include the three main
sections, Land Units known as Heer, Navy known as the Kriegsmarine, and the
Air force known as the Luftwaffe (Wikipeidia, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).
But even despite their power they were destined for failure as Germanys
industrial capability was lower than the Allies. Germanys land units even though
huge in number lost a few important battles including the battle for berlin.
Germanys Land Army known as the Heer was very important in many battles
and to the success of Germany during the war but even the Heer was unable to
survive the endless amount of enemy land units. The Heer was so successful due
the multiple tactics used by Hitler two of his most successful tactics was the
Blitzkrieg and the almost perfect unison of the Army and Air force. Overall during
the war 12.5 million Germens served in the army (Simkin, The German Army in
the Second World War) of these 12.5 million it is estimated that between 3 and 4
million were killed in battle or by other means (Simkin, The German Army in the
Second World War). Overall the Heer won more battles than lost but the defeats
were severe. Entering the war Germany was by far the most prepared compared
to the Allies. This was due to Hitlers tyrannical leadership which made the whole
country follow the one purpose of supporting the military. The Nazis had begun a
rearmament program while the Allies were disarming themselves due the false
sense of security after the victory of WW1. During the beginning stages of the
war the Nazis with a majority of its infantry relying on the transportation of
Horses. But as the war went on the Heer grew and motorized tanks accounted for
20% of the Heers capacity (Wikipeidia, German Army). Hitler used the soldiers
and light motorized vehicles including tanks to create a powerful Tactical
Concept known as Blitzkrieg. Blitzkriegs gave Great attention to speed and
mobility and the attacks were short but sharp on target locations. This tactic

gave them an advantage going into many battles where they were outnumbered
and the tactic was used to target smaller manageable groups of the opposing
armies and make short work of them before leaving quickly to avoid having
losses. This tactic was used to defeat France who at the time outnumbered
Germanys army, France controlled 5 million mobilised soldiers compared to
Germanys 2.5 million (Simkin, The German Army in the Second World War). This
invasion of France was known as the Battle of the Western Front and Germany
planned to head straight to the heart of France and force the Government to
surrender. Germanys invasion was so successful due to the Blitzkrieg tactic.
Even though the army was so successful the Heer had some weaknesses that
were not apparent at first, these weaknesses led to some catastrophic defeats
for the Heer. The main issue Germany had was that they were incapable of
producing units at the same rate of the Allies and a prolonged war would mean
an unpreventable defeat. This of course is what happened and Germany was not
able to keep up with the rate of production due to the Allies greater industrial
capacity and resource base. Another factor was not a weakness of the Heer but
more of a failed plan Barbarossa. A massive amount of land units were sent to
invade Soviet Russia and the invasion would have been successful if the soldiers
were prepared for the Russian winter or if they captured Berlin before the winter
began. The soldiers and tanks were unable to cope with the cold and it slowed
the invasion and cost the lives of many soldiers dwindling their already
outnumbered army at the time. Germanys Navy known as the Kriegsmarine was
not as important as the Heer in the successfulness of Germany but was also very
crucial to the Nazis success in the war.
The Kriegsmarine led by Erich Raeder was somewhat successful but was by far
the weakest link of the Wehrmact and late in the war became obsolete. The
Kriegsmarin had a large pool of highly trained manpower but were unable to use
them as effectively as possible due to their lack of resources. Germany did not
put enough money into the Navy to be able to build a large enough fleet to
compete with Englands Royal Navy. Even the small amount of money that was
allocated to the Kriegsmarin was spent on outmoded vessels. If more money was
allocated to the Kriegsmarine and if the money was spent more effectively the
outcome during the Battle of the Atlantic would have been in Germanys favour,
and if this was the case it would have changed the final outcome of the war
drastically. This could have led Germany to victory as they would have been to
successfully take out Britain which would let them fully conquer Europe where
they spread slowly across the rest of the globe. Germany used mainly U-boats to
seek out British warships and successful in the beginning of the war. They were
able to destroy warships faster than the Allies could produce them but this did
not last. As the war went on the Kreigsmarine became weaker as the German
navy was advancing at a snails pace compared to the Royal Navy. It was clear
that they were behind in technology which cost them dearly in the battle for
Navy supremacy. The British discovered the Sonar radar which is a system used
to detect vessels under water was used against the German U-Boats and brought
about much success for the British. Sonar was originally developed in WW1 but
became more efficient in WW2. The Radar was also developed and cost the

German the most as it not only affected the Kriegsmarine but the Luftwaffe as
well. The Radar uses radio waves to detect objects above the land and sea
surface (Bellis). The radar was used by the Royal Navy on the Kreigsmarine to
find Battle ships and surfaced submarines. The Kreigsmarine realised their
weakness and created the Submarine Snorkels which was used for submarines to
get oxygen without the need of surfacing, this limited the chance of detection by
radar and sight but was created to late in the war to have a major effect. In the
end the Kriegsmarine was unsuccessful which could be contributed to the
development of the radar by the British; this invention was mainly used in aerial
battles and was one of the reasons the Luftwaffe was defeated in the Battle of
Britain.
The Luftwaffe was the largest and most formidable air force in Europe in 1940
and during the early stages of the war was doing very successfully but as the
war went on it became aware that Germany was unable to produce planes as
fast as the Allies. The Luftwaffe was created on the 26 February 1935 (Mueseum)
and was led by Hermann Goering. At the start of the war the Luftwaffe quickly
established air supremacy while also supporting the Heer in defeating the Allies
the Luftwaffe had extreme success due to the technology advantage they had
going into the war. The main weakness of the Luftwaffe was the same as
Germanys armed forces as a whole; they were unable to produce units as fast as
their counterparts. Up until 1940 the Luftwaffe was feared by the world but in
that year the Luftwaffe was defeated so severely that they were never able to
return to full strength and was a contributing factor in the defeat of Germany as
a whole. The Battle of Britain began in 1940 and Germany sent 2,186 aircraft to
Britain. Germanys main goal was to target Britain and bomb it to the ground and
by doing so it was thought that England would surrender to Germany, this was
not the case. At the beginning the Luftwaffe was able to successfully attack
Britain but each side was having similar casualties. This was not good for
Germany who had a slower production rate of aircraft than England. Britain
began getting the upper hand and was more prepared for any attacks by the
Luftwaffe due to radars. The invention of radar was critical in the defeat of the
Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain as it gave England the tactical advantage. In the
end Britain was able to defeat the Luftwaffe set up the Allies to a sure defeat of
Germany. The Luftwaffe was unable to recover from this defeat due to the
production rates and resources. The Luftwaffe even though started out so
strongly was destined for failure as England, America, and Russia all had a
greater industrial capability. Overall this was a similar outcome Germany faced
on all fronts and was the main weakness of the Wehrmacht.
Overall the main weakness of the Wehrmacht was the lack of industrial capability
and the strengths were different for each area of the Wehrmacht. The main
weakness of the Wehrmacht was the fact that they were unable to produce fast
and effectively enough to compete with the Allies. The Luftwaffe was eventually
outnumbered, the Heer was outnumbered, and the Navy was outnumbered by
the end of the war. The Kriegsmarine were technologically disadvantaged as they
had not developed the Sonar and this was a contributing factor to the loss of the
Battle of the Atlantic. The Heer was unprepared on multiple occasions and first

major loss was during the Battle of Berlin where they were caught in a Russian
winter unprepared. The Luftwaffe was also technologically disadvantaged as they
did not have the technology of Radar which gave the Royal air force the upper
hand. Strength of the Wehrmacht was how successful they were early in the war
considering the amount of land and resources they had access to. Germanys
plan was to win the war by using short burst attacks known as Blitzkrieg.
Germany would not face them head on as they knew that they would be
outnumbered and defeated. The tactic was successful until the Allies were able
to produce units faster than Germany was able to destroy them. The Heer was
also the most powerful Land army during the WW2 and was incredibly prepared
going into the war. The Kriegsmarine also was successful during the early stages
of the war as the original technology used by the Germans was more advanced
than the Allies. The Luftwaffe was by far the most dominate force during the
early stages of WW2 and also supported the Heer on multiple attacks on France.
The Luftwaffe was mobile and was very advanced technology for the majority of
the war. But unfortunately for the Germans all the areas suffered due to the
simple fact that they were unable to produce fast enough to defeat the Allies.
These are the Strengths and Weakness of the German Armed Forces.

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