Germany
Army Group Center—Anti-partisan Warfare
Through the winter Army Group Center stood as the bulwark of the Eastern Front, but its underpinnings were weak. Its front, projecting eastward—once a giant spearhead aimed at Moscow—was, under the influence of the second Soviet winter offensive, becoming badly eroded and an invitation to disaster. On the north flank, around the bulge west of Toropets, the army group had…
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Revised Look at the Battle of Moscow 1941-2
Germany’s winter campaign of 1941–1942 has commonly been seen as the “first defeat” of the Wehrmacht in the Second World War. Indeed, two of the most recent books about the fighting near Moscow by Robert Forczyk (2006) and Michael Jones (2009) both share the subtitle Hitler’s First Defeat. The most…
Feudalism in Germany
In Germany feudalism was established later than in France. The Norsemen only attacked the area of the lower Rhine, and the period of their raids was relatively short. The greater danger came from the Magyars and Slavs along the eastern borders. Although their raids influenced the development of serfdom and…
Pfalz Flugzeug-Werke GmbH
Germany, prior to the First World War, was a country made up of a number of minor kingdoms and principalities. Among them was the Kingdom of Bavaria, which, after Prussia, was the second most powerful state in the German Reich. Bavaria enjoyed considerable autonomy and military privileges, and at the…
Albatros Flugzeugwerke GmbH
The Albatros Flugzeugwerke produced their first aircraft in 1912, the Albatros L.3, a single-seat scout type. This was followed by the L.9, a single-seat scout type designed by Claude Dornier, who later was to join the Zeppelin Company as their chief designer. The Albatros company, co-founded and owned by Dr…
Kriegslokomotiven
A Kriegslokomotive usually had two classifications: one based on the normal peacetime classification system and a separate wartime classification. For example, a wartime steam locomotive or Kriegsdampflokomotive (KDL) was given a KDL class as well as its DRG (Deutsche Reichsbahn) class. Likewise a wartime motorised locomotive or Kriegsmotorlokomotive had a…
The Führer’s Military Toy Projects
The perfect armoured fighting vehicle is one that combines speed, heavy armour and a powerful gun. The factors which govern the design and production of a tank are a careful balance of compromises. Any increase in the weight of defensive armour will demand a stronger engine. The new engine may…