What was the German military discipline like during World War II?

The military discipline of the German Wehrmacht during World War II was still very good, better than that of the German army in World War I, especially in the later stages of the war. The morale and discipline of the German army in the late World War II were significantly better than those in the late World War I. Mainly because the morale of the German army during World War I was gradually invaded by socialist ideas, and people believed that they were acting as cannon fodder for the emperor. The German Wehrmacht in World War II was influenced by the patriotic propaganda promoted by the Nazi Party. The soldiers were full of admiration for Hitler, and even in the difficult situation of 1944, they still maintained their belief in victory.

Eiffelt, who once served as the commander of the German 84th Army, once discussed this issue. He believed: "The German infantry was as good as it was from 1914 to 1918, and the artillery was better than It was stronger at that time, its weapons were more advanced, and its tactics had improved greatly. But in the last two years of World War I, socialist ideas that favored peace spread among the troops, which affected morale. In this war, Nazism did the opposite. "It can improve morale." Lerichter, who once served as the director of the Military Training Department of the German General Staff, also made the same point as above. He also believed that the military discipline of the German army in World War II was significantly better than that of the German army in World War I.

A typical example that can prove the German military discipline is that even after the German army formally surrendered in 1945, the vast majority of the German army did not disband, but still existed as a collective, and the soldiers continued to obey Under the command of officers, officers and soldiers still help each other and face the upcoming life as prisoners of war together. Soviet soldiers especially liked to snatch the black uniforms of German armored soldiers on the road. In order to protect those armored soldiers from having their clothes robbed, German officers and soldiers always stuffed those armored soldiers at the end of the queue to avoid being discovered by Soviet soldiers. Even though Germany has been defeated and the German army has surrendered, the collective consciousness and mutual aid ideas of soldiers are still deeply rooted in the hearts of officers and soldiers, which shows the military discipline of the German army.

Just like a scene in the movie "Band of Brothers", the captured German soldiers were still marching in neat steps. In their eyes, they could not see the dejection that the prisoners generally had. They were still full of hope. Discipline seems to be still an army, but without weapons.

Interviews with many female veterans who participated in the Great Patriotic War were collected in the book "I am a Female Soldier and a Woman". Let's look directly at the self-reports of these Red Army soldiers at that time:

The Germans did not keep female soldiers as prisoners of war...if they were caught, they would be shot immediately. Or pull them in front of the assembled German soldiers and show them: Look, these are not women, but monsters. We must always prepare two bullets for ourselves. Two are necessary to prevent the first one from being a dud.

One of our nurses was captured... One day later we recaptured the village that had been occupied by the enemy. There were dead horses, motorcycles, and armored personnel carriers scattered everywhere. There, we found her: the enemy gouged out her eyes and cut off her breasts... brutally impaled her body vertically on a wooden prong... In the cold winter weather, her body was as white as snow, and her hair was Also gray. This girl is only nineteen years old.

In her backpack, we found letters from her relatives and a green rubber bird, which was her childhood toy...

Another female warrior The scorched earth policy against the Germans was described this way:

We recaptured a village... looking for a place to get water. Walking into a yard, we saw a well boom, a well surrounded by wooden carvings... The owner who was shot was lying in the yard... and beside him squatted his dog. Seeing us, the dog began to purr. It didn't come to us immediately, it just barked at us in a low voice. Then the dog led us into the thatched house...and we followed him inside. Beside the threshold lay the mistress and three children...

The dog squatted beside them and cried. Really crying, like a human being...

We drove into our hometown village. There were only a few pillars in the village and nothing else was left! In some places we liberated in Ukraine, there was nothing left, except for a watermelon field. People lived on eating only this watermelon and nothing else. When we entered the village, they brought us watermelons... instead of welcoming flowers.

A partisan named Valentina Pavlovna Korhemiyakina said:

I still remember seeing a Jewish boy... ...A German tied him to his bicycle, and he ran closely behind the German's car like a dog. "Run! Run!" the German laughed as he rode. It was a young German... When he was tired of playing, he got off the bicycle and gestured to the boy to kneel on the ground, get on all fours, and jump around like a dog... He shouted at the side: "Puppet! Dog!" "Baby!" He threw out another stick and ordered the child: "Pick it back!" The Jewish boy stood up, ran over and came back with the stick in his hand. The German was furious, beating and scolding him angrily, gesturing to the boy to get on all fours, run over like a dog, and pick up the stick with his teeth. Finally, the boy came back with the stick between his teeth...

After the German young man played with the Jewish boy like this for more than two hours, he tied him to the back of the bicycle and turned back. The boy ran like a dog... towards the Jewish ghetto...

After hearing this story, do you still ask why we go to war and why we need to learn to shoot? ...

Sasha Kavrus, who was only ten years old during the war, said:

I remember a scene where the Germans were chasing hens. After catching it, he lifted it up and swung it around until the chicken's head was gone in his hand. They laughed. I seemed to think that our chickens were squawking...like humans...with voices like humans...and those cats, those dogs, when the enemy shot them...I had never seen death before. I have neither seen the death of humans nor the death of other animals. I saw a dead bird in the forest only once, and that was all. I never saw death again...

Our village was burned down in 1943... On this day we were digging potatoes. Neighbor Vasily, who had participated in the First World War and spoke a lot of German, said: "I went to the Germans and begged them not to burn our village. There were only children living there." "He went and was burned to death by the enemy. The school was also burned down, and all the textbooks were burned. Our vegetable garden was also burned, as was our orchard.

This war has evolved from a simple war between countries to a struggle for the survival of all mankind. If the invaded people cannot win the war, they will face catastrophe. This war indeed became a great Patriotic War. ——"The Great Patriotic War" Season 2 Episode 1

The overall level of the German Wehrmacht soldiers in World War II is commendable. Both the German troops stationed in France and the Soviet Union relatively abided by the famous German army "Catch-10", and most of the evil deeds such as massacre of Jews and rape of women were done by the Nazi SS. At the end of World War II, the German Wehrmacht even joined forces with the US military to fire on the SS from a righteous standpoint. In fact, in Europe, which advocates "humanity first", even in a hostile state, the glory of humanity cannot be concealed. The story we are going to tell in this article is a typical example.

On August 25, 1940, Britain used its powerful air force to launch a bombardment with Germany and launched its first bombing of the German capital. Since then, the United States, as an ally, has also joined the bombing ranks. On December 20, 1943, after completing a bombing of German industrial targets, US military aircraft encountered a German air force flight formation on their way back. The terrible thing is that the large force of US military aircraft has left the battlefield, and only one B-17F bomber is left entangled with the German army. After a round of firefights, due to their absolute disadvantage, the crew of the US aircraft suffered heavy casualties. One person died on the spot and six others were injured. The pilot Charlie Brown was also blinded for a time, and the plane almost lost control and fell to the ground.

After finally adjusting the flight attitude to normal, Brown found that a German fighter plane was following closely behind him and seemed to have locked the target. The US military crews aimed their onboard machine guns at the German aircraft. Both sides wanted to take the lead and shoot down the other side in one fell swoop. However, at this moment, the German pilot suddenly repeated a gesture, gave up the attack, and released the scarred US aircraft from the battlefield. This was not an operational error by the German pilots, but a deliberate move. The pilot who flew the German fighter plane was Franz Stigler. He shot down 22 enemy aircraft during the war and was the German ace pilot.

Stiegler was only 23 years old when the battle took place in 1943. At that time, he was only one step away from receiving a Nazi Iron Cross, which represents the great honor of German soldiers, as long as he shot down a few more fighter planes. Of course, facing the lone US military aircraft, Stiegler naturally did not want to give up this opportunity. However, when he locked onto the US military aircraft, he found that the enemy aircraft had been badly beaten. Not only were the wings severely damaged, but a large hole was also made in the cabin, and the crew members inside were also seriously injured. At this moment, Stiegler suddenly felt compassion. He hesitated and finally gave up this easy opportunity. The German military discipline during World War II should indeed be affirmed. If compared with the Japanese military discipline at that time, the German military discipline was much stricter. But not all of them adhere to military discipline very much. There are so-called black sheep everywhere.

Everyone knows that during World War II, the Japanese army forced women to serve as comfort women for the Japanese army. Such unscrupulous and inhumane things were also done to the Nazi German army during World War II. Something like that. Germany built about 500 comfort stations throughout Europe. According to statistics, at least 30,000 European women were forced to be comfort women, and most of them were civilian women kidnapped by the German army on the streets. .

Most of these comfort stations were in hotels in areas occupied by the German army. Their purpose was to entertain soldiers passing through the area. In concentration camps, the German army also built comfort stations. The German army used this as a means to boost the morale of soldiers, allowing soldiers to go to comfort stations to solve personal problems. However, at the same time, they strictly prohibited having relations with women in the occupied areas, so as to prevent the German troops from contracting diseases when having relations with locals. 1. One view is that the overall level of military discipline of the German army in World War II is commendable, and they still relatively abided by the German army's "Ten Military Rules." So, why is the German military's military discipline so strict?

First of all, this is related to the tradition of Prussian soldiers. Prussian soldiers regard honor as their life, obey all orders, and strictly implement them to the end.

Secondly, it is related to a series of educational activities carried out by Hitler after he came to power. For example, the Boy Scouts’ field training and patriotic education. What is more famous is that when they attacked France, the German army did not harm the local residents. This also led to the surrender of many French troops. As a result, the number of French puppet troops was three times more than the German army, and they also obeyed the German army.

Furthermore, Hitler issued a fatal order to the German army: women in the occupied areas were not allowed to be defiled. Because Hitler believed that the German nation was the best nation, and having relations with other nations would tarnish the blood of the German nation. Although this statement is paranoid, it also plays a certain role to some extent.

So it is indeed good to look at the military discipline of the German army in this way. The main reason is caused by tradition (Prussian military spirit). However, as the war progresses, the ugly human nature is also exposed. Especially on the Soviet-German battlefield, due to ideological conflicts and national inferiority, neither the Soviet army nor the German army had a bottom line. Germany implemented a "scorched earth policy" (metaphor) against the Soviet Union, so naturally both sides would not show mercy. But they are all going to death. But this was all in the late stages of the war, and human nature had collapsed, but the German army had just begun and was still pretty good in Western Europe. First of all, the Germans will treat the Allies and the Soviets differently, and the Allies will be merciful to you at least, but the Soviets are not, so why will it appear later that the Germans will only surrender to the Allies and not to the Allies? The Soviet army surrendered. If the military discipline of the German army is compared with that of Japanese soldiers, it can be said that the German army is an angel. I don’t want to repeat the goddamn things the Japanese did, they were just worse than animals. There is also another point of view: the German military discipline during World War II not only cannot be called a model, but can also be called very bad. Raping women, killing civilians, smashing, burning, looting, and abusing prisoners of war were all "good deeds" that the Wehrmacht and the SS had done together.

Of course, in addition to abusing prisoners of war (concentration camps), doing these things is still a scoring occasion for the German army. If it is in Western Europe (such as France), then the German army at least knows to queue up when visiting scenic spots. , to buy a perfume, you have to pay the French boss; but if it is in Eastern Europe, especially the Soviet Union, then the German army did not fall behind all the above-mentioned brutal and bloody behaviors.

Although the military discipline of the Prussian army has long been a model for European armies in modern times, the German II, which was established in the late 19th century as the successor to the Prussian mantle and participated in the First World War, has also remained It inherited the excellent military discipline of the Prussian period, but the German III was different after Hitler came to power; although Hitler claimed that his German III "inherited the will and spirit of the HRE and Prussia (German II)", in fact, the HRE and the The Prussian system had long since been eliminated from the army, replaced by Nazism full of extreme nationalism and racist dogma.

And what is the core of Nazism? In fact, it is the concept of race. In Hitler's view, the best race is the pure-blooded Germanic people and their branches (the blond and blue-eyed Nordic race), followed by Italians, Indo-Aryans, Mongolians (Japan), and Inuit People, Australians (local indigenous people), Indians and Africans, and finally the Slavs and Jews. In Hitler's view, these backward peoples (Slavs, Jews) in his mind cannot be called "human beings" at all and can be slaughtered at will; and Hitler's Nazism is the so-called "guiding ideology" How can the military discipline of the German Wehrmacht be so high! I really don’t know how high the military discipline of this group of troops who believe in extreme nationalism and racism can be? ! Of course, there are counter-examples in history. Because senior German officers and generals such as Rommel, Manstein, and Guderian were extremely opposed to Hitler's Nazism and brutal behavior, the army under the leadership of these officers and generals was generally very Shao would commit these extremely cruel behaviors (the leaders don’t believe it and I certainly don’t believe it either).

At the beginning of Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, Ukraine and the three Baltic countries, as "anti-Soviet positions", welcomed the German "invasion" and believed that the German army came to "liberate" them. Many residents not only provided All kinds of help, and many of them even rebelled and became accomplices of the German army's invasion of Soviet territory. However, with the development of the war and the high-pressure policy implemented by Germany in the occupied areas, the German army also began to commit all kinds of evil in these areas, burning, killing and looting; the local people were forced to change their stance and continue to support the Soviet Union. The behavior of the German army forced areas that had always been anti-Soviet to start supporting the Soviet Union's Patriotic War. Is this the so-called high military discipline of the German army?

Moreover, Desan also established many comfort stations specifically for the military. The original intention of their establishment was to prevent German soldiers from contracting sexually transmitted diseases due to improper behavior after the war. In the early days, these comfort stations only recruited German women, but later the scope of recruitment expanded to all occupied territories. And as early as 1939, when the German army stormed Poland, there were already a lot of indiscretions within the German army. When Paris was captured, this indiscretion further expanded. Thousands of German soldiers indulged in the feasting and feasting of Paris's red light district. among. If it were not for the establishment of comfort stations exclusively for military use, it is difficult to imagine whether this situation would have spread further among the German army. If the military discipline of Sandoku's army is really so high, then why do facilities like comfort stations exist to prevent German soldiers from misbehaving? (Although the German army said this was to encourage soldiers and boost morale, they all used this method to boost morale, which shows their military discipline.) If the German army's military discipline was really so high, why did they surrender in large numbers to the British and American Allies in the later stages of the war? Woolen cloth? Didn’t the German Wehrmacht claim to have “inherited the spirit of Prussia”?

The German military discipline in World War II was not better than that of the Japanese army, but the Japanese army directly invaded us, and we recorded more Japanese atrocities. The German army is thousands of miles away in Europe, and we are just not familiar with the atrocities committed by the German army. Goering had already issued an order: "Shoot all those who dare not look at you." The German army also carried out wave after wave of raids in the occupied areas. The German army stipulated that Soviet civilians must be killed even if they had a knife or a razor in their boots.

Germany’s Imperial Commissionerate Areas, Guard Divisions, Field Trainers, Police Battalions, Law Enforcement Police Headquarters, and the puppet-military Oriental Battalion are all armed organizations that carry out raids on civilians. The death toll of Soviet civilians during the Soviet-German War reached a staggering 18 million.

In 1942, Himmler issued a decree prohibiting German soldiers from having relationships with foreign women, and defined such behavior as a crime against the Germanic race, which would be subject to military justice.

Himmler also made it clear that he had no objection and would not cause pregnancy or emotional entanglement. In other words, after being raped, it is enough to beat her to death, as long as she does not become pregnant. For this reason, this atrocities committed by the German army were actually very cruel. Moreover, there were also comfort women in the German army, which were so-called battlefield brothels. All the women were civilian women captured locally.

According to German army regulations, each prostitute in a battlefield brothel must receive an average of 50-100 officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers. The German army retreated across the board and ultimately failed. Those poor women who had served the German army in the past were humiliated. They were also regarded as "Nazis" by the local people, and even more were beaten as "traitors", including the children they gave birth to with Germans, who never had peace in their lives.

The German army was also thrilling in its massacre of prisoners of war. The German army massacred more than one million Soviet prisoners of war. French and British prisoners of war were brutally massacred. Fritz Knolland of the German SS was executed in 1949 for massacring British prisoners in 1940.

Because the atrocities committed by the SS troops were particularly prominent, in 1946, the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg declared the German SS to be a criminal organization, and its more than 1 million members did not have the right to fight as ordinary Wehrmacht soldiers. Enjoy veterans' treatment after the war.

World War II, this war brought tens of millions of deaths and brought serious disasters to people all over the world. As the initiator of World War II, Germany's armed forces are divided into the Wehrmacht and the German SS. The difference between the German Wehrmacht and the SS is that the Wehrmacht can maintain a certain degree of military ethics and fight to execute military orders.

The SS was an army composed of Nazis and loyal to the Nazi Party. The SS was a manifestation of the extreme will of the Nazis. In order to implement Hitler's Great Germanism, they promoted fascism, carried out foreign aggression and expansion, and frantically pursued a policy of genocide, massacring Jews. It has brought serious disasters to neighboring countries. The SS gained notoriety during World War II. After the war, the SS was classified as an illegal organization at the Nuremberg Military Tribunal and was found guilty of serious crimes against humanity. SS leader Heydrich was assassinated and Himmler committed suicide.

The famous German general Guderian was found out after trial that he had never massacred civilians and his crime was relatively minor. He was released after only three years in prison.

It is said that the German army has very good military discipline. Then take a look at what the Soviets said, and draw your own conclusions after reading it:

Another female soldier described the German scorched-earth policy like this:

A guerrilla named Valentina Pavlovna Korhemiyakina said:

Alexeevich also interviewed some elderly people who were children at the time. Please refer to her "I Still Miss You, Mom".

Sasha Suyekin, who was only four years old during the war, recalled:

Vanya Titov, who was only five years old during the war, said:

Sasha Kavrus, who was only ten years old during the war, said:

Lena Kravchenko, who was only seven years old during the war, said:

Only seven years old during the war Genia Zavoneil said:

Have you come to a conclusion? Do you want to admire this kind of strict military discipline that is exaggerated or the military discipline that is completely corrupted?

Let’s put it this way, if you understand one hundred or one thousandth of the crimes committed by the German army against civilians on the Eastern Front battlefield, you will be confused by the behavior of the Soviet army after they invaded Berlin: too civilized Come on, Red Army soldiers, have you forgotten your hatred? Have you forgotten the crimes committed by the Nazis in your hometown?

German-style racism with excellent theoretical design can make the vast majority of German soldiers believe from the bottom of their hearts: Aryan blood is sacred, and Slavs and other Orientals are born slaves. Their culture and language are not worth preserving. The only reason for their race to survive is to serve the Germans. This is the so-called "Those who resist will die, and those who obey will work for the Germans until they die."

What kind of military discipline can soldiers who arm their brains with this kind of thinking have? Consecutive executions, direct shootings, and mass murders. The blood of one German must be repaid with the lives of ten to twenty ordinary residents. What kind of military discipline can this have? Unless you regard military discipline as simply obeying orders, then the German military discipline is "very good" because there is no order not to massacre eastern civilians and prisoners of war, no order not to loot and burn their property, and no order not to mass rape. On the contrary, the actual verifiable orders of the German army are full of "the empire does not raise useless people", "eliminate the enemy's resistance base, even civilians", and "starvation is an effective means of annihilating the enemy."

There used to be an illusion in military circles: the Japanese were cruel, and Germany had chivalry in World War II and would not do those things. Later, after looking through historical materials, I discovered that dressing well and being a good person are completely different things. And from an efficiency point of view, the Germans are much better than the Japanese in massacres, raids, looting, and famine. They are completely industrialized and have an instruction manual for everything. It is indeed a precise German craftsmanship.

"In true German strict style, they even fired at empty gasoline barrels." The Great Famine in Ukraine in 1933 starved to death at least three million people, and the highest estimate was as many as seven million. Logically speaking, Ukrainians should be full of hatred for the Soviet Union and stand firmly with the Germans, but why did all the Ukrainians, except for the few guerrillas in Bandera's hands, join the Soviet Red Army in the end? Think about it from this perspective, what kind of crimes would the Germans have to commit to make Ukrainians turn to Stalin and the loving father who starved millions of them to death?

The military discipline of Nazi Germany during World War II

was to maintain fascist combat effectiveness.

Instead of maintaining peace and justice.

The Nazi German army was therefore aggressive!

During World War II,

The German army was inhumane and evil,

Full Expose its fascist nature!

It can be called the representative and symbol of fascism.

Those who are unjust and have few helpers will inevitably end up in trouble.

It is an inevitable law of historical development!

Germany is divided into the SS and the Wehrmacht. Why Germany is loved by most people is that the military is of high quality, especially the Wehrmacht. Their The mission is to obey the orders of the country. Maybe Germany was the aggressor in World War II, but it did not loot Lao Bai's belongings.

The winner is a prince and the loser is a bandit. As a defeated country in World War II, what is the discipline of Germany's military? According to the Soviet Union, the German army that invaded the Soviet Union had bad military discipline and committed heinous crimes against the Soviet people, which were even worse than the evil-doing Japanese army. But there is another saying that praises the German army for its strict military discipline, unlike the Japanese army who burned, killed, raped and committed all kinds of crimes every time they occupied a place. So, which of these two completely opposite statements is closer to the historical fact?

Regardless of ideology, I have to admit that the overall military discipline of the German army is still good. In the areas occupied by the German army, collective massacres of unarmed civilians rarely occurred. The German army was not like the Japanese army, which robbed people of their finances and raped and killed women in the occupied areas. Take the Defense of Moscow as an example. At that time, the German army suffered from severe cold and hunger. The Japanese army would have looted the nearby villages. But the Germans did not demolish houses in nearby villages for heating, and they did not enter the villages to grab food. Isn’t it the image of the rebels who “will freeze to death without demolishing houses, starve to death without looting”? Of course, this is related to the Soviet Union's strong walls and clear fields, and it is inseparable from the strict military discipline of the German army. First of all, this is related to the tradition of the German army. The German army believes that the honor of soldiers lies on the battlefield, and their value is also on the battlefield. It is a disgrace for a soldier to rob defenseless civilians. The German army has always valued honor above life, obeying all orders and implementing them to the end. Of course, the German army was also merciless to the guerrillas in the occupied areas and the ordinary people who informed the guerrillas. They were either hanged or shot. Therefore, we often see scenes like this in Soviet movies, with many scenes of ordinary people being hanged by the German army. It is said that when the German army attacked France, they spared no harm to the local residents, causing many French troops to surrender to the German army. There was even a strange phenomenon that the number of French troops who surrendered was three times that of the German troops.

In the German-occupied areas, it was rare for soldiers to rape local women, which was in sharp contrast to the bestiality of the Japanese army. In addition to the strict discipline of the German army, this also has a lot to do with Hitler. Although Hitler was a war maniac and a murderous demon without blinking an eye. But he believed that the Germanic nation was the best nation and that other nations were inferior nations. If the German army had relations with women in the occupied areas, it would tarnish the noble blood of the German nation. Therefore, he issued a fatal order: the German troops were not allowed to rape women in the occupied areas.

Finally, we must distinguish the German Wehrmacht from Hitler’s SS. The massacre of Jews, the abuse of prisoners of war in concentration camps and other inhumane acts were all committed by the SS, and the Wehrmacht rarely participated in these Shameful deeds. Compared with the brutality of the Japanese army and the lack of discipline of the Soviet army, the military discipline of the German army really has a lot to be commended, although it was defeated in the end.