The Nazi Party, with its paramilitary organizations SA and SS, controlled the German military, police, and government. The Wehrmacht was a unified military force, while the Gestapo was the secret police. Understanding the roles of each organization is important in understanding Germany’s political and military structure in the 1930s and 1940s. The German military was reformed in 1955 to have a less centralized power structure and be defensive rather than offensive.
Students of European history often encounter discussions of the Geheime Staatspolizei (Gestapo), Wehrmacht, Sturmabteilung (SA), Schutzstaffel (SS), and Nationalsozialisische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (Nazi Party) in books and commentaries on Germany in the first half of the 20th century. These organizations played slightly different roles in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s, contributing to Hitler’s rise to power and the conflict of World War II. Understanding the precise role and function of each organization can be helpful to those who are trying to understand the military and political structure of Germany in the 1940s and 1930s.
The Nazi Party was a political party that took control of Germany, using a variety of tactics ranging from running highly effective political campaigns during open elections to actively launching offensives with the use of their own paramilitary organizations. The Nazi Party’s most famous leader was Adolf Hitler, who eventually seized power in Germany, sparking World War II as he attempted to conquer neighboring nations. Germany effectively became a one-party state under the Nazi Party, with the Nazi Party controlling the German military, police and government.
While the thought of a political party with paramilitary weapons might seem strange, the Nazi Party actually had two, the SA and the SS. The SA or shock troops were the first, commanded in particular by Ernst Röhm. However, the SA challenged the authority of the German military and were not totally dedicated to Hitler. In 1934, the SA was replaced by the SS, a paramilitary force fanatically loyal to Hitler. The SS had a number of branches that were active throughout Germany and in German-occupied nations. Members of the SA and SS were expected to be Nazi Party members, with a low number of parties particularly coveted, as it indicated early loyalty to the Nazi cause.
The Wehrmacht was a unified military force that included the German Army, German Air Force and German Navy. Some people use the term “Wehrmacht” to refer specifically to the German military, although this is incorrect. It was commanded by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht or OKW. It was used much like other conventional military forces, to launch specific offenses against military targets and to defend Germany against attack. Also present in the SS were many high-ranking members of the armed forces, especially the Waffen-SS, the armed branch of the SS. The Wehrmacht existed from 1935 until 1945 when the German armed forces were dissolved by treaty.
The Gestapo was the secret police force of Nazi Germany. Gestapo officials investigated a variety of domestic crimes and were authorized to imprison people, send individuals to concentration camps, torture prisoners, and engage in a wide variety of other activities designed to protect the German state. It became notorious for its ruthlessness and cruelty, leading to the use of “Gestapo” as a slang term for any brutal police force, and was disbanded after Germany’s defeat in the war.
In 1955, the German military was reformed, with a less centralized power structure. The German Army and other armed wings of the German Defense Force were designed specifically as defensive, rather than offensive, forces, and some of the formal titles used within the Army were changed to reduce confusion with terms used during the era Nazi. The modern German army, navy and air force have a command structure that is open to members of all political parties and a structure that makes power grabs and coups far more challenging than they were in the 1930s. when Hitler’s Nazi Party quietly took control.
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