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However, as World War II went on, the OKW found itself exercising an increasing amount of direct command authority over military units, particularly in the west. This meant that by 1942, the authority of the Army High Command (OKH) was limited to the Eastern Front. [8] The Abwehr was the army intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944.
The German Army, 1939–1945 (St. Martin's Press, 1982) Stone, David. Twilight of the Gods: The Decline and Fall of the German General Staff in World War II (2011). Wilt, A. War from the Top: German and British Decision Making During World War II (Indiana U. Press, 1990) "German Armed Forces High Command". Holocaust Encyclopedia.
This is a list of German military units during World War II which contains all military units that served with the German Armed Forces . Major units above corps level are listed here. For smaller units, see list of German corps in World War II and list of German divisions in World War II.
The Wehrmacht directed combat operations during World War II (from 1 September 1939 – 8 May 1945) as the German Reich's armed forces umbrella command-organization. After 1941 the OKH became the de facto Eastern Theatre higher-echelon command-organization for the Wehrmacht , excluding Waffen-SS except for operational and tactical combat purposes.
OKH was de facto the most important unit within the German war planning until the defeat at Moscow in December 1941. During World War II, OKH had the responsibility of strategic planning of Armies and Army Groups. The General Staff of the OKH managed operational matters. Each German Army also had an Army High Command (Armeeoberkommando or AOK).
The German Army is commanded by the Inspector of the Army (Inspekteur des Heeres) based at the Army Command (Kommando Heer) in Strausberg near Berlin. The training centers are supervised by the Army Training Command in Leipzig. The Army's combat formations comprise two Panzer (armoured) divisions and the lighter Rapid Forces Division. There are ...
The designation "Light" (leichte in German) had various meanings in the German Army of World War II. There were a series of 5 Light divisions; the first four were pre-war mechanized formations organized for use as mechanized cavalry, and the fifth was an ad hoc collection of mechanized elements rushed to Africa to help the Italians and ...
To gear-up for the European war as the air arm of the combined armed forces of Nazi Germany , the German Air force needed a high command equivalent to that of the Army (Oberkommando des Heeres) and the Navy (Oberkommando der Marine). Thus on 5 February 1935, the OKL was created, and in 1939 the structure of the German Air force was newly organized.