Portal:Military of Germany
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The Bundeswehr (German for "Federal Defence Force"; <phonos file="De-Bundeswehr.ogg">listen</phonos>) consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities. The States of Germany are not allowed to maintain armed forces of their own, since the German Constitution states that matters of defense fall into the sole responsibility of the federal government.
The Bundeswehr is divided into a military part (armed forces or Streitkräfte) and a civil part with the armed forces administration (Wehrverwaltung), Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr; BAAINBw). The military part of the federal defense force consists of Army (Heer), Navy (Marine), Air Force (Luftwaffe), Joint Support Service (Streitkräftebasis), and Central Medical Services (Zentraler Sanitätsdienst) branches.
By international agreement, the Bundeswehr may not exceed an active strength of 370,000. The Bundeswehr currently has 247,100 active troops. Of these, 188,112 are professional soldiers, 25,566 18–25-year-old conscripts, who used to serve for at least six months, until conscription was ended in January 2011, and 33,417 volunteer conscripts serving a longer military service. In addition the Bundeswehr has approximately 350,000 reserve personnel.
Women have served in the medical service since 1975. From 1993 to 2000, they were also allowed to serve as enlisted personnel and non-commissioned officers in the medical service and the army bands. In 2000, in a lawsuit brought up by Tanja Kreil, the European Court of Justice issued a ruling allowing women to serve in more roles than previously allowed. Since 2001 they can serve in all functions of service without restriction, but they were not subject to conscription. There are presently around 14,500 women on active duty and a number of female reservists who take part in all duties including peacekeeping missions and other operations. In 1994, Verena von Weymarn became Generalarzt der Luftwaffe ("Surgeon General of the Air Force"), the first woman ever to reach the rank of general in the armed forces of Germany. Template:/box-footer
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KSK Kommando Spezialkräfte (Special Forces Command, KSK) is an elite special forces military unit composed of special operations soldiers handpicked from the ranks of Germany's Bundeswehr and organized under the Rapid Forces Division. KSK has received many decorations and awards from NATO, the USA and its affiliates and KSK operatives are frequently requested for joint anti-terror operations, notably in the Balkans and Middle East.
From 1973, until the KSK’s formation in 1996, the West German (and later German) government assigned all counter-terrorist and special operations activities to the GSG 9, a highly trained police force created shortly after the hostage-taking that transpired during the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Prior to 1973, the army’s Fernspäher (Long-Distance Reconnaissance), the navy’s Kampfschwimmer (Combat Swimmers/"Frogmen"), and (until 1989) the Special Weapons Escort Companies—Sonderwaffenbegleitkompanien were the only military units comparable to anything that other nations may have seen as dedicated special forces units. Following the KSK’s activation on April 1, 1997, all but one of the Fernspähkompanie have been either disbanded or merged into the newly constituted unit.
Like those of all German military units, KSK deployments require authorization from the German Bundestag (Federal Assembly). The unit has engaged in numerous anti-terror campaigns both in Europe and abroad; known engagements include operations inside Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and most recently in Afghanistan. As is to be expected with such units, specific operational details such as success and casualty rates are considered to be top secret and withheld even from the highest-ranking members of the Bundestag. This practice has elicited some serious concerns, resulting in agreement to increase both transparency and accountability, by disclosing mission details to selected members of the Bundestag, in relation to the future deployments of KSK forces. (Read more)
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Otto Moritz Walter Model (German pronunciation: [ˈmoːdəl]; 24 January 1891 – 21 April 1945) was a prominent German field marshal during World War II. He is noted for his defensive battles in the latter half of the war, mostly on the Eastern Front but also in the west. He has been called the Third Reich's best defensive tactical commander.
Although he was a hard-driving, aggressive panzer commander early in the war, Model became best known as a practitioner of defensive warfare. His success at the head of the 9th Army in the defensive battles of 1941–42 determined his future career path.
Model first came to Hitler's attention before World War II, but their relationship did not become especially close until 1942. His tenacious style of fighting and aggressive personality won him plaudits from Hitler, who considered him one of his best field commanders and repeatedly tasked him with retrieving desperate situations. However, their relationship had broken down by the end of the war after Model was defeated at the Battle of the Bulge. In April 1945, with the Third Reich's defeat imminent, Model committed suicide rather than be captured. (Read more)
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- ...that Germany still held 1.2 million Russian prisoners of war in December 1918, nine months after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk obliged it to release them?
- ... that had she been completed, the German aircraft carrier I would have been the largest German carrier of World War II, longer even than the Graf Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers?
- ... that Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weissenfeld was an Austrian aristocratic night fighter flying ace who fought for the German Luftwaffe in World War II?
- ... that one of Germany's Kaiser-class battleships, SMS Prinzregent Luitpold, never received a planned diesel engine to supplement her turbines, so her range was much less than her sister ships?
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German Empire | Nazi Germany | East Germany | Germany | |
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World War I | World War II | War | NATO |
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- Austrian Legion • Maximilian Bauer • Bombardment of Samogneux • Ulrich von Coler • Lothar Erdman • Eduard Graf Paar • Karl Graf von Kirchbach auf Lauterbach • Adolf Freiherr von Rhemen zu Barenfels • Rothbart Haspinger • Karl Graf Huyn • Karl Kritek • Küstenfischkutter • Lichterfelde barracks • Danubian Wars • Wilhelm von Faupel • Otto Program • Samuel Freiherr von Hazai • League for Combat Policy • Michel Pastau • Roehm's Avengers • Walter Rubensdorffer • Josef Ritter Roth von Limanowa-Lapanów • Hugo Martiny von Malastów • Martin Poppel • Operation Mittelmeer • Operation Richard • Josef Speckbacker • Helmuth Volkmann • Military history of Prussia • Duke Franz Albrecht of Saxony-Lauenburg • Ernst Albrecht Freiherr von Eberstein • Joachim Rüdiger Freiherr von der Goltz • Jeremias von Chauvet • Prince Heinrich VI of Reuss-Plauen • Georg Benedikt Freiherr von Ogilvy • Christoph August Graf von Wackerbarth • Erich Gerhard • Caspar Otto von Glasenapp • Wilhelm Magnus von Brünnecke • Wilhelm René de l'Homme de Courbière • Warlimont memorandum • 123rd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
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Albert Kesselring • Albert Speer • Axis naval activity in Australian waters • Battle of Arras (1917) • Battle of Austerlitz • Battle of Bicocca • Battle of Blenheim • Battle of Ceresole • Battle of Dürenstein • Battle of Greece • Battle of Moscow • Battle of Ramillies • Battle of Schellenberg • Battle of Verrières Ridge • Battle of Villers-Bocage • Battle of Vimy Ridge • Bayern-class battleship • Bert Trautmann • Black Friday (1945) • Cologne War • Derfflinger-class battlecruiser • Ernest Augustus I of Hanover • Ernst Lindemann • Falaise pocket • Finnish Civil War • Frederick III, German Emperor • Heinrich Bär • Helgoland-class battleship • Helmut Lent • Hermann Detzner • IG Farben Building • Inner German border • Italian War of 1521-1526 • Italian War of 1542-1546 • Johann von Klenau • Kaiser-class battleship • König-class battleship • Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp • Moltke-class battlecruiser • Nassau-class battleship • Omaha Beach • Operation Brevity • Operation Charnwood • Operation Cobra • Operation Epsom • Operation Perch • Operation Teardrop • Operation Tractable • Operation Uranus • Operation Varsity • Panzer I • Pigeon photography • Rheinmetall 120 mm gun • SMS Baden (1915) • SMS Bayern (1915) • SMS Blücher • SMS Derfflinger • SMS Friedrich der Grosse (1911) • SMS Goeben • SMS Grosser Kurfürst (1913) • SMS Helgoland • SMS Hindenburg • SMS König • SMS Kronprinz (1914) • SMS Lützow • SMS Markgraf • SMS Moltke (1910) • SMS Rheinland • SMS Seydlitz • SMS Von der Tann • SMS Westfalen • SM U-66 • Second Ostend Raid • TAM (tank) • Ulm Campaign • Unification of Germany • Walter Model • War of the Bavarian Succession • War of the Fifth Coalition • War of the League of Cambrai • Werner Mölders

List of Commando raids on the Atlantic wall • List of German World War II jet aces • List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients • List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients of the Kriegsmarine • List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients of the Schnellboot service • List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients of the U-boat service • List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients of the Waffen-SS • List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves recipients (1940-1941) • List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves recipients (1942) • List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves recipients (1943) • List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves recipients (1944) • List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves recipients (1945) • List of armored cruisers of Germany • List of battlecruisers of Germany • List of battleships of Germany • List of foreign recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Action of 28 January 1945 • Arado E.381 • Design A-150 battleship • Battle of Aachen • Battle of Bita Paka • Bombardment of Papeete • Cold War • Deutschland-class battleship • Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld • Erich Hartmann • German battleship Tirpitz • Hans-Joachim Marseille • Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein • Heuschrecke 10 • Jagdgeschwader 1 (World War II) • Juno Beach • Kaunas Fortress • Le Paradis massacre • Max-Hellmuth Ostermann • Moro River Campaign • Operation Freshman • Operation Lüttich • Operation Postmaster • Operation Totalize • Operation Windsor • Operation Winter Storm • Order of Saint Hubert • Organization of the Luftwaffe (1933-1945) • SMS Deutschland (1904) • SMS Hannover • SMS Kaiser (1911) • SMS Kaiserin • SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm • SMS Nassau • SMS Ostfriesland • SMS Posen • SM U-68 • Sd.Kfz. 10 • Second Battle of Kharkov • Walter Nowotny • Wehrmacht forces for the Ardennes Offensive • Wolfgang Lüth

Armored cruisers of Germany • Battleships of Austria-Hungary • Battleships of Germany • German Type IXA submarines • German Type U 66 submarines • German Type UB I submarines • Prinz Adalbert-class armored cruisers • Roon-class armored cruisers • Scharnhorst-class armored cruisers • U-1-class submarines (Austria-Hungary) • U-3-class submarines • U-5-class submarines • U-20-class submarines • U-27-class submarines (Austria-Hungary) • U-43-class submarines (Austria-Hungary)

1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania • 1st Parachute Brigade (United Kingdom) • 28 cm SK L/40 gun • 30.5 cm SK L/50 gun • Action off Lofoten • Adlertag • Admiral Hipper-class cruiser • Adolf Galland • Agnes von Mansfeld-Eisleben • Battle of Amiens (1918) • Battle of Arnhem • Battle of Bautzen (1945) • Battle of Belgium • Battle of Dover Strait (1916) • Battle of Fort Eben-Emael • Battle of Grunwald • Battle of Hill 70 • Battle of Lanzerath Ridge • Battle of Merville Gun Battery • Battle of Messines • Battle of Mont Sorrel • Battle of Ngomano • Battle of Romani • Battle of San Marino • Battle of Schliengen • Battle of Sedan (1940) • Battle of Vauchamps • Battle of Waterloo • Battle of the Heligoland Bight (1939) • Battle of the Netherlands • Battle of the Strait of Otranto (1917) • Battle off Texel • Bismarck-class battleship • Black Brunswickers • Brandenburg-class battleship • Braunschweig-class battleship • Brummer-class cruiser • Charles Fryatt • Christmas truce • Convoy Faith • Cöln-class cruiser • Dornier Do 17 • Emil Lang (fighter ace) • Ersatz Yorck-class battlecruiser • Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty • First Ostend Raid • Franz von Hipper • Friedrich Foertsch • Friedrich Geißhardt • Friedrich Wilhelm, Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Kirchberg • Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg • German Type IXA submarine • German Type UB I submarine • German Type U 66 submarine • German U-boat bases in occupied Norway • German aircraft carrier I (1915) • German aircraft carrier I (1942) • German attacks on Nauru • German battleship Bismarck • German battleship Gneisenau • German battleship Scharnhorst • German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee • German cruiser Admiral Hipper • German cruiser Admiral Scheer • German cruiser Blücher • German cruiser Deutschland • German cruiser Lützow (1939) • German cruiser Prinz Eugen • German cruiser Seydlitz • Geman destroyer Z8 Bruno Heinemann • Geman destroyer Z9 Wolfgang Zenker • Geman destroyer Z11 Bernd von Arnim • German involvement in the Spanish Civil War • German submarine U-27 (1936) • German submarine U-28 (1936) • German submarine U-30 (1936) • German submarine U-36 (1936) • German submarine U-37 (1938) • German submarine U-38 (1938) • German submarine U-39 (1938) • German submarine U-40 (1938) • German submarine U-41 (1939) • German submarine U-42 (1939) • German submarine U-43 (1939) • German submarine U-44 (1939) • German submarine U-47 (1938) • German submarine U-64 (1939) • German submarine U-104 (1940) • German submarine U-105 (1940) • German submarine U-111 (1940) • German submarine U-162 (1941) • German submarine U-255 • German submarine U-853 • German submarine U-2336 • Greater Germanic Reich • Günther Specht • H-class battleship proposals • Heinkel He 111 • High Seas Fleet • Hindu-German Conspiracy • JRM Zmaj • Jade-class aircraft carrier • Joachim Helbig • Johann Jakob von Wunsch • Joseph Goebbels • Junkers Ju 87 • Kaiser Friedrich III-class battleship • Kristallnacht • Kurt Welter • L 20 α-class battleship • Liberation of Arnhem • Mackensen-class battlecruiser • Odin-class coastal defense ship • Operation Aquatint • Operation Bodenplatte • Operation Deadstick • Operation Donnerkeil • Operation Doomsday • Operation Iskra • Operation Paula • Operation Slapstick • Otto Kittel • Panzer 35(t) • Preussen-class ironclad • Prinz Adalbert-class cruiser • Prussian uprisings • Reinhard Scheer • Reinhold von Werner • Rommelspargel • Rudyard Kipling (ship) • SMS Arminius • SMS Brandenburg • SMS Braunschweig • SMS Bremse • SMS Brummer • SMS Deutschland (1874) • SMS Dresden (1917) • SMS Elsass • SMS Friedrich Carl • SMS Friedrich Carl (1867) • SMS Friedrich der Grosse (1874) • SMS Fürst Bismarck (1897) • SMS Gneisenau • SMS Grosser Kurfürst (1875) • SMS Hansa (1872) • SMS Hela • SMS Hessen • SMS Kaiser (1874) • SMS Kaiser Barbarossa • SMS Kaiser Friedrich III • SMS Kaiser Karl der Grosse • SMS Kaiser Wilhelm II • SMS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse • SMS Kronprinz (1867) • SMS König Albert • SMS König Wilhelm • SMS Lothringen • SMS Mecklenburg • SMS Pommern • SMS Preussen (1873) • SMS Preussen (1903) • SMS Prinz Adalbert (1865) • SMS Prinz Adalbert (1901) • SMS Prinz Heinrich • SMS Prinzregent Luitpold • SMS Radetzky • SMS Roon • SMS Schlesien • SMS Schleswig-Holstein • SMS Schwaben • SMS Thüringen • SMS Weissenburg • SMS Wettin • SMS Wittelsbach • SMS Wörth • SMS Yorck • SMS Zähringen • SM U-1 (Austria-Hungary) • SM U-3 (Austria-Hungary) • SM U-4 (Austria-Hungary) • SM U-10 (Austria-Hungary) • SM U-11 (Austria-Hungary) • SM U-67 • SM U-69 • SM U-70 • SM UB-2 • SM UB-3 • SM UB-4 • SM UB-5 • SM UB-6 • SM UB-7 • SM UB-8 • SM UB-9 • SM UB-11 • SM UB-12 • SM UB-13 • SM UB-17 • SM UB-42 • SM UB-44 • SM UB-46 • SM UB-47 • SM UB-50 • Sachsen-class ironclad • Scharnhorst-class battleship • Scharnhorst-class cruiser • Scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow • Sd.Kfz. 8 • Sd.Kfz. 9 • Second Battle of Passchendaele • Siegfried-class coastal defense ship • St Nazaire Raid • Swabian War • Tallinn Offensive • Tartu Offensive • The Hardest Day • Tiger II • U-43-class submarine (Austria-Hungary) • U-52-class submarine • Walter Oesau • Walter Ohmsen • Wittelsbach-class battleship • World War II Template:/box-footer Template:/box-header
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