The (; abbreviated OKH) was the
high command of the
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. It was founded in 1935 as part of
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
's
rearmament of Germany. 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
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, OKH had the responsibility of strategic planning of
Armies and
Army Groups
An army group is a military organization consisting of several field armies, which is self-sufficient for indefinite periods. It is usually responsible for a particular geographic area. An army group is the largest field organization handled by ...
. The General Staff of the OKH managed operational matters. Each German Army also had an Army High Command ( or AOK). The Armed Forces High Command () then took over this function for theatres other than the
Eastern front.
The OKH commander held the title of Commander-in-chief of the Army (). After the
Battle of Moscow, the OKH commander
Field marshal Walther von Brauchitsch was removed from office, and Hitler appointed himself as Commander-in-Chief of the Army.
From 1938, OKH was, together with () and () formally subordinated to the .
OKH vs OKW
OKH had been independent until February 1938, when Hitler created the ''Oberkommando der Wehrmacht'' which, on paper, subordinated OKH to OKW. After a major crisis developed in the
Battle of Moscow, von Brauchitsch was dismissed (partly because of his failing health), and Hitler appointed himself as head of the OKH. At the same time, he limited the OKH's authority to the Russian front, giving OKW direct authority over army units elsewhere. This enabled Hitler to declare that only he had complete awareness of Germany's strategic situation, should any general request a transfer of resources between the Russian front and another theatre of operations.
Although both OKW and OKH were headquartered in the
Maybach complex in Nazi Germany, the functional and operational independence of both establishments were not lost on the respective staff during their tenure. Personnel at the compound remarked that even if Maybach 2 (the OKW complex) was completely destroyed, the OKH staff in Maybach 1 would scarcely notice. These camouflaged facilities, separated physically by a fence, also maintained structurally different mindsets towards their objectives.
On 28 April 1945 (two days before
his suicide), Hitler formally subordinated OKH to OKW, giving the latter command of forces on the Eastern Front.
Organisation
In 1944, these elements were subordinate to the OKH:
* C.-in-C.
Reserve Army
A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve f ...
and Chief of Equipment ():
Friedrich Fromm
* Chief of Army General Division ():
Friedrich Olbricht
*
Chief of Army Ordnance ():
Emil Leeb
*
Chief of Army Personnel Division ():
Rudolf Schmundt
* Chief of Army Administrative Division (): Herbert Osterkamp
* Army Propaganda and Public Relations Office:
Hasso von Wedel –
Albrecht Blau –
Kurt Dittmar
* Inspector General of Armoured Troops ():
Heinz Guderian
* General officer commanding for Engineers and Fortifications ():
Alfred Jacob
* Inspector General for Officer Cadets ():
Karl-Wilhelm Specht
Leadership
Commander-in-Chief of the Army
The Commander-in-Chief of the Army (german: Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres) was the head of the OKH and the German Army during the years of the
Nazi regime.
Chief of the OKH General Staff
The Chiefs of the OKH General Staff (german: link=no, Chef des Generalstabes des Heeres) were:
See also
*
German general staff
*
Glossary of World War II German military terms
*
Maybach I and II
Maybach I and II were a series of above and underground bunkers built 20 kilometres south of Berlin in Wünsdorf near Zossen, Brandenburg, to house the High Command of the Army (in Maybach I) and the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces ( ...
* ''
Oberste Heeresleitung'', the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
's highest army command during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
Notes
References
External links
"Not the Stuff of Legend: The German High Command in World War II"– lecture by Dr.
Geoffrey Megargee, author of ''Inside Hitler's High Command'', available at the official YouTube channel of the
U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center
The United States Army Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC), at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, is the U.S. Army's primary historical research facility. Formed in 1999 and reorganized in 2013, the center consists of the Military History Institu ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oberkommando Des Heeres
German High Command during World War II
German Army (1935–1945)
National army headquarters