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225th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
The 225th Infantry Division () was an Infantry Division, infantry division of the German German Army (1935–1945), Heer during World War II. Operational history The division was formed on 26 August 1939 as part of the third ''Aufstellungswelle'' in the Hamburg area of Wehrkreis, Wehrkreis X. It initially consisted of Artillery Regiment 225 as well as the Infantry Regiments 333 (Hamburg), 376 (Lübeck) and 377 (Bremen). The division was formed from Landwehr personnel from the regiments' areas. The division's initial commander was Ernst Schaumburg. The 225th Infantry Division was sent to Aachen and used for border guard duty while the bulk of German forces focussed on the Invasion of Poland. The second battalion of Regiment 377 was given to the 555th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht), 555th Infantry Division on 29 January 1940. After the German victory in Poland, the 225th Infantry Division saw action in the Battle of France, western campaign, specifically in the invasion of the Nethe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Army (Wehrmacht)
The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the German Air Force, ''Luftwaffe'' (German Air Force). , the German Army had a strength of 63,047 soldiers. History Overview A German army equipped, organized, and trained following a single doctrine and permanently unified under one command was created in 1871 during the unification of Germany under the leadership of Prussia. From 1871 to 1919, the title ''German Army (German Empire), Deutsches Heer'' (German Army) was the official name of the German land forces. Following the German defeat in World War I and the end of the German Empire, the main army was dissolved. From 1921 to 1935 the name of the German land forces was the ''Reichswehr, Reichsheer'' (Army of the Realm) and from 1935 to 1945 the name ''German Army (We ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Landwehr
''Landwehr'' (), or ''Landeswehr'', is a German language term used in referring to certain national army, armies, or militias found in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. In different context it refers to large-scale, low-strength fortifications. In German, the word means "defence of the country"; but the term as applied to an insurrectional militia is very ancient, and ''lantveri'' are mentioned in ''Baluzii Capitularia'', as quoted in Henry Hallam's ''Middle Ages'', i. 262, 10th edition. Austria-Hungary Austrian ''Landwehr'' The Imperial-Royal Landwehr, Austrian ''Landwehr'' was one of three components that made up the Austro-Hungarian Army, ground forces of the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire between 1868 and 1918, and it was composed of recruits from the Cisleithanian parts of the empire. Intended as a national defence force alongside the Royal Hungarian Honvéd, Royal Hungarian ''Landwehr'' (or ''Honvéd''), the ''Landwehr'' was officially established b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Winter 1942
Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures define different dates as the start of winter, and some use a definition based on weather. When it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere, and vice versa. Winter typically brings precipitation that, depending on a region's climate, is mainly rain or snow. The moment of winter solstice is when the Sun's elevation with respect to the North or South Pole is at its most negative value; that is, the Sun is at its farthest below the horizon as measured from the pole. The day on which this occurs has the shortest day and the longest night, with day length increasing and night length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice. The earliest sunset and latest sunrise dates outside th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre () was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created during the planning of Operation Barbarossa, Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, as one of the three German Army formations assigned to the invasion. After Army Group North was trapped in the Courland Pocket in mid-1944, it was renamed to Army Group Courland and the first Army Group Centre was renamed "Army Group North". The second iteration of Army Group Centre was formed by the redesignation of Army Group A as the replacement for the first Army Group Centre. Formation and Command The army group was officially created by Adolf Hitler when he issued Führer Directive 21 on 18 December 1940, ordering German forces to prepare for an attack on Soviet Russia in 1941. The first commanding officer of Army Group Centre was Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, who would lead it until he was relieved on 18 December 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Army Group North
Army Group North () was the name of three separate army groups of the Wehrmacht during World War II. Its rear area operations were organized by the Army Group North Rear Area. The first Army Group North was deployed during the invasion of Poland and subsequently renamed Army Group B. The second Army Group North was created on 22 June 1941 from the former Army Group C and used in the northern sector of the Eastern Front from 1941 to January 1945. By then, this second Army Group North had gotten trapped in the Courland Pocket and was accordingly redesignated Army Group Courland. On the same day, the former Army Group Center, which was now defending the northernmost sector of the contiguous Eastern Front, was renamed Army Group North, assuming the status of the third and final iteration of the army group. First deployment of Army Group North: September – October 1939 The staff of Army Group North was formally assembled on 2 September 1939 from the headquarters of 2nd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the European Axis powers and Allies of World War II, Allies, including the Soviet Union (USSR) and Polish Armed Forces in the East, Poland. It encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltic states, Baltics), and Southeast Europe (Balkans), and lasted from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945. Of the estimated World War II casualties, 70–85 million deaths attributed to World War II, around 30 million occurred on the Eastern Front, including 9 million children. The Eastern Front was decisive in determining the outcome in the European theatre of World War II, European theatre of operations in World War II, eventually serving as the main reason for the defeat of Nazi Germany and the Axis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
215th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
The 215th Infantry Division (215.''Infanterie-Division'') was a major military unit of the German Army that served in World War II. Combat History The 215th Infantry division was mobilized in September 1939 as a division of the 3rd wave in military district V. Its personnel was composed mostly of older men, many who were veterans of the First World War, and reserve troops with limited training.Werner Haupt, Die deutschen Infanterie-Divisionen, p63 The division was almost immediately sent to the west and took up defensive positions in the dank and damp bunkers of the west-wall, in winter temperature that sunk to below freezing. After some weeks it was withdrawn into training areas behind the front for further training and reorganization and many of the older troops and junior offices were replaced by younger men. By Mid March 1940 it was returned to the front in the Saarland, Saar where it set about improving defensive positions under desultory French artillery fire. The divisio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
War Crimes Of The Wehrmacht
During World War II, the German Wehrmacht (combined armed forces - German Army (Wehrmacht), ''Heer'', ''Kriegsmarine'', and ''Luftwaffe'') committed systematic war crimes, including massacres, mass rape, looting, the exploitation of forced labour, German mistreatment of Soviet prisoners of war, the murder of three million Soviet prisoners of war, and participated in the extermination of Jews. While the Nazi Party's own Schutzstaffel, SS forces (in particular the ''SS-Totenkopfverbände'', ''Einsatzgruppen'' and ''Waffen-SS'') was the organization most responsible for the Holocaust, the regular armed forces of the ''Wehrmacht'' committed many war crimes of their own (as well as assisting the SS in theirs), particularly on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front. Estimates of the percentage of Wehrmacht soldiers who committed war crimes vary greatly, from the single digits to the vast majority. Historians Alex J. Kay and David Stahel argue that, including crimes such as rap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chasseurs Ardennais
The ''Bataillon de Chasseurs Ardennais'' (, or more figuratively, 'Ardennes Light Infantry', officially abbreviated as ChA) is an infantry formation in the Land Component of the Belgian Armed Forces. Originally formed in 1933 to ensure the defense of Belgium's Luxembourg Province including the natural region of the Ardennes and particularly noted for its role during the German invasion of 1940, the unit currently serves as a mechanized infantry formation and forms part of the Motorized Brigade. The ''Chasseurs ardennais'' were first formed as a light infantry unit in 1933 from the existing to defend the largely rural region south of the fortified positions of Namur and Liège. Considered a high-value élite unit, it was formed largely of volunteers from the region and was allocated more modern equipment than other units of the Belgian Army. After Belgium's return to neutrality in 1936, the role of the ''Chasseurs ardennais'' shifted and the formation expanded significantly. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vinkt Massacre
The Vinkt massacre () was a war crime committed by German soldiers in the villages of Vinkt and Meigem in East Flanders on 26–28 May 1940 during the Battle of the Lys. Between 86 and 140 civilians were deliberately killed by ''Wehrmacht'' troops from the 377th Infantry Regiment of the 225th Infantry Division, supposedly in retaliation for the Belgian Army's resistance in the village. Background As the German Army continued to advance west and pushed back both the British Expeditionary Force (trying to escape to Dunkirk) and the Belgian ��Amy, the village of Vinkt became an important target, as it lay both on the road south from Ghent to Lille and astride the Schipdonk Canal, which blocked the German advance to the west. However, on May 25, both sides already knew the outcome of the Battle of France in which the French Army had collapsed, and the Belgian Army had been reduced to prolonging the war for the sole purpose of protecting the British retreat. The bridge over ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Region of Amsterdam, urban area and 2,480,394 in the Amsterdam metropolitan area, metropolitan area. Located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, Dutch province of North Holland, Amsterdam is colloquially referred to as the "Venice of the North", for its canals of Amsterdam, large number of canals, now a World Heritage Site, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Amsterdam was founded at the mouth of the Amstel River, which was dammed to control flooding. Originally a small fishing village in the 12th century, Amsterdam became a major world port during the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century, when the Netherlands was an economic powerhouse. Amsterdam was the leading centre for finance and trade, as well as a hub of secular art production. In the 19th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
