Volkssturm Personnel
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Volkssturm Personnel
The (, ) was a ''levée en masse'' national militia established by Nazi Germany during the last months of World War II. It was set up by the Nazi Party on the orders of Adolf Hitler and established on 25 September 1944. It was staffed by conscripting males between the ages of 16 and 60 years, who were not already serving in some military unit. The ''Volkssturm'' comprised one of the final components of the total war promulgated by Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, part of a Nazi endeavor to overcome their enemies' military strength through force of will. ''Volkssturm'' units fought unsuccessful battles against Allied forces at the end of the war. On several occasions, its members participated in atrocities, accompanied by German civilians and the Hitler Youth, which were overseen by members of the SS or '' Gau'' leaders. Origins and organisation The ''Volkssturm'' drew inspiration from the Prussian ''Landsturm'' of 1813–1815, that fought in the liberation wars again ...
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Panzerfaust
The (, or , plural: ) was a development family of single-shot man-portable anti-tank systems developed by Nazi Germany during World War II. The weapons were the first single-use light anti-tank weapons based on a pre-loaded disposable launch tube, a weapon configuration which is still used today (a contemporary example being the 84mm AT4). The -design consisted of a light recoilless launcher tube outfitted with a single pre-loaded high-explosive anti-tank warhead protruding from the muzzle. It was an inexpensive, easy-to-use anti-tank weapon for the common infantry man, being issued as a single unit of ammunition meant to be operated by a single soldier. Firing was done from under the arm at an upward angle as the effective firing range was barely beyond that of hand grenades ( max). After use the launcher was discarded. Development of the started in 1942. The initial design was dubbed ( "fist-cartridge") and was smaller than the later designs. Later dubbed ("tank-f ...
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Administrative Divisions Of Nazi Germany
The ''Gaue'' (singular: ''Gau'') were the main administrative divisions of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945. The ''Gaue'' were formed in 1926 as Nazi Party regional districts in Weimar Germany based on the territorial changes after the First World War.Die NS-Gaue
, '' Deutsches Historisches Museum'', accessed: 25 June 2008
The ''Gau'' system was established in 1934 as part of the '''' process, replacing the '''' system of ''
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Fanaticism
Fanaticism is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal or an obsessive enthusiasm. The political theorist Zachary R. Goldsmith provides a "cluster account" of the concept of fanaticism, identifying ten main attributes that, in various combinations, constitute it: messianism, inappropriate relationship to reason (irrationality), an embrace of abstraction, a desire for novelty, the pursuit of perfection, an opposition to limits, the embrace of violence, absolute certitude, excessive passion, and an attractiveness to intellectuals. Definitions Philosopher George Santayana defines ''fanaticism'' as "redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim". The fanatic displays very strict standards and little tolerance for contrary ideas or opinions. Tõnu Lehtsaar has defined the term ''fanaticism'' as the pursuit or defence of something in an extreme and passionate way that goes beyond normality. Religious fanaticism is defined by blind faith, the persecution of diss ...
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Die Deutsche Wochenschau
, ) is the title of the unified newsreel series released in the cinemas of Nazi Germany from June 1940 until the end of World War II, with the final edition issued on 22 March 1945. The co-ordinated newsreel production was set up as a vital instrument for the mass distribution of Nazi propaganda at war. Today the preserved short films make up a significant part of the audiovisual records of the Nazi era. History Newsreels had been regularly released since the early days of Cinema of Germany, German cinema, especially during World War I, when companies like Messter Film started producing short silent film documentaries. With the final changeover to sound films in the early 1930s, the newsreel market concentrated on four dominating production companies: Universum Film AG ( and , 20th Century Fox (), Bavaria Film (), and Tobis Film, Tobis (). After the Nazi Machtergreifung, seizure of power in 1933, the production was supervised and Censorship in Germany, censored by the Ministry ...
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Daniel Blatman
Daniel Blatman () is an Israeli historian, specializing in history of the Holocaust. Blatman is the head of the Institute for Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Career history Blatman was a visiting scholar at the Centre for European Studies at Harvard University, 2012–13. Books *''The Death Marches. The Final Phase of Nazi Genocide'', Cambridge Mass. and London: Harvard University Press, 2011 Criticism of the Israeli Government In association with the 2023 Israeli judicial reform the Likud-led far-right coalition were compared to Germany in the 1930s by some journalists and historians in Israel including by Daniel Blatman, an Israeli historian, specializing in history of the Holocaust, and head of the Institute for Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. When interviewed by Ayelett Suhani for Haaretz, Blatman said "Israel's government has neo-Nazi ministers. It really does recall Germany in 1933". His remarks drew some internat ...
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Battle Of Leipzig
The Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations, was fought from 16 to 19 October 1813 at Leipzig, Saxony. The Coalition armies of Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia, led by Tsar Alexander I, Karl von Schwarzenberg, and Gebhard von Blücher decisively defeated the ''Grande Armée'' of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon's army also contained Polish and Italian troops, as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine (mainly Saxony and Württemberg). The battle was the culmination of the German campaign of 1813 and involved about 560,000 soldiers, 2,200 artillery pieces, the expenditure of 400,000 rounds of artillery ammunition, and 133,000 casualties, making it the largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars, and the largest battle in Europe prior to World War I. Decisively defeated, Napoleon was compelled to return to France while the Sixth Coalition kept up its momentum, dissolving the Confederation of the Rhine and invading France early the ...
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German General Staff
The German General Staff, originally the Prussian General Staff and officially the Great General Staff (), was a full-time body at the head of the Prussian Army and later, the Imperial German Army, German Army, responsible for the continuous study of all aspects of war, and for drawing up and reviewing plans for mobilization or campaign. It existed unofficially from 1806, and was formally established by law in 1814. The first Staff (military), general staff in existence, it was distinguished by the formal selection of its officers by intelligence and Merit system, proven merit rather than patronage or wealth, and by the exhaustive and rigorously structured training which its staff officers undertook. The Prussian General Staff also enjoyed greater freedom from political control than its contemporaries, and this autonomy was enshrined in law on the unification of Germany and the establishment of the German Empire in 1871. It came to be regarded as the home of Militarism#Germany, G ...
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Heinz Guderian
Heinz Wilhelm Guderian (; 17 June 1888 – 14 May 1954) was a German general during World War II who later became a successful memoirist. A pioneer and advocate of the "blitzkrieg" approach, he played a central role in the development of the panzer division concept. After serving in the military since leaving school, including in World War I, in 1936, he became the Inspector of Motorized Troops. At the beginning of World War II, Guderian led an Panzer corps, armoured corps in the Invasion of Poland. During the Battle of France, Invasion of France, he commanded the armoured units that attacked through the Ardennes forest and overwhelmed the Allied defenses at the Battle of Sedan (1940), Battle of Sedan. He led the 2nd Panzer Army during Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. The campaign ended in failure after the German offensive Operation Typhoon failed to capture Moscow, and after a disagreement with Hitler, Guderian was dismissed. In early 1943, Adol ...
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Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career of Napoleon, a series of military campaigns across Europe during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1796 to 1815. He led the French First Republic, French Republic as French Consulate, First Consul from 1799 to 1804, then ruled the First French Empire, French Empire as Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1814, and briefly again in 1815. He was King of Italy, King of Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic), Italy from 1805 to 1814 and Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine from 1806 to 1813. Born on the island of Corsica to a family of Italian origin, Napoleon moved to mainland France in 1779 and was commissioned as an officer in the French Royal Army in 1785. He supported the French Rev ...
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Landsturm
In various European countries, the term Landstorm (, Swedish and , roughly "land assault", ) was historically used to refer to militia or military units composed of conscripts who are not in regular army. It is particularly associated with Prussia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Germany Prussia from 1813 In Prussia after the of 21 April 1813, all the male population from ages 15 to 60 who were capable of military service and who were not in the standing army or the ''Landwehr'', came under the authority of the ''Landsturm'', which effectively formed the last national military reserve. King Frederick William III of Prussia established the Prussian ''Landsturm'' as irregular military forces on 21 April 1813 by royal edict – the decree appeared in the ' (German: Prussian Code of Law) (pp. 79–89). The 1813 edict called for heroic resistance by any means against the French invasion. As a model and an explicit example, it took the Spanish '' Reglamen ...
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Kingdom Of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a significant role in the unification of Germany in 1871 and was a major constituent of the German Empire until its German Revolution of 1918–1919, dissolution in 1918. Although it took its name from the Prussia (region), region called Prussia, it was based in the Margraviate of Brandenburg. Its capital was Berlin. The list of monarchs of Prussia, kings of Prussia were from the House of Hohenzollern. The polity of Brandenburg-Prussia, predecessor of the kingdom, became a military power under Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, known as "The Great Elector". As a kingdom, Prussia continued its rise to power, especially during the reign of Frederick the Great, Frederick II "the Great".Horn, D. B. "The Youth of Frederick the Great 1712–30." ...
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Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H29033, Ratibor, Volkssturmmänner Mit Panzerfäusten
The German Federal Archives or Bundesarchiv (BArch) (, lit. "Federal Archive") are the national archives of Germany. They were established at the current location in Koblenz in 1952. They are subordinated to the Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media (Claudia Roth since 2021) under the German Chancellery, and before 1998, to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. On 6 December 2008, the Archives donated 100,000 photos to the public, by making them accessible via Wikimedia Commons. History The federal archive for institutions and authorities in Germany, the first precursor to the present-day Federal Archives, was established in Potsdam, Brandenburg in 1919, a later date than in other European countries. This national archive documented German government dating from the founding of the North German Confederation in 1867. It also included material from the older German Confederation and the Imperial Chamber Court. The oldest documents in this collection dated back to the ...
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