Military Methamphetamine Essay

As the use of methamphetamines spread throughout the civilian sphere of Germany, the military was taking notice of its possible uses in combat. One of the main proponents of methamphetamine use was Dr. Otto Ranke. At the age of thirty-eight, he was appointed to be the director of the Research Institute of Defence Physiology. Physiology was a relatively undervalued discipline during this era, but its use in warfare was expanding. Soldiers were starting to be seen as almost as advanced, sentient machines and it was Ranke’s job to keep the machines oiled and running good. His researched looked to get the most out of the men that made up the soldiers of the Nazi army. While doing this he came to the conclusion that becoming tired or spent was a major

negative factor that lead to soldier ineffectiveness. Fatigue, not France, Britain, or the United States was Ranke’s main adversary during the war. He thought that he found the answer to his rival after reading a passage by Pervilin founder Fritz Hauschild in the Klinische Wochenschrift, a bi-weekly, peer reviewed medical journal dating back to the 1800s, detailing the positive, physical effects Pervitin had on the human body. Ranke contacted a number of voluntary tests on students at the Military Medical Academy. He grouped the participates together and gave them either caffeine, Benzedrine, Pervitin, or a placebo. He then instructed them to complete a number of tasks and math problems throughout the night. The results were clear that the “Pervitin gang”, as they were called, were still working away the next morning while the other groups began to . However, he also observed some negative effects. Complex questions were harder for those on the drug and concentration was lessened. This was backed up by other research that showed Pervitin led to excessive excitement and anxiety in some. While Ranke saw the prospects of how this drug could lead to a more successful fighting force, he was wary of the negative effects. Ranke, along with other officials, implored the upper management and the military brass to regulate and research the drug extensively. This mostly fell on deaf ears, as they declined to fund a major research effort so that the effects could be studied more in depth. Despite his protests, Pervitin was rolled out for military use as German tanks rolled into Poland on September 1, 1939 and Ranke was even known to use it to fuel his research. Reviews of the drugs use on the battlefield were relatively good. Tank operators could remain more focused in the stressful environment.

A senior lieutenant reported that after taking Pervitin he had, “no side effects, no headache, no roaring in the eras, intelect wide awake”. Soon thereafter, the Nazi Military bought 35 million tablets of Pervitin in 1940. To accompany the roll out of this state-sponsored drug program, a document was to be written and distributed laying out the stance on the use of Pervitin. The so-called stimulant decree was sent out to many troop doctors, leading medical officers and to the SS. The decree gave examples in the Polish campaign of times fatigue cost the Nazi army and how this was unacceptable. It also gave instructions on how to administer Pervitin and stated that any negative effects from the drug were far better than the negative effects of sleeping during military action. This decree was written by Ranke, who has developed a sort of dependency on Pervitin himself. This could be quite problematic as him and the other army physiologist were supposedly the ones in charge of regulating the use of the drug despite being commonly addicted to it. This decree is also marked the first time in history that an army would so heavily rely on a chemical

drug.
With the doctrine in place, the Nazi Army advanced with unprecedented speed and was able to overtake Paris within months. While this was not expressly caused by the widespread use of methamphetamines, they sure helped. Ranke’s superior, Army Medical Inspector Waldmann expressed his delight with Pervitin noting of “extraordinary marching achievements” and marveled at Germany’s “unparalleled speed”. The German propaganda machine attempted to portray the quick and osloute victory to the heart and morale of the National Socialists. However, Ranke and his field notes express that other forces are at play. Ranke interviewed many field troops about Pervitin. Like the others, they raved of its ability to keep them alert and stave of fatigue for extended periods of time.
Ranke’s notes did not mention the negatives of the widespread use of Pervitin in war. He either did not notice them, or did not care to notice them. Despite this, there are still records of disastrous results from the use of methamphetamines in war. This issue was specifically bad in older officers. There were reports that an older colonel in the 12th Panzer tank Division died of a heart attack while swimming in the Atlantic Ocean. It was also reported that he was known to take “a lot” of Pervitin. A captain was also reported to have died from a heart attack after using Pervitin at a party. These are just the lethal incidence that were a direct result of Pervitin use. The amount of deaths to oneself and to others caused by misjudgment because of extend sleep deprivation and confusion brought on by heavy drug use would be impossible to count, but it is very feasible that that phenomena could have occured. Non-lethal injuries were reported as well. High blood pressure and poor circulation was a common issue associated with methamphetamine users and lead to a number of battlefield doctors visits. Addiction was another issue that came to light as continued use occurred. Many academics, including a psychotherapist named Ernst Speer, wrote to warn of the addictive tendency and damages this drug can have on people's mental and physical health. However, this was widely ignored. This was, in part, due to a believe that addiction was caused by underlying mental factors that predate any kind of drug use. Many, in this time, believed that someone could become addicted only because they had certain genetic deficiencies. Also Speer did not base his findings on personal experience or laboratory testing, just based on simple observations and believes he held. However, as we know today, he was relatively correct. Methamphetamine is a Schedule II drug in the United States and has a very high potential for abuse. There was mountains of evidence to support this claim during WWII, it was widely ignored because the benefits of the drug use was good for the militaristic cause.
The effects of the drug definitely did not wind down as the war was ending. Experimentation with wounded soldiers found that even the most wounded of soldiers would remain in good spirits if given a cocktail of morphine and Pervilin. Despite this many soldiers were tired of fighting a losing war and morale was critically low. The propaganda that kept spirits high was starting to fail. To counteract this sentament, the Nazi’s fell back on what they knew best, drugs. The search began for a ‘miracle drug’ that could return even the most broken soldier into a ready to fight warrior. Navy commanders attempting to find the perfect cocktail of drugs for use as a pilot of what were essentially suicide submarines. They used a mixture of Eukodal, cocaine, Pervitin, and Dicodid in different concentrations and tested on at least 50 soldiers. These testings had terrible effects on the test subjects and one would have to think that, to a degree,this was to be suspected. This plan truly plays into the Nazi believe that winning is more important than anything. The discomfort of one soldier or one citizen was worth the price to win the war to restore German supremacy. This policy was another reason for very low morale among soldiers and citizens. Another horrific example of this is the “pill patrol”. In Sachsenhausen Concentration camp just north of Berlin, a penal unit of prisoners that acted up while in the camp were directed to Naval Doctor Richert. He wanted to test new ‘energy pills’ on the prisons. He gave them extremely large amounts of cocaine and Pervitin orally. He then would make them walk around a circle track wearing a backpack for hours on end to see which drug was the most effective at long lasting energy. No Navy member who perpetuated these terrible atrocities was brought to trial in Nuremberg.
It is clear that drugs played an intrinsic part in Nazi Germany. The way that society was affected by the overwhelming popularity of Pervitin by doctors and the general public can be seen through its widespread use and degradation of its citizens and soldiers health. From doctors over willingness to prescribe it to their own addictions to it, it has ran rampant in the medical community. While it did help increase production and mood in the dark times around WWII, it deteriorated the health of many and claimed the lives of some along the way. Pervitin’s use in military action was just was determantal. It did allow soldiers to stay alert for longer periods of time and assisted in the all out speed that was the Blitzkrieg attacks. However, many have been confirmed to have died from methamphetamine usage and many more possibly could have died as a result of their own drug use or another soldier drug use. The Reich’s overall allowance (some could even say promotion of drugs) showed that winning was the only thing that mattered. Human life, comfort, and health took a back seat; every thing took a back seat to winning. This strategy did have some benefits and helped for an amount of time, but it wore on the soldiers and its people. Even Adolf Hitler was a drug addict and drugs very possible could have negatively affected the decisions that he made. The effect drugs had on Nazi Germany is in measurable. The main reason that Nazi Germany failed can not be pinned down to one singular policy, its widespread and inhumane drug policy definitely factored into its demise.