The Waffen-SS was the combat wing of the Nazi Party's Schutzstaffel, or SS, as well as the multiethnic and multinational military force of Nazi Germany. Throughout the length of the war it would go from a shabby fighting force to the most brutal, feared, and detested military organization in the world.
Originally the SS started as adjunct group to the SA, a political wing of Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist Party. When the National Socialist Party came to power in the early 1930’s, the SA had been the group to back and associate heavily with Hitler. However, the SA became increasingly eager for power and wanted greatly to replace the regular army, which angered and threatened many leaders within the party. The SS was then placed under the control of Heinreich Himmler by Hitler in part to limit the growth of the SA. Many of the conflicts between the SS and SA arose from political rivalries, but another factor involved was the socio-economic differences between the SS and SA. Members of the SS generally came from the middle class, whereas SA members came from the unemployed and working class. In political aspects, the SA was more radical than the SS, with its leaders arguing the Nazi revolution had not ended when Hitler achieved power, and that Germany needed to implement Socialism to a wider degree.
Eventually high ranker party leaders began to conspire against the SA and its leadership, leading to an event known as the Night of the Long Knives. Most of the leadership of the SA was killed and replaced during this incident, and the size of the SA was significantly downsized. This led to the SS superseding the SA in size and power, giving rise the armed branch of the SS known as the SS-TV in 1934, and later the Waffen-SS in 1938....
... middle of paper ...
...ularly as the Battle of the Bulge, the last German offensive of the war. Waffen-SS units fought hard enough that they managed to successfully push back the Allies throughout the forest. Their advance was only rendered fruitless by lack of fuel for their tanks or proper air support. At Malmedy the SS showed its darker side when American POW’s were killed after what is thought to have been a singular escape attempt gone wrong. Leibstandarte SS officer Joachim Peiper was sentenced to death by the Allies after wars end for his part in this massacre, but was later sentences to life in prison instead.
The legacy of the Waffen-SS is clouded with much controversy. On many occasions they proved themselves a powerful fighting force, on both the Eastern and Western fronts. However, many of the brutal aspects of the war they are linked to have tainted much of their achievement.
The Gestapo, Hitler’s secret Police, instilled a lot of fear into the German people's eyes. With their leader being one of Hitlers advisers, you can tell they were pretty important to Hitler. However, they weren't always lead by one of Hitler’s advisers. The Gestapo had many roles to Hitler's war plan. With this they had many duties to do and many different complicated ways they did their duties.
The main political changes that the Nazi Party or the NSDAP endured during the period of November, 1923 until January 1933 was its rise from a small extreme right party to a major political force. It is vitally important that the reasons behind this rise to power also be examined, to explain why the NSDAP was able to rise to the top. However first a perspective on the Nazi party itself is necessary to account for the changing political fortunes of the Nazi Party.
Among 1.5 million Jews were shot to death in the most brutal way by different Nazi units. The so-called Einsatzgruppen, which operated behind the front against the Soviet Union, were
World War I is marked by its extraordinary brutality and violence due to the technological advancement in the late 18th century and early 19th century that made killing easier, more methodical and inhumane. It was a war that saw a transition from traditional warfare to a “modern” warfare. Calvary charges were replaced with tanks; swords were replaced with machine guns; strategic and decisive battles were r...
Killing Squad were also called death squads, mobile killing units, and Einsatzgruppen. The killing squads were often made of the German S.S. and police personnel (USHMM). This means that the killing squads did have some military experience. Killing Squads act swiftly, usually tanking the Jewish population by surprise (USHMM). This is also why they were called mobile killing units.
The battle was very significant and had lots of positive results, even though it is not as well-known as much as other wars and battles. The battle was Hitler’s last major offensive move in World War II and was intended to split Allied lines and forced negotiated peace. In the process, the Germans lost too many experienced troops and equipment that is was nearly impossible that their small army could launch another attack. The Bulge is mostly remembered for its great influence on the end of WWII. Although the war had a positive outcome, it was a horrendous experience for both forces that fought in the many battles. It had a profound effect on soldiers who fought in the icy Ardennes and veterans on both sides witness plenty atrocities (Results and Significance).
Shopkeepers struggled to make ends meet, and 40 percent of factory workers were fired and were no longer allowed to work, causing further poverty in leaving no one to have jobs. Germany had 2 million farmers and they all had a dept that was heaps, they were all terrified that the Communists would come into power and take what they owned (. Hitler was using fearusing fear and grief of the German people to make sure that he got as many votes as he could, he saidt he’d give reassurance to the farmers and he was easy to make promises. The SA was , by 1932 the SA was large and had 400,000 members to its party the unemployed were given jobs in the party with uniforms and all. “Hitler’s strength was that he persuaded one in three of the German voters.” (Hitler Rise to Power Booklet. No Auth, No Date) Overall, Hitler was able to persuade 13 million people to vote and bring him into the party; he became Chancellor and therefore held most of the power. The Depression created the conditions for
The Fear of Socialism and the Rise to Power of the Nazis in Germany between 1919 and 1933
The National Socialist German Workers' Party, commonly known as the Nazi party, originated during the 1920s. Formerly, the Nazi Party’s main purpose was to abolish communism. However, ...
The Social Democrats were the leading party during and after the fight to remove the Kaiser from his powerful position. They were greatly influenced by the Elite, the rich Germans they thought essential to the prosperity of Germany. They recruited armed forces, the Freikorps, to aid them in controlling those opposing their ideas and policies. The Social Democrats often associated themselves with the Bolsheviks, one half of the Social Democrats that leaded the Russian Revolution the year before. But when it came down to it, the Social Democrats weren’t in favour of a change in government, and they believed “getting rid of the Kaiser was the end of the revolution” (Lacey and Shephard, 2002, p.13). The fact that there was a revolution wasn’t true, because no groups had actually wielded great power over the rest of Germany, and they hadn’t established any kind of government system. The Kaiser’s abdication, initiated by the Social Democrats, should have started a change, but instead it just made way for their party to gain control.
The Schutzstaffel or SS was created in 1925 by the Nazi party to protect Adolf Hitler and other important Nazi leaders. Heinrich Himmler was appointed leader of the SS by Hitler in 1929. The SS were racial elites with profound loyalty to Hitler and the promotion of Germany. (SS, 2013) In order to become a member of the SS all candidates had to endure selections based on their racial ancestry and support of the Nazi party. In Nazi Germany the SS was responsible for security identification of ethnicity, settlement and population policy and intelligent collection and analysis. (SS, 2013) They also were responsible for the concentration camp system and police forces. In 1939 the SS assumed the responsibility for “solving” the Jewish Question. (SS And The Holocaust, 2013) In the imminent invasion of the Soviet Union Hitler ordered the SS implementation of settlement plans and population policy in conquered Soviet territories. Special SS Einsatzgrupp...
The rise of National Socialism in post-WWI Germany is an understandable reaction to the problems of the Versailles Peace Treaty, considering the German attitudes and beliefs at the time. These attitudes and beliefs were the result of generations of Prussian militarism, extreme racist nationalism, and, most importantly, the failure of the Treaty of Versailles signed in June of 1919. The rise of the Nazi party, and their extremist National Socialist doctrine appealed directly to these attitudes and beliefs that permeated Germany society after the first World War.
The Night of Long Knives, one of the most noteworthy events during Hitler’s rule, was a purge that occurred on the 30th June 1934. Hitler ordered the murders of conspicuous Conservative anti-Nazis such as Kurt Von Schleicher and Gustav Ritter von Kahr, Left wing Nazis such as Gregor Strasser and many members of the SA including its leader Ernst Rohm. It could be claimed that the murders were significant as they ended a possible takeover by the SA, deterred and intimidated Conservative critics while gaining their support, saw the rise of the SS, introduced terror and dictatorship into mainstream life and reassured the elites and the army. It could be alleged that a significance of the Night of Long Knives was that it prevented a possible takeover by the SA.
The Gestapo, established in 1933, controlled originally by Georing and later in November 1934, was controlled under Himmler. The Gestapo’s job was to investigate and suppress all anti-state activities, and had a reputation of being very brutal and ruthless. It was not secret and was much feared. Terror atomised the nation, people thought the Gestapo was everywhere but in fact they were a very small number. The Gestapo controlled concentration camps.
Germany's defeat in World War One created political, economic and social instability in the Weimar Republic and led to the rise of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) or Nazi party.