The Wehrmacht was the name given to the Third Reich's army. The term 'Wehrmacht' is roughly approximate to 'Defence Force' in English, though the Wehrmacht was also the primary attacking force of Germany during the period as well. The Wehrmacht was built up of three main components under the one umbrella term. These components were:
- Heer: Army
- Kriegsmarine: Navy
- Luftwaffe: Air Force
Together, these three components comprised the Wehrmacht forces. The Wehrmacht came into existence in 1935, though the Nazis had been laying the framework for the group before this period. 1935 marked when the Nazis acknowledged conscription was ongoing in the country, though they had been training soldiers before this period. Conscription had been outlawed under the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, signed after the end of the First World War, and this was one of several Nazi breaches. While the first war many people remember the Wehrmacht being involved in is the Second World War, they also saw service in the Spanish Civil War, aiding Spanish fascist leader Francisco Franco.
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