A Brief History
On February 26, 1935, the militant German nationalist leader Adolf Hitler defied the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and ordered the reestablishment of the German Air Force, known as the Luftwaffe.
Digging Deeper
Hitler and his Nazi buddies had plotted this for some time, disguising pilot training as lessons to fly gliders, something allowed by the treaty. As German industry developed war planes, the ruse that these planes were civilian craft was used as a cover story.
German pilots got their first taste of combat flying in the Condor Legion of “volunteers” during the Spanish Civil War, and their new Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter was shockingly better than any other fighter in the world. The Bf 109 would be produced throughout World War II, and despite its aging design, its engines and weapons were upgraded to where it kept up with the best Allied fighters right to the end. With 34,000 of these simple and rugged fighters built (the most of any aircraft ever), they were the backbone of the Luftwaffe’s fighter corps, and stayed in active service in Spain until 1965.
Probably the best German piston-engine fighter of the war was the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the fighter with the fastest roll rate during World War II. Heavily armed and “ruggedized” to make it able to handle primitive landing strips, this work horse was adapted into effective ground attack versions and continuously upgraded throughout the war. Over 20,000 of them were built, and it served until 1949 with the Turkish Air Force. The Fw 190 was distinct in that it was one of the rare European examples of a radial engine fighter and was sometimes mistaken for the US P-47 Thunderbolt.
The primary German bombers of World War II were the Junker Ju 88, with over 15,000 built, and the Heinkel He 111, with over 6,500 built. Both were medium bombers that had been adapted for use as night fighters and for ground (tank) attack roles as well. The Dornier Do 17 and its variants rounded out the main 3 bomber aircraft types of the Luftwaffe, with over 2,100 built.
The primary ground attack and dive bomber of the Luftwaffe in World War II was the Junker Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber. Though state of the art when introduced in 1936, it was quickly made obsolete with advances in Allied fighters once the war started. Still, over 6,500 were built, and despite its retro look with fixed landing gear and exposed struts, the Stuka was up-engined and up-gunned like the fighter planes so that it would be able to soldier on til the end of the war. Though rugged and extremely accurate, it just did not have the speed or defensive firepower to protect itself. The most highly-decorated German serviceman (of any branch) of the war was Colonel Hans-Ulrich Rudel, a Stuka pilot.
Germany never developed a sufficient fleet of cargo/transport planes and had these needs met mainly by the tri-motor-powered Junker Ju 52, also known as “Iron Annie.” Nearly 5,000 were built, but that pales in comparison to the 10,000+ American C-47s (2 engine), 3,100+ American C-46s (2 engine) and 1,100+ American C-54s (4 engine) cargo/transports.
Other innovative German aircraft capture still the imaginations of military buffs today, but in reality, the highly advanced Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter, the Arado Ar 234 jet bomber and the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet rocket interceptor were too little and too late to make much of a contribution. The previously listed aircraft above were the mainstays of the Luftwaffe of World War II, and had the Germans concentrated on building only these types to have as many of them as possible, they might have greatly assisted their war effort.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Killen, John. The Luftwaffe: A History. Pen and Sword, 2013.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="9728 https://www.historyandheadlines.com/?p=9728">28 Comments
It seems like a lot to risk by going around the treaty terms, seeing as how Germany took the blame for the first World War.
It does seem like a lot of risk, as Claire mentioned, but I would not expect any less from Hitler. It was interesting to read about how they had to disguise the pilot training.
I didn’t know the treaty of Versailles prohibited the Germans from having their Air Force or Luftwaffe. It’s not hard to see why the Germans were so bitter after the First World War and the restrictions the treaty of Versailles put on them. It sounds like they had the upper hand when the war began because of their effective and advanced air crafts which they disguised as civilian planes in order to manufacture them.
The treaty of Versailles did not allow Germany and Hitler to use its Airforce. Hitler being the bad person he was did not abide by the terms of the treaty and flew planes to practice. The Airforce for Germany was a huge part of war for them and we see a huge advancement from priror readings on military planes.
I think that this is just an example of how stricter terms from the Treaty of Versailles and blame for the war entirely on Germany only made this situation worse. I think that the many of the German people were angry about it and thus were more willing to go along with Hitler’s plans to defy the treaty. It makes you wonder what would have happened if the treaty had been handled differently.
I did not know that the treaty of Versailles did not allow the Germans to use their Air Force. I wonder why were they not allowed to have air force. Was it because of the extreme power they had. What was really interesting from this article were the numbers of bombers built. It is crazy to think how many they were and even crazier to imagine that damage they caused.
I can not believe that the world bought that the mass German taking to the sky was just for the civilian joy of flying gliders. But I guess that it was not nearly as easy to monitor enemy movements as it is today.
There was a lot of planning that led up to Germany’s involvement in World War II. It is hard to believe they kept their plans to bring back the Luftwaffe as quiet as they did because aircraft was such a large part of their fight in the war.
I never realized how intensely countries began focussing on airplane fighters in WWll. It still surprises me that the Allied forces did not stop the re-assembling of the Luftwaffe. If something was done about it, the war could have been completely different.
I’m curious as to how the Germans were able to keep this under-wraps for so long? What is the backlash for defying a treaty like this?
I never realized how many planes were built during this time and the amount of impact they had on the war.
The Luftwaffe seems like a well supplied aerial force for the Germans during World War II. The startup of the Luftwaffe violated the Treaty of Versailles. The Germans were keen to start the Luftwaffe again before going to war.
I am surprised Hitler got away with his secret training programs. You would think the Allied countries would have caught wind of it and suspected it was more than just for civilian purposes.
It is interesting to read that one of the stipulations of the Treaty of Versailles was that Hitler end his relations with the German air force. It is not surprising, on the other hand, to read that Hitler once again broke rules and did whatever he pleased.
Not surprisingly Hitler secretly reinstalled the Luftwaffe. With opinions aside, however, the Germans built some decent planes. Not all of their models survived through the war though.
When Hitler signed the Treaty of Versailles he seemed to already have answers for ways to get around the rules. Because gliding was allowed it was an easy cover for Hitler to use for pilot training. You would think that Allied Forces would have found out about the secret training rather quickly, but they did not.
Of course, Adolf Hitler defied the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. I am surprised that he got away with disguising pilot training as lessons to fly gliders, which was allowed by the treaty. Hitler had to have been intelligent to be able to pull things off like this and rise to power like he did.
Early air forces are what intrigue me most about the early wars. Although Hitler was perhaps the worst person in history, he had traits that allowed him to manipulate and unite the masses which created support for his agenda.
It’s a little bit odd that he was able to fool all of Europe, and nobody really and any idea that Hitler was building 15000 bombers and 34000 fighters. It must have been a pretty big shock when the war started and Germany had the best air force.
Hitler only played by his rules, it does not come to surprise for me that he defied the Treaty of Versailles. The people had to have known that the training was going to end up using them for battle.
It is amazing that Hitler was about to full all of Europe. Once again Hitler broke the rules to do what he wanted regardless of anyone else.
I actually never knew that the Luftwaffe existed before WWII. Not surprising that Hitler broke the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.
It’s not shocking that of all people to break the Treaty of Versailles, it was Hitler. What is surprising is all the things he got away with to follow.
it is almost crazy to think that the cover story they used worked. How could all the aircrafts be built for civilian reasons? In addition there were thousands upon thousands of different aircrafts built for Germany during one time which is surprising. Even thought there were just a few types there were over 1,000 of each.
Not surprised at all that Hitler was the one to break the terms of the Treaty. It amazes me the amount of things he somehow got away with
The dive bomber was quickly made obsolete in Allied fighters once the war started. There were still a large amount, 6,500 made.
Hitler would do anything to win. This does not surprise me at all.
Since Hitler broke the treaty and broke restrictions set on him, I wonder if Iran would ever do the same with the our nuclear deal with them.