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German Army: Why No Collapse

The Wehrmacht during the Second World War sustained two times the deaths of the Imperial German Army in the First World War, yet it did not collapse, quite on the contrary it fought until the bitter end. Why was this the case? Why did the Wehrmacht and particularly the German Army did not collapse in the Second World War. »» SUPPORT MHV «« » patreon - see videos early (adfree) - https://www.patreon.com/join/mhv » subscribe star - https://www.subscribestar.com/mhv » paypal donation - https://paypal.me/mhvis » YouTube Membership - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK09g6gYGMvU-0x1VCF1hgA/join »» MERCHANDISE «« » teespring - https://teespring.com/stores/military-history-visualized » SOURCES « Neitzel, Sönke: Deutsche Krieger. Vom Kaiserreich zur Berliner Republik – eine Militärgeschichte. Propyläen: Berlin, Germany, 2020. McBree, Brendan B.: Improving Unit Cohesion: The First Step in Improving Marine Corps Infantry Battalion Capabilities. 23 May 2002. http://www.2ndbn5thmar.com/coh/mcbreen2002.pdf OKH: H.Dv. 130/2a: Die Schützenkompanie. Ausbildungsvorschrift für die Infanterie – Heft 2a. Verlag „Offene Worte“, Berlin, Germany, 16. März 1941. Overmans, Rüdiger: Deutsche militärische Verluste im Zweiten Weltkrieg. R. Oldenbourg Verlag: München, Germany, 2004. Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg – Band 9 / 1 – Deutsche Kriegsgesellschaft 1939 bis 1945. Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg – Band 9 / 2 - Deutsche Kriegsgesellschaft 1939 bis 1945. Yelton, David K.: Hitler’s Volkssturm. The Nazi Militia and the Fall of Germany 1944-1945. Kansas University Press: Kansas, US, 2002. Biddle, Tami Davis: On the Crest of Fear: V-Weapons, the Battle of the Bulge, and the Last Stages of World War II in Europe. In: The Journal of Military History. Vol. 83, No. 1, January 2019. Yelton, David K.: Hitler’s Volkssturm. The Nazi Militia and the Fall of Germany 1944-1945. Kansas University Press: Kansas, US, 2002. Mawdsley, Evan: Thunder in the East. The Nazi-Soviet War 1941-1945. Second Edition. Bloomsbury: London, 2016. https://www.cmohs.org/medal/faqs, last accessed: 19th October 2020 National Defense Research Institute: Sexual Orientation and U.S. Military Personnel Policy. An Update of RAND’s 1993 Study, RAND Corporation: CA, USA, 2010. https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2010/RAND_MG1056.pdf #Wehrmacht,#WhyNoCollapse,#GermanArmyWW2

Comments

Konstantin Atanassov

Very good video! Cohesion was for sure a very important factor, mentioned in many officer's primary sources (War diaries, documents and reports). In one example (discussing performance of division - sized units in Eastern Prussia Autumn 1944), a cohesive division, which was built around a 'core', was much stronger and suffers much lower casualties in combat (factor x3.5), than a (undertrained) division without a 'core' (conclusions: better to supplement existing formations, than build completely new ones; don't send morally weak units to 1st Line duties).

Michael Moran

The US army did have some regional cohesion through its’ National Guard divisions, but there was always the concern that a particular state or even city could be really negatively impacted by the results of a particularly bloody battle or even worse a catastrophic defeat. In a few cases there actually was significant political blowback over casualties suffered by such units. Probably the best known case is the big uproar by Texas politicians after high casualties were suffered by the 36th division in Italy. Growing up I heard a lot of negative comments about General Clark from veterans who served in Oklahoma and Texas National Guard units.

Hyok Kim

You must be talking about the battle of Rapid river. Yes, a total tactical disaster, without any strategic benefit.