<blockquote>See main articles: ''[[Wehrmacht]]'', ''[[Reichswehr]]''.</blockquote>Nazi Germany maintained one of the largest militaries in [[human history]], with historians estimating that over 17 million Germans (as well as over a million non-Germans) served in the ''[[Wehrmacht]]'' between the years 1935 and 1945. This number peaked in 1943 at 10 million troops.<ref>[[William Tuohy|Tuohy, William]] (1987-01-06).: ''Linchpin of NATO. W. German Forces Get Top Rating''. [[Los Angeles Times]]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20220227211358/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-01-06-mn-2627-story.html Archived] from the [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-01-06-mn-2627-story.html original] on 2022-02-27. Retrieved 2022-12-07.</ref>
The Nazis inherited a crippled military from the Weimar era known as the ''[[Reichswehr]]'' (lit. "Reich Defence"). The victorious [[Allies of World War I|Allied powers]] of the First World War, chiefly Britain and France, had imposed severe restrictions on the German military via the Treaty of Versailles to ensure that Germany wasn't capable of challenging their imperialist hegemony. The [[Reichsheer|German Army]] had to be reduced to 100,000 men and 4,000 officers comprising no more than seven [[Infantry division|infantry divisions]] and three [[Cavalry division|cavalry divisions]],<ref><blockquote>(1) By a date which must not be later than March 31, 1920, the German Army must not comprise more than seven divisions of infantry and three divisions of cavalry.<br>After that date, the total number of effectives in the Army of the States constituting Germany must not exceed one hundred thousand men, including officers and establishments of depots. The Army shall be devoted exclusively to the maintenance of order within the territory and to the control of the frontiers.</blockquote>Treaty of Versailles. Part V. MILITARY, NAVAL AND AIR CLAUSES. SECTION I. Military Clauses. CHAPTER I. EFFECTIVES AND CADRES OF THE GERMAN ARMY. Article 160.</ref> and the [[Reichsmarine|Navy]] was limited to 15,000 men and 1,500 officers & warrant officers.<ref><blockquote>After the expiration of a period of two months from the coming into force of the present Treaty the total personnel of the Germany Navy, including the manning of the fleet, coast defences, signal stations, administration and other land services, must not exceed fifteen thousand, including officers and men of all grades and corps.<br>The total strength of officers and warrant officers must not exceed fifteen hundred.</blockquote>Treaty of Versailles. Part V. MILITARY, NAVAL AND AIR CLAUSES. SECTION II. Naval Clauses. Article 183.</ref> Germany was not allowed to have an air force<ref><blockquote>The armed forces of Germany must not include any military or naval air forces.</blockquote>Treaty of Versailles. Part V. MILITARY, NAVAL AND AIR CLAUSES. SECTION III. Air Clauses. Article 198.</ref> nor a [[general staff]],<ref><blockquote>The Great German General Staff and all similar organizations shall be dissolved and may not be reconstituted in any form.</blockquote>Treaty of Versailles. Part V. MILITARY, NAVAL AND AIR CLAUSES. SECTION I. Military Clauses. CHAPTER I. EFFECTIVES AND CADRES OF THE GERMAN ARMY. Article 160.</ref> nor was the ''Reichswehr'' permitted to manufacture, stockpile, or use [[Armoured fighting vehicle|armoured vehicles]], [[Chemical weapon|chemical weapons]],<ref><blockquote>The use of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases and all analogous liquids, materials or devices being prohibited, their manufacture and importation are strictly forbidden in Germany.<br>[...]<br>The manufacture and the importation into Germany of armoured cars, tanks and all similar constructions suitable for use in war are also prohibited.</blockquote>Treaty of Versailles. Part V. MILITARY, NAVAL, AND AIR CLAUSES. SECTION I. Military Clauses. CHAPTER II. ARMAMENTS, MUNITIONS AND MATERIAL. Article 171.</ref> or [[Submarine|submarines]].<ref><blockquote>After the expiration of a period of two months from the coming into force of the present Treaty the German naval forces in commission must not exceed:<br>6 battleships of the ''Deutschland'' or ''Lothringen'' type.<br>6 light cruisers,<br>12 destroyers,<br>12 torpedo boats,<br>or an equal number of ships constructed to replace them as provided in Article 190.<br>'''No submarines are to be included.'''</blockquote>Treaty of Versailles. Part V. MILITARY, NAVAL AND AIR CLAUSES. SECTION II. Naval Clauses. Article 181.<blockquote>Germany is forbidden to construct or acquire any warships other than those intended to replace the units in commission provided for in Article 181 of the present Treaty.</blockquote>Article 190.<blockquote>The construction or acquisition of any submarine, even for commercial purposes, shall be forbidden in Germany.</blockquote>Article 191.</ref> Excess or prohibited material had to be surrendered to the Allies. [[Conscription]] laws were forbidden,<ref><blockquote>Universal compulsory military service shall be abolished in Germany. The German army may only be constituted and recruited by means of voluntary enlistment.</blockquote>Treaty of Versailles. Part V. MILITARY, NAVAL AND AIR CLAUSES. SECTION I. Military Clauses. CHAPTER III. RECRUITING AND MILITARY TRAINING. Article 173.</ref> the formation of [[paramilitary]] groups to circumvent the limitations on army and navy size were forbidden,<ref><blockquote>The maintenance or formation of forces differently grouped or of other organizations for the command of troops or for preparation for war is forbidden.</blockquote>Treaty of Versailles. Part V. MILITARY, NAVAL AND AIR CLAUSES. SECTION I. Military Clauses. CHAPTER I. EFFECTIVES AND CADRES OF THE GERMAN ARMY. Article 160.<blockquote>No naval or military corps or reserve force in connection with the Navy may be organized in Germany without being included in the above strength.</blockquote>Section II. Naval Clauses. Article 183.</ref> and the [[Rhineland]] had to be defortified and demilitarised.<ref><blockquote>Germany is forbidden to maintain or construct any fortifications either on the left bank of the Rhine or on the right bank to the west of a line drawn 50 kilometres to the East of the Rhine.</blockquote>Treaty of Versailles. PART III. POLITICAL CLAUSES FOR EUROPE. SECTION III. Left Bank of the Rhine. Article 42.<blockquote>In the area defined above [the Rhine] the maintenance and the assembly of armed forces, either permanently or temporarily, and military manoeuvres of any kind, as well as the upkeep of all permanent works for mobilisation, are in the same way forbidden.</blockquote>Article 43.<blockquote>All fortified works, fortresses and field works situated in German territory to the west of a line drawn fifty kilometres to the east of the Rhine shall be disarmed and dismantled.<br?Within a period of two months from the coming into force of the present Treaty such of the above fortified works, fortresses and field works as are situated in territory not occupied by ALlied and Associated troops shall be disarmed, and within a further period of four months they shall be dismantled. Those which are situated in territory occupied by Allied and Associated troops shall be disarmed and dismantled within such periods as may be fixed by the Allied High Command.<br>The construction of any new fortification, whatever its nature and importance, is forbidden in the zone referred to in the first paragraph above.</blockquote>Part V. MILITARY, NAVAL AND AIR CLAUSES. SECTION I. Military Clauses. CHAPTER IV. FORTIFICATIONS. ARTICLE 180.</ref>
German disarmament was extremely unpopular among Germans of all political persuasions. The Versailles Treaty severely weakened the ability of the social democratic government of the nascent Weimar Republic to suppress uprisings from both the far-left and the far-right and to maintain public order, leading it to rely heavily on illegal paramilitary organisations such as the ''[[Freikorps]]'' and initiate a clandestine programme of rearmament.{{Citation needed}}Although soldiers legally weren't allowed to engage in politics or join political organisations as per Section 36 of the [[Defence Act (1921)|Defence Act]] of 1921, the ''Reichswehr'' itself largely rejected liberal democracy and tended towards German ultra-nationalism, [[conservatism]], [[monarchism]], and fascism. People from middle and upper class backgrounds were overrepresented in the ''Reichswehr''<nowiki/>'s leadership, a pattern maintained under the Nazi regime. 15 of the 26 [[Generalfeldmarschall|''Generalfeldmarschälle'']] who served under Hitler for instance, or 57%, were members of nobility,<ref group="lower-alpha">This includes [[Eduard von Böhm-Ermolli]], [[Erich von Manstein]], [[Erwin von Witzleben]], [[Fedor von Bock]], [[Georg von Küchler]], [[Gerd von Rundstedt]], [[Günther von Kluge]], [[Hermann Göring]] (later the sole [[Reichsmarschall]]), [[Maximilian von Weichs]], [[Ewald von Kleist (Field marshal)|Ewald von Kleist]], [[Robert Ritter von Greim]], [[Walter von Reichenau]], [[Werner von Blomberg]], [[Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb]], and [[Wolfram von Richthofen]].</ref> with the rest having middle-class origins.{{Citation needed}}Hitler's promise to abolish the Treaty of Versailles and rebuild the German Army resonated with much of the ''Reichswehr'', and consequently large sections of the German Army supported him. One early major backer of the Nazi Party was [[quartermaster general]] [[Erich Ludendorff]]. When [[Reich Defence Minister]] and [[Reich Minister of the Interior|Minister of the Interior]] [[Wilhelm Groener]] banned the SS and the SA in 1932, he was pressured into resigning by the then-[[Head of the Ministerial Office in the Reich Defence Ministry|Head of the Ministerial Office in the RWeMin]] [[Kurt von Schleicher]] and several other generals, who immediately lifted the ban.{{Citation needed}}Some members of the German Army's leadership weren't as keen on supporting the Nazis as others. Many generals, particularly those of aristocratic origins, felt threatened by Hitler's populist anti-capitalist rhetoric and the left-wing elements of the Party. [[Ernst Röhm]], the leader of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA), openly called for a "second revolution", wanting to oversee a radical transformation of society and to merge the German Army into the SA. These concerns were largely mitigated following the purge of the SA's leadership in the [[Night of the Long Knives]].{{Citation needed}}Others opposed Nazism because they understood that the Nazis would drag Germany into a war it could not win. The most famous manifestation of this was the [[20 July plot]] in 1944, when several high-ranking German officers attempted to assassinate Hitler after the war had turned firmly against the Axis.{{Citation needed}}At first when Hitler came to power, when he was still focused on consolidating his power within Germany and revitalising the German economy, during a very critical time when fascism in Germany could have easily been crushed by foreign intervention, Hitler suddenly reversed his stance on the Treaty of Versailles, claiming in [[23 March 1933 Reichstag speech|his speech to the German Reichstag on 23 March 1933]] that he didn't want to preserve the treaty but rather expand it, and that he'd be willing to disarm if other countries did the same. When they refused, Hitler withdrew from the [[League of Nations]] and the [[Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments|Geneva Conference]], using their refusal as a justification for rearmament.{{Citation needed}}Hitler renamed the ''Reichswehr'' to the ''[[Wehrmacht]]'' (lit. "Defence Force") in 1935. He brought back conscription, [[Remilitarisation of the Rhineland|remilitarised the Rhineland]], and established the ''[[Luftwaffe]]'', the air force.{{Citation needed}}