Context: The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German language: "Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes"), or simply the Knight's Cross ("Ritterkreuz"), and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. , The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870 (19 July 1871), was a conflict between the Second French Empire of Napoleon III and the German states of the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. The conflict was caused by Prussian ambitions to extend German unification and French fears of the shift in the European balance of power that would result if the Prussians succeeded. Some historians argue that the Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck deliberately provoked a French attack in order to draw the southern German statesBaden, Württemberg, Bavaria and Hesse-Darmstadtinto an alliance with the North German Confederation dominated by Prussia, while others contend that Bismarck did not plan anything and merely exploited the circumstances as they unfolded., The Iron Cross (abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (18711918) and Nazi Germany (19331945). It was established by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia in March 1813 backdated to the birthday of his late wife Queen Louise on 10 March 1813 during the Napoleonic Wars (EK 1813). Louise was the first person to receive this decoration (posthumous). The recommissioned Iron Cross was also awarded during the Franco-Prussian War (EK 1870), World War I (EK 1914), and World War II (EK 1939, re-introduced with a swastika added in the center).
The Iron Cross was normally a military decoration only, though there were instances of it being awarded to civilians for performing military functions. Two examples of this were civilian test pilots Hanna Reitsch who was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class and 1st Class and Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg, who was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class, for their actions as pilots during World War II., The Wehrmacht (lit. "defence force") was the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1946. It consisted of the "Heer" (army), the "Kriegsmarine" (navy) and the "Luftwaffe" (air force). The designation "Wehrmacht" for Nazi Germany's military replaced the previously used term, "Reichswehr" (191935), and was the manifestation of Nazi Germany's efforts to rearm the nation to a greater extent than the Treaty of Versailles permitted., The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte (German Air Force)known before October 1916 as the Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches ("Imperial German Flying Corps") or simply Die Fliegertruppewas the World War I (191418) air arm of the German Army, of which it remained an integral part. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, although that is not a literal translation of either name. German naval aviators serving with the "Marine-Fliegerabteilung" remained an integral part of the Imperial German Navy "(Kaiserliche Marine)". Both military branches, the army and navy, operated conventional aircraft, observation balloons and Zeppelins., The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) were a series of major conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European powers formed into various coalitions, primarily led and financed by the United Kingdom. The wars resulted from the unresolved disputes associated with the French Revolution and the Revolutionary Wars, which had raged on for years before concluding with the Treaty of Amiens in 1802. The resumption of hostilities the following year paved the way for more than a decade of constant warfare often categorized into five conflicts: the War of the Third Coalition (1805), the War of the Fourth Coalition (1806-7), the War of the Fifth Coalition (1809), the War of the Sixth Coalition (1813), and the War of the Seventh Coalition (1815). The Napoleonic Wars had profound consequences for global and European history, leading to the spread of nationalism and liberalism, the rise of the British Empire as the world's premier power, the independence movements in Latin America and the collapse of the Spanish Empire, the fundamental reorganization of German and Italian territories into larger states, and the establishment of radically new methods in warfare. , Nazi Germany is the common English name for the period in German history from 1933 to 1945, when Germany was governed by a dictatorship under the control of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP). Under Hitler's rule, Germany was transformed into a fascist state in which the Nazi Party took totalitarian control over nearly all aspects of life. The official name of the state was "Deutsches Reich" from 1933 to 1943 and "Großdeutsches Reich" ("Greater German Reich") from 1943 to 1945. The period is also known under the names the Third Reich and the National Socialist Period (abbreviated as "NS-Zeit"). The Nazi regime came to an end after the Allied Powers defeated Germany in May 1945, ending World War II in Europe., Heinz `` Negus '' Marquardt ( 29 December 1922 -- 19 December 2003 ) was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of the Knight 's Cross of the Iron Cross ( Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes ) during World War II. The Knight 's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership . Marquardt was credited with 121 aerial victories -- that is , 121 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft -- with a further 16 unconfirmed victories in 320 combat missions . All but one of his victories were claimed over the Eastern Front ., World War I (WWI or WW1), also known as the First World War, or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history. Over nine million combatants and seven million civilians died as a result of the war (including the victims of a number of genocides), a casualty rate exacerbated by the belligerents' technological and industrial sophistication, and the tactical stalemate caused by gruelling trench warfare. It was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved., Hanna Reitsch (29 March 1912  24 August 1979) was Germany's most famous female aviator and test pilot, starting in the early 1930s. During the Nazi era she served as an international representative for the regime. In the 1960s she was sponsored by the West German foreign office as a technical adviser in Ghana and elsewhere., World War II (often abbreviated to WWII or WW2), also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the world's nationsincluding all of the great powerseventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. In a state of "total war", the major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust (in which approximately 11 million people were killed) and the strategic bombing of industrial and population centres (in which approximately one million were killed, and which included the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki), it resulted in an estimated 50 million to 85 million fatalities. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history., German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and (co-) official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol (Italy), the German-speaking Community of Belgium, and Liechtenstein; it is also an official, but not majority language of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, and English. It is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English., The Luftwaffe was the aerial warfare branch of the combined German Wehrmacht military forces during World War II. Germany's military air arms during the First World War, the "Luftstreitkräfte" of the Army and the "Marine-Fliegerabteilung" of the Navy, had been disbanded in May 1920 as a result of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles which stated that Germany was forbidden to have any air force., The swastika (also known outside the Indian subcontinent as the Hakenkreuz, gammadion cross, cross cramponnée, croix gammée, fylfot, or tetraskelion) (as a character  or ) is an ancient religious symbol originating from the Indian subcontinent, that generally takes the form of an equilateral cross with four legs each bent at 90 degrees. It is considered to be a sacred and auspicious symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism and dates back at least 11,000 years. It continues to be commonly used as a religious symbol in religions native to the Indian subcontinent, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism., Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg, born Melitta Schiller (9 January 1903  8 April 1945), was a German Aviator who served as a test pilot in the Luftwaffe before and during World War II., Subject: heinz marquardt, Relation: occupation, Options: (A) army (B) aviator (C) chancellor (D) king (E) knight (F) major (G) military (H) military personnel (I) official (J) religious (K) socialist (L) translation (M) united kingdom
Output: aviator