Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht were the unified armed forces of Germany from the Nazi Party's rise to power until the end of World War II.
==History==
===World War II===
In 1934, to gain support from the German Army for his regime, Adolf Hitler ordered the assassinations of all higher officers of the Sturmabteilung. That purge later became known as the Night of the Long Knives. The Wehrmacht patrols were guarding the German-Swiss border when Abraham Erskine attempted to escape to Switzerland with his family in 1935.
In April 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, the Spanish city of Guernica was destroyed. At the time, it was believed the German air force, the Luftwaffe, was responsible for the destruction of the city. However, the true culprit was HYDRA, the Nazi special weapons division.Captain America: First Vengeance
When World War II broke out in 1939, the Wehrmacht served as the spearhead of the German conquest of Poland. When Warsaw fell into the German hands, the German soldiers triumphantly goose-stepped through the city.A short footage of the parade appears in a deleted scene in The Avengers
In October 1943, a battle was fought between the Wehrmacht troops and the 107th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army near Azzano in Italy. A battalion of HYDRA soldiers suddenly intervened, wiping out the Germans and capturing dozens of American soldiers. A few weeks later, the German air-defense opened fire on a plane that was carrying Steve Rogers from Italy to Austria.
In winter of 1944, Captain America and his Howling Commandos arrested Nazi soldiers after saving American soldiers, including the future husband of Peggy Carter.
In 1945, at the HYDRA Research Facility Number 4, a parked had the Wehrmacht Heer license plate. Many boxes in the facility were marked with the logo of the .Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.01: Shadows
In May 1945, Wilhelm Keitel, the chief of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, signed the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany at Soviet headquarters in Berlin.Footage of the signing ceremony appears in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. One year after the war, many high-ranking German officers, including Keitel and , were tried for war crimes at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg. Several of them were sentenced to death by hanging.Agent Carter: 1.04: The Blitzkrieg Button
During the war a lot of footage of the Wehrmacht was made and preserved.Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.11: Bouncing Back The actions of the Wehrmacht during World War II led Ultron to his decision to eradicate mankind from the world. Following the second disbandment of S.H.I.E.L.D. the US Army stored all the confiscated S.H.I.E.L.D. equipment at Blue Raven Ridge, a secret base that held several Wehrmacht equipment. When Leo Fitz and Lance Hunter broke into the base's warehouse, among the S.H.I.E.L.D. boxes they saw several old wooden crates with the Nazi Reichsadler and the inscription "Eigentum der Deutschen Wehrmacht", the property of the German Wehrmacht.Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 5.05: Rewind
==Appearances==
<tabber>
|-|Chronological=
In chronological order:
* (flashbacks)
*
* (mentioned)
* (mentioned; alternate universe)
* (footage; deleted scene)
* (footage)
* (footage)
|-|Narrative=
In narrative order:
* (flashbacks)
*
* (mentioned)
* (footage; deleted scene)
* (footage)
* (footage)
* (mentioned)
</tabber>
==Trivia==
*Some of the concept artwork for Captain America: The First Avenger shows the Valkyrie and the HYDRA Parasits with Wehrmacht insignia. Jim Martin's concept art shows the Wehrmacht soldiers and tanks guarding HYDRA Base Camp C3.Jim Martin's concept art for Captain America: The First Avenger
*In the comics, Eric Koenig was a Wehrmacht soldier before he defected to the Americans and joined the Howling Commandos.
==Gallery==
Wehrmach Warsaw The Avengers.jpg
Cap prisoners.jpg
==References==
==External Links==
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Category:Nazi Germany
Category:Organizations
Category:Armed Forces