hey guys seeing a few topics recently related to WW2 made me want to start my own thread as i have always been very interested in history, war in particular. just to be clear, i'm not endorsing or glorifying hitler or the nazis, just pointing out some of the remarkable achievements in the field of war. with that out of the way, here is a list of some of the important weapons and tactics developed by the germans...


Blitzkrieg: also known as "lightning war", this concept revolves around the philosophy of rapid coorinated movement between different branches such as the air force and army working together. this is commonplace in todays battlefields, but at the start of WW2 it was nothing short of revolutionary. this tactic was instrumental in allowing the germans to go around the stationary maginot line and defeat a much larger french army. it also gave the germans great success in the beginning of the conflict in the east against the soviets before attrition and overwhelming numbers got the best of them.

Special Forces: again, something that seems common today, but was way ahead of the times back then. the idea that a small group of highly trained soldiers could significantly alter a battle was not something most military planners put too much stock into early in the war. the british learned from them and created thier own group of commandos, which later became the SAS which america used as a benchmark in creating thier own force. one of the biggest successes was the operation operation to free mussolini, who was being held in isolation in a mountain top prison. german gliders, led by Otto Skorzeny, landed on a narrow strip of land and stormed the compound, freeing mussolini before the guards had time to react.

Small Arms: the germans introduced a number of advanced small arms during the war which heavily influenced infantry weapons for generations to come.

MG-42: this machine gun, nicknamed "hitlers buzz-saw" by the many allied soldiers it terrorized, had one of the highest rates of fire ever for a single barrled machine gun. it fired between 1,200-1,500 rounds a minute. it fired so fast that soldiers were unable to hear the individual shots, and described the sound as similar to a sheet being torn. one of the greatest achievements of this weapon was not only its tremendous firepower, but its negative physiological effects on enemy soldiers. this weapon heavily influenced the design of the american m-60 machine gun, and later the m-240 which is in use today.

STG-44: this weapon, also known as the "Sturmgewehr" which means assault rifle in german was one of the most influential small arms designs of the 20th century. it was the first select-fire rifle that fired an intermediate cartridge(7.92x33) which gave it the firepower of a submachine gun at close range while still having the ability to engage at greater ranges more typical of a rifle. although there were some noticeable design differences, this rifle heavily influenced the design of the ak-47 in later years. this was by most accounts the best single small arm of the war, but it was introduced too late and in too few of numbers to make much of a difference.

Panzerfaust: meaning "armoured fist" in german, this shaped charge weapon was the most successful anti-tank weapon of the war. unlike many german weapons, this one was fairly easy to mass produce and it was introduced early enough that it caused tremendous losses for allied tank crews. the reason that this weapon was so feared was that it required little training to use and gave the foot soldier the ability to destroy a tank. while it had a short range, it was great for urban warfare and unlike the american bazooka, this weapon had the ability to destroy any tank in production at the time while the american bazooka was rarely able to take out the more heavily armoured german tanks.

Tanks: while they were never able to produce them in high enough numbers to be able to compete with the mass produced american sherman and soviet t-34, german tanks were amazing machines.

Tiger: the tiger tank, perhaps the most famous tanks of the war, were universally feared by all allied tank crews. with a massive 88mm gun and very thick armour, these tanks were able to both take it and dish it out. although they had a fair shar of mechanical problems, when these tanks were operational they created such a great deal of fear among allied tank crews that it was called "tiger phobia" all this considering only around 1,300 were ever built, compared to over 40,000 each for both the sherman and t-34. german tank aces such as michael whittman and otto carius were able to rack up huge numbers of kills while behind these beasts. later in the war, an upgraded "king tiger" was introduced which had even thicker, and sloped armour as well as a longer barrled, more powerful 88mm gun. again, less than 500 of these were built and weren't able to have much of an impact.

Panther: these tanks were lighter than the tiger series, and were classified as medium tanks. with thick, sloped armour and a high velocity 75mm gun, it was considered one of the best medium tanks of the war. however, this tank was rushed into production, and as a result they had numerous mechanical problems and would be prone to breakdowns. almost 6,000 of these were produced, but this still wasn't a great enough number to compete with the allied production.

ME-262: the first ever jet fighter, this plane was way ahead of its time. it became operational late in the war, but was still able to cause allied bomber crews alot of fear. faster than anything else in the air, these jets would semmingly come out of nowhere and attack allied bombers from the top with thier potent 30mm cannon causing all kinds of trouble and speed away with little threat. less than 1,500 were built, and by the late stages of the war finding experienced pilots was a big problem. also, with the majority of the german air force destroyed by this point, the bases where these planes were stationed were not heavily defended and as a result most of these were destroyed on the ground before they even got a chance to enter the battle.

Rockets: german rocket scientists were way ahead of the rest of the world, and by the later stages of the war hitler put them to good use developing his series of vengence weapons.

V-1: vengence weapon #1, otherwise known as the "buzz-bomb" by the english, was the worlds first operational cruise missle. with a range of around 160 miles and a 1,900 pound warhead these weapons were launched against london later in the war. lanched from something resembling a ski ramp, these missles used a simple but revolutionary pulse jet engine that would cut out after a certain amount of time, causing the missle to drop onto its target. while not very accurate, these weapons were more than able to hit a city sized target as amny people living in london fond out the hard way. these had more of a psychological effect though, as they didn't cause too much trouble to a city already hardened by the bombings during the battle of britain. these weapons flew relativly slow and as a result, allied pilots were able to shoot down a great number, as were anti-aircraft guns. another defense was to set up huge ballons in the skies near the coast with cables running between them that would destroy the missle when it struck them. with its limited range, as the allies pushed the germans back london was out of range and they were only used in very small numbers against military targets.

V-2: vengence weapon #2. the worlds first operational ballistic missle, this weapon was probably germany's greatest technological achievement of the war. with a range of over 200 miles and carrying a 1-ton warhead capable of leveling an entire city block, this weapon was a last ditch attempt by hitler to punish the allies. while around 5,000 were produced, only around 3,000 were fired in anger mostly at london and later antwerp. once these wepons were fired, unlike the V-1, there was no way to stop them as they were just too fast. while still not capable of pinpoint accuracy, they had no problem hitting a city-sized target. when they first started hitting london, to avoid mass panic the population was first told the massive explosions were caused by underground gas explosions. the public was later informed of the truth. again, like the V-1, these were primarily a terror weapon as they made no real dent in the way the war was headed by this point. one point of note was that thousands of people died in the slave labour camps creating these weapons. after the war, the scientists who helped create these, most notably Wernher von Braun, were a huge spoil of war that both the soviets and the western allies desperately wanted. Von Braun was brought to america where he was instrumental in helping with our space program.


this was a long post but hopefully some of you will find some of the information interesting and if anyone has anything to add or any questions feel free.

The British invented the bomb that bounced on water..

thats nothing compared to the Anti-tank dogs

the nazis also invented their own abomb.it wasnt finished when they where defeated,but they were close.also if that counts as a contribution,the nazis had their own suicide bombers and the werwolf commandos which were founded as stay behind groups in 1944(?).they went to war after the nazis were defeated and killed mayors and other people of the new legislature.

while there has always been speculation on the nazis and the a-bomb, there has never been any proof to point out that they were close to an operational atomic bomb. towards the end of the war from what i gathered is that they were alot closer to a dirty bomb. the werewolves that you mentioned is a really interesting subject that most people weren't aware of. here is a great documentary on them...

Germany was the world leader in science during the first third of the 20th century, and it showed in the range of advanced weapons Germany developed. But constant interference from Hitler hobbled the most promising efforts. Hitler had a personal distaste for "defensive" weapons, preferring "offensive" weapons. That meant that the ME-262, which was designed as an effective bomber-buster (using its great speed to sneak up behind Allied bombers and shooting them down with its cannon) had to be used as a "bomber," for which it was totally unsuited. Hitler never approved mass production of the Sturmgeweher until the High Command characterized it as a "machine pistol," which he liked. At one point, he decreed that no new weapons programs be started that could not be in production in less than 9 months.

Germany never even came close to building an atomic bomb--they utterly lacked the means to produce usable quantities of U-235 and Plutonium, and made two crucial technological mistakes in their theories about nuclear fission. When the Allies captured Werner Heisenberg and his colleagues in April 1945, they found a research reactor that had never gone critical.

I am also a big history and war buff. Personal favorites include the Cold War, WW2, and Gulf War 1.

absolutely right! also, while on a visit to troops on the eastern front in 1944 where things were't going well, hitler asked his troops what they needed more of. the troops responded with "more of these new rifles". hitler was perplexed as he hadn't given the ok for the production of any new rifles but he soon saw the effectiveness of the new rifle and gave the go ahead for mass production but by that time it was already too late.

Another problem the Nazis had was pervasive corruption through and through their military/industrial complex. Seems everyone above the rank of Lt. Colonel had enough influence to steer military contracts to friends and family. When the Nazis invaded the USSR in 6/41, they moved with close to 1,000 different kind of motorized vehicles--most of them small-batch productions that came into being by political means. Because of the unreliability of those vehicles, much of their Army moved via mules and horses.