The Polar Line ( Norwegian : Polarbanen , German : Polarbahn ) is an incomplete and abandoned railway line in Norway , from Fauske to Narvik and, if finished, ultimately would have run 1,215 km (755 mi) to Kirkenes .
99-728: The railway was constructed by the Wehrmacht in occupied Norway during the Second World War as part of Festung Norwegen . At Fauske, the line connected with the Nordland Line , and construction stretched as far north as Drag in Tysfjord Municipality . After the war, the plans were abandoned by Norwegian authorities, although from the 1970s, they were revitalized as part of the proposed Northern Norway Line . Some tunnels and bridges remain and part of
198-857: A joint campaign with the Italian Army , and may be considered a separate theatre . More than 6,000,000 soldiers were wounded during the conflict, while more than 11,000,000 became prisoners. In all, approximately 5,318,000 soldiers from Germany and other nationalities fighting for the German armed forces—including the Waffen-SS , Volkssturm and foreign collaborationist units—are estimated to have been killed in action, died of wounds, died in custody or gone missing in World War II. Included in this number are 215,000 Soviet citizens conscripted by Germany. According to Frank Biess, German casualties took
297-536: A clandestine cadre of air force officers in the early 1920s. These officers saw the role of an air force as winning air superiority, strategic bombing, and close air support. That the Luftwaffe did not develop a strategic bombing force in the 1930s was not due to a lack of interest, but because of economic limitations. The leadership of the Navy led by Grand Admiral Erich Raeder , a close protégé of Alfred von Tirpitz ,
396-634: A common Norwegian–Soviet commission which would investigate issues regarding Russian POWs in Norway. The commission was established in March 1946. Both NSB and Norwegian authorities were concerned that the Soviet goal was to claim compensation for the effective work which the POWs had done in Norway. Although vague estimates of the number of man-hours were calculated, no monetary value was ever determined, and no claim
495-414: A construction time of 33 months. The other main advantage of the line was that it lay so far inland that an Allied attack would be improbable. However, Rabcewicz noted several disadvantages of the line, including steeper gradients, the lack of any fjords or residents between Kobbvatnet and Bjrnfjell and the increased amount of snow in the area. He estimated that the line could be completed by June 1945 given
594-521: A large S-bend around the lake of Ráisjávri . It would then run to 140 km (87 mi) from Nordreisa Municipality to Kautokeino Municipality , from where it would run north-eastwards. It would then have crossed the Finnmarksvidda plateau and reached Karasjok , 280 km (170 mi) from Nordreisa. The line would then have run northwards, running along the Finland–Norway border and
693-425: A net loss for the state of between 46 billion kr and 109 billion kr . 67°25′16″N 15°39′59″E / 67.4211°N 15.6664°E / 67.4211; 15.6664 Wehrmacht The Wehrmacht ( German pronunciation: [ˈveːɐ̯maxt] , lit. ' defence force ' ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of
792-410: A new railway north of Fauske. The commission made no clear recommendation as to whether the line should be built, but stated although it had a cost of NOK 4.4 billion and would need operating subsidies, it would provide a positive economic impact on the region, particularly if additional industrial and commercial investments were made along the route. Parliament did not make a decision when it debated
891-552: A number of German construction companies. Construction on the Polar Line started in January 1943. The first part of construction was for auxiliary facilities, such as barracks, quays and power supply. The workforce largely provided by Russian and Serbian prisoners of war (POW). Despite the enormous amount of labour construction of the railway was notoriously inefficient and the part of the railway which were completed further south
990-495: A point beyond Straumen, in addition to a section of the right-of-way past Torkilseng. The road also used tunnels built at Asp, Eva, Espenes, Kobbvatnet and north of Tømmerneset. In 2019, the Norwegian Railway Directorate signed an agreement with Asplan Viak to study the development of a line from Fauske via Narvik to Tromsø. The Fauske – Tromsø Line would be around 375 kilometres (233 mi) long, while
1089-671: A railway north of Fauske was presented by the Norwegian State Railways (NSB) in 1901, which proposed the line be built to Røsvik with a branch to Bodø . The first part of the Nordland Line, the Hell–Sunnan Line , was completed in 1905. In the Railway Plan of 1923 , a 306 km-long (190 mi) line between Fauske and Narvik was included and estimated to cost 160 million Norwegian krone (NOK). At
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#17327834590141188-408: A single Joint Chief of Staff, Hitler refused. Even after the defeat at Stalingrad, Hitler refused, stating that Göring as Reichsmarschall and Hitler's deputy, would not submit to someone else or see himself as an equal to other service commanders. However, a more likely reason was Hitler feared it would break his image of having the "Midas touch" concerning military strategy. With the creation of
1287-709: A sudden jump with the defeat of the Sixth Army at Stalingrad in January 1943, when 180,310 soldiers were killed in one month. Among the 5.3 million Wehrmacht casualties during the Second World War, more than 80 per cent died during the last two years of the war. Approximately three-quarters of these losses occurred on the Eastern front (2.7 million) and during the final stages of the war between January and May 1945 (1.2 million). Jeffrey Herf wrote that: Whereas German deaths between 1941 and 1943 on
1386-660: A time frame of 10 years for remilitarization, but soon shortened it to four years. With the remilitarization of the Rhineland and the Anschluss , the German Reich's territory increased significantly, providing a larger population pool for conscription. Recruitment for the Wehrmacht was accomplished through voluntary enlistment and conscription, with 1.3 million being drafted and 2.4 million volunteering in
1485-578: A work-force of 83,700 men. Planning of the route from Narvik to Kirkenes was led by Professor Flörke in Narvik. The first report was published on 4 July 1942, regarding the route from Kvesmenes to Skibotn . The report considered three proposals, that of NSB from the 1920s, that of the Reichskommissariat's railway division and that of the Flörke's group. NSB had recommended a route which followed
1584-628: Is would follow on the east shore of. There it would have passed through the village of Skibotn and run around the Kåfjorden and through Kåfjordbotn . It would then have run along Rotsundet into Nordreisa Municipality , which would have been located 335 km (208 mi) from Bjørnfjell. The line would have continued down the Reisadalen valley, following the Reisaelva river for about 85 km (53 mi), at which point it would make
1683-734: The Heer (army), the Kriegsmarine (navy) and the Luftwaffe (air force). The designation " Wehrmacht " replaced the previously used term Reichswehr ( Reich Defence ) and was the manifestation of the Nazi regime's efforts to rearm Germany to a greater extent than the Treaty of Versailles permitted. After the Nazi rise to power in 1933, one of Adolf Hitler 's most overt and bellicose moves
1782-703: The Polnische Wehrmacht ('Polish Wehrmacht', 'Polish Defense Force') in German. In January 1919, after World War I ended with the signing of the armistice of 11 November 1918 , the armed forces were dubbed Friedensheer (peace army). In March 1919, the national assembly passed a law founding a 420,000-strong preliminary army, the Vorläufige Reichswehr . The terms of the Treaty of Versailles were announced in May, and in June, Germany signed
1881-525: The Reichswehr , was established on 23 March 1921. General conscription was abolished under another mandate of the Versailles treaty. The Reichswehr was limited to 115,000 men, and thus the armed forces, under the leadership of Hans von Seeckt , retained only the most capable officers. The American historians Alan Millet and Williamson Murray wrote "In reducing the officers corps, Seeckt chose
1980-693: The Battle of Moscow , the Siege of Leningrad , Stalingrad , Tunis in North Africa , and the Battle of Kursk . The German Army was managed through mission-based tactics (rather than order-based tactics) which was intended to give commanders greater freedom to act on events and exploit opportunities. In public opinion, the German Army was, and sometimes still is, seen as a high-tech army. However, such modern equipment, while featured much in propaganda,
2079-515: The Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber. The planes cooperated closely with the ground forces. Overwhelming numbers of fighters assured air-supremacy, and the bombers would attack command- and supply-lines, depots, and other support targets close to the front. The Luftwaffe would also be used to transport paratroopers, as first used during Operation Weserübung . Due to the Army's sway with Hitler,
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#17327834590142178-479: The Luftwaffe was often subordinated to the Army, resulting in it being used as a tactical support role and losing its strategic capabilities. The Western Allies' strategic bombing campaign against German industrial targets (particularly the round-the-clock Combined Bomber Offensive ) and Germany's Defence of the Reich deliberately forced the Luftwaffe into a war of attrition. With German fighter force destroyed,
2277-572: The Northern Norway Line , a proposal to extend the Nordland Line from Fauske via Narvik to Harstad and Tromsø . The Ministry of Transport and Communications recommended that the line not be built. However, during the 1970s, income from petroleum production started a public debate as to whether the income should be used on domestic infrastructure investments. In 1977, the Ribu Commission was established to look into building
2376-762: The OKH became the de facto Eastern Theatre higher-echelon command-organization for the Wehrmacht , excluding Waffen-SS except for operational and tactical combat purposes. The OKW conducted operations in the Western Theatre. The operations by the Kriegsmarine in the North and Mid-Atlantic can also be considered as separate theatres, considering the size of the area of operations and their remoteness from other theatres. The Wehrmacht fought on other fronts, sometimes three simultaneously; redeploying troops from
2475-471: The SS and Wehrmacht , many SS officers were former army officers, which ensured continuity and understanding between the two. Throughout the war, army and SS soldiers worked together in various combat situations, creating bonds between the two groups. Guderian noted that every day the war continued the Army and the SS became closer together. Towards the end of the war, army units would even be placed under
2574-599: The SS was to be "procured from the Wehrmacht upon payment", however "in peacetime, no organizational connection with the Wehrmacht exists." The army was however allowed to check the budget of the SS and inspect the combat readiness of the SS troops. In the event of mobilization, the Waffen-SS field units could be placed under the operational control of the OKW or the OKH. All decisions regarding this would be at Hitler's personal discretion. Though there existed conflict between
2673-445: The SS were stepped up as well. Following the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943, fitness and physical health standards for Wehrmacht recruits were drastically lowered, with the regime going so far as to create "special diet" battalions for men with severe stomach ailments. Rear-echelon personnel were more often sent to front-line duty wherever possible, especially during the final two years of the war where, inspired by constant propaganda,
2772-669: The Soviet Union , including the Caucasian Muslim Legion , Turkestan Legion , Crimean Tatars, ethnic Ukrainians and Russians, Cossacks , and others who wished to fight against the Soviet regime or who were otherwise induced to join. Between 15,000 and 20,000 anti-communist White émigrés who had left Russia after the Russian Revolution joined the ranks of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS , with 1,500 acting as interpreters and more than 10,000 serving in
2871-491: The Spanish Civil War . The effectiveness of officer training and recruitment by the Wehrmacht has been identified as a major factor in its early victories as well as its ability to keep the war going as long as it did even as the war turned against Germany. As the Second World War intensified, Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe personnel were increasingly transferred to the army, and "voluntary" enlistments in
2970-500: The Tana River until reaching Skiippagurra , 450 km (280 mi) from Nordreisa. From there, it would have run along the south shore of Varangerfjorden and around Kjøfjorden until reaching Kirkenes . The Nordland Line, which was originally proposed to run from Trondheim to Helgeland , was first launched by Ole Tobias Olsen in 1872. By 1892, surveying on parts of the route had been started. The first specific plans for
3069-516: The Trengsel Bridge was planned. After passing Torkildseng , 28 km (17 mi) from Fauske, the line was to run through two short tunnels. Stations were planned Løktehaugen and Kvarv , 31 and 39 km (19 and 24 mi) from Fauske, respectively. Between the two stations 18 tunnels were planned. A power station was built at Kvarv. The line was planned to run through the 2,710 m-long (8,890 ft) Espenes Tunnel before reaching
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3168-734: The Wehrmacht . By the time the war ended in Europe in May 1945, German forces (consisting of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine , the Luftwaffe , the Waffen-SS , the Volkssturm , and foreign collaborator units ) had lost approximately 11,300,000 men, about 5,318,000 of whom were missing, killed or died in captivity. Only a few of the Wehrmacht ' s upper leadership went on trial for war crimes, despite evidence suggesting that more were involved in illegal actions. According to Ian Kershaw , most of
3267-532: The Wehrmacht's capacity to the breaking point, culminating in its first major defeat in the Battle of Moscow (1941); by late 1942, Germany was losing the initiative in all theatres. The German operational art proved no match to that of the Allied coalition , making the Wehrmacht's weaknesses in strategy, doctrine, and logistics apparent. Closely cooperating with the SS and their Einsatzgruppen death squads,
3366-524: The " battle of annihilation ", the Wehrmacht managed many lightning quick victories in the first year of World War II, prompting foreign journalists to create a new word for what they witnessed: Blitzkrieg . Germany's immediate military success on the field at the start of the Second World War coincides the favorable beginning they achieved during the First World War, a fact which some attribute to their superior officer corps. The Heer entered
3465-695: The "German Wehrmacht ", consisting of the Seemacht (sea force) and the Landmacht (land force). In 1919, the term Wehrmacht also appears in Article 47 of the Weimar Constitution , establishing that: "The Reich's President holds supreme command of all armed forces [i.e. the Wehrmacht ] of the Reich". From 1919, Germany's national defense force was known as the Reichswehr , a name that
3564-536: The 5,070 m-long (16,630 ft) Tennvatn Tunnel, the 2,720 m-long (8,920 ft) Tennvatn Tunnel and the Falkelva Tunnel. Stations would have been built at Kråkmo and Sandnes, 91 and 100 km (57 and 62 mi) from Fauske, respectively. The line would then run through the 2,000 m-long (6,600 ft) Hellarvik Tunnel just before reaching at station at Tømmernes, 110 km (68 mi) from Fauske. At 123 km (76 mi) from Fauske lay
3663-597: The Andselva river, just north of Bardufoss Airport . The area is located along the European route E6 highway about 2 km (1.2 mi) north of the village of Heggelia and 3.5 km (2.2 mi) south of the village of Andslimoen . Andselv makes up the central part of the town of Bardufoss . The 1.18-square-kilometre (290-acre) area has a population (2023) of 1,233 and a population density of 1,045 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,710/sq mi). In 2021,
3762-951: The Armed Forces, retaining the position until his suicide on 30 April 1945. The title of Commander-in-Chief was given to the Minister of the Reichswehr Werner von Blomberg , who was simultaneously renamed the Reich Minister of War. Following the Blomberg-Fritsch Affair , Blomberg resigned and Hitler abolished the Ministry of War. As a replacement for the ministry, the Wehrmacht High Command Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW), under Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel ,
3861-484: The Bjerkvik – Harstad line would be just over 80 kilometres (50 mi) long. The analyses found the full scheme development would cost 113 billion kr , while the line to Harstad would cost around 20 billion kr . The analysis showed that it would cost more than 100 billion kr (US$ 11.6 billion). However, the Norwegian Railway Directorate says the line will not be economically viable, as calculations show
3960-689: The British. Karl Doenitz , the U-Boat Chief, began unrestricted submarine warfare which cost the Allies 22,898 men and 1,315 ships. The U-boat war remained costly for the Allies until early spring of 1943 when the Allies began to use countermeasures against U-Boats such as the use of Hunter-Killer groups, airborne radar, torpedoes and mines like the FIDO . The submarine war cost the Kriegsmarine 757 U-boats, with more than 30,000 U-boat crewmen killed. In
4059-502: The Fjord Line. The alternatives were considered by Vienna -based Ladislaus von Rabcewicz . He considered the alternatives based on that the railway would be extended to Kirkenes, that the railway should be built as quickly as possible, and considering the line's strategic location. Of military-strategic concerns, he discarded the proposals which involved a ferry. The Fjord Line was considered advantageous gradients and close access to
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4158-520: The German armed forces committed numerous war crimes (despite later denials and promotion of the myth of the clean Wehrmacht ). The majority of the war crimes took place in the Soviet Union, Poland, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Italy, as part of the war of annihilation against the Soviet Union, the Holocaust and Nazi security warfare . During World War II about 18 million men served in
4257-423: The German armed forces prior to 1941. With the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the government's positions changed. German propagandists wanted to present the war not as a purely German concern, but as a multi-national crusade against the so-called Jewish Bolshevism . Hence, the Wehrmacht and the SS began to seek out recruits from occupied and neutral countries across Europe: the Germanic populations of
4356-418: The German army's early success. In the strategies of the Blitzkrieg , the Wehrmacht combined the mobility of light tanks with airborne assault to quickly progress through weak enemy lines, enabling the German army to quickly take over Poland and France. These tanks were used to break through enemy lines, isolating regiments from the main force so that the infantry behind the tanks could quickly kill or capture
4455-422: The Jews serving in the Reichswehr given an automatic and immediate dishonorable discharge . Again, on his own initiative Blomberg had the armed forces adopt Nazi symbols into their uniforms in May 1934. In August of the same year, on Blomberg's initiative and that of the Ministeramt chief General Walther von Reichenau , the entire military took the Hitler oath , an oath of personal loyalty to Hitler. Hitler
4554-441: The Netherlands and Norway were recruited largely into the SS , while "non-Germanic" people were recruited into the Wehrmacht . The "voluntary" nature of such recruitment was often dubious, especially in the later years of the war when even Poles living in the Polish Corridor were declared "ethnic Germans" and drafted. After Germany's defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad , the Wehrmacht also made substantial use of personnel from
4653-406: The Nordland Line to be completed to Rognan on 1 August 1943 and later that same year to Fauske. Construction of the section north of Fauske was, unlike the section southwards, without any Norwegian participation, including that of NSB. Construction was organized by Einsatzgruppe Wiking which was based in Mo i Rana and had clerks of works in Fauske and Tømmerneset. The work was performed through
4752-920: The OKW, Hitler solidified his control over the Wehrmacht . Showing restraint at the beginning of the war, Hitler also became increasingly involved in military operations at every scale. Additionally, there was a clear lack of cohesion between the three High Commands and the OKW, as senior generals were unaware of the needs, capabilities and limitations of the other branches. With Hitler serving as Supreme Commander, branch commands were often forced to fight for influence with Hitler. However, influence with Hitler not only came from rank and merit but also who Hitler perceived as loyal, leading to inter-service rivalry, rather than cohesion between his military advisers. The German Army furthered concepts pioneered during World War I , combining ground ( Heer ) and air force ( Luftwaffe ) assets into combined arms teams. Coupled with traditional war fighting methods such as encirclements and
4851-527: The Trollpollhaugen Tunnel after which the station reached Drag, 130 km (81 mi) from Fauske. From Bjørnfjell , the line would have hugged the Norway–Sweden border into the county of Troms , before running down the Salangsdalen valley. It would pass through the villages of Setermoen and Andselv before running west of the lake of Takvatnet . It would then have reached Balsfjorden , which it would have hugged until reaching Nordkjosbotn . It would cross across Balsfjordeidet to Storfjorden , which
4950-436: The Western Allies had air supremacy over the battlefield, denying support to German forces on the ground and using its own fighter-bombers to attack and disrupt. Following the losses in Operation Bodenplatte in 1945, the Luftwaffe was no longer an effective force. The Treaty of Versailles disallowed submarines, while limiting the size of the Reichsmarine to six battleships, six cruisers, and twelve destroyers. Following
5049-446: The army that existed in World War I. In the 1920s, Seeckt and his officers developed new doctrines that emphasized speed, aggression, combined arms and initiative on the part of lower officers to take advantage of momentary opportunities. Though Seeckt retired in 1926, his influence on the army was still apparent when it went to war in 1939. Germany was forbidden to have an air force by the Versailles treaty; nonetheless, Seeckt created
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#17327834590145148-410: The beginning, there was friction between the SS and the army, as the army feared the SS would attempt to become a legitimate part of the armed forces of Nazi Germany, partly due to the fighting between the limited armaments, and the perceived fanaticism towards Nazism. However, on 17 August 1938, Hitler codified the role of the SS and the army in order to end the feud between the two. The arming of
5247-430: The coast of Norway, which had been occupied since 1940, convoys from North America to the Soviet port of Murmansk could be intercepted though the Tirpitz spent most of her career as fleet in being . After the appointment of Karl Dönitz as Grand Admiral of the Kriegsmarine (in the aftermath of the Battle of the Barents Sea ), Germany stopped constructing battleships and cruisers in favor of U-boats. Though by 1941,
5346-443: The coastline, but Flörke stated that for military-strategic reasons this route had to be discarded. He further wanted to avoid long tunnels to decrease construction time. He also remarked that NSB's maps did not match the terrain, forcing his office to take aerial photography of the route from Nordreisa to Skippagurra between May and August 1942, while Narvik to Nordreisa was photographed between June and August. Plans consisting of
5445-403: The command of the SS , in Italy and the Netherlands. The relationship between the Wehrmacht and the SS improved; however, the Waffen-SS was never considered "the fourth branch of the Wehrmacht ." The Wehrmacht directed combat operations during World War II (from 1 September 1939 – 8 May 1945) as the German Reich 's armed forces umbrella command-organization. After 1941
5544-409: The commission's report in 1983. Instead, a new report was issued in 1992. This time it was planned as a high-speed railway , but in 1994, the project was rejected by Parliament. When the E6 highway was built northwards from Fauske during the 1960s, parts of the right-of-way built for the Polar Line was used for the road. Specifically, the highway follows the railway route from Fauske past Vallvatnet to
5643-418: The creation of the Wehrmacht , the navy was renamed the Kriegsmarine . With the signing of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement , Germany was allowed to increase its navy's size to be 35:100 tonnage of the Royal Navy, and allowed for the construction of U-boats. This was partly done to appease Germany, and because Britain believed the Kriegsmarine would not be able to reach the 35% limit until 1942. The navy
5742-402: The early part of the Second World War , the Wehrmacht employed combined arms tactics (close-cover air-support, tanks and infantry) to devastating effect in what became known as Blitzkrieg (lightning war). Its campaigns in France (1940) , the Soviet Union (1941) and North Africa (1941/42) are regarded by historians as acts of boldness. At the same time, the extent of advances strained
5841-452: The early stage of Operation Barbarossa in the Soviet Union (June 1941). After Hitler declared war on the United States in December 1941, the Axis powers found themselves engaged in campaigns against several major industrial powers while Germany was still in transition to a war economy. German units were then overextended, undersupplied, outmaneuvered, outnumbered and defeated by its enemies in decisive battles during 1941, 1942, and 1943 at
5940-436: The enemy troops. Originally outlawed by the Treaty of Versailles, the Luftwaffe was officially established in 1935, under the leadership of Hermann Göring . First gaining experience in the Spanish Civil War , it was a key element in the early Blitzkrieg campaigns (Poland, France 1940, USSR 1941). The Luftwaffe concentrated production on fighters and (small) tactical bombers, like the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter and
6039-414: The equivalent of NOK 15 million in labour and other costs in the line. At the time of the German capitulation on 8 May 1945 there were an estimated 8,300 POWs living in camps on the segment between Fauske and Drag. About ten percent of those who had worked on the line had died. On 4 December 1945, the Embassy of the Soviet Union in Oslo and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs started work on
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#17327834590146138-433: The establishment of 24 breaking-in points. Rabcewicz recommended a mountain line, but chose to build it to intersect with the Ofoten Line at Bjørnfjell , and use that line as a branch to reach Narvik, rather than build the line directly to the town. The Mountain Line could be built faster because of shorter tunnels, the longest being 5.5 km (3.4 mi), which with an estimated 4 m (13 ft) per day would give
6237-495: The fjords would allow for more work days per year. However, it had four tunnels longer than 5 km (3.1 mi), five tunnels between 4 and 5 km (2.5 and 3.1 mi), three tunnels between 3 and 4 km (1.9 and 2.5 mi), five tunnels between 2 and 3 km (1.2 and 1.9 mi) and twelve tunnels shorter than 2 km (1.2 mi). Rabcewicz stated that it would be necessary with immediate start of construction for all tunnels longer than 2.8 km (1.7 mi), with
6336-549: The guard force of the Russian Protective Corps . In the beginning, women in Nazi Germany were not involved in the Wehrmacht , as Hitler ideologically opposed conscription for women, stating that Germany would " not form any section of women grenade throwers or any corps of women elite snipers. " However, with many men going to the front, women were placed in auxiliary positions within the Wehrmacht , called Wehrmachtshelferinnen ( lit. ' Female Wehrmacht Helper ' ), participating in tasks as: They were placed under
6435-425: The intensifying theatre in the East to the West after the Normandy landings caused tensions between the General Staffs of both the OKW and the OKH – as Germany lacked sufficient materiel and manpower for a two-front war of such magnitude. Major campaigns and battles in Eastern and Central Europe included: For a time, the Axis Mediterranean Theatre and the North African Campaign were conducted as
6534-574: The lake of Vallvatnet . There, a passing loop station was planned. The line continued to Straumen , where a station was planned 1 km (0.6 mi) north of the village. A power-station was built at Røyrvatnet . The line continued past the lake of Hellandsjøen . On the 4.9 km-long (3.0 mi) section from Hellandsjøen to Buvik, five tunnels were planned as well as a station at Hellbukta . At Megården , 24 km (15 mi) from Fauske, 554 m (1,818 ft) of Megården Tunnel were built. At Trengsel , 27 km (17 mi) from Fauske,
6633-412: The name " Wehrmacht "; the Reichswehr was officially renamed the Wehrmacht on 21 May 1935. Hitler's proclamation of the Wehrmacht ' s existence included a total of no less than 36 divisions in its original projection, contravening the Treaty of Versailles in grandiose fashion. In December 1935, General Ludwig Beck added 48 tank battalions to the planned rearmament program. Hitler originally set
6732-411: The navy had already lost a number of its large surface ships, which could not be replenished during the war. The Kriegsmarine ' s most significant contribution to the German war effort was the deployment of its nearly 1,000 U-boats to strike at Allied convoys. The German naval strategy was to attack the convoys in an attempt to prevent the United States from interfering in Europe and to starve out
6831-403: The new leadership from the best men of the general staff with ruthless disregard for other constituencies, such as war heroes and the nobility." Seeckt's determination that the Reichswehr be an elite cadre force that would serve as the nucleus of an expanded military when the chance for restoring conscription came essentially led to the creation of a new army, based upon, but very different from,
6930-453: The next decade until the Germans finally left in September 1933. However, the arms buildup was done in secrecy, until Hitler came to power and it received broad political support. After the death of President Paul von Hindenburg on 2 August 1934, Adolf Hitler assumed the office of President of Germany , and thus became commander in chief. In February 1934, the Defence Minister Werner von Blomberg , acting on his own initiative, had all of
7029-449: The next station at Kalvik , 47 km (29 mi) from Fauske. The next station was to be at Sommerset , 52 km (32 mi) from Fauske, followed by a station at Lappstorvik and then reached Sørfjord. The next two stations were at Kobbvatnet and Gjerdalen , after which the line would have run through the Basis Tunnel and the Sildhopfjell Tunnel, the latter 77 km (48 mi) from Fauske. It would have then continued through
7128-560: The oldest and youngest were being recruited and driven by instilled fear and fanaticism to serve on the fronts and, often, to fight to the death, whether judged to be cannon fodder or elite troops. Prior to World War II, the Wehrmacht strove to remain a purely ethnic German force; as such, minorities within and outside of Germany, such as the Czechs in annexed Czechoslovakia , were exempted from military service after Hitler's takeover in 1938. Foreign volunteers were generally not accepted in
7227-674: The opening year of the war. No aircraft carrier was operational, as German leadership lost interest in the Graf Zeppelin which had been launched in 1938. Following the loss of the German battleship Bismarck in 1941, with Allied air-superiority threatening the remaining battle-cruisers in French Atlantic harbors, the ships were ordered to make the Channel Dash back to German ports. Operating from fjords along
7326-459: The other half performed obligatory services connected to the war effort ( German : Kriegshilfsdienst ). Legally, the commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht was Adolf Hitler in his capacity as Germany's head of state, a position he gained after the death of President Paul von Hindenburg in August 1934. With the creation of the Wehrmacht in 1935, Hitler elevated himself to Supreme Commander of
7425-489: The peace-time compulsory purchase law, the state was forced to pay due compensation for any land they needed to build public infrastructure. However, the Germans showed no interest in following these laws, took what property they needed, often without even informing the locals. In Lappstorvika , the road became so dilapidated that the locals chose to move away until after the war. Thirty thousand POWs were brought to work on
7524-586: The period 1935–1939. The total number of soldiers who served in the Wehrmacht during its existence from 1935 to 1945 is believed to have approached 18.2 million. The German military leadership originally aimed at a homogeneous military, possessing traditional Prussian military values. However, with Hitler's constant wishes to increase the Wehrmacht ' s size, the Army was forced to accept citizens of lower class and education, decreasing internal cohesion and appointing officers who lacked real-war experience from previous conflicts, especially World War I and
7623-569: The plans to Kirkenes on 20 January 1942. NSB had three different proposals for the route between Fauske and Narvik. The first—the Ferry Line—was a railway from Fauske to Korsnes on Tysfjorden and onwards to Narvik by train ferry . It would also include a ferry terminal at Tjeldsundet , where there would be a connection northwards towards Kirkenes. The second alternative—the Fjord Line—would run via Tømmerneset , Innhavet and Musken , around
7722-554: The railway through Norland. The treatment of the POWs varied depending on their nationality, their status in regard to the Geneva Convention and their alignment. Russians who converted to support Andrey Vlasov were treated better and often sent to own camps. Similarly, only two of over 1,000 Polish POWs in Nordland died, and were treated better because Polish people were generally regarded as pro-Axis. Wehrmacht invested
7821-485: The route has been used to build European Road E6 . Organizationally, the construction of the Polar Line started at Finneid . It ran through the Bratthaugen Tunnel before reaching Fauske , where Fauske Station was planned. At the time of German capitulation on 8 May 1945, most of the right-of-way through Fauske was completed. The line continued northwards, crossed Svartosen on a bridge and continued to
7920-649: The same authority as ( Hiwis ), auxiliary personnel of the army ( German : Behelfspersonal ) and they were assigned to duties within the Reich, and to a lesser extent, in the occupied territories, for example in the general government of occupied Poland , in France , and later in Yugoslavia , in Greece and in Romania . By 1945, 500,000 women were serving as Wehrmachtshelferinnen , half of whom were volunteers, while
8019-676: The same time, the Standing Committee on Railways stated that the Nordland Line would not meet its function until it had crossed Finnmark . A report on the section from Narvik to Kvesmenes was published in March 1923, followed by the section from Kvesmenes to Alteidet in June 1926, Alteidet to Porsangerfjorden in December 1926, from Porsangerfjorden to Tana in June 1927, from Tana to Vadsø in January 1928 and from Nyborg to Kirkenes in April 1928. The distance from Fauske to Vadsø
8118-535: The section from Setermoen to Nordreisa (325 km (202 mi) from Bjørnfjell) were sent to Einsatzgruppe Wiking in Oslo on 8 July 1942. The plans from Bjørnfjell to Setermoen were sent on 23 July. As part of Operation Barbarossa —the German invasion of the Soviet Union—plans were immediately dispatched to complete a railway to Kirkenes. The responsibility was given to Organisation Todt . Plans called for
8217-587: The southern end of Tysfjorden and then followed the shoreline to Ballangen to Narvik. The third—the Mountain Line—would follow an inland route from Kobbvatnet up Gerdalen and then through a long tunnel to Tysfjorden. The Fjord Line was 40 km (25 mi) longer than the Mountain Line, but considerably cheaper to build. A fourth proposal, launched by the Wehrmacht , was to build a ferry crossing of Tysfjorden, but otherwise build closely to that of
8316-557: The terms. Germany helped the Soviet Union with industrialization and Soviet officers were to be trained in Germany. German tank and air-force specialists could exercise in the Soviet Union and German chemical weapons research and manufacture would be carried out there along with other projects. In 1924 a fighter-pilot school was established at Lipetsk , where several hundred German air force personnel received instruction in operational maintenance, navigation, and aerial combat training over
8415-474: The three million Wehrmacht soldiers who invaded the USSR participated in war crimes. The German term "Wehrmacht " stems from the compound word of German : wehren , "to defend" and Macht , "power, force". It has been used to describe any nation's armed forces; for example, Britische Wehrmacht meaning "British Armed Forces". The Frankfurt Constitution of 1849 designated all German military forces as
8514-412: The treaty that, among other terms, imposed severe constraints on the size of Germany's armed forces. The army was limited to one hundred thousand men with an additional fifteen thousand in the navy. The fleet was to consist of at most six battleships , six cruisers , and twelve destroyers . Submarines , tanks and heavy artillery were forbidden and the air-force was dissolved. A new post-war military,
8613-480: The war with a minority of its formations motorized ; infantry remained approximately 90% foot-borne throughout the war, and artillery was primarily horse-drawn . The motorized formations received much attention in the world press in the opening years of the war, and were cited as the reason for the success of the invasions of Poland (September 1939), Denmark and Norway (April 1940), Belgium, France, and Netherlands (May 1940), Yugoslavia and Greece (April 1941) and
8712-601: The western front had not exceeded three per cent of the total from all fronts, in 1944 the figure jumped to about 14 per cent. Yet even in the months following D-day, about 68.5 per cent of all German battlefield deaths occurred on the eastern front, as a Soviet blitzkrieg in response devastated the retreating Wehrmacht. Andselv Andselv is a neighborhood within the town of Bardufoss in Målselv Municipality in Troms county, Norway . The village lies along
8811-518: Was 1,144 km (711 mi) and from Fauske to Kirkenes 1,215 km (755 mi). Construction was estimated to cost 375 million kr . NSB completed the Nordland Line to Mosjøen in 1940. Following the German occupation of Norway, construction of the line was accelerated. On 11 December 1940, the Reichskommissariat Norwegen requested that NSB submit their plans. The plans north to Narvik were sent 21 March 1941 and
8910-650: Was also prioritized last in the German rearmament scheme, making it the smallest of the branches. In the Battle of the Atlantic , the initially successful German U-boat fleet arm was eventually defeated due to Allied technological innovations like sonar , radar , and the breaking of the Enigma code. Large surface vessels were few in number due to construction limitations by international treaties prior to 1935. The "pocket battleships" Admiral Graf Spee and Admiral Scheer were important as commerce raiders only in
9009-422: Was dedicated to the idea of reviving Tirpitz's High Seas Fleet. Officers who believed in submarine warfare led by Admiral Karl Dönitz were in a minority before 1939. By 1922, Germany had begun covertly circumventing the conditions of the Versailles treaty. A secret collaboration with the Soviet Union began after the Treaty of Rapallo . Major-General Otto Hasse traveled to Moscow in 1923 to further negotiate
9108-484: Was dropped in favor of Wehrmacht on 21 May 1935. While the term Wehrmacht has been associated, both in the German and English languages, with the German armed forces of 1935–45 since the Second World War, before 1945 the term was used in the German language in a more general sense for a national defense force. For instance, the German-aligned formations of Poles raised during the First World War were known as
9207-465: Was most surprised at the offer; the popular view that Hitler imposed the oath on the military is false. The oath read: "I swear by God this sacred oath that to the Leader of the German empire and people, Adolf Hitler, supreme commander of the armed forces, I shall render unconditional obedience and that as a brave soldier I shall at all times be prepared to give my life for this oath". By 1935, Germany
9306-412: Was of such bad quality that most of the permanent way had to be replaced. North of Tysfjorden, the only work was a tote road between Narvik and Bjørnfjell. The area the line was being built was without road connection, and the steep terrain made it difficult to place the railway elsewhere than close by the fjords. As this was also the place where people lived, it caused a conflict of interest. According to
9405-539: Was often only available in relatively small numbers. Only 40% to 60% of all units in the Eastern Front were motorized, baggage trains often relied on horse-drawn trailers due to poor roads and weather conditions in the Soviet Union, and for the same reasons many soldiers marched on foot or used bicycles as bicycle infantry . As the fortunes of war turned against them, the Germans were in constant retreat from 1943 and onward. The Panzer divisions were vital to
9504-621: Was openly flouting the military restrictions set forth in the Versailles Treaty: German rearmament was announced on 16 March with the "Edict for the Buildup of the Wehrmacht " ( German : Gesetz für den Aufbau der Wehrmacht ) and the reintroduction of conscription. While the size of the standing army was to remain at about the 100,000-man mark decreed by the treaty, a new group of conscripts equal to this size would receive training each year. The conscription law introduced
9603-431: Was put in its place. Placed under the OKW were the three branch High Commands: Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH), Oberkommando der Marine (OKM), and Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (OKL). The OKW was intended to serve as a joint command and coordinate all military activities, with Hitler at the top. Though many senior officers, such as von Manstein , had advocated for a real tri-service Joint Command, or appointment of
9702-489: Was submitted to the Norwegian authorities from the Soviet Union. The Nordland Line was completed to Bodø in 1962. In the 1960s, Parliament voted to pause any further plans to build a railway northwards for ten years. Instead, the road network was to be expanded. Starting in the 1970s, a series of regional airports were built, largely undermining the need for the railway for passenger transport. In 1968, NSB again considered
9801-407: Was to establish the Wehrmacht , a modern offensively-capable armed force, fulfilling the Nazi regime's long-term goals of regaining lost territory as well as gaining new territory and dominating its neighbours. This required the reinstatement of conscription and massive investment and defence spending on the arms industry . The Wehrmacht formed the heart of Germany's politico-military power. In
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