Wehrmacht soldiers operate Pak 38 (97/38?) anti tank gun.
Wehrmacht soldiers freezing their asses off!
Wehrmacht soldiers wear cute skirts!
Wait what?
Blitzkrieg rages across the steppe!
Wehrmacht machine gun team holds the line!
German stabsfeldwebel (roughly equivalent to Master Sergeant) peeks over cover while soldier next to him acts cheeky for the camera. Both are equipped with MP-40 sub-machine guns.
One of the most famous pictures of the Wehrmacht from World War 2, a soldier is throwing a Model 24 hand grenade. Most likely on the Eastern Front.
Even as the Nazis fought a war of extermination, you can still find humanity and mercy in your average Wehrmacht soldier. They were not monsters, just men.
ONE OF THESE IS NOT LIKE THE OTHERS.
CAN YOU GUESS WHICH ONE?
Ubermench? All I see is prisoners!
Legend of Korra: The Earth Empire, Historical Allusions
In the latest season of Avatar: The Legend of Korra, we've seen the rise of Kuvira and the Earth Empire. Now, avatar has always used historical allusions such as the Fire Nation's war to the expansion of the Japanese Empire during the Second World War. In regards to the Earth Empire however we are seeing very specific parallels to real world events and states.
The biggest and most direct allusion is to China after the fall of the last Imperial Dynasty; the Qing. In this period we saw China fall into chaos with bands of thieves and bandits running amok throughout the country. We then saw the rise of the Chinese Republic under Sun Yat-Sen which fought to unite China under the banner of the Chinese Republic. This is seen as the most fitting analogy due to no small part the Earth Kingdom was always compared to China.
Another big allusion is to Germany, with different aspects from both before, during and after the Second World war. You can see in the design of the Earth Empire soldier a distinct recollection of Late First World War Imperial German soldiers or Wehrmact soldiers from the Second World War. While the stahlhelm is often used as a not so subtle hint to 'bad guy', I think it may be a bit deeper here given the other similarities. You see, after the end of the First World War Germany was in a state of chaos with the rise of Communist revolutionaries and reactionary Freikorps militias fighting them all over the country.
This is different from the show as there was a step between chaos and dictator. There was the Weimar Republic which was unpopular and very temporary. We then saw the rise of Hitler, which parallels Kuvira in that he was at first seen as a possible partner or at least peaceful, and then he declared war on Poland...
In final allusion from the latest episode we see the Earth Empire's newest weapon; spirit vine rail artillery. This is most reminiscent of the German Empire's use of rail artillery during the First World War. There have been other cases of railway guns being used, but Imperial Germany remains the most iconic with weapons such as the Paris Gun.
Thats all for now. Subscribe if you're interested in the history factor or the military element, thats what my blog is all about.
The Werhmact: Why they Won
Random Thought: If there is one group of "bad guys" that I have mad respect for, its the Wehrmacht. Why? Well a couple of reasons. First off is their absolutely proficiency at what they do. Namely; absolutely wreck superior forces. If one were to look at the numbers pre-Battle of France you'd never guess that the attacker(who traditionally is at a disadvantage) being able to not just beat a stronger opponent, but absolutely annihilate them. How? Doctrine, leadership, and quality of soldiers(at least in the early war).
On doctrine the Wehrmacht's use of mobile warfare and excellent use of combined arms allowed it to decimate enemies who tried to fight the last war, as the French did, and the British and Soviets did early in the war. If we look east in the early days of the Eastern Campaigns we see encirclement that trapped hundreds of thousands of enemy soldiers such as in the Kiev encirclement where almost the entire army was killed or captured. Thats over 700,000 if you were wondering. How many men did the Wehrmacht have? Less then 600,000. Never in warfare had anything of that magnitude ever been done, before or since.
The Wehrmacht also had outstanding Tactical and Operational leadership with individuals such as Manstein and Guderian heading field units. We also see an officer tradition that encouraged Lieutenants and Captains to take initiative and chances at the front to advance objectives and eliminate the enemy, something that was seen much less in the armies of the allies, especially the Soviets.
Lastly the quality of the soldiers. The main difference we saw was training. Before the war the average Wehrmacht unit was much better trained then their counterparts, both as individuals from basic training and as a unit in exercises.
If anyone's interested in seeing why they lost, just say something.