The Wehrmacht were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer (army), the Kriegsmarine (navy) and the Luftwaffe. The designation "Wehrmacht" replaced the previously used term Reichswehr and was the manifestation of the Nazi regime's efforts to rearm Germany to a greater extent than the Treaty of Versailles permitted.
Reichswehr soldiers swearing the Hitler oath in August 1934
Inspection of German conscripts
An Afro-Arab soldier of the Free Arabian Legion
Wehrmachthelferinnen in occupied Paris, 1940
Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. It was the largest and costliest land offensive in human history, with around 10 million combatants taking part, and over 8 million casualties by the end of the operation.
The Marcks Plan was the original German plan of attack for Operation Barbarossa, as depicted in a US Government study (March 1955).
Semyon Timoshenko and Georgy Zhukov in 1940
Army general (later Marshal) Zhukov speaking at a military conference in Moscow, September 1941