Wehrmacht ("armed forces", literally "defence make") was the name of the unified
armed forces of
Germany from 1935 to 1945. The Wehrmacht consisted of the
Heer (
army), the
Kriegsmarine (
navy) and the
Luftwaffe (
air force). The
Waffen-SS, an initially small paramilitary section of
Heinrich Himmler's
Allgemeine SS that grew to nearly a million strong during
World War II, was not officially part of the Wehrmacht, but subject to
OKW,
OKH, as well as Field Command. Thus, the
Waffen-SS was, de facto, a fourth branch of the Wehrmacht.
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