The Treaty of Versailles stipulates that Germany is not allowed to have an air force.
According to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany cannot have an air force, but why did Germany have the first standing air force in Europe after the beginning of World War II, far more powerful than other countries? This is rather puzzling.
after World War I, Germany became a defeated country and was finally curbed by Britain, France, and other allies. Its representative work is the Treaty of Versailles. according to this contract, Germany not only has to pay huge war reparations, but also has to establish a demilitarized zone in the Rhine region, that is to say, Germany is unilaterally unguarded against France. in addition, all German armaments are limited, the army is only 300000 at most, the air force is not allowed, and the navy is also greatly restricted. In the eyes of ordinary people, Germany's situation is simply inexplicable.
France stares at Germany stubbornly. As long as you make a move, you can kill a million troops directly. Germany has only one militia-level army that cannot fight at all, and it has been badly hit by the world economic crisis. The Weimar Republic inflated tens of millions of times, and the blood of the Germans was about to be sucked dry. Not to mention the operations of regaining strength and rearming. but these questions are not a problem for Hitler at all. the greatest feature of Hitler is that in his eyes, treaties are all pieces of paper and promises are all words. just admit it if you want to admit it. You don't want to admit that it's farting. And at that time, there was only peace in the hearts of the French. Although the standing army was aimed at Berlin at ordinary times, the French had lingering fears about the first World War, and they knew more clearly that reparations could only defeat feudal countries like the Qing Dynasty, which could not be useful for modern countries (after all, the reparations of the Franco-Prussian War failed to defeat France at that time). France turned a blind eye to Germany's actions and focused on reviving the economy and repairing the Maginot Line.
however, superficial articles have to be done. Hitler first consulted the conscription plan. There were roughly three opinions at that time.
the first way is to train a military corps. For example, the famous General Manstein holds this view. hopes to train 200000 officers and then let them command a large national defense militia. This advantage is that in peacetime, the standing army is very few (save money), elite troops (professional), and can be rapidly expanded in wartime, and all the people are soldiers.
Hitler says no. the reason is also very simple. Under this method, most defense militias obviously cannot satisfy Hitler's idea of conquering the world. At that time, Rom, the head of the stormtrooper, also put forward a plan for Hitler, that is, all the "militia" of the strong would join the stormtrooper and abolish the Wehrmacht.
then he was killed by Hitler.
so Hitler adopted the third plan-- universal conscription, secret military expansion.
at the same time, planes produced in factories are often labeled as "trainer planes".
however, Luftwaffe medium-range bombers were manufactured at the first level in the world at that time. especially when aircraft such as the Stuka bomber was produced, the Luftwaffe unquestionably walked in the forefront of the world. Germany was the only country in the world at that time to develop its air force as an independent service. After all, Goering had a special relationship with Hitler, and it had to be said that he was good at developing the air force, and soon pulled out a large number of orders for aircraft in various factories.
but at that time, the raw materials of German factories were tight. Although there were a lot of orders, they did not have that capacity. But at this time, the Americans were "sending charcoal in the snow". At that time, the United States sent a large number of raw materials to the German aviation industry, helping the Germans to make up part of their production capacity. It can be said that the Luftwaffe could drop so many bombs at the beginning of World War II, and the Americans were responsible. After the problem of building the plane has been fully solved, the pilots are left.
recruits recruited by the Luftwaffe are now trained in the Air Force's training regiment and Navy's aviation barracks. In addition to the 21 aviation schools that claim to be clubs, these schools also train large numbers of air force talents. their training was strictly planned, which was the leading level in the world at that time.
by June 1939, the Luftwaffe had 8000 senior pilots capable of flying missions. By the time the war began, 25% of Luftwaffe pilots could fly. Statistics in August 1939 showed that the Luftwaffe had 373000 troops, including 208000 aviation and paratroopers and 15000 air force officers. the aviation force consists of 21 flight wings, 302 flight units, and 4093 combat aircraft. the Luftwaffe was the most powerful in Europe at that time.
Britain and France are not completely ignorant of this. After all, Germany has dispatched its air force to indiscriminately bomb during the Spanish Civil War, but France is too shadowy about World War I. During the years 1914-1918, young French men in their 20s were almost killed and injured, and the fear of war made France afraid to interfere in Germany. Britain feels much the same way, so there is no doubt that appeasement is more cost-effective than the death of millions of people. in addition, Britain and France believe that Germany is rearmed and can directly "bring disaster to the east" against the increasingly powerful Soviet Union, so Britain and France are also extremely flattering to Germany, but what they did not expect is that the goal of this disaster has never been just one country, its goal is the whole world.