Defeated Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles, a treaty which, by all accounts, was a prelude to a new war. The victorious Allies imposed very heavy conditions on the defeated Germans, but they later neglected to comply with them.
However, the situation at the military level began to change already in the fall of 1920. Then General von Zecht took command of the German Armed Forces , the man who really made the German war machine strong again.
Von Zecht and Soviet aid
He, in 1921, established, within the Military Ministry, a new Aviation Service. In December of that year he sent officers of the old Kaiser's air corps to the Soviet Union, asking Lenin to make room for the reconstruction of the German Air Force, away from the prying eyes of the Allies.
A year later, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Treaty of Rapallo, under which the Soviets granted the Germans space in exchange for know-how. The Soviets did grant the Germans a small airfield at Lipetsk, about 300 km southeast of Moscow. There the sword that almost beheaded the USSR a few years later began to be forged.
Dozens of ships, loaded with aviation material, sailed from East Prussia every day, bound for what was then Leningrad. From there, the Soviets transported the material to Lipetsk. At the same time, 200 German airmen traveled to the Soviet Union in civilian aircraft, for reasons of "recreation".
At the same time, in Germany, under the guise of air sports and Civil Aviation, Zecht, together with some young manufacturers – who were also to become legends – began supplying his newly formed secret Air Force with flying material. The first German "war" aircraft was Ernst Heinkel's He 17 , which was replaced by the He 18 and He 21 . These aircraft, all small dipoles, were christened aerobatic or recreational and received the approval of the Allied controllers.
In these aircraft, the new generation of German pilots began to serve in distant Russia. Alongside Heinkel, other companies were born, Dornier, Jungers, Arado. All of them were involved in Civil Aviation, building passenger aircraft and secretly designing military aircraft.
At that time a new aircraft designer also made his appearance, Willy Messerschmitt. His first aircraft was a small flexible biplane, the Me 17. All companies' programs had the support of the Ministry of Defense and Zeekt personally.
After all, he himself upgraded the Ministry's Aviation Directorate to a secret General Aviation Staff. This small staff, the heart of the new Luftwaffe being prepared, studied all developments in the aviation sector, submitted specifications to the manufacturers and selected the new pilots, who were secretly sent to Russia for training.
German interest in the Air Force rekindled in November 1925. On November 20, the French allowed the Germans to transport the body of Manfred von Richthofen from Fricourt, France back home. The ceremony attracted the attention of thousands of Germans, including the President of the Republic, Marshal von Hindenburg.
The best pilot of the First World War has returned to his homeland. The event took on great proportions, and many young Germans were inspired by it and soon joined the ranks of the Luftwaffe.
In the meantime, always under the guidance of Zecht, but also of the authorities of the Weimar Republic – which after all were not as treacherous as Hitler claimed – the German aviation industry was making daily leaps and bounds . Despite the economic crisis, Germany was one of the few countries in the world that had 30 airlines, equipped with domestically produced aircraft.
At the end of the 20s, and in view of the global financial crisis, these companies merged, and from their merger Lufthansa was born , the existing German airline.
The Milch Age
At this point, a former World A pilot, Erhard Milch, came to the fore. After the war, Milch worked as a high-ranking executive at the Junkerscompany . However, after Lufthansa was founded, its general manager was appointed, following the recommendation of the Ministry of Defense.
Milch was not an accidental personality. As a director he worked with perseverance and patience and managed to gather in the company hundreds of experienced veteran pilots of the First World War, thus creating the first reserve pool for the German air force, which was about to be reborn. Later, he took over the duties of Goering's aide, and he is the real organizer of the new Luftwaffe. His Jewish origin did not allow him to rise as much as he deserved in the regime of the Third Reich.
From his new position and in violation of the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1926 – which prohibited Germany from training aircraft pilots beyond a certain limit – Milch, after gathering the veterans, began to train new pilots as well. strong>
It was the time when a real aviation mania had seized thousands of young Germans. Thousands of aerobatic clubs and associations were founded across the country and many teenage Germans learned to fly gliders. Everything showed that Germany was marching at full speed in the direction of the renaissance of its Air Force. This was understood by everyone, except the allied governments.
Hitler in power
In 1933, Hitler came to power. A veteran himself of the First World War, he had Hermann Göring as a close associate , an ace pilot with 22 kills, who had fought under von Richthofen. Hitler considered aviation an important force multiplier for the new Germany he dreamed of.
Hitler created the Air Ministry which he assigned to Göring. Hermann Göring was also a person who left an indelible mark on the German air force, more of course in a negative way.
When Hitler came to power, the Treaty of Versailles was in full effect. In theory at least, because practically the Germans violated it constantly. As early as 1928, the secret Luftwaffe had its first real fighter aircraft, the Heinkel He 38 biplane. The aircraft was equipped with two synchronized 7.92 mm machine guns in the nose and could develop a speed of 290 h.p.h.
The He 38 was replaced by the faster He 49, while the He 45 military cooperation aircraft and the He 59 seaplane entered service. At the same time, the other companies began to supply the still officially unborn Luftwaffe with new aircraft, which they were already producing as passenger, mail transport or general purpose aircraft.
Thus, from the Do F mail transport aircraft came, with a few modifications, the first German bomber, the Do 23. In the same way Junkers converted the passenger Ju 52 into a bomber. After all, the famous "Annie" acted as a bomber, and even successfully in the Spanish Civil War.
After the repudiation of the Treaty of Versailles, Milch developed the maximum possible activity in two directions, the production of combat aircraft and the training of crews to man them. Also, the country's industrial infrastructure in the field of aeronautics needed to be expanded.
Immediately the state granted loans to the aeronautical industries. Indicatively, it is stated that in a single year the skilled workers employed in the aeronautical industries, from 4,000, reached and exceeded 20,000.
The “Rhinenia” deception scheme
In the same period, at the beginning of 1934, the famous "Rhineland" program was drawn up. , which concerned the development of the Luftwaffe. The program envisaged, in the first phase, the production of 4,029 aircraft. Of these, 1,863 would be front-line aircraft, belonging to the so-called "dangerous Luftwaffe". The purpose of the program was to convince any potential enemy of Germany that a very strong air force already existed, which would dissuade them from any thought of attacking the country.
Plans called for the construction of 822 bombers, 590 military cooperation aircraft, 251 fighters and just 51 vertical attack bombers. It was also planned to build 1,760 trainers and 400 more aircraft of various missions. The program was rapidly implemented and was largely completed by September 1935!
Of course, not all aircraft, even frontline ones, were modern. The fighters were the Ar 65 and He 49 and 51 biplanes, the He 70, Ju 86 and Fw 58 bombers and the He 50 and Hs 123 vertical thrust biplane bombers.
Though obsolete, however, the "dangerous Luftwaffe" fully served its purpose, convincing the outside world that Germany already possessed air superiority over the Western republics and Poland combined!