User:OnBeyondZebrax/sandbox/Luftwaffe

One of the forerunners of the Luftwaffe, the Imperial German Army Air Service, was founded in 1910. After the defeat of Germany, the service was dissolved in 1920 under the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles. During the interwar period, German pilots trained in violation of the treaty in secret. By the summer of 1939, the Luftwaffe had nine Jagdgeschwader (fighter wings) mostly equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109E, four 'Zerstörergeschwader (destroyer wings) equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighter, 11 Kampfgeschwader (bomber wings) equipped with mainly the Heinkel He 111 and the Dornier Do 17Z and four Sturzkampfgeschwader (dive bomber wings) Throughout the history of the Third Reich, the Luftwaffe had only two commanders-in-chief. The first was Hermann Göring, with the second and last being Generalfeldmarschall Robert Ritter von Greim. At the start of the war the Luftwaffe had four Luftflotten ("air fleets"), each responsible for roughly a quarter of Germany.

The Luftwaffe's Condor Legion experimented with new doctrine and aircraft during the Spanish Civil War. When the Second World War began, the Luftwaffe was one of the most technologically advanced air forces in the world. In the summer of 1940, the Luftwaffe contributed to the unexpected success in the Battle of France. During the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe, despite causing severe damage to the Royal Air Force's infrastructure and British cities during the subsequent Blitz, did not achieve air superiority. The Defence of the Reich campaign gradually destroyed the Luftwaffe's fighter arm. Despite its belated use of advanced turbojet and rocket propelled aircraft for bomber destroyer duties, it was overwhelmed by Allied numbers and a lack of trained pilots and fuel. A last-ditch attempt, known as Operation Bodenplatte, to win air superiority on 1 January 1945 failed. After the Bodenplatte effort, the Luftwaffe had ceased to be an effective fighting force.