Hitler's Unknown Foreign Volunteer Soldiers
After the election that was in 1933, Hitler started to gain power. He has changed a lot of things such as politics, economy, social society etc. However, Hitler stood up for one area: the military. Hitler was considering the military to realize his ideas. He did not believe in democracy. For him, democracy is unnecessary and impractical. He was going to realize his ideas. First of all, he reformed the military in 1935. Reichswehr was German Empire and Weimar Republic's army was liquidated. Wehrmacht was founded instead of Reichswehr. After the Treaty of Versailles, the German army was limited to 100,000 soldiers. The region of Saar was disarmed. Germany’s production of military tools was banned. Hitler considered these bans as the most important barriers for his ideas. From 1935 to 1939, the German army that was called Wehrmacht developed dramatically. With World War 2 that started September 1st, 1939, Wehrmacht needed more soldiers. Especially with the beginning of Operation Barbarossa against Soviets that was in 1941, more soldiers were needed in this huge area. After this situation, SS that was protection squad(Schutzstaffel) garrisons and were special corps have joined the war. However, this joining was not enough for the fight. Thereupon, the army started to take troops with a Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler’s order from foreign volunteer soldiers from different nations such as Belgians, Czechs, Dutch, Finns, French, Greeks, Hungarians, Norwegians, Poles, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedes and British, along with people from the Baltic states and the Balkans. Firstly, Francisco Franco who was Spain’s fascist leader sent 3,000 soldiers that were called Blue Legion for Eastern Front against Bolsheviks. Later, many legions were established from occupied territories in Europe. However, a few legions were more interesting than others. In the outside of occupied territories such as Turkistan, India, Russia, the UK, Switzerland and Arabs countries, many corps were established. Firstly, the 162nd Turkoman Division was established with soldiers who came from Azerbaijan, Crimea and Central Asia in 1943. They fought in the eastern front against Russians. Second, the Indian Legion was established in 1942. Generally, these soldiers were from the Indian independence movement against Britons in India. Some soldiers who had been captured during the North Africa Campaign by Germans were included in this legions. Third, the Russian Liberation Army was established in 1944. Civilians and soldiers who were against Bolshevism have joined this army from Russia. This army has been established by Andrey Vlasov who was captured by Germans. Fourth, British Free Corp was established in 1943. Some members of Nazism in the UK have joined this corp. They were just 54 people in the army. Fifth, Free Arabian Legion was established in 1941. The idea of creating a legion of the Arab hearts proposed by Mohammed Amin al-Husseini and Rashid Ali Geylani was adopted by Adolf Hitler in 1941. The legion was first used in the Nazi uprising in Iraq under the command of Hellmuth Felmy. After the rebellion was overwhelmed, the legacy of the Syrian Arabs and Iraqi refugees was placed in Syria. In addition, 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar was established in Balkans in 1943. It was formed from Muslim Bosnians and Catholic Croats living in the country. 3It was established during the World War II by the initiative of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Emin al-Husseini, to fight the Communist Partisans in the Balkans. Contrary to the popular belief, Nazis were not radical racists. When it was necessary, they used people from different nations. People who were against Communism and semitism joined the Nazi army.
IMAGES:
Spanish Blue Legion
162nd Turkoman Division
Indian Legion (Azad Hind)
Russian Liberation Army
British Free Corps
Free Arabian Legion
13th Waffen SS Mountain Division of Handschar (Bosnia)
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