The German Army On the Eve of War
In the late summer of 1939, with war in sight, the German Army’s senior commanders were in no confident mood, the Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH or High Command of the Army) being all too well aware of the Army’s deficiencies. To be sure, the crash rearmament program embarked upon in 1935 had greatly increased the Army’s size. In 1933 the Reichwehr, as the Army was then titled, had just seven infantry divisions and three cavalry divisions. Now there were eighty-five infantry divisions, three mountain infantry divisions, four motorized infantry divisions, seven panzer (armored) divisions and four light mechanized divisions, plus various brigades and independent regiments.
