Luftwaffe

views updated Jun 27 2018

Luftwaffe German air force. In English-speaking countries, the term refers specifically to the air force of Nazi Germany. Built up rapidly in the 1930s, it was designed primarily as part of German Blitzkrieg tactics and was highly effective in the early stages of World War II and during the invasion of the Soviet Union (1941). It was less successful as a high-explosive bombing force in the Battle of Britain (1940).

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