This is a list of words, terms, concepts, and slogans that have been or are used by the German military. Ranks and translations of nicknames for vehicles are included. Also included are some general terms from the German language found frequently in military jargon. Some terms are from the general German cultural background, others are given to show a change that was made before or after the Nazi era. Some factories that were the primary producers of military equipment, especially tanks, are also given.
List of German military ranks
Approximate ranks relative to US ranks:
- Reichsmarschall – "Marshal of the Empire", the highest rank in the German armed forces during World War II (specifically created for Hermann Göring to distinguish him from the other field marshals). Equivalent to General of the Armies of the United States
- Generalfeldmarschall – General of the Army during World War II.
- Generaloberst – General, literally "highest" or "supreme general", usually translated "Colonel-general"; not used in the Bundeswehr
- General der Infanterie, Kavallerie, etc. – General (before 1956 equivalent to US Lieutenant General)
- Generalleutnant – Lieutenant-General (before 1956 equivalent to US Major General)
- Generalmajor – Major-General (before 1956 equivalent to US Brigadier General)
- Brigadegeneral – Brigadier General; not used prior to the Bundeswehr
- Oberst – Colonel, literally "highest"
- Oberstleutnant – Lieutenant Colonel
- Major – Major
- Hauptmann/Rittmeister – Captain
- Oberleutnant – First Lieutenant
- Leutnant – (Second) Lieutenant
- Oberstabsfeldwebel/Oberstabsbootsmann – (Senior NCO)
- Stabsfeldwebel/Hauptbootsmann – master sergeant (senior NCO)
- Oberfeldwebel/Bootsmannsmaat – technical sergeant (senior NCO)
- Fähnrich/Oberfähnrich – no perfect equivalent. Senior officer cadet with something like warrant officer status, used in functions like ensign, passed midshipman or 2nd lieutenant but not commissioned.
- Fahnenjunker – no perfect equivalent. Most junior officer cadet with sergeant (US) or corporal (UK) status.
- Feldwebel/Wachtmeister/Bootsmann – staff sergeant (senior NCO)
- Unterfeldwebel – sergeant; formerly called Sergeant prior to 1921 (not in use in the Bundeswehr[6])
- Stabsunteroffizer/Obermaat (junior NCO)
- Unteroffizier/Maat – corporal (junior NCO) (since the Bundeswehr more comparable to petty officer)
- Oberstabsgefreiter – (enlisted personnel); not used prior to the Bundeswehr.
- Stabsgefreiter – (enlisted personnel)
- Hauptgefreiter – (enlisted personnel); not used prior to the Bundeswehr.
- Obergefreiter – Lance Corporal (enlisted personnel). Historically, and up until 1945, the rank of Obergefreiter was considered in English the equivalent to a British Army Lance Corporal with seniority, therefore named "Senior Lance Corporal", or rather Second Corporal in the Artillery.
- Gefreiter – Private First Class (enlisted personnel). Historically, and up until 1945, the rank of Gefreiter was considered in English the equivalent to a British Army Lance Corporal rank.
- Oberschütze – Senior Rifleman. Historical rank used up until 1945, not in use in the Bundeswehr.[6]
- Gemeiner – Private (enlisted personnel). Historically, and up until 1918, the rank of Gemeiner was ordinarily used for an enlisted soldier of Private rank.
- Grenadier/Schütze/Soldat/Matrose/Flieger/Sanitäter – Private (enlisted personnel)
For additional comparisons, see Comparative military ranks of World War II.
List of military operations
The German term for "Operation" is Unternehmen, literally "undertaking".
- Adlerangriffe (Eagle Attack) series of raids against Royal Air Force (RAF).
- Adlertag – Eagle Day; day one of intense raiding against RAF 13 August 1940 known as Operation Eagle Attack (postponed from 10 August).
- Anton – occupation of Vichy France, November 1942; later known as Atilla.
- Atilla – occupation of Vichy France, November 1942 (previously, Anton).
- Aufbau Ost – Eastern Buildup; build-up of arms prior to the invasion of the Soviet Union.
- Barbarossa – invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. Barbarossa, or "Red Beard" was the nickname for Emperor Frederick I, who attempted to unify Germanic states in the 12th century.
- Bernhard – scheme to counterfeit British bank notes and put them into circulation; begun in 1942.
- Bodenplatte – Base Plate; air offensive against Allied airfields in north-western Europe, New Year's Day 1945.
- Eiche – Oak; mission to rescue Benito Mussolini by Fallschirmjäger led by Skorzeny.
- Eisenhammer – Iron Hammer, planned strategic bombing raid on Soviet electric power generation water turbines, potentially knocking out three-quarters of all western Soviet electrical generation capacity, never carried out
- Fall Blau – Case Blue; summer offensive in Southern Russia.
- Fall Gelb – Case Yellow; invasion of the Netherlands, Belgium and France.
- Fall Grün – Case Green; intended invasion of Czechoslovakia.
- Fall Rot – Case Red; counterstrike against France in the event of an attack from the West.
- Fall Weiß – Case White; invasion of Poland.
- Felix – plan to capture Gibraltar in 1941. It never took place.
- Fischfang – Fish Trap; counterattack on the Allied beachhead at Anzio in February 1944.
- Greif – Griffin; dropping of English-speaking troops wearing American uniforms behind the Allied lines in the Ardennes, prior to the Battle of the Bulge.
- Herbstnebel – Autumn Mist; offensive in the Ardennes, December 1944. Better known as the Battle of the Ardennes.
- Herkules – projected invasion of Malta by Fallschirmjäger and the navy. Never executed.
- Kathrin – plan to help the Irish Republican Army to commit terrorism and disrupt British internal security.
- Merkur – Mercury (the planet or the Roman god, not the metal); airborne invasion of Crete 1941.
- Nordlicht – Northern Lights; attack on Leningrad in 1942.
- Nordwind – North Wind; counteroffensive in Alsace and Lorraine in January 1945.
- Panzerfaust – Armored Fist; the October 1944 mission to kidnap Miklós Horthy Jr, son of Hungarian Regent Admiral Miklós Horthy.
- Paukenschlag – Drumroll or Drumbeat; offensive against Allied shipping in US and Caribbean waters in the first half of 1942.
- Pastorius – U-boat operation involving U-202 and U-548 setting 8 agents ashore in the US in June 1942.
- Reinhard – covername for the entire process of building extermination camps, deportation of Jews first to ghettos, then to the concentration camps for extermination and incineration. Named for SD chief Reinhard Heydrich.
- Seelöwe – Sea Lion; projected amphibious assault on Great Britain in 1940/41. It never took place.
- Steinbock – the German Luftwaffe bomber offensive against England from late January through the end of May 1944
- Stösser – parachute drop on evening of 16 December 1944; purpose was to seize a crossroads for Kampfgruppe Peiper during the Germans' Ardennes Offensive.
- Strafgericht – "punishment" air attacks on Belgrade, April 1941.
- Taifun – Typhoon; push towards Moscow in September 1941.
- Tannenbaum – "fir-tree"; projected invasion of Switzerland in 1940. Never carried out.
- Tiger – advance through the Maginot Line on the French border in June 1940.
- Wacht am Rhein – "Guard on the Rhine"; the December 1944 Ardennes offensive, known by Americans as the Battle of the Bulge.
- Walküre – Valkyrie Officially a Reserve Army contingency plan to restore law and order in the event a disruption caused by the Allied bombing of German cities caused a breakdown in law and order, or a rising by the millions of forced laborers German factories. Was, in fact, a major part of the failed July 20 Plot to arrest SS and other Nazi officials and seize control of the German government.
- Weserübung – Weser Exercise (commonly, Water Exercise); invasion of Denmark and Norway, 9 April 1940
- Wintergewitter – Winter Gale; unsuccessful attempt to relieve the 6th Army at Stalingrad in December 1942.
- Zitadelle – Citadel; attack on Soviet salient at Kursk, July 1943.