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Germany did not have Europe's dominant aviation industry before the NAZI takeover (1933). The three major European powers (France, Germany, and Britain) all had small and roughly comparable aircraft industries (early- 1930s). Germany was restricted by the Versailles Treaty from having military aircraft. At first the aviation industry in general was restricted. The Allies eased those constraints (1921-22). As a result, an aircract industry building light-aircraft industry grew. The remaining restrictions on civilian aircraft were eliminated (1926). The restrictions on military aircraft remained. Several companies developed sizeable operations: Arado, Dornier, Focke-Wulf, Junkers, and Heinkel. Germany's emphasis on commercial air transpott helped these companies develop. The German military evaded the Vesaailles restrictions partially through contracts in other countries, esprecially the Netherlands. With the NAZI take over, huge expenditures began for military aircraft. This was first done in secret. After Adolf Hitler abd the NAZIs seized power (1933), sizable funds began to be channeled into the development of military aircraft at the existing civilian aircradt companies. German aircraft companies obtained 84 million Reichsmarks for civilian projects (1927-31). The NAZIs pumped 980 million marks in aircraft projects, mostly military projects (1936 alone). Göring and Hitler made the new Luftwaffe public (1935). The lavish German spending soon made the German aircraft industry the most advanced in the world by the time that the Munich crisis occurred (1938). Luftwaffe planners had to make a major decesion at an early stage. Germany's limited industrial capacity meant that they could not build a sizeable tactical and strategic air force. The Luftwaffe planners, mostly officers frawn from the Heer, decided to build a tactical force to support ground operations. The massive expenditures enabled NAZI Germany to get a major lead on France and Britain by the time World War II broke out (1939). Many of most important Luftwaffe aircraft types were developed prior to the War (Messerschmitt Bf/Me 109 fighter, the Junkers Ju 87 dive bomber, and the Heinkel He 111 medium bomber, Messerschmitt Bf 110 twin-engined heavy fighter and the Junkers Ju 88. Dornier also built bombers. Messerschmitt and Focke-Wulf focused on fighters. The German aircraft industry proved much less successful in introducing improved types. Two exceptions were the FW-190 fighter and the innovative Me-262 jet fighter. The German aircraft industry's failure was in part due to its limited capacity, but also due to the Luftwaffe's mismanagement. They sponsored so many projects that they squandered scarce resources and delayed the introduction of new aircraft types. Hitler personally delayed the production of jet aircraft so that the Me-262 arrived to late to affect the outcome of the air war.
Germany was restricted by the Versailles Treaty from having military aircraft. At first the aviation industry in general was resticted. The Allies eased those constraints (1921-22). As a result, an aircract industry building light-aircraft industry began to grow. The remaining restrictions on civilian aircraft were eliminated (1926). The restrictions on military aircraft remained.
Germany did not have Europe's dominant aviation industry before the NAZI takeover (1933). The three major European powers (France, Germany, and Britain) all had small and roughly comparable aircraft industries in the 1920s. This began to chsnge when the German Government helped create Lufthansa (1926). Germany had a later start because of the Versailles restrictioins, but as a result, of easing the Versailles restructions and massive Government support, commerciala ir lines and an an aircract industry building light-aircraft began to grow in Germnany and in the 1930s, Lufthansa became the mot imprtanbt European air liner. .
European countries had a major problem in creating commercial airline services. The fistances involved between cities in any country, except the Sovit Union, were relstively limited. And given the excellent rail service, the advantages of air tragic was not all that significant. In America as a result of the distances, there weere more advanatges and more peoople who could afford air travel. Germany became the first country with a commercial airline when Count Frdinand von Zepplin formed Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-AG (DELAG) (1908) and began opperating his Zeppelins commercially (1910). This did mot last long before World War I broke out and boither the Zepplins and oyher aircraft became weapons of war. There was no commercial airline activity during the War. After the War, developed commercial airlines based oin bith lighter than air craft and heavier than aircraft. As a result of the War, however, huge imprivements were made in aviltioin, both aircraft design and enines. Not only was it possible to fly longer distances, but greater loads (many passsegers) could be varried. Germany after World War I had problems developing commercial airlines because of the Versailles Treraty restrictions, but these were gradually lifted for commercail aviation and Germany developed the world's most important and profutable commercial airline--Lufthansa.
The lighter than air craft used for commercial servuce were of course the Zeppelins. DELAG is considered by many aviation histoians as the world's first passenger airline. DELAG had carried over 10,000 fare-paying passengers on over 1,500 flights at the time World War I broke out. They were devloping a marvelous reputation--a marvel of the modern age. his image dramatically changed overnight when Zeppelins appeared over London and othr British ciuties dropping bombs on civilans. The Zeppelins proived to be an ineffective weapon system. The British evntually began shooting then down. And the Germans began disaaenbling them to build World War I heavier than air aircraft. Germany's loss of World War I also put an end to all Zepplin operations, even commrtcial operations. DELAG bgan a scheduled daily service between Berlin, Munich, and Friedrichshafen (1919). The Allies seized those Zepplins under the terms of the Versailles Treaty which prohibited Germany from building large airships. An exception was made allowing one to be built for the United States Navy, preventing the compsny from going bnnkrupt. It took DELAg some time to shake the horrific repoutation of their Zepplin. The Allies lifted th restrictions on airship construction (1926). Donations from the public helped to launch the construction of LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin. This helped breath new life into DELAG. A serious problem for the company was that the United States refused to sell it helium, an inert gas. Instead they had to use highky inflmable hydrogen. The Graf Zeppelin, and the larger LZ 129 Hindenburg bgn operating regular transatlantic flights from Germany to North America and Brazil. The Art Deco spire of the Empire State Building in New y=Hork was originally designed to serve as a mooring mast for Zeppelins. It was found when Zepplines try t dock that drafts from the city streets made this impossible and mootring facilities had tp nbe created outside the city. A Zepplin flying along the British ciast was used to assess the British Chain Home system. The Luftwaffe assessment was that it was not of any military value. The Zepplins were nuch admired for a rapid and comfortable, if expensive Atlantic crossing. The Hindenburg disaster as well as issues with NAZI Germany put an end the the Zeppline program (1937).
Geramny also developed heavier than air/fixed-wing commerial airlines after World War I. Here there were at first problems as a result of Versailles Treatry restrictions. Germany had begun commercial avialtion with Zepplins. After the War, small compnies began operating heavier than air aircraft. These operations were at first restricted by Versailles resticions Heavier than air planes also gradually werre adopted passanger and air service. As in other European countries and America civil aviation was the inevitable result of the World War I advances in aviation technology. German aircraft manufacturers were interest to convert their advances into profitable civilian businesses use. This was not to be. The Treaty of Versailles (June 1919), severely restricted the German military and, in part because of the German Zepplin and bomber attacks on civilians, , weapons development, including aviation. This impacted the aviation industry. Most important German airplane manufacturers simply collapsed, only a few survived. The most important survivor was Junkers. Heinkel and Dornier akso sirvived. This affected the available aircraft to prospctive air line companies. The Weimar government was supportive of at commercial aviation. Generous finamcing (as high as 70 percent of costs) helped aviation compamoes get started. This included llgemeine Elektrizitats Gesellschaft (AEG) which provided basic airlines services. These were several very small firms, often offering flights for a single passenger. Quite a few of these bnew companies were bankupted by the run-saway inflation (1923). The Goivernment stepped in to combined two of the survivors (Deutsche Aero Lloyd--DAL and Junkers) into a new company -- Deutsche Luft Hansa A.G. (DLH) (1926). The government provided an annual subsidy and a capital injection of 18 million marks as well as basically a monopoly on German civil aviation. Thus DHL became the country's flag carrier and principal airline. The name was derived from the German word Luft meaning 'air' and Hansa for the Hanseatic League. It was Germany's flag carrier until 1945. DLH was a substantil operation by the standards of the day. When it began regularly scheduled service (April 1926), DLH had some 160 aircraft consisting of 18 different aircraft types. The most important aircraft was the single-engine Dornier Merkur. DLH's services began to expand, especislly after part ownership in a joint German-Soviet airline known (Deruluft) whivh operated international services between the two countries. DLH rebranded itself Lufthansa (1933). And surprisingly, compoared to other air lines at the time. Lufthansa was actually profitable. Several factors aided Lufthansa. The Allies lifted the remaining restrictions on commercial aviation (1928). The Government bad several reasons for spporting Lufthansa. There was national prestige involved as well as industry and jobs. There was also foreign trade issues. Highly indiyttrialized Germany was deprndent on opening and maintaininmg foreign markets. Lufthansa by the end if the cade was flyinhg more miles and carried more passengers than all the other European airlines companies combined. Yhis is surorising given thev huge oversas emopires of other countries, especailly Britain, butspeaks to the limitedaviation infrastructure outside Europe and America. Lufthana had a staff of 300 highly competent pilots as well as some thr most advanced commercil airlinrs--planes built by Junkers and Dornier. The Junkers Ju-52 became the mainstay of Lufthansa routes in Europe and elsewhere. (Junkers technology was apprently appropriated by Henry Ford for the Ford Tri-Motor.) Foreign air lines bought the Ju-52 whuch ws the primary airliner until the appearance of the Douglas DC-3 (1936). Junkers haddesigned the G-38, but only two were actually built. After the NAZIs seized power, their priority was not civil aviation. With the NAZi-take over, Governmnt policy shifted from commnercil aviationm to militry aviation (1933). Out of concern over a possible Allied intervention, early steps to exoand aviation was done through Lufthannsa. Ans Lufthannsa foreign operatioins were expanded both in Asia (China) amd Latin America. Lufthansa bcame the modt sctive airkine in China. Natioinslist Chiuna was at the time iydying Britain and France from thr Treary Ports. It also China buold a small airforce and train army units. This did not change until the Axis relstionship with Japan began. The NAZIs aldso gave sttention to Latin America, devloping a range of relationships with the fledging air lines in the region. [Siddiqi] This caught the eye of the Roosevelt Administration which began to back Panam in regionfal competition. The large American market and the NAZI policy of autarkhy gave America a huge advantgage. The modern Lufthnsa company has no connction with the pre-War company otherr thn its name and logo. Deutsche Luft Hansa relied on the use of forced labor. Soon after German armies began occupying other countriesg, DHL began using forced labor. They worked in newly created repair operations for the German Luftwaffe. The forced labor was also used to produce radar equipment need in he war effort. Lufthansa marketed the radar equipment under the brand name Würzburg. There were plans developed to used forced labor after Germny eon the War. [Budrass]
Germany had both lighhter and heavier than air aircraft manufactuters. The most imprtant of course are the companies building heavier than air aircraft. The lighter than air manufactuter was Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH. 'Luftschiffbau' means building of airships. The company was founded by Count Ferduinand Zepplin (1908). It was of some importance during World War I when the Zepplin began bombing Allied cities, especially London and other British cities. This gave the Zepplins a sinister reputation. A problem for the Germans was America's unwillingness to sell inert helium forcing the Germans to rely on highhly flamable hydrogen. Eventually the British began sucessfully shooting them down and they proved of no real military value to Germany. The Germans began disassembling them to make the mateials available to heavier than air aircraft manufcturers. After World War I the company attempted to revive operationd focusing on commercial aviation. They had some success, but the rise of the NAZIs (1933) and Hindenberg disaster ruined their efforts (1936). German companies during World War I were able to compete quite sucessfully in aviation technology with the Allies, at times leapin ahead of the Allies--such as the Forker Curse. Eventually they failed to compete, howevr, in manufacturing scale and access to needed raw materials. Several heavier than air manufacturers after World War I, mostly during the NAZI era, developed sizeable operations: Arado, Dornier, Focke-Wulf, Forker, Junkers, Heinkel, and Messerschmitt. Germany's emphasis on commercial air transport helped these companies develop during the Weimar era. This well established aviation industry is one reason the NAZIs were able to build military air forces so quickly after the NAZIs seized power. (The same reason America was able to do the same after Pearl Harbor.) German production was limited, but German companies were up on all the new technologies and were able to ramo up prpfuvt\'\Almost all of the cutting-edge German aircraft were developed before the War. Only two important aircraft were developed during the War: the FW-190 and the Me-262. While German technology was competitive with the Allies, even leading the Allies in some reas, manufacturing techniques lagged behind the Allies and even the Soviets. The Germans never mastered mass production. The problem was largely becuse mass-production went against the deeply ingrainded German tradition of craftmanship.
The German military evaded the Vesaailles restrictions partially through contracts in other countries, esprecially the Netherlands.
With the NAZI take over, huge expenditures began for military aircraft. This was first done in secret. After Adolf Hitler abd the NAZIs seized power (1933), sizable funds began to be channeled into the development of military aircraft at the existing civilian aircradt companies. Huge orders were placed by the Government. German aircraft companies obtained 84 million Reichsmarks for civilian projects (1927-31). The NAZIs pumped 980 million marks in aircraft projects, mostly military projects (1936 alone).
German policies before the NAZIs seized power laid the foundtion of the Luftwaffe. Hitler began building it as soon s he seized power (1933). At first this was done covertly. Göring and Hitler announced the creation of the Luftwaffe public (1935). Actually this isonly when they made the Luftweaffe public. It had actually been created soon after Hitler seized control (1933). The Versailles Treatu was still in force. Great priority was given to building advanced all-metal planes. By the time the Allies attempted to face up to Hitler at Munich (October 1938), Germany had the largest, most modern air force in the world. It was a major reason why the Allies decided to appease Hitler. When World War II finally broke out in Poland (September 1939), the Luftwaffe played a major in the early German victories. , on the eve of the outbreak of World War II, the Luftwaffe had become the most advanced, powerful air force in the world. As such it played a major role in Germany's early successes in the war, and formed a key part of the Blitzkrieg concept, much thanks to the use of the innovative Junkers Ju 87 dive bomber (Sturzkampfflugzeug - "Stuka"). A contingent from the Luftwaffe (The Legion Condor) was sent to support Franco's forces in the Spanish Civil War with planes (notably the Ju 87) and personnel which not provided critical support for Franco, but provided important battle experience for the Luftwaffe that the French Air Force and British Royal Air Force did not have. The Luftwaffe would prove an essential component to Blitkrieg. German artillery, in many cases move by horses, could not keep up with the Panzers. The Luftwaffe could. By the end of the War, the Luftwaffe was decimated. The fundamental weakness was the inability of German industry to create a force large enough to support the many campaigns to which Hitler committed German armed forces.
The lavish German spending soon made the German aircraft industry the most advanced in the world by the time that the Munich crisis occurred (1938). Luftwaffe planners had to make a major decesion at an early stage. Germany's limited industrial capacity meant that they could not build a sizeable tactical and strategic air force. The Luftwaffe planners, mostly officers frawn from the Heer, decided to build a tactical force to support ground operations. Many of most important Luftwaffe aircraft types were developed prior to the War (Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighter, the Junkers Ju-87 dive bomber, and the Heinkel He-111 medium bomber, Messerschmitt Bf-110 twin-engined heavy fighter and the Junkers Ju-88. Dornier also built bombers. Messerschmitt and Focke-Wulf focused on fighters. The German aircraft industry developed cutting edge technologies. One assessment just before the outbreak of the War reports that in 1938 that the Germans had 7,500 full-time reserachers work on military avilation. The approximate numbers in the other western countries were: Britain 400, France 175, and the United States 250. [Lachmann, p. 472.] We are not sure about the Soviet Union. As a result, the Germans when the War broke out had the mnos tmodern and powerful airforce un the War which had a huge role in the early German military successes (1939-41).
The massive expenditures enabled NAZI Germany to get a major lead on France and Britain by the time World War II broke out (1939). The German aircraft industry proved much less successful in introducing improved types. Two exceptions were the FW-190 fighter and the innovative Me-262 jet fighter. Hitler and Göring, the two induviduls most fully did not fully appreciate the transitory nature of air power as the result of the major advances of aviation at the time. In particular, they did understand the capacity of Britain to build advanced aircraft once Hitler launchd the war, epecially the American capability. Hitler understood the size of the American economy, but he convinced himself that American was controlled by Jews and could never convert its production of consumer goods into significant military production within a time-frame that could effectively resust German aggression. And the Germans failed to introducing modern mass production manufacturing processes. This was no problen when no other country was seriously trying to match them. But after Hitler and Stalin launched the War, both Britain and America as well as the Soviet Union introcuced mass manufascturung techniques that the German companies essentially operating craft shops could not begin to match. The Germans managed to increase aircraft production during the War, but only a fraction of the combined output of America, Britain, and the United States. The Germans managed to deal with the Allied Strategic Bombing campaign by decebntralizing proidyction, but this created serious priblems. The German aircraft industry's failure was in part due to its limited capacity, but also due to the Luftwaffe's mismanagement. They sponsored so many projects that they squandered scarce resources and delayed the introduction of new aircraft types, few of which proved to be very successful despite the enirmous resources devoted to them. One of tghe greatest failures was the He-177, the Luftwaffe attempt tgo build a strategic bomber. An imprtant fact to consider here is that the decisivie campamaisn of the War was the Ostrieg, the German campaign in the Soviet Union. It was here that the great bulk of German manower was committed, but not German economic production. And the huge aircraft undustry is just onee examople if this. Luftwwaffe mismaanagement was a major factor. Hitler's interferaence was another factor. He personally delayed the production of jet aircraft so that Me-262 arrived to late to affect the outcome of the air war. And his decision to to commit vast resources to the Vengence weapons program.
Budrass, Lutz. The Eagle and the Crane: the History of Lufthansa from 1926-1955.
Lachmann, Kurt. "War and Peace Economics of Aviation," Social Research Vol. 7, No. 4 (Novenber 1940), pp. 468-79.
Siddiqi, Asif. "The early years of German commercial aviation."
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