ABSTRACT
The army The anned forces and the Gennan anny in particular were comparatively unaffected by the Nazi takeover of power and remained so until early 1938. Historically, the anny represented a fonnidable power block, resting on a long line of Prussian victories. The defeat of 1918 by no means destroyed its prestige and the highly coherent officer corps of the anny remained intact. The provisions of Versailles, which restricted the anny's size to 100,000 men were not insignificant, of course. But reannament plans were being laid as early as 1928, five years before Hitler's accession, and from March 1935 conscription was reintroduced.
