An Overview of Waffen-SS Foreign Volunteers and Conscripts during World War II

Introduction During World War II, the Waffen-SS recruited significant numbers of non-Germans, both as volunteers and conscripts. In total some 500,000 non-Germans and ethnic Germans from outside Germany, mostly from German-occupied Europe, were recruited between 1940 and 1945. The units were under the control of the SS Führungshauptamt (SS Command Main Office) beneath Reichsführer-SS Heinrich… Read More

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An Overview of Wehrmacht Foreign Volunteers and Conscripts during World War II

Introduction Among the approximately one million foreign volunteers and conscripts who served in the Wehrmacht during World War II were ethnic Belgians, Czechs, Dutch, Finns, Danes, French, Hungarians, Norwegians, Poles, Portuguese, Swedes, along with people from Great Britain, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the Balkans. At least 47,000 Spaniards served in the Blue Division. Some estimates… Read More

The Reliable Volunteer…

“The patriot volunteer, fighting for country and his rights, makes the most reliable soldier on earth.” Stonewall Jackson (1824 to 1863) Stonewall Jackson, byname of Thomas Jonathan Jackson, was a Confederate general in the American Civil War, one of its most skillful tacticians, who gained his sobriquet “Stonewall” by his stand at the First Battle… Read More

Voluntary Guerrillas…

“The people must be inspired to cooperate voluntarily. We must not force them, for it we do it will be ineffectual.” Mao Tse-Tung (1893 to 1976) Mao was the principal Chinese Marxist theorist, soldier, and statesman who led his country’s communist revolution. He was the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1935 until… Read More