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Luftwaffe: |
| This is the term used to describe the German air force of World War II. The Luftwaffe started out the war as the most powerful air force in the world, and was able to aid in the invasion of many countries such as Poland, Belgium, France, Greece, and the Soviet Union in a fashion concurrent with the strategy of blitzkrieg. However, as the war advanced, the Allies soon realized that a great deal of the war was going to be fought in the air, and such inventions as radar helped to minimize the usefulness of the airplane as a weapon for invasion. In addition, German fighters were not equipped with enough fuel to escort bombers on long-range missions. During the Battle of Britain the British air force was able to fight the Luftwaffe so effectively that Hitler was forced to pull out of his attack on Great Britain, which constituted Hitler's first decisive loss during the war. The Luftwaffe was one of the most advanced air forces in the world, however. Their arsenal included jet engines, and the revolutionary V-weapons. These included the V-1 rocket, and small unmanned missiles capable of attacking cities from distant locations, and the even more advanced V-2 rocket, the first real guided missile system. The V-2 had an approximate range of 200 miles. However, availability of these weapons came too late in the war, and Hitler was never able to utilize them effectively. |
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