German Luftwaffe

The Luftwaffe was officially formed in 1935 as part of a secret plan to rebuild Germany's military power. It broke international rules that said Germany could not have an air force. By the time war started, it was a very large and modern group of planes. Its main job was to help ground soldiers win battles quickly by dropping bombs and clearing the way. During the early part of the war, the Luftwaffe helped Germany take control of much of Europe. They were well-trained and used new types of planes that moved very fast. However, as the war dragged on, they started to lose their best pilots and planes. The Luftwaffe faced a hard time against the Allied air forces that had more supplies. In the end, they could not stop the constant bombing of their own cities. By 1945, the Luftwaffe was mostly defeated. After the war ended, the organization was dissolved because Germany had to change how its military worked. Today, the modern German air force is built differently than the group that existed during the war years.