I started reading The fall of France: disaster in the west, 1939-1940 by George Forty and in the first chapter it states that Germany was producing tanks in Sweden and aircraft in Holland in the 1930 to avoid breaking the Treaty of Versaille. Something I've not read about before and I thought rather ironic that they invaded and occupied Holland in 1940. I'll post the details if anyone is interested when I can get to the book upstairs. Is this common knowledge? Did Germany use any other country's during the inter-war period for development and production of military equipment?
The Reichswehr carried out major manoevers and provided training to the Russian Armed forces in the inter-war period. I believe they also co-operated on engineering projects.
IIRC,there was also a cooperation with Spain,and,more important:the military cooperation with the SU on gaz,tanks,aircraft.There was a big scandal,when C.von Ossietzky was making this public.He was condemned by a Weimar tribunal and imprisoned.
in the cooperation with Spain,2 people played a big role :Canaris and the Basque financer and shipsbuilder Echevarieta . Source :disarmament and clandestine rearmament under the Weimar Republic. There also were different military missions to Nationalistic Chine,helping the Kuomingtang in the war against Japan .
If I recollect correctly there was a Government/Military agreement between Russian and Germany to develop and test Luftwaffe aircraft and train pilots, plus develop and test armoured vehicles, especially the 4x4 and 8x8 plus the 6 wheeled versions. The answer if people and press enquired was that they were Police Vehicles under development and testing. The planes were all mail and passenger planes Regards Tom
I think they mixed up the story of Anthony Fokker. Anthony Fokker - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I don't think Holland produced war planes for Germany, at least never heared of it. Ron...
Hi Ron, The books states Fokker went to Holland to produce aircraft and some were sold to Holland. IIRC there are Dutch Fokker aircraft listed as detroyed, shot down etc in ATB's The Battle of France.
Pages 3 to 4 Germany was assisted in its endeavours by other Eurpean countries such as Sweden, which had remained neutral during the war and would do so again in 1939. Joseph Vollmer, the only tank designer of any merit, was able to dismantle his latest model of the Leichte Kampfwagen - the LK II - and slip abroad to Sweden, taking with him all ten of the LK II tank kits which had been produced so far in Germany. Safe in a neutral country, he ressembled his tanks and sold them to obliging Swedes who used them to form their very first tank company. By 1921 the giant Ruhr armaments firm of Krupp and exchanged enough patents and licences with Bofors steel and cannon works in Sweden to enable them to gain control of its production. They then sent one of their chief production engineers to Bofors where he oversaw the development and production of a whole series of Krupp-designed field artillery pieces, AA guns and light tanks. Next, a member of Krupp's board of directors arrived and took over the management. Similarly a number of Dutch companies readily provided Krupp and others with cover for their illegal dealings. It was no different in the aircraft industry. Germany was only allowed to keep 140 aircraft. strictly for commercial use. Tony Fokker of the great Fokker Aircraft works in Schwerin, had the prototype of his latest aeroplane (The F-2) flown secretly in Holland. Back in Germany, realising that the control commission inspectors would dismantle his factory, he personally master-minded the removal and concealment of over half the inventory moving it secretly to Holland, where he calmly started to manufacture planes once more, even selling them to the Dutch government.
There was a tank school set up by the Germans and Soviets at Kazan. Here's a thread devoted to it: http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/prewar/20238-panzertruppenschule-kama-near-kazan-ussr.html
Some info on U Boat production from "The U Boat War in the Atlantic 1939-1945 MoD (Navy). written by Gunther Hessler for the MoD post war, republished by HMSO books in the late 1980's.
