member_of_political_party matthias kleinheisterkamp
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918 and included parts of present - day Germany , Poland , Russia , Lithuania , Denmark , Belgium and the Czech ___MASK92___ . It was the driving force behind the unification of Germany in 1871 and was the leading state of the German Empire until its dissolution in 1918 . Although it took its name from the region called Prussia , it was based in the Margraviate of Brandenburg , where its capital was Berlin . A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale . Great powers characteristically possess ___MASK99___ and economic strength , as well as diplomatic and soft power influence , which may cause middle or small powers to consider the great powers ' opinions before taking actions of their own . International relations theorists have posited that great power status can be characterized into power capabilities , spatial aspects , and status dimensions . ___MASK99___ personnel are members of the armed forces . Usually , personnel are divided into ___MASK99___ branches roughly defined by certain circumstances of their deployment . Those who serve in a typical large land force are soldiers , making up an army . Those who serve in seagoing forces are seamen or sailors , and their branch is a navy or coast guard . Marines serve in a marine corps . In the 20th century , the development of powered flight aircraft prompted the development of air forces , serviced by airmen . Designated leaders of ___MASK99___ personnel are officers . These include commissioned officers , warrant officers and non - commissioned officers ( NCOs ). For naval forces , non - commissioned officers are referred to as petty officers ( POs ). ___MASK99___ personnel are instructed to wear dog tags The Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross ( German language : " Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes "), or simply the Knight ' s Cross (" Ritterkreuz "), and its variants were the highest awards in the ___MASK99___ and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II . World War II ( often abbreviated to WWII or WW2 ), also known as the Second World War , was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945 , although related conflicts began earlier . It involved the vast majority of the world ' s nations  including all of the great powers  eventually forming two opposing ___MASK99___ alliances : the Allies and the Axis . It was the most widespread war in history , and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries . In a state of " total war ", the major participants threw their entire economic , industrial , and scientific capabilities behind the war effort , erasing the distinction between civilian and ___MASK99___ resources . Marked by mass deaths of civilians , including the Holocaust ( in which approximately 11 million people were killed ) and the strategic bombing of industrial and population centres ( in which approximately one million were killed , and which included the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ), it resulted in an estimated 50 million to 85 million fatalities . These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history . The Napoleonic Wars ( 1803 - 1815 ) were a series of major conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies , led by Napoleon I , against a fluctuating array of European powers formed into various coalitions , primarily led and financed by the United Kingdom . The wars resulted from the unresolved disputes associated with the French Revolution and the Revolutionary Wars , which had raged on for years before concluding with the Treaty of Amiens in 1802 . The resumption of hostilities the following year paved the way for more than a decade of constant warfare often categorized into five conflicts : the War of the Third Coalition ( 1805 ), the War of the Fourth Coalition ( 1806 - 7 ), the War of the Fifth Coalition ( 1809 ), the War of the Sixth Coalition ( 1813 ), and the War of the Seventh Coalition ( 1815 ). The Napoleonic Wars had profound consequences for global and European history , leading to the spread of nationalism and ___MASK23___ , the rise of the British Empire as the world ' s premier power , the independence movements in Latin America and the collapse of the Spanish Empire , the fundamental reorganization of German and Italian territories into larger states , and the establishment of radically new methods in warfare . Early career . Ernst Röhm was born in Munich , the youngest of three children ( older sister and brother ) of and . His father , a railway official , was described as a " harsh man ". Although the family had no ___MASK99___ tradition , Röhm entered the Royal Bavarian 10th Infantry Regiment ' at as a cadet on 23 July 1906 and was commissioned on 12 March 1908 . At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 , he was adjutant of the 1st Battalion , 10th Infantry Regiment '. The following month , he was seriously wounded in the face at Wood in Lorraine and carried the scars for the rest of his life . He was promoted to first lieutenant (') in April 1915 . During an attack on the fortification at , on 23 June 1916 , he sustained a serious chest wound and spent the remainder of the war in France and Romania as a staff officer . He had been awarded the Iron Cross First Class on 20 June 1916 , three days before being wounded at , and was promoted to captain (') in April 1917 . In October 1918 , while serving on the Staff of the ", he contracted the deadly Spanish influenza and was not expected to live , but survived and recovered after a lengthy convalescence . The German Empire ( officially ') was the historical German nation state that existed from the unification of Germany in 1871 to the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in November 1918 , when Germany became a federal ___MASK92___ ( the Weimar ___MASK92___ ). A ___MASK99___ alliance is an international agreement concerning national security , when the contracting parties promise to support each other in case of a crisis that has not been identified in advance . ___MASK99___ alliances differ from coalitions , as coalitions are formed for a crisis that are already known . Total war is warfare that includes any and all civilian - associated resources and infrastructure as legitimate ___MASK99___ targets , mobilizes all of the resources of society to fight the war , and gives priority to warfare over non - combatant needs . The American - English Dictionary defines total war as " war that is unrestricted in terms of the weapons used , the territory or combatants involved , or the objectives pursued , especially one in which the laws of war are disregarded ." Creation and history . The rank of " Obergruppenführer " was created in 1932 by Ernst Röhm and was intended as a senior most rank of the Nazi stormtroopers for use by and his top SA generals . In its initial concept , the rank was intended to be held by members of the " Oberste SA - Führung " ( Supreme SA Command ) and also by veteran commanders of certain " SA - Gruppen " ( SA groups ). Some of the early promotions to the rank included Ernst Röhm , Viktor Lutze , Edmund Heines , August Schneidhüber , and Fritz Ritter von Krausser . In general , a civilian is " a person who is not a member of the ___MASK99___ or of a police or firefighting force ", as defined by Merriam Webster ' s Dictionary . From the perspective of the U . S . Department of Defense , Chapter 18 of Title 10 United States Code refers to non - ___MASK99___ law enforcement officers as civilians since they are employees rather than enlisted personnel , and also in order to distinguish itself from ___MASK99___ police . In ___MASK99___ and law enforcement slang , the term " Civies " or " Civvies " are often used to refer civilian population or civilian clothing . The Iron Cross ( abbreviated EK ) was a ___MASK99___ decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia , and later in the German Empire ( 1871  1918 ) and Nazi Germany ( 1933  1945 ). It was established by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia in March 1813 backdated to the birthday of his late wife Queen Louise on 10 March 1813 during the Napoleonic Wars ( EK 1813 ). Louise was the first person to receive this decoration ( posthumous ). The recommissioned Iron Cross was also awarded during the Franco - Prussian War ( EK 1870 ), World War I ( EK 1914 ), and World War II ( EK 1939 , re - introduced with a swastika added in the center ). The Iron Cross was normally a ___MASK99___ decoration only , though there were instances of it being awarded to civilians for performing ___MASK99___ functions . Two examples of this were civilian test pilots Hanna Reitsch who was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class and 1st Class and Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg , who was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class , for their actions as pilots during World War II . Matthias Kleinheisterkamp ( 22 June 1893 -- 29 April 1945 ) was an SS Obergruppenführer ( General ) and a Heer ( Army ) officer who served in both World War I and World War II . During World War II , Kleinheisterkamp commanded the 3 . SS - Division Totenkopf , 6 . SS - Gebirgs - Division Nord , 2 . SS - Division Das Reich , III . ( germanische ) SS - Panzerkorps , VII . SS - Panzerkops , IV . SS - Panzerkops , XII . SS - Armeekorps and the XI . SS - Armeekorps . He was also a winner of the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves . The Franco - Prussian War or Franco - German War , often referred to in France as the War of 1870 ( 19 July 1871 ), was a conflict between the Second French Empire of Napoleon III and the German states of the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia . The conflict was caused by Prussian ambitions to extend German unification and French fears of the shift in the European balance of power that would result if the Prussians succeeded . Some historians argue that the Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck deliberately provoked a French attack in order to draw the southern German states  Baden , Württemberg , Bavaria and Hesse - Darmstadt  into an ___MASK79___ with the North German Confederation dominated by Prussia , while others contend that Bismarck did not plan anything and merely exploited the circumstances as they unfolded . World War I ( WWI or WW1 ), also known as the First World War , or the Great War , was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918 . More than 70 million ___MASK99___ personnel , including 60 million Europeans , were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history . Over nine million combatants and seven million civilians died as a result of the war ( including the victims of a number of genocides ), a casualty rate exacerbated by the belligerents ' technological and industrial sophistication , and the tactical stalemate caused by gruelling trench warfare . It was one of the deadliest conflicts in history , and paved the way for major political changes , including revolutions in many of the nations involved . Edmund Heines ( 21 July 1897 , Munich  30 June 1934 , Stadelheim Prison ) was a ___MASK35___ leader and Ernst Röhm ' s deputy in the Sturmabteilung or SA . Strategic bombing is a ___MASK99___ strategy used in a total war with the goal of defeating the enemy by destroying its morale or its economic ability to produce and transport materiel to the theatres of ___MASK99___ operations , or both . It is a systematically organized and executed attack from the air which can utilize strategic bombers , long - or medium - range missiles , or nuclear - armed fighter - bomber aircraft to attack targets deemed vital to the enemy ' s war - making capability . In politics and ___MASK99___ planning , a war effort refers to a coordinated mobilization of society ' s resources  both industrial and human  towards the support of a ___MASK99___ force . Depending on the militarization of the culture , the relative size of the armed forces and the society supporting them , the style of government , and the popular support for the ___MASK99___ objectives , such war effort can range from a small industry to complete command of society . Nazi Germany is the common English name for the period in German history from 1933 to 1945 , when Germany was governed by a dictatorship under the control of Adolf Hitler and the ___MASK35___ ( NSDAP ). Under Hitler ' s rule , Germany was transformed into a fascist state in which the ___MASK35___ took totalitarian control over nearly all aspects of life . The official name of the state was " Deutsches Reich " from 1933 to 1943 and " Großdeutsches Reich " (" Greater German Reich ") from 1943 to 1945 . The period is also known under the names the Third Reich and the National Socialist Period ( abbreviated as " NS - Zeit "). The Nazi regime came to an end after the Allied Powers defeated Germany in May 1945 , ending World War II in Europe .