The Balkenkreuz, emblem of the Wehrmacht.
The Wehrmacht is a recurring organization in the 1940 series, based on real Germany armed forces which existed until the end of World War II.
Real World Information[]
The Wehrmacht ("Defence Force") was the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1946. It consisted of the Heer (army), the Kriegsmarine (navy) and the Luftwaffe (air force). The designation Wehrmacht for Nazi Germany's military replaced the previously used term, Reichswehr (1919–35), and constituted the Third Reich’s efforts to rearm the nation to a greater extent than the Treaty of Versailles permitted.
Following Germany’s defeat in the First World War, the Versailles treaty limited the country's army to 100,000. The Reichswehr, formed under the newly formed Weimar Republic was the precursor to the Wehrmacht. After the Nazi seizure of power, one of Hitler’s most overt and audacious moves was to establish a mighty fighting force (the Wehrmacht), a modern armed forces fully capable of offensive use. Fulfilling the Nazi regime’s long-term goals of regaining lost territory and dominating its neighbors required massive investment and spending on the armaments industry, as well as military conscription to expand Hitler’s fighting machine. In December 1941, Hitler designated himself as commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht.
For more information see the Wikipedia article
In the Games[]
Due to the controversy over the use of the Imperial Japanese Navy as the main enemies, all games after 1943 Kai: Midway Kaisen would go on to use other forces as the main enemies. The Nazi Germany's armed forces, the Wehrmacht, appear as the main enemies in 1941: Counter Attack, though the game is set on fictional battles during the war. Despite featuring as the enemies, there is practically no depictions of the Swastika on the games and very few enemies would sport the Balkenkreuz emblem. Later games in the series would feature fictional enemy forces as to avoid any further controversy.