Dictionary - TracesOfWar.com

WA: Abbreviation of defence department, assault groups of the NSB
Waffen-SS: Name of Military section of the SS.
Wannsee conference: Conference at the Wannsee on 20 January 1942. The Naziâ€™s made final agreements about the extermination of Jews in Europe, the Final Solution (Ã‹ndlÃ¶sung).
War Crimes: Crimes committed in wartime. Often concerning crimes committed by soldiers against civilians.
Washington Naval Treaty: Treaty signed on 6 February 1922 by The United States, Great Britain, France and Italy through which the countries imposed restrictions on each other concerning number, magnitude and armoury of the most important warships to prevent a new arms race.
Wehrmacht: German armed military forces, divided in ground forces, air force and navy.
Weimar republic: Name for the German republic from 1919 until 1933. Hitler ended the Weimar republic and founded the Third Reich.
Weltanschauung: This expression has often been used to refer to the "wide worldview" or "wide world perception" of a people, family, or person.
Westwall: Also known as Siegfried Line, the German defence line along the German-French border.
Wetterflieger: Weather pilot (meteorologist). Read more...
WIA: Wounded in action, wounded in battle.
Wingewest: Translation of the Latin word â€œprovincialâ€, meaning conquered area.
Wolfpack: Strategy used by German submarines enabling the attack of an allied convoy by a group of German submarines
Wolfsschanze: Headquarters of Adolf Hitler in East Prussia.
World crisis: Global economic crisis that broke out after the New York stock market crash in 1929. The threat of war (World War 2) improved the economic situation.
WÃ¼rzburg: German short range radar. Was used to guide searchlights, FLAK and guiding German night fighters.
WW1: Took place from 1914 till 1918 and is also named The Great War. The conflict started because of increased nationalism, militarism and neo-colonialism in Europe. Two alliances battled one another during the 4-year war, which after a dynamic start, resulted into static trench warfare. The belligerents were the Triple Alliance (consisting of Great-Britain, France, and Russia; later enlarged by Italy and the USA, amongst others) on the one hand and the Central Powers (consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman empire) on the other hand. The war was characterized by the huge number of casualties and the use of many new weapons (flamethrowers, aircraft, poison gas, tanks). The war ended in 1918 when Germany and its allies surrendered unconditionally.

Contact details

More information

Special MyHeritage Offer

Domains

More information

Contact