Wehrmacht (Altenland)

Wehrmacht
"Defense Force"
Reichskriegsflagge, the war flag and naval ensign of the Wehrmacht
Emblem of the Wehrmacht, the Kaiserkreuz
Service branches	Heer Luftwaffe Kriegsmarine
Headquarters	Hochstadt, Altenland
Leadership
Commander-in-Chief	Martin Winter
Kriegsminister	Bruno Graf von Scharnhorst
Personnel
Military age	18-35
Conscription	Limited
Active personnel	2,200,000
Reserve personnel	1,300,000
Related articles
Ranks	Wehrmacht Ranks

The Wehrmacht ("defense force") are the unified armed forces of Valkist Altenland. It consists of the Heer (army), Luftwaffe (air force), and Kriegsmarine (navy). The designation "Wehrmacht" replaced the previously used term Reichswehr, which had earlier replaced the term Republikswehr and serves as the manifestation of the Valkist regime's efforts to rearm Altenland to a greater extent than the Treaty of Verdon permitted.

After the Valkists rose to power in 1928, one of Martin Winter's most overt and audacious moves was to establish the Wehrmacht, a modern and offensively capable fighting force. In his first few years in power, Winter moved to violate most of Altenland's military restrictions by reinstituting conscription, expanding the size of the armed forces well beyond 150,000, constructing tanks and submarines, and forming an air force, the Luftwaffe, which was strictly forbidden by Verdon. This has required massive investment and defense spending on the arms industry.

Origin

Etymology

The Altish term "Wehrmacht" stems from the compound word of Altish: wehren, "to defend" and Macht, "power, force". It is used to describe any nation's armed forces; for example, Auvernisches Wehrmacht meaning "Auvernian Armed Forces". The Constitution of the Altish Empire of 1840 designated all Altish military forces as the "Altish Wehrmacht", consisting of the Seemacht (sea force) and the Landmacht (land force). The term also appears in the Republican constitution of 1920, establishing that: "The Reich's President holds supreme command of all armed forces [i.e. the Wehrmacht] of the Reich". From 1920, Altenland's national defense force was known as the Republikswehr, which was changed to Reichswehr after the death of President Ruppert Graff in October 1928 and the merging of the powers of the chancellorship and presidency by Martin Winter. In January 1931, the name was changed again to Wehrmacht.