A unique blend of graphics and text illustrates the structural evolution of the most intensely-studied army of the twentieth century. Twelve key engagements, from Czechoslovakia 1938 to Berlin 1945, have been selected to show German organization and doctrine tested in action. Adolf Hitler was named Chancellor of Germany in 1933, but did not fully consolidate his power until the summer of 1934, when he brutally suppressed the Nazi Party's private militia in an agreement with the regular German armed forces. Thus began a contradictory relationship between Party and Army that continued until the very end of the National Socialist regime in 1945.