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The Reich Air Ministry (Reichsluftfahrtministerium or RLM), was a German civil service organization in charge of development and production of aircraft, primarily for the Luftwaffe, from 1933 to 1945. They were the German counterpart of the British Air Ministry. The RLM was notoriously political, and probably did more to destroy the Luftwaffe than any military action on the part of the Allies.
The RLM was formed in April 1933 in the center of Berlin, from the Reichskommissariat für die Luftfahrt, which had been established two months earlier with Hermann Göring at its head. In this early phase the RLM was little more than Göring's personal staff.
One of its first actions was to requisition control of all patents and companies of Hugo Junkers, the German aeronautical engineer. These included all rights to the Junkers Ju 52 aircraft.
General Werner von Blomberg, head of OKW and one of the most powerful people in Germany's then-small Army, decided that the importance of aviation was such that it should no longer be subordinate to the Army. In May 1933 he transferred the Luftschutzamt, the army's Department of Military Aviation, to the RLM. This is often considered the birth of the Luftwaffe. The RLM was now much larger, consisting of two large departments (Amt): the military Luftschutzamt (LA) and the civilian Allgemeines Luftamt (LB). Erhard MilchErhard Milch ( March 30, 1892 January 25, 1972) was an official of the Nazi government who oversaw the development of the Luftwaffe as part of the re-armament of Germany following World War I. Milch was born in Wilhelmshaven. During World War I he served was placed in direct control of the LA, in his function as Staatssekretär der Luftfahrt.
In September a reorganization was undertaken to reduce duplication of effort between departments. The primary changes were to move the staffing and technical development organizations out of the LB, and make them full departments on their own. The result was a collection of six: Luftkommandoamt (LA), Allgemeines Luftamt (LB), Technisches Amt (LC, but more often referred to as the T-amt) in charge of all research and development, Luftwaffenverwaltungsamt (LD) for construction, Luftwaffenpersonalamt (LP) for training and staffing, and the Zentralabteilung (ZA), central command. In 1934Events January-April January 1 Alcatraz becomes a federal prison. January 7 First Flash Gordon comic strip is published. January 10 Execution of Marinus van der Lubbe January 24 Einstein visits White House January 26 The Apollo Theater opens in Harlem, Ne an additional department was added, the Luftzeugmeister (LZM) in charge of logisticsIn military and business, logistics experts manage how and when to move resources to the places they are needed. In military science, maintaining ones supply lines while disrupting those of the enemy is a crucial, and some would say the most crucial eleme.
In any organizational sense, the RLM was as good as any similar organization in other countries. With the excellent personal relations between Göring and Hitler, the RLM had better political support than most. However Göring staffed the RLM with politicoA politico or pol is a person involved in politics. Originally the word, from latin meant politician, but in more modern usage it also refers to people involved in political behaviour of any sort. For instance, the term is often used to describe people whs who spent as much time trying to rise up the organizational chart as they did working their jobs.
The problem became particularly acute between 1939Events January-June January 2 End of term for Frank Finley Merriam, 28th Governor of California. He is succeeded by Culbert Levy Olson. January 24 Earthquake kills 30. 000 in Chile about 50. 000 sq mi razed January 26 Falangists take Barcelona January 26 and 1942Events January January 1 World War II: The word " United Nations" is first officially used to describe the Allied pact. January 2 World War II: Manila is captured by Japanese forces. January 5 Amy Johnson disappears in flight over River Thames estuary ass, when the organization had grown so large that Göring was no longer able to maintain control. This period is marked by an inability to deliver new aircraft designs that were desperately needed, as well as continued shortages of aircraft and engines. The only thing the Luftwaffe had in any number were men, so many in fact that some were formed into a infantryInfantry (or Infantrymen are soldiers who fight primarily on foot, using personal weapons. They may arrive on scene in various ways, and are deployed either in formations or as skirmishers and guerillas. In the modern period, the term "infantryman" is res division under command of the Luftwaffe, concept that was invented simply to keep from losing them to the Army. Some modern air forces do sometimes keep limited numbers of special operation troops but of the same scope as this case.
In 1943 Albert Speer took over from Milch, and things immediately improved. Given Hitler's complete blessing, he was able to cut through the rigid hierarchy and make needed changes almost overnight. Aircraft production shot up, and projects that had been hampered for political reasons, like the Heinkel He 219 Uhu were finally able to proceed. But this time it was too late however, and in the summer of 1944 they were not ready to take on the massive Allied air forces that appeared over Germany.
There is variation in naming and translation of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium. RLM is the common acronym for it, which was used in wartime Germany and is reasonably common. However, full translations suffered much more variance as the full name is much rougher then other German words used directly in English, like Luftwaffe or even Reich. As a result a wide variety of translations of varying descriptive power can be found. Reich stood of course for the Third Reich which is sometimes left as is or changed to 'German', though the word reichs can be translated as realm in English. Luftfahrt translates as aviation or air, and ministerium becomes ministry although equivalent terms like administration or bureau can be found.
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