The German Empire, also known as Imperial Germany, was the German nation state that existed from the unification of Germany in 1871 until the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918.
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central and Western Europe, lying between the Baltic and North Seas to the north, and the Alps to the south. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, France to the southwest, and Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands to the west.
Military aviation is the use of military aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling aerial warfare, including national airlift capacity to provide logistical supply to forces stationed in a theater or along a front. Airpower includes the national means of conducting such warfare, including the intersection of transport and war craft. Military aircraft include bombers, fighters, transports, trainer aircraft, and reconnaissance aircraft.
Founded in 1911, the Idflieg was part of the Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches (Imperial German Flying Corps) which became the Luftstreitkräfte in 1916, handling administration, including regulation of service names applied to aircraft produced by domestic companies, characterised according to the armament, wing configuration, crew and role which was intended for the aircraft.
The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte —known before October 1916 as the Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches or simply Die Fliegertruppe—was the World War I (1914–18) air arm of the German Army, of which it remained an integral part. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, although that is not a literal translation of either name. German naval aviators serving with the Marine-Fliegerabteilung remained an integral part of the Imperial German Navy. Both military branches, the army and navy, operated conventional aircraft, observation balloons and Zeppelins.
Lieutenant-General Friedrich Wilhelm Magnus Heinrich Walter von Eberhardt, generally known as Walter von Eberhardt, was a German military commander during World War I and the Lithuanian–Soviet War of 1918-19. He was the son of later Prussian Major general Heinrich von Eberhardt (1821–1899). His older brothers also made career in the Prussian army. Magnus (1855–1939) raised till General of Infantry, Gaspard von Eberhardt (1858–1928) to Lieutenant general. Notably, he was the first inspector of the flying troops (Idflieg) from 1913 to 1914. In 1930 Unserere Luftstreitkräfte 1914-1918 was published under the editorship of von Eberhardt.
Colonel Richard Roethe (1865–1944) was a German Army officer and an influential figure in German military aviation during World War I. In 1914 he succeeded Colonel Walter von Eberhardt as the Inspector of Flying Troops, remaining in that post until 1916.
Wilhelm Haehnelt was a Luftwaffe General der Flieger in World War II.
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The Fokker Scourge occurred during the First World War from August 1915 to early 1916, when the Imperial German Flying Corps, equipped with Fokker Eindecker fighters, gained an advantage over the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the French Aéronautique Militaire.
The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War, until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC supported the British Army by artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance. This work gradually led RFC pilots into aerial battles with German pilots and later in the war included the strafing of enemy infantry and emplacements, the bombing of German military airfields and later the strategic bombing of German industrial and transport facilities.
The Albatros D.II was a German fighter aircraft used during World War I. After a successful combat career in the early Jagdstaffeln, it was gradually superseded by the Albatros D.III.
The Albatros D.V was a fighter aircraft built by the Albatros Flugzeugwerke and used by the Luftstreitkräfte during World War I. The D.V was the final development of the Albatros D.I family and the last Albatros fighter to see operational service. Despite its well-known shortcomings and general obsolescence, approximately 900 D.V and 1,612 D.Va aircraft were built before production halted in early 1918. The D.Va continued in operational service until the end of the war.
The Pfalz D.XII was a German fighter aircraft built by Pfalz Flugzeugwerke. Designed by Rudolph Gehringer as a successor to the Pfalz D.III, the D.XII entered service in significant numbers near the end of the First World War. It was the last Pfalz aircraft to see widespread service. Though the D.XII was an effective fighter aircraft, it was overshadowed by the highly successful Fokker D.VII.
A Riesenflugzeug, sometimes colloquially referred to in English as an R-plane, was a large World War I German bomber, possessing at least three aircraft engines, more usually being powered by four or more engines, sometimes of more than one make, model or power level. These were large multi-engine aircraft capable of flying several hours with larger bomb loads than the smaller Grossflugzeug bombers such as the Gotha G.V. Some of the earliest Riesenflugzeuge were given G-type designations before being redesignated, but a major distinction was that the requirements for the R-type specified that the engines had to be serviceable in flight. As a result, designs fell into two groups - those with the engines mounted centrally inside the fuselage using gearboxes and driveshafts to transfer the power to propellers mounted between the wings, and those with conventional powerplant installations mounted in large nacelles or the nose of the aircraft where engineers would be stationed for each group of engines. The transmission of power from the centrally mounted engines to the remote, most often wing-mounted propellers proved troublesome in practice and most operational examples of Riesenflugzeug-class aircraft were of the second type, as with the all-direct-drive Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI.
Jasta 2 was one of the best-known German Luftstreitkräfte Squadrons in World War I. Its first commanding officer was the great aerial tactician Oswald Boelcke, and it was the incubator of several notable aviation careers.
Feldflieger Abteilung was the title of the pioneering field aviation units of what became the Luftstreitkräfte by October 1916, during World War I.
The air commanders of World War I were army or navy officers who came to command air services during the first major conflict in which air power played a significant role.
The Siemens-Schuckert R.I was a bomber aircraft built in Germany during World War I. It was originally ordered as the Siemens-Schuckert G.I prior to the German Inspectorate of Flying Troops adopting the "R" classification for multi-engine aircraft in late 1915. Some sources refer to the aircraft as the Siemens-Schuckert Steffen R.I, including the name of the brothers that designed it.
The Siemens-Schuckert Forssman was a prototype bomber aircraft designed and built in Germany in 1914 and 1915. When its performance proved inadequate for its intended role, even after numerous modifications, the German Inspectorate of Flying Troops eventually accepted it into service as a trainer. Shortly after its acceptance into military service, the aircraft's fuselage fractured while on the ground, ending its career.
The Siemens-Schuckert R.VIII was a bomber aircraft designed and built in Germany from 1916.
The Siemens-Schuckert R.III was a prototype bomber aircraft built in Germany during World War I. It was one of six aircraft based on the Siemens-Schuckert R.I that were originally intended to be identical, but which each developed in a different direction and were designated as different aircraft types by the German Inspectorate of Flying Troops. The aircraft's development was impeded by the unreliability of its Maybach HS engines, and when it was eventually accepted for military service, it was only in a training role.
The Siemens-Schuckert R.IV was a bomber aircraft built in Germany during World War I. It was one of six aircraft based on the Siemens-Schuckert R.I that were originally intended to be identical, but which each developed in a different direction and were designated as different aircraft types by the German Inspectorate of Flying Troops. The Maybach HS engines specified by the Idflieg proved unreliable, but with these engines were replaced by Benz Bz.IV engines, the R.IV saw service on the Eastern Front before being relegated to training duties.
The Siemens-Schuckert R.V was a bomber aircraft built in Germany during World War I. It was one of six aircraft based on the Siemens-Schuckert R.I that were originally intended to be identical, but which each developed in a different direction and were designated as different aircraft types by the German Inspectorate of Flying Troops. Development of the R.V benefited from the experience that Siemens-Schuckert and the Idflieg had gained with the R.II, R.III, and R.IV, particularly in its choice of powerplants, where the R.V was spared from the troublesome Maybach HS engine. Between September 1916 and February 1917, the aircraft saw service on the Eastern Front before it was damaged in an accident and dismantled for spare parts.
Lieutenant Karl Deilmann was a World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories.
Vizefeldwebel Fritz John Jacobsen was a World War I flying ace credited with eight confirmed and two unconfirmed aerial victories.
Gustav Leffers was a German flying ace in World War I, credited with 9 victories.
The Gotha B types of the Gothaer Waggonfabrik were two-seat reconnaissance/trainer aircraft of the German Air Force in the First World War.
