The Luftwaffe was the air force of Germany during World War II. More precisely, it was the aerial-warfare branch of Nazi Germany’s armed forces, the Wehrmacht, and operated from 1935 until the end of the war in 1945.
Germany had been prohibited from maintaining an air force under the Treaty of Versailles after World War I. Despite that restriction, German military aviation was developed covertly during the interwar period. The Luftwaffe was formally unveiled in 1935 under Adolf Hitler, with Hermann Göring serving as its first commander in chief.
At the start of World War II, the Luftwaffe supported Germany’s rapid campaigns in Poland and Western Europe. It used fighters, bombers, dive-bombers and transport aircraft in coordinated operations with ground forces. Its defeat during the Battle of Britain in 1940 showed that German air superiority was not guaranteed, while later campaigns stretched its resources across multiple fronts.
The word Luftwaffe simply means “air weapon” or “air force” in German. Germany also has a modern air force with the same name, but that postwar Bundeswehr institution is distinct from the World War II Luftwaffe.