The Wehrmacht
After World War I ended with the capitulation of the German empire, the treaty of Versailles imposed severe constraints on the size of Germany's armed forces. The army was limited to one hundred thousand men with an additional fifteen thousand in the navy. The fleet was to consist of at most six battleships, six cruisers, and twelve destroyers. Tanks and heavy artillery were forbidden and the air force was dissolved. A new post-war military (the Reichswehr) was established on 23 March 1921. General conscription was abolished under another mandate of the Versailles treaty.
Germany immediately began covertly circumventing these conditions. A secret collaboration with the Soviet Union began after the treaty of Rapallo. Major-General Otto Hasse traveled to Moscow in 1923 to further negotiate the terms. Germany helped the Soviet Union with industrialisation and Soviet officers were to be trained in Germany. German tank and air force specialists would be trained in the Soviet Union and German chemical weapons research and manufacture would be carried out there along with other projects. Around three hundred German pilots received training at Lipetsk, some tank training took place near Kazan and toxic gas was developed at Saratov for the German army.
After the death of President Paul von Hindenburg on 2 August 1934, all officers and soldiers of the German armed forces swore a personal oath of loyalty to Adolf Hitler. By 1935, Germany was openly flouting the military restrictions set forth in the Versailles Treaty, and conscription was reintroduced on 16 March 1935. While the size of the standing army was to remain at about the 100,000-man mark decreed by the treaty, a new group of conscripts this size would receive training each year. The conscription law introduced the name Wehrmacht, and its existence was officially announced on October 15 1935.
Like the Reichswehr before it, the Wehrmacht embodied the army - the (Wehrmacht) Heer (WH), the navy (Wehrmacht) Kriegsmarine (WM) and the newly-created air force - the (Wehrmacht) Luftwaffe (WL).
The insignia was a stylised version of the Iron Cross (the so-called Balkenkreuz) that had first appeared as an aircraft and tank marking in late World War I.
After four years of "peace" and six years of fierce combat, the 3rd Reich was all but crushed, and finally capitulated on 8 May 1945. The following year, on 20 August 1946, the Allied Control Council passed a law that formally dissolved the Wehrmacht.
How To Paint Wehrmacht Camouflage Uniforms
This is yet another of those many subjects that seem to have as many answers as there are painters. These methods, however, work for me, and give me a camouflage uniform I'm happy with.
I paint my figures from the inside out (and no, I don't bother with eyes), so I will show all the paint guides starting with an undercoated figure that has already had the assorted flesh tones applied. Since everyone has their own favourite for that, I'll restrict myself to saying that I paint the skin areas with GW Dwarf Flesh, put on a coat of flesh ink, drybrush with Dwarf Flesh, drybrush again with Bronzed Flesh and finish up (sometimes) with a final drybrush of Elf Flesh. I don't bother being particularly tidy, mainly as all "messes" are cleaned up by the subsequent layers of paint.
I'll be illustrating my camouflage "how-to" with figures as I would have them when reaching the point that I start painting the camouflaged item.
My main reference book for the various Wehrmacht patterns is Europa Militaria 17: Wehrmacht Camouflage Uniforms & Post-War Derivatives. This little gem features models wearing a mixture of real and replica clothing, showing the various patterns off to best effect. These pictures are invaluable in trying to recreate the patterns in miniature. All replicas are clearly indicated, and usually shown with a real item in order to show how they differ.
Europa Militaria 17: Wehrmacht Camouflage Uniforms & Post-War Derivatives