Wehrmacht waves of mobilization

In the German Wehrmacht before and during World War II, infantry divisions were raised as part of a designated Aufstellungswelle (deployment wave) or Welle (wave), sometimes translated as "draft". The Aufstellungswelle system was adopted by the Wehrmacht in late 1938. Peacetime units were the first wave, and 34 other waves followed until the 35th wave in April 1945. Several types of divisions were organized by Aufstellungswelle, including infantry, security, shadow and Volksgrenadier divisions.

== Background == The mobilization model for the Wehrmacht's active and reserve forces in multiple waves was first issued in the annual mobilization plan of 8 December 1938. The system initially had four waves, the first of which would be the peacetime army and the other three raised in anticipation of the invasion of Poland. The first wave (the peacetime army) consisted of divisions with ordinal numbers of one to 50. The second wave, reservists who had completed their compulsory training, consisted of divisions numbered 51 to 100. The third wave, numbered 201 to 250, would consist of reservists with less training than those of the second wave who would need refresher training due to their age (born between 1901 and 1913). The fourth wave, numbered 251 to 300, would be formed from training units in Germany. The first wave would be fully operational on the second day of mobilization, the second wave on the third day, the third wave on the sixth day, and the fourth wave on the seventh day.