German military aviation

thumb|upright|Hermann Göring, the first Supreme Commander of the Luftwaffe (in office: 1935–1945) thumb|upright|Robert Ritter von Greim, the second and last Supreme Commander of the Luftwaffe (in office: April–May 1945) The Luftwaffe () was the aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Navy, had been disbanded in May 1920 in accordance with the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, which banned Germany from having any air force.

air warfare branch of Germany's military

The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte (, German Air Combat Forces)known before October 1916 as ' (lit. "The flying troops of the German Imperial Reich")was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. 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 of the were an integral part of the Imperial German Navy (). Both military branches operated aeroplanes, observation balloons and airships.