Wehraboo

A wehraboo is a fan of the German armed forces, the Wehrmacht, of the World War II era. This usually does not necessarily mean holding the same sociopolitical views, but more takes the form of unrealisticly high assessments of the German soldiers and equipment and obsessive "what if?" discussions about how Germany could have won the war.

The classic example of Wehrabooism is Sherman inflation, where it is said that it would take 3, 5, 10, or more Shermans to take out one Tiger tank. Often these comparisons completely ignore the role of one weapons system in a larger military context. In this example, Wehraboos overlook the reliability of the Sherman, its maneuverability, fuel economy, ease of manufacture, and the fact that infantry support was its primary role, not tank-killing. In many respects it was superior to the Tiger for what it was needed to do.

Other examples include fascination with superweapons such as the V1 and V2 rockets, alternate strategies for the Eastern Front (e.g. what if direct drive on Moscow rather than diversion to the south during Barbarossa), etc.

Wehraboos often believe the Wehrmacht was defeated due to large numbers of poorly-trained Soviet infantry, ignoring the technological defeats Germany suffered at sea, in the air, and on land. They also overlook German mismanagement of the war effort, with poor economic planning and a high command that made serious strategic errors many times throughout the war.

They may also attempt to downplay the Wehrmacht's role in the Holocaust, often trying to shift blame to more politically-driven SS units or even to local collaborators in Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, etc.

Wehraboos are often admirers of Erwin Rommel, the tactically-brilliant German general who led the Afrika Korps to Egypt where it outran its supply chain and suffered a catastrophic defeat, and many of its Italian allies were captured.