Wehrkraftzersetzung or Zersetzung der Wehrkraft (German for "undermining defence force") was a sedition offence in German military law during the Nazi Germany era from 1938 to 1945.

Wehrkraftzersetzung was enacted in 1938 by decree as Germany moved closer to World War II to suppress criticism of the Nazi Party and Wehrmacht leadership in the military, and in 1939, a second decree was issued extending the law to civilians.^{[note 1][1]} Wehrkraftzersetzung consolidated and redefined paragraphs already in the military penal code to punish "seditious" acts such as conscientious objection, defeatist statements, self-mutilation, and questioning the Endsieg. Convictions were punishable by the death penalty, heavy sentences in military prisons, concentration camps, or Strafbataillons.^{[note 2]}

Wehrkraftzersetzung was de facto abolished in 1945 after Nazi Germany's defeat, but text from the penal code continued to be used by the Federal Republic of Germany. On 25 August 1998 and 23 July 2002, after lengthy debate, the Bundestag removed the Nazi-era sentences from the German criminal justice system, and all Nazi military sentencing for conscientious objection, desertion, and all other forms of Wehrkraftzersetzung were repealed as unjust. Current German military law neither contains the term "undermining the military" nor its extensive rules, but a few offences included under the umbrella of Wehrkraftzersetzung remain on the statute books in a vague form.

The German phrase Wehrkraftzersetzung can be translated into English in various forms depending on context, and is difficult to translate its sense used by the Nazi Party. Wehrkraftzersetzung is composed of three parts: Wehr means 'defence' (a cognate of the English word "war"); kraft means power, force, strength; zersetzung means decay, decomposition, disintegration, but also subversion or corruption.^{[citation needed]} The context of Wehrkraftzersetzung, or Zersetzung der Wehrkraft, used by the Nazi Party is typically translated into English as "undermining military force" or "subversion of the war effort" (in reference to the forthcoming war effort),^[1] "undermining military morale",^[2] and "sedition and defeatism".^[3]

The term Zersetzung der Wehrkraft was established in German military law by the Wartime Special Penal Code (Kriegssonderstrafrechtsverordnung or KSSVO) on 17 August 1938, which criminalized all criticism, dissent and behavior opposed to Nazi political and military leadership, particularly within the Wehrmacht's military justice. The definition of the term is equivalent to the Treachery Act of 1934 but escalates the severity of the crime, with critical remarks by soldiers violating the Treachery Act were previously punished merely with a prison term, but the KSSVO added the death penalty, allowing a Zuchthaus or prison sentence only in minor cases.^{[citation needed]} With the introduction of the Wartime Regulations for Criminal Procedures (Kriegsstrafverfahrensordnung or KStVO), those accused under the law were also deprived of the right to appeal, further weakening them at trial. The extent of the military judge's discretion and the degree of arbitrariness involved are indicated in a 1942 statement by Alfred Fikentscher, an admiral and chief medical officer in the Kriegsmarine. Speaking before military lawyers, he said, "...similar circumstances exist with subversive remarks, which may be seen as violations of the Treachery Act. Protracted submission [of documents] to the Minister of Justice to order a criminal prosecution is unnecessary if you approach the statement as undermining the military, which will be possible in almost every case."^{[citation needed]}

The regulations created by the Wehrmacht in the course of preparing for World War II served during the war years as an instrument of terror to maintain the soldiers' "will to persevere" through coercion. Especially in the later stages of the war, the Nazi and Wehrmacht leadership were greatly afraid of repetition of the events during the German Revolution that occurred after World War I. Every act of resistance was to be suppressed so that a reoccurrence of the "stab-in-the-back" be prevented. At the beginning of 1943, the jurisdiction was transferred to the People's Court (Volksgerichtshof), though minor cases could be sent to the Sondergerichte (special courts) that were originally instituted for political crimes but by this time advanced to be the usual courts against common criminality. The Sondergerichte, not unlike later drumhead courts, prioritized hunting-down, not due process, as their express purpose.

Nazi Germany surrendered after signing their Instrument of Surrender on 8 May 1945, and the state was formally dissolved on May 23, effectively abolishing Wehrkraftzersetzung in its intended use. The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), established in 1949 from the occupation zones of the Western Allies, inherited legislation that had been used by Nazi Germany and its predecessors, including Wehrkraftzersetzung. West Germany's military law featured texts and phrases based on Wehrkraftzersetzung during its existence and after the reunification of Germany, and was not replaced until military law reforms in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Former Wehrkraftzersetzung-based laws are currently regulated under §§ 109-109k of the German criminal code titled "Crimes against the Defense of the Country" (Straftaten gegen die Landesverteidigung). Offences such as "Disturbing Propaganda against the Bundeswehr" is § 109d, places penalties on untruthful remarks that "disturb the operations of the Bundeswehr", as well as § 109 StGB.^[7] Military conscription in Germany was suspended in 2011 for an indefinite period of time.^[8]

• Helene Gotthold
• Elise Hampel
• Otto Hampel
• Elli Hatschek^[9]
• Franz Jägerstätter
• Erich Knauf^[10]
• Anna Krauss^[11]
• Oskar Kusch, commander of U-154
• Joseph Müller
• Hans and Sophie Scholl^[4]