In World War I, the Germans had developed long-range artillery and bombarded Paris from the German lines; because of this, the Treaty of Versailles forbade future German development of heavy artillery. The treaty, however, said nothing about rockets. During World War II, German rocketeers under the technical developed "V" weapons. The "V" was short for "Vergeltungswaffen", roughly translated "vengenace weapons".
In 1931, the German military established a rocket research facility at Kummersdorf Weapons Range, near Berlin. The first civilian employee at this facility was Wernher von Braun. In 1937 the German rocket facility was moved to Peenemunde on the Baltic Coast. Starting with about 80 researchers in 1936, the facility comprised nearly 5000 personnel by late 1942.
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