in the art of war tsun tsu wrote that speed is the essence of war surely when tsun tzu wrote that he was not expecting hitler to take it too literally speed also known as amps pet pills uppers and lid poppers was commercialized just in time for mass consumption during world war ii by the leading industrial powers world war ii was truly the greatest impetus to date for legally medically authorized as well as illicit black market abuse of amps and similar drugs on a worldwide scale welcome to nutty history and today let's find out how pet pills control the tides of battles during the second world war there is no doubt about the worldwide abuse of large amounts of brain ticklers by the japanese american and british forces during world war ii but the trend was established by z germans during the initial phases of the war long before others joined the bandwagon while nazi ideology was fundamentally anti-drug and social use of drugs in nazi germany was considered both a sign of individual weakness and moral decay of the entire society they had no qualms about being hypocritical to abuse drugs in the military in fact the nazi propaganda promoted black beauties as a privilege offered only to the soldiers while other drugs were banned or discouraged speed was touted as a miracle product when it appeared on the market in the late 1930s the little pill had a poetic connection with the nazi slogan germany awake as it would energize and boost the confidence of the soldiers that played right into the third reich's obsession with physical and mental superiority while other drugs such as alcohol or white junk were sort of an escapist delight amps were helpful with hyper alertness and vigilance we've already discussed in our older videos how much armies were obsessed with the mythical concept of super soldiers during the second world war and bumblebees also contributed to that fascination the lightning oranges were considered a small shortcut to turn ordinary soldiers into superhumans as hitler declared we don't need weak people we want only the strong and thus the abuse of speed became a synonym with being strong and getting stronger however the blame for introducing speed to germany goes to u. s athletes of the berlin olympics in 1936 the german chemist friedrich hostchild had been aware that americans were using benzedrine an american version of pixies for doping during the 36 olympics benzedrine was also used by u. s forces during the second world war especially by the air force pilots to stay up in the air for longer hours discovering american speed led friedrich hostchild to research into the drug and he managed to synthesize a close cousin of amps this drug later would become the center plot of a great tv show in the early 21st century where a cancer-ridden teacher would join hands with a good-for-nothing student to become the underworld king at that time friedrich hostchild was working for temler verka a berlin-based pharmaceutical company tim leverke came up with a brand name for this fascinating chemical in the winter of 1937 and called it pervertine thanks to the company's aggressive advertising campaign pervatine became well known within a few months the tablets were wildly popular and could be purchased without a prescription in pharmacies one could even buy chocolates spiked with speed but the drug's most important use was yet to come from 1939 to 1945 the third reich astonished europe with its blitzkrieg on all battlefronts its military efficiency has since then become a light motif of history studies although academically nazi success in this period has been attributed to its technological superiority optimization and innovative strategies there was more to that though the vermact had nothing left to chance everything was meticulously inaccurately calculated from the weight of the firearms to the offensive timings as well as when and how to abuse performance-enhancing drugs throughout the war the germans consumed pervertine it produced higher energy and reduced sleep needs and hunger it was also attributed to sparking great enthusiasm and made soldiers believe the nazi propaganda was all rainbows and unicorns perverting enjoyed any legal status in germany until 1941 and until then it was broadly advertised all over the nation billboards were strewn throughout berlin from 1938 to its regulation in 1941 as consumption became more and more obscure according to norman older's book blitzed drugs in nazi germany the entire nation was once dependent on speed at one point it may be a matter of ridicule now but pervatine was never meant to be a military drug for the nazis but it was intended to compete with the american beverage popular in germany called coca-cola timler employed mathis and son with the advertising campaign of their new casual drug germany was going through a calamity back then the embarrassment of the defeat in the first world war the humiliating treaty of versailles economic crisis political turmoil the rise of nationalist rage and blaring bugles for another great war all of that didn't make it easy to cope for an average german citizen and here came pervertine offering vigor efficiency and calmness so the population welcomed the energizing substance with open arms it was cheap helped people work spread euphoria throughout the country and was not even considered a drug at the time furthermore the drug was not only popular among workers adolf hitler himself was introduced to drugs by morel soon the drug was issued a performance test on students to see how it would affect their focus and work behavior arorenka director of the institute for general and defense physiology at berlin's academy of military medicine soon returned with the conclusion that the drug indeed could bolster german efforts on the front he suggested that speed and its compounds could improve the soldiers performance following the research conducted under the spearhead of autoranca verveteen was introduced in the daily rations of the nazi soldiers and was to be consumed up to twice a day the drug soon began showing its effects the soldiers were acting fearless and were extra elated even in the most morbid situations otto ranka's goal to defeat the enemy with chemically enhanced soldiers was now a reality the soldiers were walking up to 60 kilometers and working non-stop for three days without sleeping this was the biggest aid that helped the invasion of poland in 1939 the blitzkrieg through the french ardenne in 1940 and the balkan campaign of 1941 were germans fought unceasingly for 11 days otto ranka was over the moon with the success of his little find and had become a daily user of the drug himself he was living the dream of nazi grandeur of world domination and seen himself next to hitler in no time his correspondence indicates that he and his desk workers too were working without any sleep and popping pills left and right ignoring the prescription limit to manage the self-inflicted demands of their jobs before playing a crucial part in the invasion of poland the drug was given a test run by the vermac medical officers they ordered soldiers of the third tank division to take it during the occupation of czechoslovakia in 1938.
the success there cleared the path for widespread military use in the poland invasion that caused the death of over a hundred thousand polish soldiers this was the moment when the term blitzkrieg or the lightning war came into existence being high on speed allowed german soldiers to emphasize haste and surprise to catch the enemy off guard and trample over them pervertine eliminated what differentiates humans from machines fatigue the need for rest sleep and eat was a tale of the past now and nothing was slowing down as tanks and companies of men marched together at an unrelenting pace to win all of europe for their fewer however perverting wasn't a miracle it was just burning candles from both ends nothing in his universe was as benevolent as perfecting was promising to be for hitler's germany the drug obviously had its side effects early reports found in the archives mention adverse effects such as exhaustion heart pain and circulation problems this instigated further study led by the reich health fuhrer leonardo conti who among others soon sounded the alarm bells about the risk of perverting and that led to its regulation and prohibition in 1941. the drug was now available through prescription only but these warnings fell on top ears despite the anti-drug rhetoric of hitler and the nazi party that had been disseminated since 1933 the new regulations were widely ignored they had a perfect reason for it too all of germany was hooked on perverting and sudden prohibition caused a large national withdrawal ironically hitler himself was heavily addicted instead of causing the reduction of the german economic dependence on pharmaceuticals and tackling an alarming addiction problem the prohibition was deemed pretty much a failure even on the civilian front the military didn't even care for the prohibition or regulation as a matter of fact military officials seem to find its distribution legitimate especially due to the short-term benefits it was providing the army the consumption increased during the ill-fated operation barbarossa from june to december of 1941 immediately after the restrictions were imposed there's also a conspiracy side of the regulation german civilians getting hooked on pervatine could have been considered an unnecessary stress on the production of speed pills so it's entirely possible that the sham of prohibition was created just to ensure more supply to the soldiers who were about to face the red army on their home turf from 1941 the reich knew that pervating brought side effects and risk of addiction however even when the soldiers were dying because of heart failure or committing suicide because of the psychotic phases the amps continued to fuel the country until the end of the war the blitzkrieg depended on speed for relentlessly pushing the head with tank troops day and night it was the cause of the fall of denmark in norway 1940.
