this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2025
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History Memes

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submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 22 hours ago) by PugJesus@piefed.social to c/historymemes@piefed.social
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[–] PugJesus@piefed.social 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Explanation: During WW2, the Nazi regime relied heavily on meth as a drug to keep its soldiers going during combat operations - most notably during the Fall of France, during which Nazi tankers hopped up on meth would fight for several days straight without sleep, putting the French defenders at a massive disadvantage.

[–] Nougat@fedia.io 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Early on, yes.

However, the side effects, particularly the withdrawal symptoms, were so serious that the army sharply cut back its usage in 1940. By 1941, usage was restricted to a doctor's prescription, and the military tightly controlled its distribution. Soldiers would only receive a couple of tablets at a time, and were discouraged from using them in combat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methamphetamine#History,_society,_and_culture

[–] PugJesus@piefed.social 5 points 1 day ago

"Tightly controlled its distribution" may be overstating it, considering that they were still producing and distributing millions of pills to enlisted men on the Eastern Front. But yes, the height of it was early on in the war, when they were producing 4-5x as many pills as they were later on.