Wikipedia
Wehrkraftzersetzung is a term from German military law during the Third Reich. In 1938, with Adolf Hitler moving Germany closer to war, the Nazi government issued a decree for the purpose of suppressing any expression or activity opposed to the Nazi regime or the Wehrmacht. The anti-sedition decree included the crime of Zersetzung der Wehrkraft. Commonly called Wehrkraftzersetzung, the term is variously translated as "subversion of the war effort", "undermining military morale" and "sedition and defeatism". In its literally sense, the word 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.
Paragraphs already in the military penal code were consolidated and redefined, creating the new crime, which carried the death penalty. In 1939, a second decree was issued that extended the crime to civilians.
Discouraging statements, such as doubt about the ultimate victory of the Third Reich, any criticism of its political or military leadership and its form of government were punished with heavy prison sentences (in military prisons, concentration camps, deployment to the field or to probationary units) or with death. Conscientious objectors in particular were frequently convicted of Wehrkraftzersetzung in addition to their other charges. This was done to reduce the potential of negative influence on others, even when the refusal of military duty had not been publicized. Many civilians were also convicted of Wehrkraftzersetzung by military courts.
After a lengthy debate, the German Bundestag lifted the Nazi sentences from the criminal justice system on August 25, 1998 and on July 23, 2002, all Nazi-era military sentencing for conscientious objection, desertion and all forms of Wehrkraftzersetzung were repealed as unjust. Current German military law neither contains the term "undermining the military" nor its extensive rules. However, a few offenses that, in the Nazi era, fell under Wehrkraftzersetzung, remain on the books in a vague form.