Werwolf (German for "werewolf", the spelling "Wehrwolf" is incorrect) was a World War II Nazi plan for a clandestine resistance force which would carry out guerrilla attacks against the occupying forces in the event that the Nazi regime came to an end. It is an extreme example of a stay-behind or partisan organization. The word "Werwolf" itself is the German cognate of werewolf, in the sense of lycanthropy; it is also a pun on Wehrwolf, the German word Wehr meaning defense (the armed forces of Nazi Germany, for example, were collectively called the Wehrmacht ("defence force")). "Werwolf" was the favoured name of the movement, although "Wehrwolf" was also sometimes used. In the end, the name was chosen after the title of a novel about the 30 Years War, written by Hermann Löns in 1914. Löns was admired by the higher spheres of Nazism because of the nationalist ideas in some of his writings. "Wolverine" was another name used

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