"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I was curious about the term myself....I found this:
Origin and use of the terms
Before the rise of the NSDAP, the term Wehrmacht was used in a generic sense to describe armed forces of any nation, being utilized as the “home defense” version of the more general Streitmacht. For example, the term Britische Wehrmacht would identify the British armed forces. Article 47 of the Weimar Constitution of 1919 declared “Der Reichspräsident hat den Oberbefehl über die gesamte Wehrmacht des Reiches” (meaning: “The Reichspräsident holds supreme command of all armed forces of the Reich”). To make a distinction, the term Reichswehr was commonly used to identify the German armed forces.
In 1935, the Reichswehr was renamed Wehrmacht. After World War II and under the Allied occupation of Germany, the Wehrmacht was abolished. When West Germany remilitarized in 1955, its newly-created armed forces became known as the Bundeswehr (”Federal Defence Force”). East Germany’s armed forces, formally established in 1956, were known as the National People’s Army (Nationale Volksarmee). When East Germany (the German Democratic Republic) was incorporated into “West Germany” (the Federal Republic of Germany) in 1990, much of the Volksarmee property and some of the staff were also incorporated into the Bundeswehr.
Hence the term Wehrmacht customarily refers to Germany’s armed forces during the Nazi Germany era and World War II, both in German and English. Note: It is incorrect to equate Wehrmacht with only the army (Wehrmacht Heer). Wehrmacht vehicles used by Heer, Luftwaffe or Kriegsmarine had license plates with WH, WL or WM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wehrmacht#Origin_and_use_of_the_terms