Editing Pickelhaube (section)

==World War I==
All helmets produced for the infantry before and during 1914 were made of leather. As the war progressed, Germany's leather stockpiles dwindled. After extensive imports from South America, particularly Argentina, the German government began producing [[ersatz]] Pickelhauben made of other materials. In 1915, some Pickelhauben started to be constructed from thin sheet steel. However, the German high command needed to produce an even greater number of helmets, leading to the usage of pressurized felt and even paper to construct Pickelhauben.  The Pickelhaube was discontinued in 1916.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://militaryhistorynow.com/2012/05/27/a-brief-history-of-german-army-helmets/|title=Get the Point? — A Brief History of Germany's 'Pickelhaube' Spiked Helmet|date=27 May 2012|work=MilitaryHistoryNow.com|access-date=12 November 2017|language=en-US|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112075930/http://militaryhistorynow.com/2012/05/27/a-brief-history-of-german-army-helmets/|archive-date=12 November 2017}}</ref>

During the early months of [[World War I]], it was soon discovered that the Pickelhaube did not measure up to the demanding conditions of trench warfare. The leather helmets offered little protection against shell fragments and shrapnel and the conspicuous spike made its wearer a target. These shortcomings, combined with material shortages, led to the introduction of the simplified model 1915 helmet described above, with a detachable spike. In September 1915 it was ordered that the new helmets were to be worn without spikes when in the front line.<ref>''World War One German Army'', Stephen Bull, pp. 71–73.</ref>

Beginning in 1916, the Pickelhaube was slowly replaced by a new German steel helmet (the ''[[Stahlhelm#M1916 and M1917|Stahlhelm]]'') intended to offer greater head protection from shell fragments. After the adoption of the Stahlhelm, the Pickelhaube was reduced to limited ceremonial wear by senior officers away from the war zones; plus the ''Leibgendarmerie S.M. des Kaisers'' whose role as an Imperial/Royal escort led them to retain peacetime [[Full dress uniform|full dress]] throughout the war.<ref>Charles Woolley, p. 368, ''Uniforms and Equipment of the Imperial German Army 1900–1918'', {{ISBN|0-7643-0935-8}}.</ref><ref>Andrew Mollo, p. 191, ''Army Uniforms of World War I'', {{ISBN|0-668-04479-9}}.</ref> With the collapse of the [[German Empire]] in 1918, the Pickelhaube ceased to be part of the military uniform, and even the police adopted [[shako]]s of a [[Jäger (military)|Jäger]] style. In modified forms the new Stahlhelm helmet would continue to be worn by German troops into [[World War II]].

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File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R11105, Kaiser Wilhelm II., August v. Mackensen crop.jpg|[[Kaiser Wilhelm II]], [[August von Mackensen]] and others wearing Pickelhauben with cloth covers in 1915
File:Harry R. Hopps, Destroy this mad brute Enlist - U.S. Army, 03216u edit.jpg|The ''Pickelhaube'' was often used in [[propaganda]] against the Germans as in this [[World War I]] poster ([[Harry Ryle Hopps|Harry R. Hopps]]; 1917).
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