Context: In 1938 Nazi Germany, Pervitin was developed a methamphetamine drug for civilian usage. Nazi military doctor Otto Friedrich Ranke tested the drug on 90 university students to study its effects, which led him to conclude that Pervitin could help Nazi Germany win the war.

Methamphetamine use is believed to have played a role in the speed of Nazi Germany's initial blitzkrieg operations. At the request of Vice-Admiral Hellmuth Heye for a stronger pill that would "keep soldiers ready for battle when they are asked to continue fighting beyond a period considered normal," a pharmacologist produced a pill dubbed D-IX. The new drug contained cocaine, whose effects substantially overlap with those of amphetamine but feature greater euphoria, and a morphine-based painkiller in addition to Pervitin.