Blitzkreig: 1939-45

Blitzkrieg 1939-45

The new speed of warfare

The overwhelming tactics unleashed by the Nazis at the beginning of World War Two signaled a shocking advance in the art of warfare . The allies struggled to devise defenses against the blitzkrieg of the German military . Eventually , they were able to repel the Germans . However , the nations of the world learned a great deal from the blitzkrieg . This frightening tactic would be emulated and modified in the decades to come

As the Blitzkrieg inspired fear in its opponents , it also eventually inspired overconfidence

in the Germans . Many of the nations that the Germans attacked in the first years had antiquated militaries and were ill prepared for the onslaught of the German Wehrmacht and the Luftwaffe

In the first years of the conflict , the Luftwaffe seemed both

omnipresent and nearly invincible as it fought on fronts as distant

as North Africa and Northern Russia . 1

The Allies would be forced by the Blitzkrieg to rapidly retool their militaries and their military strategies . In the mean time , the Blitzkrieg would cause devastation across Europe

War in the early 20th Century

World War One served as a major turning point in the conduct of warfare Prior to this war , the idea of honor for ones opponent still existed to a certain degree . Many commanders frowned upon sneak attacks and civilian casualties . By 1914 , the technology of weaponry had advanced significantly . It was now possible to kill large numbers of

1 . Dale Brown (ed . The Luftwaffe . Alexandria , VA : Time-Life Books 1982 (16

soldiers easily

The tremendous number of casualties eliminated any sense of battlefield chivalry that remained . The machine gun , deadly gases , air power and more accurate and deadly shells resulted in unprecedented casualties Yet , neither side was gaining any substantial ground . The war settled into a deadly stalemate in which soldiers were routinely sacrificed in large numbers with little hope of gain

With the exit of the newly formed Soviet Union and the entry of the United States into the conflict it became clear that Germany would run out of manpower before the allies . The eventual peace levied a punitive price on Germany . The nation was forced to accept full blame for the war , change its form of government , pay reparations and reduce the size of its military . Feeling the humiliation of the Versailles treaty , the Germans who would later come to power were determined not to make the same mistakes as their predecessors

After World War One , a committee was formed to assess war issues and strategies . It was decided that strategies emphasizing maneuver and surprise would be necessary in the future . Carl von Clausewitz and other German military theoreticians had successfully used such tactics in prior wars . 2 The new German command would draw on these principles and merge them with rapidly advancing military technology

The Germans knew that , for them , a war of attrition was unwinnable . Yet there

were some who wanted to avenge the harsh terms of the Versailles treaty The Nazis...