German Blitzkreig

German Blitzkreig

The Blitzkrieg was one of the most powerful weapons in World War II. Hitler used it to quickly defeat whole countries in a matter of weeks, before any defenses could even be thought of, much less deployed. Poland, Norway, and Belgium all fell before Britain had time to defend them. Later on, after D-Day, when the allies had massed great amounts of troops and combat weapons in France, the allies started there own blitzkrieg which quickly pushed the Germans back to the Rhine River at a rate of 40 miles per day. The blitzkrieg at the beginning of the war doomed Hitler at the end. Blitzkrieg tactics gave Hitler an overwhelming amount of confidence that made him send troops out ill prepared for long battles, and it cost him greatly. Also, with blitzkrieg, Hitler gained territory too fast in the beginning to set up ample defenses, which left huge, undefended gaps in his territory ultimately leading to his defeat.

Blitzkrieg, or “Lightning Warfare”, was perfected by the Germans between World War I and World War II. Blitzkrieg used tanks and combat vehicles, along with air support, to quickly over run countries before defenses could be set up, completely eliminating trench warfare. Hitler first started his Blitzkrieg warfare on August 31, 1939 when he attacked Poland. The sudden unexpected attack left Poland struggling to put up a defense, but they were overran before they could get their army mobilized, and before Britain or France had a chance to send troops for a counter attack. Poland had fallen in less than four weeks.

Next on Hitler's list was Denmark and Norway. Using blitzkrieg tactics along with a new never before seen weapon, paratroopers, Denmark and Norway fell in only a few weeks. Th...

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...ilitary vehicles along the French coast and began their own blitzkrieg. They moved at a pace of 40 miles per day and pushed the Germans back into their own country, completely liberating France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and much of the Netherlands by September 1944. The race was on between Russia and the other allies to get to Berlin. In October 1944, the allied forces coming through France had started capturing German towns. By late April, the Soviet Army was in Berlin, and on May 8, 1945, Germany surrendered to General Eisenhower, ending the Third Reich.

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Danzer, Gerald A., J. Jorge Klor de Alva, Louis E. Wilson, Nancy Woloch. The Americans. Evanstan, IL: McDougal Littell Inc. 1998.

“World War II”, Merit Students Encyclopedia, Vol. 20, 1970.

Stein, R. Conrad. World War II In Europe. Springfield, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc. 1994.