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by King Cheung on May 2nd, 2005

King Cheung

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What was "Blitzkrieg"? How did it work?

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  • by Anselm Kersten on July 12th, 2005

    Anselm Kersten

    WWII blitzkrieg German-style sprang from their spring offensives in WWI. Fast-moving groups of elite stormtroopers penetrated enemy lines after concentrated artillery fire blasted lanes through them. The stormtroopers' job was to keep moving forward; the following line infantry would reduce the enemy troops they left behind. In this sense, they played something like the same role that their cavalry, the Uhlans, had played in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 - namely, a psychological as much as a military one.

    In WWII, the stormtroopers' role was filled by the armoured divisions, and the artillery's by the air force, especially the Stukas with their pinpoint bombing capability. They simply played the role of super-long-range artillery. A high degree of co-ordination between the various arms, and between units of the same arm (which, acting relatively independently, could easily get separated), was required. This was made possible by radio, without which the whole thing wouldn't have been possible, and by an organisation which made full use of its potential.

    Blitzkrieg as practiced by the Germans had flaws. Perhaps the main one was that the whole army wasn't motorised, with the result that the line infantry became seperated from the panzers. Hitler actually stopped Guderian on his rampage through France, on May 17th, because of his fear that the Allies would cut the panzers off from the following infantry. However, Guderian correctly judged the amount of psychological dislocation his advanced had caused, which was more than enough to throw the Allies into confusion, and managed to arrange matters so that his advance continued.

    I'd highly recommend Len Deighton's book "Blitzkrieg" as a thorough exploration of the subject. I'd also recommend Charles Messenger's "Blitzkrieg", which takes a much wider view. According to him, the true heirs of the blitzkrieg tradition were the Israelis, as they showed during their four wars with the Arab states.

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