In May of 1940, Germany was winning the war. They had just conquered France and victory seemed so close. Their success was due to their new military strategy called blitzkrieg. However did Hitler's military strategy also lead to his defeat.
Blitzkrieg is a name composed of a two German words meaning "lightning war." The German strategy was to strike fast so that they could avoid lengthy trench fighting. This was because the loss during WWI was still felt very strongly by most Germans. They were bitter about the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and devastated that they lost nearly 2 million soldiers during the trench fighting on the Western front. Hitler, a decorated soldier during WWI, blamed German politicians for "stabbing them in the back". He believed that the soldiers did not lose the war. Hitler and the Germans were determined not to have another repeat of World War I.
Blitzkrieg was first successfully tested in Poland on September 1st 1939. The invasion first commenced with armored divisions and Panzer tanks speeding to and breaking through Polish defense lines. After they broke through, motorized German infantry trapped the Polish by encircling them and blocking them off. This way the Germans could direct all of their strength on one small group at a time, knocking them off until the whole country surrendered. Whilst Poland was attacked on the land, it was also being bombed by the Luftwaffe in the air. The Luftwaffe added additional support to the already powerful blitzkrieg. This strategy was so successful it was used many times, allowing the Germans to capture France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and many other countries. However, Blitzkrieg would not have been successful without advancements in military technology.
Panzer tanks, short for Panzerkampfwagen, were a new invention of WWII. Unlike the tanks in WWI which were very unreliable and useless, Panzer tanks were very modern and strong. Germany used many different models during the war. As the war went on they kept building bigger and bigger tanks. Their largest tank, the Pz VI., weighed 70 tons, could go 24 miles per hour, had 100 mm of armour, and a high-velocity 88-mm gun. These tanks were less maneuverable so lighter faster tanks were more effectively used for Blitzkrieg operations.
Germany had conquered mainland Europe with the Blitzkrieg strategy. Their only foe left was Great Britain. If the Germans had conquered Great Britain they would have won the war. However, Great Britain is on an island, so the Germans could not just drive their tanks to the border like they did for Poland and France. In June of 1929, Hitler announced his plan to conquer Britain with Operation Sea Lion. The plan was that the German Luftwaffe would defeat the RAF, the British air force so that German boats could cross the channel without being bombed. German U-Boats would also help block off the channel. However, the operation was never launched because the Luftwaffe failed to defeat the RAF.
There is much debate as to why the Germans lost the war after they were so close to winning in 1939. Some believe that it was Hitlers bad judgment and his failed plans in Russia, others think it was American involvement. In my opinion, I think that Germany never had the ability to win the war. The only reason they were able to seem like they were winning early on was because Blitzkrieg was such a brilliant military strategy as I have shown in my post. However, because America and Britain both are separated from Germany by sea, they were unable to use Blitzkrieg on them and complete the job and thus inevitably lost the war.
Owen, I thought that you did a good job highlighting the Blitzkrieg as a new form of warfare, especially in the way that you included details like the Luftwaffe and the Panzer forces being vital to the initial German success. You did a great job highlighting your opinion in the last paragraph as well as to why Germany failed to win the war. I found out that although German technology was much more successful than that of the rest of the world, their decisions of how to harness this technology was mediocre. Instead of focusing on producing the Panzers in mass, they tried to make heavier and larger tanks. This lack of specialized and quick production, to an extent, limited their warfare capabilities. The Germans also relied on forced labor to produce their military goods; quality control was often lacking, so not all arms were produced up to code. On another note, an interesting fact about the term "blitzkrieg", is that it's a popular phrase in the Ramones song, "Blitzkrieg Bop". The lines "Shoot'em in the back now" followed by, "They're forming in straight line" correlate with the German lightning war you describe in your post. Although the song was released in 1976, the several band members had familial ties to Europe during Nazi occupation.
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Owen, I found your post on the Blitzkrieg to be very informative and interesting. I like and agree with your analysis of why Germany lost the war because they were not able to attack countries across oceans. I also think that another factor that contributed to the loss of the German side was their lack of industrial strength. Their Blitzkrieg strategy served them well at the beginning of the war but because they were unable to take out their enemies across the sea the war dragged on. In my opinion, it is the heavy reliance of the Germans on Blitzkrieg and the longevity of the war that contributed most heavily to their defeat. Much like Mr. Stewart said in class, the Germans did not have nearly the industrial capacity as the Allies so eventually they were unable to keep up and lost the war. Thanks for such an interesting post!
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