HITLER'S LIGHTNING WAR
OVERVIEW
Lightning war or blitzkrieg was the name given to a tactical attack strategy used by Germany in the beginning of WWII. Beginning on September 1 1839 Germany sought to swiftly crush all its opposition in one swoop using airplanes, tanks, and huge infantry forces. Hitler’s first advance was in Poland as discussed in secret between the soviets and the Germans before hand. After the Soviets also made their move in Poland, France and Great Britain declared war on Germany. However instead of attacking immediately the allies waited for Germany to make its move first, this was called the Phony war. It ended on April 9, 1940 when Hitler launched surprise attack on Denmark and Norway and Hitler began to move on progressively to conquer Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and finally France. Germany made its move on the shores of Dunkirk a French port on the English channel on may 26, 1940, they outnumbered the French by the hundreds and although Great Britain stepped in and saved thousands of soldiers from Dunkirk, France was forced to surrender within a month. This left Great Britain as the only allied power left standing and the only hopes of the allies claiming victory. Despite all of the odds weighing against it Great Britain defended itself against Germany’s aerial attacks in the Battle of Britain. Hitler decided to leave Great Britain be for the moment after losing the Battle of Britain and move his attention elsewhere to the Mediterranean where Italy’s north African army resided. However in December Great Britain decided to fight back instead of quietly waiting for the Germans to attack once again and attacked the Italians. By February 1940 they had occupied 500 miles of the Italians territory in North Africa, this forced Hitler have to step in by sending General Erwin Rommel who succeeded in making the British retreat somewhat. Hitler then proceeded with his lightning war by forcing the Balkans to surrender to the axis powers and surprisingly attempting to make the Soviet Union surrender as well. Operation Barbarossa was the name given to the German invasion of the Soviet Union which was first directed at the city of Leningrad. Hitler and his Generals looked to invade Moscow but the winter they decided to invade was especially cold. Despite Napoleon's defeat in the same manner 130 years before the Fuhrer chose to continue to advance, but he eventually had no choice but to retreat and turn back from Moscow.
10 Best Articles
This article talks about the gamble of attacking Poland and why Hitler was so confident in his decision. The article stated that “First, he was convinced that the deployment of the world's first armored corps would swiftly defeat the Polish armed forces in a blitzkrieg offensive. Secondly, he judged the British and French prime-ministers, Neville Chamberlain and Edouard Daladier, to be weak, indecisive leaders who would opt for a peace settlement rather than war.” The article also talks about the steps Hitler took toward the invasion of Poland
This article shows a timeline of events that take place during the lighting war
This describes in detail the strategy of Blitzkrieg it also talks about how effective this strategy was
This article shortly summarizes the first phase of WW2
This article describes some of the weapon and infantry statistics of the Blitzkrieg
This is the diary of a woman named Dora Church who had first hand experience as an English woman in the Battle of Britain
This article speaks when and why the Blitzkrieg failed specifically in after the Germans retreated from the battle of Stalingrad, it also explains why Hitler believed invading Russia would be an excellent stepping stone towards winning the war
This article displays a thesis on why Germany's Blitzkrieg was so Effective. "This Blitzkrieg tactic was so effective in the opening years of the Second World War because defenders of many nations believed, wrongly, that they had learned the lessons of World war One. That war had seemed to teach that the advantage always lay with the defender."
This article explains the mechanics of blitzkrieg, that the "German high command in the 1920s and 1930s also sought inspiration for the future in its own past–specifically in the ideas of Helmuth Karl von Moltke and Alfred von Schlieffen." The article also goes more in depth into where blitzkrieg is derived from.
This article goes more in depth about Hitler's invasion on both Norway and Denmark
Audio and video
This video provides more clarification to what Blitzkrieg entailed
This collection of audio files describes James Bradley's first hand experiences as a British soldier in Dunkirk.
This collection of audio files of James Hill who was ranked a staff captain describe his experience during Blitzkrieg.
Primary Sources
This extract from Hitler's speech to the Reighstag specifically focuses on the damage the treaty of Versailles did to Germany, German-Polish relations, and the demands Hitler has for the Polish government.
This Speech given by Neville Chamberlain promotes peace as he looks to presurve it before a war begins."The first is this: We did not go there to decide whether the predominantly German areas in the Sudetenland should be passed over to the German Reich. That had been decided already. Czechoslovakia had accepted the Anglo-French proposals. What we had to consider was the method, the conditions and the time of the transfer of the territory. The second point to remember is that time was one of the essential factors. All the elements were present on the spot for the outbreak of a conflict which might have precipitated the catastrophe. We had populations inflamed to a high degree; we had extremists on both sides ready to work up and provoke incidents; we had considerable quantities of arms which were by no means confined to regularly organized forces. Therefore, it was essential that we should quickly reach a conclusion"
This telegram discusses the guidelines for the Nazi-Soviet relations that are soon to be of major importance