Blitzkrieg

[dglad]

Good points, sure.  As I said earlier, I found Mosier to be somewhat selective in his examples, exactly something he criticized the "other side" (the breakthrough afficianados) for doing.  And the fact he's getting raked over the coals for his ideas isn't surprising...after all, there is dogma on the "pro-blitzkrieg" side, too.  This thread notwithstanding, I still find even otherwise thoughtful military colleagues who believe the Germans in 1940 were simply an invincible war machine.  I'll offer again, though, that it's an interesting read (it didn't leave me unsatisfied...but it did leave me unconvinced).

 

[pbi]

Poland fought extremely well, and only really fell because "promised" assistance from the UK and France never materialized

I have heard this before, but IMHO it is not a very good representation of the situation. Far more important, I think, was the strategic siutation Poland found itself in, as a result of having been created out of hide of Imperial Germany, having captured soil from the Bolsheviks, getting involved in the Silesian uprisings in the 1920s, and participating in the dismembering of Czechoslovakia by taking Teschen Province when the Germans rolled in to CZ in 1938. Poland had bad relations with everybody around them.

To make things worse, their geography was not very conducive to defense, as I am sure most readers here are well aware so I will not belabour it. Although they had developed a number of fortified areas and fortresses (Mlawa, Hel, etc..) these really didn't make much difference to the unfavourable geographic situation.

I do think that the Allies played a role, and a very damaging one, before September 1939. This role was their constant diplomatic pressure on the Poles to deter them from doing anything that might provoke Hitler. Partly as a result of this pressure, the Poles delayed the start of mobilization until later in the summer. Although they were able to achieve alot (ie: they preserved their Air Force by dispersing it to satellite fields) they were not completely ready when the Germans arrived in Sept 1939. Once the invasion began, the Allies still prssured the Poles to seek some sort of accomodation with the Germans. I have read an account of a Polish bomber squadron that was in the midst of arming and fueling for a raid on Konigsberg (keeping in mind that some Polish cities were already burning under German bombs), when an officer rushed out to the flight line with an order to stop, as the Allies had demanded that Warsaw not take any "offensive" actions against German territory. Of course, the ineffective Allied air operations (leaflet drops), as well as the farcical French "advance" into Germany in response to the attack on Poland, achieved nothing of significance. That the Poles lasted as long as they did, and caused as many German casualties as they did, is to their everlasting credit. Honestly though, I doubt that they could have defeated the Germans on their own without significant Allied help.

The entry of the USSR was, IMHO, probably just the coup de grace for a country already facing a number of strategic disadvantages. Cheers.

 

[Panzer6]

The Blitzkrieg manuver Germany used was successful in France because, even though France had more tanks, Germany put all theirs together while france used tanks for support. The term blitzkrieg means quick war which was the case in Poland, France and almost the case in Soviet Union.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

The Blitzkrieg manuver Germany used was successful in France because, even though France had more tanks, Germany put all theirs together while france used tanks for support. The term blitzkrieg means quick war which was the case in Poland, France and almost the case in Soviet Union.

Congratulations on your first post.  Such a shame you didn't read any of the previous three pages of discussion.

The term "blitzkrieg" is not a German military term.  I suggest a quick read through the rest of the thread for a better understanding of what this topic is about before posting further.

Even if we agree that blitzkrieg can be used as a word, it would not apply to a "maneuver" but to an operational concept.

 

[aesop081]

how did the word "Nazi" come about to the partys name? my history teacher doesnt know this answer either (shes part german and studied history for many years) and shes trying to figure out how this came about

Off topic but maybe your history teacher should go back to university and ask for her money back ! I was born i Germany so i'm pretty confident in saying she should have know that one.

 

[Infanteer]

Congratulations on your first post.    Such a shame you didn't read any of the previous three pages of discussion.

Priceless.

Apparenty, Panzer6, German tanks had guns on them too....

 

[aesop081]

Priceless.

Apparenty, Panzer6, German tanks had guns on them too....

...and also i hear that the germans were the bad guys....any truth to this ?  :

 

[pbi]

The Blitzkrieg manuver Germany used was successful in France because, even though France had more tanks, Germany put all theirs together while france used tanks for support. The term blitzkrieg means quick war which was the case in Poland, France and almost the case in Soviet Union.

Panzer6: that is certainly the "Time Magazine" version, but as usual in any historical situation there was a lot more to it than that. The French did not just use tanks for "support"-they had several armoured and mechanized divisions that were designed to be able to manouevre independently and act as a striking force. For several reasons, these armoured formations were never employed properly and passed away into history without really having a chance to make much of a difference. The French also had independent tank battalions that were used to support infantry, but these were not the only parts of the French armoured branch.

A whole bunch of other things, from very bad command and control to a large but very ineffective Air Force to a declining national will to fight all contributed to the French defeat. As others have suggested, you should try to do some more research: beware of "popular" histories as they usually just repeat historical error due to sloppy or nonexistent research.

how did the word "Nazi" come about to the partys name? my history teacher doesnt know this answer either (shes part german and studied history for many years) and shes trying to figure out how this came about

It's a German acronym for the German phrase for "Nationalist Socialist German Workers' Party". And, I agree with aesop: if your teacher got her degree from a real university, there is no way she would be asking that. (unless, of course, she's leading you on to find out for yourself...)

Cheers.