Full Answer
What is Hitler's lightning war?
The German invasion of Poland was the first test of Germany's newest mili- tary strategy—the blitzkrieg (BLIHTS•kreeg), or “lightning war.” It involved using fast-moving airplanes and tanks, followed by massive infantry forces, to take enemy defenders by surprise and quickly overwhelm them.
What is the meaning of lighting war?
: a war marked by surprise and speed of movement and intended to achieve victory quickly for the attacking power compare blitzkrieg.
What is a lightning war called?
Blitzkrieg, meaning 'Lightning War', was the method of offensive warfare responsible for Nazi Germany's military successes in the early years of the Second World War.
Is blitzkrieg still used today?
For obvious reasons, we no longer call it blitzkrieg. In fact, the modern US version of blitzkrieg was developed by innovators like George S. Patton, Jr. Patton raised mechanized warfare to a level the Germans could only dream of.
Why is Germany so powerful?
German power rests primarily on the economy, healthcare, natural resources, education, and EU-NATO membership. However, it did not have a large military or land area that limited German power; these factors helped Germany become an important country today and a leader in most European countries.
What are the 8 central powers?
Member statesPopulation (millions)Germany (1914)Total77.7Austria-Hungary (1914)50.6Ottoman Empire (1914)23.0Bulgaria (1915)4.83 more rows
How did Russia stop the blitzkrieg?
Against the last German Blitzkrieg attack at Kursk, the Russians placed 2400 anti-tank mines/mile and 2600 anti-personnel mines per/mile sometimes 15 miles deep. 1. The Russians historically had and moved large armies and crossed large rivers. Their army had far greater emphasis on engineer units than did the Germans.
What was Hitler's master plan?
The Generalplan Ost (German pronunciation: [ɡenəˈʁaːlˌplaːn ˈɔst]; English: Master Plan for the East), abbreviated GPO, was the Nazi German government's plan for the genocide and ethnic cleansing on a vast scale, and colonization of Central and Eastern Europe by Germans.
Does Germany still use blitzkrieg?
The notion of a German blitzkrieg concept or doctrine survives in popular history and many historians still support the thesis. Frieser wrote that after the failure of the Schlieffen Plan in 1914, the German army concluded that decisive battles were no longer possible in the changed conditions of the twentieth century.
What is the D in D Day stand for?
“day,” the term a code designation. The French maintain the D means “disembarkation,” still others say “debarkation,” and the more poetic insist D-Day is short for “day of. decision.”
Why did blitzkrieg fail in Russia?
The shock value of the initial Blitzkrieg was dissipated by the vast distances, logistical difficulties and Soviet troop numbers, all of which caused attritional losses of German forces which could not be sustained.
Why was the German Army so strong in ww2?
In September 1939 the Allies, namely Great Britain, France, and Poland, were together superior in industrial resources, population, and military manpower, but the German Army, or Wehrmacht, because of its armament, training, doctrine, discipline, and fighting spirit, was the most efficient and effective fighting force ...
What term means giving up military weapons?
Giving up military weapons is called what? Disarmament.
Who was in Axis powers?
The Axis powers (Germany, Italy, Japan) were opposed by the Allied Powers (led by Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union). Five other nations joined the Axis during World War II: Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Croatia. The decline and fall of the Axis alliance began in 1943.
What was the code name for D Day invasion?
OVERLORDThe D-Day operation of June 6, 1944 brought together the land, air and sea forces of the allied armies in what became known as the largest invasion force in human history. The operation, given the codename OVERLORD, delivered five naval assault divisions to the beaches of Normandy, France.
What happened at Dunkirk?
Operation Dynamo, the evacuation from Dunkirk, involved the rescue of more than 338,000 British and French soldiers from the French port of Dunkirk between 26 May and 4 June 1940. The evacuation, sometimes referred to as the Miracle of Dunkirk, was a big boost for British morale.
What were the tactics of the Blitzkrieg?from encyclopedia.ushmm.org
Blitzkrieg tactics required the concentration of offensive weapons (such as tanks, planes, and artillery) along a narrow front. These forces would drive a breach in enemy defenses, permitting armored tank divisions to penetrate rapidly and roam freely behind enemy lines, causing shock and disorganization among the enemy defenses.
What was the German strategy to avoid a long war in the first phase of World War II?from encyclopedia.ushmm.org
Blitzkrieg, meaning "Lightning War" in German, was Germany’s strategy to avoid a long war in the first phase of World War II in Europe.
What happened in June 1941?from encyclopedia.ushmm.org
Despite the continuing war with Great Britain, German forces invaded the Soviet Unionin June 1941 . At first, the German Blitzkrieg seemed to succeed. Soviet forces were driven back more than 600 miles to the gates of Moscow, with staggering losses. In December 1941, Hitler unilaterally declared war on the United States, which consequently added its tremendous economic and military power to the coalition arrayed against him. A second German offensive against the Soviet Union in 1942 brought German forces in the east to the shores of the Volga River and the city of Stalingrad. However, the Soviet Union launched a counteroffensive in November 1942, trapping and destroying an entire German army at Stalingrad.
The War
The conflict started when the Iron Legion ; Lord Ferrok 's personal army of mutated Xylvanians, began to invade other nations around the world, in response, the Solar Empire launched a retaliatory invasion on Old Xylvania after the Legion's invasion on Donatsu Island.
Trivia
The term "Lightning War" is also well known in German as blitzkreig, possibly hinting to the fact that the Iron Legion would become Xylvania, who resemble Germany.
What is the military term for a swift and violent military offensive with intensive aerial bombardment?
blitzkrieg- a swift and violent military offensive with intensive aerial bombardment
What is a swift, sudden military offensive?
A swift, sudden military offensive, usually by combined air and mobile land forces.
What does "lunch attack" mean?
A German word meaning lightning attack, used to mean a sudden intensive military offensive.
When did World War 2 start?
World War II began with Germany's mechanized "Blitzkrieg" (lightning war) on Poland in 1939 and ended after the explosions of America's two atomic bombs over Japan.
What was the Blitzkrieg used for?
Uses of Blitzkrieg in World War II. German forces employed some tactics associated with blitzkrieg in the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and the invasion of Poland in 1939, including combined air-ground attacks and the use of Panzer tank divisions to quickly crush the poorly equipped Polish troops. Then in April 1940, Germany invaded neutral Norway, ...
What is the term for a method of offensive warfare designed to strike a swift, focused blow at an enemy?
Blitzkrieg. Author: History.com Editors. Blitzkrieg is a term used to describe a method of offensive warfare designed to strike a swift, focused blow at an enemy using mobile, maneuverable forces, including armored tanks and air support.
What was the German invasion of Poland in 1939?
German forces employed some tactics associated with blitzkrieg in the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and the invasion of Poland in 1939, including combined air-ground attacks and the use of Panzer tank divisions to quickly crush the poorly equipped Polish troops. Then in April 1940, Germany invaded neutral Norway, seizing the capital, Oslo, and the country’s main ports with a series of surprise attacks.
What was the strategy Germany followed in 1940?
Rather than a completely new form of warfare, the strategy Germany followed in May and June 1940 had much in common with the strategy it employed at the outset of World War I, when strategists like Alfred von Schlieffen determined Germany should aim to defeat its enemies quickly and decisively, as it was ill-suited to win a long and drawn-out conflict against larger, better-prepared forces.
What were the most famous blitzkriegs?
Though Germany’s quick victories in 1939 and 1940 remain the most famous examples of blitzkrieg, military historians have pointed to later blitzkrieg-inspired operations, including the combined air and ground attacks by Israel against Arab forces in Syria and Egypt during the Six-Day War in 1967 and the Allied invasion of Iraqi-occupied Kuwait in 1991 during the Persian Gulf War.
Did Hitler ever use the word "Blitzkrieg"?
After blitzkrieg failed in the Soviet invasion, however, Hitler and German military leaders distanced themselves from the concept, claiming it was an invention of their enemies; Hitler himself denied he had ever used the word.
Who was the leader of the Blitzkrieg?
Blitzkrieg, which means “lightning war” in German, had its roots in earlier military strategy, including the influential work of the 19th-century Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz. Clausewitz proposed the “concentration principle,” the idea that concentrating forces against an enemy, and making a single blow against a carefully chosen target (the Schwerpunkt, or “center of gravity”) was more effective than dispersing those forces.
What war was the Blitzkrieg?
Later manifestations of blitzkrieg tactics were the combined air and ground attacks by Israeli forces on Syria and Egypt during the Six-Day War (June 1967) and the Israeli counterattacks and final counteroffensive of the Yom Kippur War (October 1973).
What was the Blitzkrieg used for?
Blitzkrieg tactics were used in the successful German invasions of Belgium, the Netherlands, and France in 1940, which saw audacious applications of air power and airborne infantry to overcome fixed fortifications that were believed by the defenders to be impregnable.
What is the concept of a cauldron battle?
Once the strategic Schwerpunkt had been identified, the attack could commence, using the concept of Kesselschlacht (“cauldron battle”). A frontal attack would immobilize the enemy while forces on the flanks would execute a double envelopment, forming a pocket called a Kessel (“cauldron”) around the enemy. Once surrounded, the opposing army, demoralized and with no chance of escape, would face the choice of annihilation or surrender.
How did the Blitzkrieg work?
The use of mobility, shock, and locally concentrated firepower in a skillfully coordinated attack paralyzed an adversary’s capacity to organize defenses, rather than attempting to physically overcome them, and then exploited that paralysis by penetrating to the adversary’s rear areas and disrupting its whole system of communications and administration . The tactics, as employed by the Germans, consisted of a splitting thrust on a narrow front by combat groups using tanks, dive bombers, and motorized artillery to disrupt the main enemy battle position at the Schwerpunkt. Wide sweeps by armoured vehicles followed, establishing the Kessel that trapped and immobilized enemy forces. Those tactics were remarkably economical of both lives and matériel, primarily for the attackers but also, because of the speed and short duration of the campaign, among the victims.
Where did the Blitzkrieg originate?
Blitzkrieg is most commonly associated with Nazi Germany during World War II even though numerous combatants used its techniques in that war. Its origins, however, can be traced to the 19th century, and elements of blitzkrieg have been used in present-day conflicts.
What technological advances allowed a commander to concentrate force at the Schwerpunkt?
Beginning in the 20th century, technological advances such as radio, aircraft, and motorized vehicles allowed a commander to concentrate force at the Schwerpunkt so as to annihilate the opposition and achieve victory.
What is the Blitzkrieg?
Blitzkrieg ( / ˈblɪtskriːɡ / BLITS-kreeg, German: [ˈblɪtskʁiːk] ( listen); from Blitz "lightning" + Krieg "war") is a military doctrine in which a surprise attack using a rapid, overwhelming force concentration that may consist of armoured and motorised or mechanised infantry formations, ...
What is the meaning of the word "blitzkrieg"?
The word, meaning "lightning war" or "lightning attack" in its strategic sense describes a series of quick and decisive short battles to deliver a knockout blow to an enemy state before it could fully mobilize. Tactically, blitzkrieg is a coordinated military effort by tanks, motorized infantry, artillery and aircraft, to create an overwhelming local superiority in combat power, to defeat the opponent and break through its defences. Blitzkrieg as used by Germany had considerable psychological, or "terror" elements, such as the Jericho Trompete, a noise-making siren on the Junkers Ju 87 dive-bomber, to affect the morale of enemy forces. The devices were largely removed when the enemy became used to the noise after the Battle of France in 1940 and instead bombs sometimes had whistles attached. It is also common for historians and writers to include psychological warfare by using Fifth columnists to spread rumours and lies among the civilian population in the theatre of operations.
What is the difference between Blitzkrieg and Deep Battle?
P. Willmott had noted that deep battle contained two important differences: it was a doctrine of total war (not of limited operations), and rejected decisive battle in favour of several large, simultaneous offensives.
What is the purpose of the Blitzkrieg?
Tactically, blitzkrieg is a coordinated military effort by tanks, motorized infantry, artillery and aircraft, to create an overwhelming local superiority in combat power, to defeat the opponent and break through its defences.
When did the term "Blitzkrieg" come into use?
The term had appeared in 1935, in a German military periodical Deutsche Wehr (German Defence), in connection to quick or lightning warfare. German manoeuvre operations were successful in the campaigns of 1939–1941 and by 1940 the term blitzkrieg was extensively used in Western media.
Which version of Blitzkrieg was better than Guderian?
MacGregor and Williamson remark that Rommel's version of Blitzkrieg displayed a significantly better understanding of combined-arms warfare than that of Guderian. General Hoth submitted an official report in July 1940 which declared that Rommel had "explored new paths in the command of Panzer divisions".
Is Blitzkrieg vulnerable to an enemy?
Blitzkrieg is vulnerable to an enemy that is robust enough to weather the shock of the attack and that does not panic at the idea of enemy formations in its rear area. This is especially true if the attacking formation lacks the reserve to keep funnelling forces into the spearhead, or lacks the mobility to provide infantry, artillery and supplies into the attack. If the defender can hold the shoulders of the breach they will have the opportunity to counter-attack into the flank of the attacker, potentially cutting off the van as happened to Kampfgruppe Peiper in the Ardennes.
