Blitzkrieg

Blitzkrieg (German, literally "lightning war") is a popular name for an operational-level military doctrine which employed mobile forces attacking with speed and surprise to prevent an enemy from implementing a coherent defense. The doctrines resulting in the blitzkrieg effect were developed in the years after World War I as a method to help prevent trench warfare.

Operations in the Second World War

Poland and France, 1939–40

Despite the term blitzkrieg being coined during the Polish September Campaign of 1939, historians generally hold that German operations during it were more consistent with more traditional methods. The Wehrmacht's strategy was more inline with Vernichtungsgedanken, or a focus on envelopment to create pockets in broad-front annihilation. Panzer forces were deployed among the three German concentrations without strong emphasis on independent use, being used to create or destroy close pockets of Polish forces and seize operational-depth terrain in support of the largely unmotorised infantry which followed. The Luftwaffe gained air superiority by a combination of superior technology and numbers. Common claims that the Polish Air Force was destroyed early in the campaign while it was on the ground are not true. Polish aircraft were moved to hidden airstrips approximately 48 hours before the outbreak of the hostilities.

Related Topics:
Polish September Campaign - Vernichtungsgedanken - Polish forces

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The invasion of France consisted of two phases, Operation Yellow (Fall Gelb) and Operation Red. Yellow opened with a feint conducted against Holland and Belgium by two Panzer corps and paratroopers. Three days later, the main panzer effort of Panzer Group von Kleist attacked through the Ardennes and achieved a breakthrough with Luftwaffe air support. The group raced to the coast of the English Channel, dislodging the British Expeditionary Force, Belgian Army, and some divisions of the French Army. The Panzer units initially advanced far beyond the following divisions. The Panzers were met with an counterattack at the Battle of Arras the tough British tanks inducing a brief panic in the High Command. The Panzer forces were halted outside the port city of Dunkirk which was being used to evacuate the Allied forces. The Luftwaffe (in the form of Goering) had promised to complete the job but its bombing did not prevent the evacuation of the majority of the troops (Operation Dynamo); some 330,000 French and British. Operation Red then began with XV Panzer Corps attacking towards Brest and XIV Panzer Corps attacking south, east of Paris, towards Lyon, and XIX Panzer Corps completing the encirclement of the Maginot Line. The defending forces were hard pressed to organise any sort of counter-attack. The French forces were continually ordered to form new lines along rivers, often arriving to find the German forces had already passed them.

Related Topics:
Invasion of France - Paratrooper - Ardennes - English Channel - British Expeditionary Force - Belgian Army - French Army - Battle of Arras - Operation Dynamo - Brest - Lyon - Maginot Line

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Soviet Union: the Eastern Front: 1941–45

Use of armoured forces was crucial for both sides on the Eastern Front. Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, involved a number of breakthroughs and encirclements by panzer forces. Its stated goal was "to destroy the Russian forces deployed in the West and to prevent their escape into the wide-open spaces of Russia."{{ref|10}} This was generally achieved by four panzer armies which encircled surprised and disorganised Soviet forces, followed by marching infantry which completed the encirclement and defeated the trapped forces. The first year of the Eastern Front offensive can generally be considered to have had the last successful major blitzkrieg operations.

Related Topics:
Operation Barbarossa - Soviet Union - Eastern Front

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After Germany's failure to destroy the Soviets before the winter of 1941, the limits of blitzkrieg became visible. Although the German attack took huge areas of Soviet territory, the overall strategic effect was more limited. The Red Army was able to regroup far to the rear, and eventually defeat the German forces for the first time in the Battle of Moscow. In the following summer of 1942, when Germany launched another Blitzkrieg offensive in southern Russia against Stalingrad and the Caucasus, the Soviets again lost tremendous amounts of territory, just to counter-attack again when they stopped in front of the city.

Related Topics:
Red Army - Battle of Moscow - Stalingrad - Caucasus

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The Battle of Stalingrad shows both the good and bad points of the blitzkrieg concept. The battle opened with a German attack in an unexpected location, sending the defending Soviet forces reeling back over hundreds of kilometres in a matter of days. The movement ended when Hitler became increasingly interested in capturing Stalingrad itself, allowing the Soviet forces to regroup and counter-attack.

Related Topics:
Battle of Stalingrad - Hitler

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The subsequent Soviet victory depended on the application of increasingly sophisticated combined arms units. This, coupled with German forces attrition, logistics and production problems, eventually resulted in the German defeat.

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Western Front, 1944–45

As the war progressed, Allied armies began using tactics somewhat resembling the blitzkrieg tactics of Germany. Many operations in the Western Desert and on the Eastern Front relied on massive concentrations of firepower to establish breakthroughs by fast-moving armoured units. These tactics were also decisive in Western Front operations after Operation Overlord.

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After the Allied landings at Normandy, Germany made attempts to overwhelm the landing force with panzer divisions, but this failed for lack of co-ordination and Allied air superiority.

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Blitzkrieg was attempted next in counter-attack against Operation Cobra, U.S. 12th Army Group's breakout from the Normandy area at St.-Lô. The German Seventh Army attacked towards the coast at St.-Lô, attempting to cut off the U.S. Third Army, commanded by George S. Patton, in Operation Lüttich. It was unable to achieve a breakthrough against defending infantry and, stalled, was encircled and effectively destroyed by U.S. 12th Army Group.

Related Topics:
Operation Cobra - St.-Lô - Seventh Army - U.S. Third Army - George S. Patton - Operation Lüttich

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The Allied offensive in central France, spearheaded by armoured units from George S. Patton's Third Army, used breakthrough and penetration techniques that were essentially identical to blitzkrieg. Patton acknowledged that he had read both Guderian and Rommel before the war, and his tactics shared their emphasis on speed and attack. A phrase commonly used in his units was "haul ass and bypass."

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Germany's last offensive on its Western front, Operation Autumn Mist, was a blitzkrieg offensive towards the vital port of Antwerp during the winter of 1944 to 1945. Launched in poor weather against a weakened Allied sector, it achieved surprise and initial success. Allied air power was stymied by cloud cover. However, defence along the Ardennes and few serviceable roads caused delays. Allied forces deployed to the flanks of the German penetration, and Allied aircraft were again able to attack panzer columns, finally routing them. While the strategy itself had been sound, the German troops had already been reduced beyond their ability to effectively exploit the initial gains.

Related Topics:
Operation Autumn Mist - Antwerp - Ardennes

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