Blitzkrieg (German term that literally means “lightning war”) is the common name that is known as a military doctrine advocating a military generalized offensive preceded by aerial attacks and massive bombardments, followed by very fast attacks. Mobile military forces attack by surprise and varied on a broad front, but also in depth of adverse territory, to not give the enemy time to defend or regroup coherently. A meaningful analysis of the concept is carried out by Karl-Heinz Frieser, in his “Blitzkrieg-Legende. Der Westfeldzug 1940“.
Doctrine
The basic principles of this doctrine and types of military operations have been developed over the twentieth century by many nations and national armies, being adopted in the coming years of the First World War. German army, the Wehrmacht, excelled in implementing these concepts by including modern weapons and vehicles that time as one of the key methods designed to increase efficiency of battle and move battle line as deep into enemy territory.
Practice
The first implementation in practice of the doctrine and concepts of blitzkrieg was made by the Wehrmacht at the beginning of the operation theaters of the Second World War. The strategy was particularly effective for the invasion of France, the Netherlands and the beginning of the invasion of the Soviet Union. The successful military operation relied heavily on surprisingly rapid penetrating maneuvers, general unreadiness of enemies and their inability to react fast enough, and consistent generalized military offensive of Nazi Germany. The fact that in 1940 the German army defeated the numerically and technically superior forces of France relatively fast led many military analysts to the hasty and false conclusion that the Wehrmacht had used a new system of complex weapon, consisting of new types of weapons previously invented by the Germans.
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