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Blitzkrieg

• Message 1.Β 

  Posted by Stephen_C (U3355758) on Monday, 11th May 2009

  I was debating with a fellow student earlier and we were arguing over the first German use of'blitzkrieg'. We couldn't agree on whether it was during the invasion of Poland; or whether German troops had used it in Spain during the Spanish Civil War...any help would be greatly appreciated.
  
  Regards,
  Stephen

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• Message 2

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  Posted by tucuxii (U13714114) on Tuesday, 12th May 2009

  Nazi Germany sent 12, 000 troops to support the Mationalists in the Spanish Civil War including a small number of tanks that were used as a training cadre.

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  Posted by LairigGhru (U5452625) on Tuesday, 12th May 2009

  I believe Stuka dive-bombers also saw their first service in Spain, but nevertheless I suspect that the first time the world heard the word 'blitzkrieg' was when Hitler attacked Poland, for that was when the system - simultaneous ground and air rapid assault - was really put into operation.

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  Posted by TimTrack (U1730472) on Tuesday, 12th May 2009

  The term 'Blitzkrieg' is really understood as a lightening quick general assault. It is, I would say, marked by :
  
  Scale - Poland was an assault across a large front.
  
  Combined arms - In Poland Germany used air, armour and infantry in a co-ordinated fashion. Each had specific roles, sometimes on their own, sometimes in close co-operation.
  
  Targetted use of armour - Armour was used in Poland to batter the initial defensive positions, by pass fortifications and attack rear areas. Infantry supported the initial attacks and set to work on fortifications.
  
  German involvement in Spain was marked mostly by air bombardment. There was little attempt to launch a co-ordinated campaign using German arms. The german attacks were more or less sporadic, so lacked co-ordination.
  
  The term 'Blitz' came to be used, somewhat anachronistically, to describe the German attack on British cities. As 'Blitz' means fast, and these were atritional attacks, it was mis-named. This may be why you or your friend confuse the air assault on Spain with 'Blitzkrieg' as I have defined it above.
  
  The two classic blitzkrieg campaigns of WW2 were Poland and France. The attack on the Soviet Union had some element of blitzkrieg, but I contend that the sheer scale of this assault led to its failure.

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  Posted by Stephen_C (U3355758) on Tuesday, 12th May 2009

  Thanks for all your replies

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• Message 6

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  Posted by Steelers708 (U1831340) on Tuesday, 12th May 2009

  Blitzkrieg in itself was never a tactic or doctrine it was/is a word that has come to symbolise the tactics used by the Germans to achieve their early war victories. Some historians claim that it was invented by Hitler, yet other sources claim that Gen Walter Nehring was sure that it was not of German origin, which adds credibility to the claim that it was used for the first time by an American Time magazine correspondent who, describing the events of 1939 in Poland wrote of them being "no war of occupation but a war of quick penetration and obliteration - Blitzkrieg - lightening war" and apparently even Guderian admitted that "our enemies coined the word blitzkrieg".
  
  In planning operations the Germans themselves always referred to a "schwerpunkt" or focus of attack, which was the main point of attack where they hoped to achieve a breakthrough that could be exploited.
  

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  Posted by suvorovetz (U12273591) on Tuesday, 12th May 2009

  Steelers Some historians claim that it was invented by Hitler, yet other sources claim that Gen Walter Nehring was sure that it was not of German originΒ  Since I suspect that you went through some military training one way or another, have you ever heard of Triandafillov, who wrote a few military theory books in the late 20s?

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• Message 8

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  Posted by Spruggles (U13892773) on Wednesday, 13th May 2009

  I think that the germ of tactical warfare by whatever name you want to call was begun in WW1.
  Here aircraft were used on the Western Front in support of the advancing troops in the ground attack mode. So susccesful were they, apart from the thirty per cent losses in some squadrons, that fighters were adapted and later even designed to fulfil this role. Bombers attacked rear assembly points and troop movements.
  Some would argue that this example and again in WW2 was the only time that aircraft were used correctly. Medium bombers used as long range artillery and fast ground attack aircraft to support tanks and artillery. As in 'Bliltzkrieg, the Western dessert, and the Allied attacks and advances into Germen occupied Europe.

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