Blitzkrieg

At the start of World War II the German Army used a technique that was so successful that it allowed the Nazi's to conquer easily. The technique was called Blitzkrieg. Blitzkrieg (or Lightning War), was first used by the Nazi's during their Poland campaign in September 1939. Blitzkrieg was a simple process that involved the German Air Force, infantry, and tanks. All of the German units had their own job in the tactic. It would start off with the German infantry charging the enemy at top speed. Their goal was to split the enemy's defense and then penetrate their lines and to do it quickly in order to stop the enemy from building their defense. After this is done the Panzer tanks, which were made for speed and agility, would go behind enemy lines and help the infantry surround the enemy. They would need to penetrate the enemy's defense in order to cause shock and to cause the enemy's defense to become disorganized. This was shown when Rafael Loc ( a Polish lieutenant in the 1939 invasion) said "Two hours after it began we were panic stricken and our entire battalion jumped out of the trenches and ran toward our regimental headquarters." page 85 //"Hitler's Reich"// //.// The key goal to Blitzkrieg working is the German Air force. The German Air Force had to destroy the enemy from the air while the German infantry chargers. Also the German planes had to bomb the enemy's supply lines and to stop reinforcements. The planes they used for this were called Stukas. Stukas were made for Blitzkrieg because they were quick and they were perfect for dive bombing. Once all of the jobs were accomplished, the Germans could surround their enemy and force surrender. Surrounding the enemy using tanks and troops proved also vital to Blitzkrieg's success in battle. During the 1939 invasion a Polish lieutenant described it as " We continued running and walking but wherever we turned we met German artillery and tank fire. They were in back of us and in front of us. To the right was automic fire to the left we were shot at by artillery." "Hitler's Riech" "Blitzkrieg (Lighting War)"

Blitzkrieg helped the Nazi's in World War II for one major reason: Europe wasn't ready and they didn't how how to prepare for it. Europe wasn't ready for it because since World War I was trench warfare, (which was when two armies would fight from trenches and each charge and fight for a strip of land called "no man's land".) Europe believed that World War II would be fought the same way, so they were training in trench warfare instead of training with more advanced weapons. Since the Germans were training for Blitzkrieg for years, while Europe trained in trench the Germans were able to use surprise to their advantage. This was shown when the Germans took over 6 countries in two months in 1940, using Blitzkrieg. It helped the Nazi's because since it was new and since they incorporated advanced weapons in the tactic, the Allies couldn't fight the speed of the attack and their armies would quickly find themselves surrounded by German forces. Overall, Blitzkrieg helped the Nazi military conquer countries easily and at little cost, mainly because Europe couldn't defend against the techniques speed. "Blitzkrieg (Lighting War)"