Blitzkrieg Weapons
Blitzkrieg: Weapons & Methods The word Blitzkrieg was coined by Hitler in 1936 (Macksey 68) and gained its use of the word when it first appeared in Time Magazine’s issue dated 25th of September 1939. Blitzkrieg or lightning-fast war was fashioned long before the Second World War. It was already an idea based on the fear that if Prussia engaged one enemy into a lengthy war, other enemies would have joined in and failure would ensue. Thus, Blitzkrieg, as it is now used, is Heinz Guderian’s development of the Prussian military thought of sudden military offensive. It was first used by his forces in May of 1940.
I. Guderian & his Blitzkrieg – Heinz Guderian was born in 1881 at Kulm, a Prussian town that is now Poland. He attended military schools in Germany before being sent to the battalion his father commanded at Bitche in Lorraine. He then elected to serve with the telegraph battalion and took charge of the heavy wireless station working in connection with cavalry. It was the time of wireless communication; new ways of improving radio communication were discovered at an unbelievable pace. Radio communication allowed a commander to be virtually present on any field, plane or tank. This Guderian, with a right vision, saw as the future. Since then, he never lost sight of the thought that military radio would one day play an important role in the army’s military operation. During the First World War Guderian served as a staff officer and after the war he served as a senior staff officer in the infamous Iron Division. Then he was selected for staff job with the Inspectorate of Transport Troops, the office responsible for selecting tactical uses of motorized infantry in combat and the use of motor transport. He became an asset in the motorized infantry studies but much to his disappointment, he was later assigned to the mundane jobs of construction, fuel supply and other technical jobs. Unbeknownst to him then these three experiences would later be the
I. Guderian & his Blitzkrieg – Heinz Guderian was born in 1881 at Kulm, a Prussian town that is now Poland. He attended military schools in Germany before being sent to the battalion his father commanded at Bitche in Lorraine. He then elected to serve with the telegraph battalion and took charge of the heavy wireless station working in connection with cavalry. It was the time of wireless communication; new ways of improving radio communication were discovered at an unbelievable pace. Radio communication allowed a commander to be virtually present on any field, plane or tank. This Guderian, with a right vision, saw as the future. Since then, he never lost sight of the thought that military radio would one day play an important role in the army’s military operation. During the First World War Guderian served as a staff officer and after the war he served as a senior staff officer in the infamous Iron Division. Then he was selected for staff job with the Inspectorate of Transport Troops, the office responsible for selecting tactical uses of motorized infantry in combat and the use of motor transport. He became an asset in the motorized infantry studies but much to his disappointment, he was later assigned to the mundane jobs of construction, fuel supply and other technical jobs. Unbeknownst to him then these three experiences would later be the
Cited: “Blitzkrieg.” Achtung Panzer. Oct. 21, 2006 http://www.achtungpanzer.com/blitz.htm “Blitzkrieg.” History Learning Site. Oct. 21, 2006 http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/blitzkrieg.htm “Blitzkrieg, 1940”. EyeWitness to History. 2002. Oct. 27, 2006 http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com Deighton,Len. Blitzkrieg. London: Triad Grafton Books, 1981.