Why Was The Blitzkrieg Important

Jake Chromcik Mrs. Shawiak USII Honors/Concurrent 22 February 2024 Blitzkrieg in Battle Throughout the entirety of World War II, the Nazis were known to have used a special battle tactic called Blitzkrieg which translates to “lightning war”. The strategy involved attacking the enemy with rapid successions of heavy blows which enabled them to end battles a lot quicker than if they had fought regularly. Utilizing the Blitzkrieg strategy, it took just two years for Hitler to capture Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Yugoslavia, and Greece (German Conquests in Europe, 1939-1942). There is no doubt that Blitzkrieg proved to be a very effective method for conquering nations in a short period of time, but the failure
Even with the Poles having quite a lot of information about the upcoming invasion, the sheer strength of the Nazi military combined with their formidable Blitzkrieg strategy made them no match. It is worth noting that this was the first of many invasions carried out by the Nazis, so after they had won in such a swift and decisive manner, their confidence in Blitzkrieg was very high as they continued invading countries in Europe. Another example that reflects the effectiveness of the Nazi war tactic of Blitzkrieg is their invasion of France. Before the Nazi’s had attacked France, they had laid siege on the low countries which included Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg in order to launch their full scale assault. Much like Poland, the low countries knew months in advance that they were going to be invaded by the Nazis. Both Belgium and the Netherlands had almost fully mobilized their militaries in preparation for an invasion. However, even with their combined forces, they were still vastly outnumbered by the Nazis who garnered over 3.5 million troops combined with 5,500 aircraft. The fighting in the Netherlands ended just as quickly as it started, with the invasion only lasting four