Blitzkrieg, which means “lightning war,” is a military strategy that mixes air and ground forces to hit the enemy quickly at their weak spots. At the same time, they mess with the enemy’s back lines through sabotage and bombings. The idea is to use speed, focus, and surprise to freak out the enemy, disrupt their command, and bring them down without needing to wipe them out completely.
This tactic has its roots in 19th-century methods where armies used things like artillery and cavalry in concentrated attacks at a fast pace. However, it was really put into action with mechanized weapons by the German military during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and then on a much bigger scale in the early years of World War II (1939-45). Even today, Blitzkrieg tactics are still seen in modern warfare.
Origins
The Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) is often seen as the guy who kicked off the whole Blitzkrieg concept in his book On War, which came out after he passed away in 1832. During the Napoleonic Wars (1803-15), the Prussian army focused on gathering their forces together and moving quickly. Clausewitz pointed out how important it was to hit enemy troops hard with a mix of numbers, speed, and surprise, which would mess with their heads psychologically. This tactic also allowed smaller armies, like Prussia’s back then, to stand up against bigger foes.
Then in the 1920s, General Hans von Seeckt (1866-1936), who was in charge of the German Army, took things further. His army was limited to just 100,000 men because of the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I (1939-45). To deal with being outnumbered by other European forces, Seeckt focused on speed and mobility in battle tactics, even though Germany wasn’t allowed to have tanks or planes for military use. To get around this, he used fake models and sent troops to the USSR for secret training. The idea of combining different types of forces—like mobile infantry, armored vehicles, artillery, and aircraft to break through enemy lines—wasn’t just a German thing; British strategists like Major-General J. F. C. Fuller and Basil Liddell Hart were on board too. But it was the German Army that first put Blitzkrieg tactics into action.The term Blitzkrieg, which translates to ‘lightning war’ and highlights the focus on speed, is often linked to Hitler and was likely created to instill fear (Dear, 109). Historian A. Gilbert points out that Hitler first used the term in a political speech back in 1935. His goal was to expand Germany’s territory, and the Blitzkrieg strategy fit perfectly with the German military. Even though their forces were smaller than some competitors in 1939, they had more advanced equipment. With technologies like radios (even in tanks) and quick-to-set-up phone lines, commanders could stay in touch with troops on the front lines or even join them while still directing the rest of the army. Plus, German officers were trained to make independent decisions, which sped up troop movements since orders could be adjusted based on what was happening in real-time.
On the flip side, French Army leaders were still focused on static defenses like the Maginot Line. They did have tanks, but these were mainly used as backup rather than for aggressive tactics. It seemed like French and British commanders were resting on their past WWI victories. Back then, trench warfare was the norm, and the strategy was all about wearing down the enemy by having more soldiers and taking them out faster than you lost your own. But Blitzkrieg aimed for something completely different, as historian B. Pitt explains:
The main idea behind the Blitzkrieg method is that it’s easier and cheaper to weaken an enemy army by cutting off their supplies or disrupting their command and communication than by just beating them into submission.
(Liddell Hart, 19-20).
Total War
Blitzkrieg was all about total warfare tactics. It involved using every part of a country’s military, like the air force, tanks, artillery, infantry, and special units like engineers and saboteurs. The strategy often focused on attacking a narrow front to concentrate forces. The Germans referred to this key point in their attack as the Schwerpunkt, which you could think of as the “center of gravity” for the whole operation—basically, the spot they wanted to hit hard in the enemy’s defenses.
There was also a propaganda angle to Blitzkrieg. Before launching an attack, they would try to mess with the enemy’s morale by spreading misinformation through leaflets, posters, and radio broadcasts. When it came time to strike, they combined air and ground assaults for maximum impact. Bombers would target enemy defenses, communication lines, supply routes, and reserves positioned behind the front lines. Then, armored units, mainly tanks but also motorized infantry and mobile artillery, would break through the Schwerpunkt, often avoiding the strongest defensive spots on purpose. Specialized engineering teams helped keep the momentum going by quickly building temporary bridges over rivers and other obstacles. Meanwhile, specially trained troops would drop behind enemy lines, creating chaos by disrupting communications, transportation, and utilities. This sneaky tactic made it tough for enemy commanders to react to the main assault or even understand what was happening on the battlefield.
The goal of a commander using the Blitzkrieg approach was to either smash right through enemy lines or outmaneuver them with fast-moving armored units. This would create a Kesselschlacht, or “cauldron battle,” where they surrounded parts of the enemy that hadn’t been hit yet. After that, motorized infantry would follow up, encircling the untouched sections of the enemy lines. In the end, Blitzkrieg aimed to wipe out the enemy’s command structure and logistics, leading to their complete surrender.
The Blitzkrieg Campaigns
Poland
Germany’s forces had dabbled with Blitzkrieg tactics during the Spanish Civil War, but it was during the invasion of Poland in 1939 that they really unleashed its full power. The attack kicked off on September 1st, and the Polish army was quickly overwhelmed. They rolled out a bunch of aircraft like the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter, Heinkel He 111 medium bomber, and the Junkers Ju 87 ‘Stuka’ dive bomber, which could drop bombs with pinpoint accuracy, almost like heavy artillery. On the ground, they used tanks like the not-so-great Panzer I, which had pretty weak firepower, but also the much better Panzer II, armed with a 37 mm gun and a 7.92 mm machine gun. Thanks to Blitzkrieg, most of the Polish air force got wiped out while still on the ground by German bombers. These bombers took out airfields, roads, railways, and any military targets they could find. German transport planes kept the advancing troops well-supplied. Kraków fell on September 6th, and Warsaw, the capital, surrendered on September 27th. The speed at which Poland fell was astonishing. As noted in The Oxford Companion to World War II:
The results from the September campaign show just how effective the Blitzkrieg strategy was. German losses over the four weeks were under 50,000, with about 8,082 killed, 27,278 wounded, and 5,029 missing. In contrast, Polish casualties were much higher, with around 70,000 soldiers killed and about 130,000 injured… The Polish forces just couldn’t handle a larger and better-equipped enemy using this new and deadly approach to warfare.
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Low Countries & France
Germany once again effectively employed Blitzkrieg tactics during the Norwegian campaign in April 1940 and then in Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands the next month. They dropped troops behind enemy lines to stir up chaos. Once more, the quick pace of their attacks led to rapid collapses of opposing armies one after another.Then came the biggest blow of all: the Fall of France. The French army had more tanks than the Germans, and some were even better, but the Germans used their Blitzkrieg tactics to make their armor way more effective. Instead of concentrating their forces, the French generals spread their tanks out along a long defensive line that was too weak to handle the threat. Meanwhile, the German air force targeted key locations behind French lines with medium bombers, while ‘Stuka’ dive bombers provided direct support to the advancing German troops by hitting defensive positions right in their way. By launching a surprise attack through the Ardennes—an area thought to be unsuitable for vehicles—the Germans managed to go around the Maginot Line and hit it from the less protected back side. The speed of Germany’s victory caught even their own generals off guard, but when Hitler ordered them to stop, it allowed around 340,000 British, French, and Allied soldiers to escape to safety during the Dunkirk evacuation in May-June 1940. Paris fell on June 14, the French government shifted to Bordeaux, and they surrendered on June 22. France’s crushing defeat took just six weeks. Once again, Blitzkrieg proved not only to be successful but also cost-effective for the attackers. As noted in The Oxford Companion to World War II:
France [suffered] losses estimated at 90,000 dead, 200,000 wounded, and 1.9 million taken prisoners or missing…for a cost of 29,640 German dead (army and air force) and a total casualty figure of 163,213. (326)
Balkans & North Africa…
So, Germany pulled off the Blitzkrieg strategy again during their campaigns in the Balkans in spring 1941. They also used these tactics in North Africa. The German general Erwin Rommel, who had experience from the Battle of France, was really good at using Blitzkrieg tactics. He cleverly combined planes and tanks to take on enemies that outnumbered him. In the early years of the desert war, the Allies kind of wasted their advantage in numbers by not grouping their tanks effectively. Rommel was a pro at making sure his forces, especially his top-notch Afrika Korps, could strike quickly and unexpectedly, often attacking through tough terrain or moving around the enemy’s defenses. The Allies faced some major losses, like at the Battle of Kasserine Pass in February 1943, where Rommel executed a surprise attack using Blitzkrieg tactics. But eventually, they caught on to this new style of warfare and used it to defeat the German and Italian forces in Africa.
Limitations: Barbarossa
When Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa against the USSR in June 1941, the Blitzkrieg strategy initially had some wins but ended up being way less effective over time. The huge distances in this campaign really stretched the German army’s logistics to the limit. The whole idea of speed, which is key to Blitzkrieg, took a hit, leading to more static battles like the long and brutal Battle of Stalingrad (1942-3). Just like in Africa, Germany’s enemies learned from earlier WWII campaigns and adapted their tactics, even when they were on the defensive. The tough Soviet resistance, constant counterattacks, the German army’s stretched supply lines, heavy losses in troops and equipment, plus the brutal winter weather all chipped away at the invaders. The Germans didn’t capture Moscow as they had hoped and ended up having to fight a defensive retreat on the Eastern Front. Basically, failing to take Moscow was a major blow and a clear sign that the Blitzkrieg approach wasn’t working out (Dear, 89).
In the end, Germany lost WWII, but the Blitzkrieg tactic has been used in many conflicts since then, especially in the Middle East. Even today, Blitzkrieg is still relevant for military forces that can effectively combine air and ground power, showing that how you deploy your resources matters more than just having a lot of them.
