Keegan, Chpt 3: The Triumph of Blitzkrieg

The Triumph of Blitzkrieg

Blitzkrieg means "lightning war" in German, which is exactly how the invasion of Poland took place. Hitler launched his offensive of September 9th, 1939 and by October had the capital surrounded. After Poland fell, Hitler issued a Western offensive mainly directed towards France with 'Case Yellow' proposing a direct attack on France. When this plan leaked and became compromised after many revisions, Hitler was furious and demanded extreme secrecy from then on. "Sickle Stroke" was the offensive bluff that was to draw out the French. The German Luftwaffe had few models of aircraft, but they were fine tuned and expertly made. Their tanks were light, mobile and plentiful. The technological advances frightened the French Army, virtually the same in 1939 as they had been in 1914.

The Maginot line didn't extend into Belgium, so Directive No. 8 was formed to have French and Belgian soldiers fighting together, even though Belgium was "independent" at this point. The British had a small, but fairly good army, while the French had a large army with varying abilities. The German army was very simple, with only 3 types of divisions. In May, Germany took over the Dutch, even though they were legitimately neutral. The Belgians remained neutral because they believed (rightly so) that the French and British would not help them protect all of Belgium. Belgium was quickly pushed back, while the French and British began to move forward "as if they were retracing steps taken in a dream" retracing the path they had taken during the First World War.

Hitler's bluff worked well. Belgium thought they were to receive the brunt of the attack, but it was not so and Germans wreaked havoc all over where they were not expected to be. The Germans surprised the French and crossed the Meuse on another surprise attack. It was a fierce battle, but the Germans managed to cross all three Panzer divisions across the river into France.

The Allies were terrified:
Belgium - occupation
British - losing army and airforce
French - army surrounded and destroyed
Codename Dynamo: evacuated part of BEF off British South Coast Weygan line broke as soon as it was attacked. Mussolini joined war, French wanted a declaration between British & French, but British said no. The French were soon crushed and disheartened, but the Germans were lighthearted and confident.

Long and Short Term Causes of World War II

Long Term Treaty of Versailles/League of Nations Article 231 - created much anger in Germany, led to Nationalism and gave Hitler a base for support The League of Nations - Didn't succeed in it's purpose. It was a good idea, but the execution allowed Hitler to revamp the Army and take over Austria without reparations "bad Hitler" Wall Street Crash World economy was dependent on the US economy When Wall Street crashed, the US had to stop lending money to Germany. This allowed Germany to get out of paying reparations. This also allowed Germany to build up their military to "fix the economy" Industrialism/Nationalism Industrialism - technology increased, as did production of weapons Nationalism - the German army was very proud of their weapons and started to think that glory and respect and heroes came back from war Short Term Appeasement Chamberlain was so against war that he let Hitler have whatever he wanted, Hitler want to go to war so at the first opportunity he jumped on all out war Anschluss Without a single shot, Hitler took over Germany. This showed the insignificance of the League to stop land gain diplomatically, which was the entire point of the League. Invasion of Poland Actual beginning of the war. Showed how incompetent and naive countries had been with their appeasement policies.