Before we get too far ahead another WWI exam question:
Identify the highly decorated young German Lieutenant from the Italian Front who later became one of the key generals in WWII.
How did he impact the events of WWII and how did his WWI experience influence his thinking and decision making?
Erwin Rommel.
His experiences in Italy in WWI lead him to rewrite German doctrine on infantry maneuvers and tactics; leading to the highly advanced use of small units, fire-and-maneuver, assault, and basically everything else the Germans did that was groundbreaking in WWII in terms of infantry and armor.
And Guderian didn't have anything to do with it??? As a matter of fact they both pulled ideas from a paper presented in the mid '20's at St. Cyr by an obscure French General by the name of Fontaine. Dealt with the whole germ of infantry/armor tactics. Another obscure French cavalry officer tried to get the French high command to listen to him when appropriations were finally approved for a revamp of the French military in 1935/36. All based on Fontaines paper. . This officer pushed for a professional army in Metropolitian France. But it all fell on deaf ears. Care to guess his name?
Don't forget Brusilov in all this too with his revolutionary for the time theory of combined arms assaults at enemy weak points.
Member: Clan of the Turdlike People.
Courage is Fear that has said its Prayers
�If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.� Ronald Reagan.
