The Germans were the first to practice blitzkreig because they started the war. The theory of combined arms mechanized warfare was first written about by British generals Liddel and Hart. The Soviets also practiced it before Stalin's purges. The tank was actually developed by the British Navy in WW1 under the direction of the First Lord of the Admirality Winston Churchill.
I do not know if the German Air was better or their pilots were better than ours. My father flew in the skies over Germany in a B-17 and he came home. I do know that German craftsmanship was and in some cases still is top notch.
On the other hand, I detest anything doing with Nazism. There is nothing worthwhile in it. Fortunately the German people had little to do with the real Nazi movement. It is an idea the should never be forgotten just so that it can never rise again.
The Germans were the first to practice blitzkreig because they started the war. The theory of combined arms mechanized warfare was first written about by British generals Liddel and Hart. The Soviets also practiced it before Stalin's purges. The tank was actually developed by the British Navy in WW1 under the direction of the First Lord of the Admirality Winston Churchill.
good info. thanks. just goes to show that blitzkreig is not owned by any particular country.
it just goes to show that good strategy, tactical responses, Ldrshp, and technology all interplay into a dance of sorts. and of course, ideology/philosophy also has an important role to play also.
ar-Perhaps you can help me here. What was the name of the ranking Admiral in the U.S. navy who for six months refused to provide escorts for convoys because he felt maritime losses were a civilian, not a naval concern?
In other news, whatever you want to attribute it to, they held off the combined arms might of the US, England, Canada and a whole bunch of other countries for about 3 1/2 years with 1/3 of their Army.
The other 2/3 were fighting the Russians. Thank goodness for Operation Barbarossa, otherwise who knows how long it would have taken to beat them?
Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery. Hit the target, all else is twaddle!
Their fighter planes were superior, so was their unequaled rocket technology and they were close to developing the A bomb.
Small details count too : their infantry helmet was the best, while the British helmet was the worst.
I don't know how "close to developing the A bomb" the Germans were. They did have a program underway, but were never able to sustain criticality of the fuel.
They weren't even close, not by a long shot
A good principle to guide me through life: “This is all I have come to expect, standard lackluster performance. Trust nothing, believe no one and realize it will only get worse…”
General Patton got into some hot water for basically following that concept mentioned in the last panel.
He was allowing former Nazis to run local government, and when told to remove them, his words were to the effect that they were the only ones who knew how to run local government.
The Germans lost the battle of the Atlantic due to superior technology and tactics. Radar, sonar and hunter killer groups based around an escort carrier along with destroyers were able to prosecute contacts to a finish.
As far as the Bismarck, she was the most overrated battle ship of the war. If you think that she took a lot of punishment, study up on what it took to sink the Yamato and Mushashi. She was inferior to the modern US, British and Japanese battleships in armor, guns and especially fire control. She was used as a commerce raider and was under orders not to engage convoys if they were escorted by old British WW1 battleships. The Bismarcks sister ship was so impressive that she never ventured into the Atlantic. The smaller German battleship Scharnhorst was also sunk in combat on the open seas.
Good post, I'd also add two very key tools we had to defeat the Germans in the Battle of the Atlantic; ULTRA and HF/DF. They never quite figured out how we managed to find them.
A good principle to guide me through life: “This is all I have come to expect, standard lackluster performance. Trust nothing, believe no one and realize it will only get worse…”
The Germans had been perparing for war for years. Their technological development was geared to make more and better weapons, their production was geared toward producing war materials, they had been stock piling fuel and supplies in preparation for war. They had been developing war experience, starting in the Spanish Civil War,in officers and troops.
The Allies were doing everything to avoid even the thought of war. Only in naval technology was the British investing in development. The only development the French spent anything on was the defensive emplacements on the border, which was fighting WWI again, a failed strategy.
The French were deeply divided, between the right and the left (sound familiar?) and distrusted each other more then they did the Germans. Crippled their ability to perpare for war and respond to the attacks that came.
The German generals look good, but a lot of that is due to the above, and due to the absolute political hacks that the Allies had in place before the war. The French were particularly fascinating, politics put the worst in place (again, sound familiar?)and they paid for it.
And the early gains that the Germans made gave them some of the most defendable borders that any general could hope for, except on the eastern front.
The Allies also were fighting the Japanese and their forces were split.
American soldiers, once they gained the experience that the Germans already had, and got improved weaponry to match the Germans, were better, more flexible and more dedicated and more capable. Only elite German units who got the best of everything could match them.
By the end of the war, the Allies had better equipment in every area, except missile technology.
The German as a supersoldier is a myth, pure and simple.
not so. they held unto a belief that was later overcome.
i'm not a Nazi simplifier, but i do know they were strong belivers, much like the xtrians of this day and age. they believe they are right. and they could be, but they lost the war.
now, we're trying to make sense of where we are, and what are the common interests of all Humans.
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