BLITZKRIEG: Myth, Reality, and Hitler's Lightning War - France 1940

1-215090

Softcover reprint. In the spring of 1940, Nazi Germany launched a military offensive in France and the Low Countries that married superb intelligence, the latest military thinking, and new technology. In just six weeks the Nazis outflanked the large French army, sewed chaos, and took Paris, achieving what the Germans had failed to accomplish in World War I. Yet, much of our understanding of this victory, and blitzkrieg itself, is based on myth.

The tactic was not really new, and far from being a forgone victory, Hitler's invasion was incredibly risky and could easily have failed had the Allies been even slightly less inept or the Germans less fortunate. And while speed and mechanization were essential, 90% of Germany's ground forces were still reliant on horses, bicycles, and their own feet for transportation. Their surprise victory proved the apex of their achievement. Far from being invincible, the campaign revealed Germany's vulnerabilities and lessons not learned by Hitler as he began to plan for the invasion of the Soviet Union. Includes nine maps.