Blitzkrieg

Blitzkrieg: n. an overwhelming all-out attack with infantry, artillery, and air force, especially by surprise against an unprepared enemy.(Merriam-Webster) This German word was invented in the 1930's to describe Hitler's new tactic, lightning war.

Though Hitler did not actually invent this tactic himself, it was, in fact, invented by Heinz Guderian. Heinz was an army man, he served in a most of WWII, and he happens to be the Panzer leader who split the Allies troops in half in Germany. Heinz also wrote two books, Achtung-Panzer, and Panzer Leader, which was about what he changed when he was in charge of the Panzer's.

Blitzkrieg was first put into action in 1939 against Poland, and its effect was devastating. The main weapon in the arsenal of Germany in this tactic was the Panzer. The Panzer is the basis for many modern tanks, and as the tank had just been invented in WWI, it was deadly in battle with its recent upgrades from the original tank. Another element of Blitzkrieg was the German airforce. Germany was the first country to think of dropping a bomb from a plane, and this was why this tactic worked so well, because they could destroy tons of ground troops with just one bomb. Infantry was also needed in order for this plan to work, as they were many people in the Nazi army. In the end, all of these divisions of an army worked together to create this horrible tactic. First, a small group of infantry was sent in to disorganize the enemy troops, then, the bombers came in a destroyed much more of the enemy army, and finally, after the enemy army has been completely immersed in chaos, the main army comes in with tons of infantry and artillery.

My final thoughts on the Blitzkrieg is that it is a brilliant, but horrible tactic that will depress the citizens of that country horribly, as there army has just been destroyed quickly and efficientely. I also made a connection during my research between a Marvel superhero and the Blitzkrieg. The superhero's name was Blitzkrieger, and was invented at about the same time as WWII was going on, and the superhero's birthplace was actually in Germany. This character was probably invented to give people something to cheer them up from the Blitzkrieg. I do believe, despite the fact that this tactic depressed hundreds of thousands of people, that this is the most ingenius tactic used in WWII.