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World War 2

A comprehensive World War 2 history guide with facts and information on one of the most important events in British history.

  • Overview
    • World War 2 Summary
    • World War 2 Facts
    • World War 2 Timeline
    • World War 2 Prisoners Of War
    • Soldiers In World War 2
    • WW2 FAQ
      • Who Started World War 2?
      • Causes of World War 2
      • When Did WW2 Finish?
      • Which countries were involved in World War Two
      • When was World War 2?
      • Who won World War 2?
      • How Many People Died In World War 2
    • WW2 Planes: A History of World War 2 Aircraft
  • Battles
    • The Blitz
    • Pearl Harbour
    • Battle Of Britain
    • Dday
    • Operation Barbarossa
    • The Battle Of Kursk
    • Operation Overlord
    • Battle Of Midway
    • Battle of Stalingrad
    • The Invasion Of Poland
    • Operation Cerberus
  • Leaders
    • Winston Churchill
    • Franklin D Roosevelt
    • Adolf Hitler
    • Benito Mussolini
    • Emperor Hirohito
    • Joseph Stalin
  • Home Front
    • Evacuees Of World War 2
    • World War 2 Recipes
    • World War 2 Shelters
  • Anne Frank
  • Miscellaneous
    • World War 2 Books
    • World War 2 Movies
    • World War 2 Poems
    • World War One
    • The Phoney War
    • Blitzkrieg
    • World War 2 Allies
  • World War 2 For Kids
    • World War 2 Facts Kids
    • Children in World War 2

Blitzkrieg

During World War 2 The German army and particular Hitler adopted a number of strategies in order to seek victory. In the first two years of the war the German army took control of most of Europe using a tactic commonly referred to as the “Blitzkrieg” (Lightning War).

Following the successful use of the Blitzkrieg strategy within Poland, Norway was seen as a country with strategic importance to Hitler to allow him to complete aerial attacks of Britain. In one of the most famous statements from the War at the time British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain exclaimed that Hitler had ‘Missed the boat’ however this was far from the truth.

Four days later German vessels began escorting troops towards the Norwegian ports of Kristiansand, Stavanger, Bergen, Trondheim and Narvik. This was to be the second time we would see the Blitzkrieg strategy in use and certainly not the last.
This tactic continued to be successful for the German army over the span of two years where it was used in Denmark, Norway, Belgium, The Netherlands, France, Yugoslavia and Greece. This spanned a two year period where Germany took a strong hold across Europe.

How does the Blitzkrieg Tactic work?:

The Blitzrieg as a tactic is a clever one which was initially tested by the Germans in Spanish CIvil War in 1938 and of course against Poland in 1939. The tactic combines both land and air action and is focused around the speed and mobility of the attack.

The combination of forces would drive a breach in enemy defences and let the German tank division quickly enter the breached area. This would naturally cause shock within the opposition ranks and as they tried to regroup the Germans would follow this up with calculated, measured air strikes.

The subsequent lack of coordination from the opposition allowed the Germans to then seize the initiative in the battle. Any reinforcements were then circled by the German army which would give opposite no alternative than to surrender.

Success & Failure of Blitzrieg:

Initially within the Soviet Union of June 1941 the tactic again worked with tremendous loss to the people of the Soviet Union (Mentioned within our WW2 Facts page). The tactic drove the Soviet Union army back some 600 miles to the gates of Moscow.

However in 1942 a second offensive commonly known as the Battle of Stalingrad was met by a counteroffensive from the Soviet Union with devastating effect on the German army. Its said that an entire German army were destroyed within Stalingrad.

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Link will appear as Blitzkrieg: https://worldwar2.org.uk - WorldWar2.org.uk, July 4, 2014

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Overview

WW2 Summary
WW2 Facts
WW2 Timeline
Soldiers in WW2
WW2 Planes
WW2 Prisoners Of War

Leaders

Winston Churchill
Franklin D Roosevelt
Adolf Hitler
Benito Mussolini
Emperor Hirohito
Joseph Stalin

Home Front

Evacuees of WW2
WW2 Recipes
WW2 Shelters

Misc

WW2 Books
WW2 Movies
WW2 Poems
World War One
The Phoney War
Blitzkrieg
WW2 Allies

Kids

WW2 For Kids
Children in WW2
WW2 Facts For Kids

Battles

The Blitz
Pearl Harbour
Battle of Britain
D-Day
Operation Barbarossa
The Battle Of Kursk
Operation Overlord
Battle Of Midway
Battle Of Stalingrad
The Invasion Of Poland
Operation Cerberus

Common Questions

Who started WW2?
Causes of WW2
When did WW2 finish?
Which countries were involved in WW2?
When was WW2?
Who won WW2?
How many people died?

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