German Military Strategy During WWII

The purpose of this paper is to examine German military strategy during the campaigns of World War Two. The focus will be on how strategic considerations led, first, to the overwhelming early victories of the Wehrmacht, as well as to its later destruction. The major campaigns from September 1, 1939 to May 8, 1945 will be discussed. However, a brief introduction to the causes of the war and the genesis of the Third Reich will be necessary for context.

The causes of World War Two have long been the focus of debate. Most commentators point to the aftermath of World War One as containing the seeds of the next conflict, which seems to be at least partially true. What is ironic, and rarely commented upon, is that the failure of German strategy in World War Two probably does have its seeds in the former conflict.

Following its crushing defeats at the hands of Napoleon, the Prussian Army began a top-down reassessment of its entire structure. The most important development of this review was the creation of the General Staff system for the army, in which the study of military was professionalized and turned into a science (Dupuy, 1977). German officers drew on the theoretical lessons of Jomini, who attempted to distill a set of rules of combat, and Clausewitz (1984), who discussed the natural "fog of war" and the consequent need for flexibility in both planning and operations. By the end of the Nineteenth century, the German Ar

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est of England. Throughout the summer, the Luftwaffed gathered its forces: 900 fighters and 1,300 bombers dispersed in three fleets flying from France, Norway, and the Low Countries. Against these, the British were only able to muster 650 fighters. German plans were to attack British cities, coax the outnumbered Royal Air Force into combat, and destroy it (Dupuy & Dupuy, 1970, 1065). However, the RAF enjoyed a major technical advantage. The British had recently developed radar, which allowed them to see German assaults coming and to mass their air power accordingly. From August 8 to August 18, the RAF met the Luftwaffe over the coastal cities and regularly defeated it. On August 24, however, Germany changed tactics. Large groups of bombers escorted by massive flights of fighters attacked the RAF airfields. Over the next two weeks, 450 British fighters were destroyed, 103 pilots were killed, and the RAF was close to cracking (Dupuy & Dupuy, 1970, 1065). On the night of August 24, the British staged a night bombing of Berlin, and repeated the assault on the 29th. Several other cities were also attacked. Damage was minimal, but Hitler was enraged and ordered yet another change in tactics in order to protect the Father

Category: History - G