The situation in Germany: East and West face two great enemies
Why did the Germans favor Blitzkrieg? The last choice, otherwise it will face two strong enemies at the same time
If the Blitzkrieg fails, Germany will face a very serious tug-of-war, which Germany will avoid at all costs, because Germany's geographical environment is quite harsh, and there are extremely powerful enemies in the east and west: Russia and France. If it were to fall into a situation where the East and the West were fighting at the same time, Germany would have basically stopped singing.
Germany's blitzkrieg is extremely famous in the world's military history, and in the Second World War, Nazi Germany relied on this tactic to continuously achieve brilliant results in a very short period of time, first defeating the mighty Polish iron horse to the east, then turning the muzzle of the gun to conquer France in the west, beating France, once the world's first power, without the ability to fight back, defeating this old power in only one month, and finally turning east again, implementing the "Barbarossa Plan", blitzing the Soviet Union again, beating the polar bear to the ground to find teeth. If it were not for the fact that the Soviet Union was too powerful, the climate was too cold, the depth was too terrifying, and the military mobilization ability was too strong, Germany could have succeeded in blitzing the Soviet Union, and world history would have been rewritten.
German Blitzkrieg
The matter also begins with the appearance of Germany as a country on the European continent, and the unification of Germany is not long, it is January 18, 1871, which is only 150 years old. At that time, King William I of Prussia, with the strong assistance of the "iron-blooded chancellor" Bismarck, kicked out the powerful rival Austria, and stepped on the corpse of France to complete the unification cause, Wilhelm I was crowned German emperor, and Bismarck also became the prime minister of all Germany. The European continent achieved drastic changes, France fell, even the French Emperor Napoleon III became a prisoner of the German army, and Germany became the first power in Europe.
But only after Germany had reached the top of Europe did it find that the heights were cold, and the victory in the Franco-Prussian War, although it forced the mighty France to bow its head temporarily, but it put itself in a situation of being humiliated by the enemy on its back: the proud French were humiliated by this strange humiliation, and they were bound to seek revenge, which was a lingering nightmare for Germany on the western front; and in the east, there was a strong, barbaric, huge and greedy beast Russia that threatened its own security at all times!
The Iron-Blooded Prime Minister Bismarck
In order to restore its former glory, the defeated France will inevitably use the policy of long-distance and close-range attack to seek common interests from Russia, so that Germany will be caught in a two-sided war, and Russia will certainly form an alliance with France for the same purpose against the rising German Empire. What to do? Germany is looking for its own way out, European geopolitics can not be changed, the only way to allow Germany to avoid fighting on the east and west fronts is only one, that is, to blitz one of Russia and France, take advantage of the other's reaction to solve the battle, so that Germany can calmly move its forces to the other side, without worries, Germany can calmly maneuver with the enemy, and the balance of victory will naturally tilt towards Germany!
Unfortunately, history is advancing according to the above description, whether it is the First World War or the Second World War, Germany is caught in the quagmire of the east and west fronts, and the blitzkrieg has become the only mode of self-help. Therefore, Blitzkrieg was Germany's last resort, or rather, Germany's only choice.
Germany in World War I
Before the First World War, the Chief of Staff of the German Army and the famous strategy master Schlieffen prepared a very detailed war guidance strategy for Germany, which is the well-known "Schlieffen Plan" in the history of world war! Schlieffen's operational instructions actually had only one purpose, that is, to avoid two-front operations, to concentrate superior forces on the Western Front, to crush France like the Franco-Prussian War, and then to quickly march eastward against Russia. In the "Schlieffen Plan", the western front is the focus, and the most important thing is the right wing of the western front, and Schlieffen repeatedly advises before dying: Do not weaken my right wing!
It should be said that Schlieffen foresaw all foreseeable situations, and the plan itself fully demonstrated that Schlieffen, as a strategic master, will certainly leave a page in the history of world wars, and the idea of fighting in two ways and putting the right wing first is also very pragmatic. However, the Schlieffen Plan was completed in 1905, while world war I began in 1914. That is to say, as early as 11 years ago, the German action plan was already written! This was a strange thing, and Schlieffen could not have foreseen all the situations unless he was a god.
Schlieffen
In the past 11 years, many situations have undergone extremely significant changes: the French army is far more tenacious and tenacious than Schlieffen imagined, it is impossible to collapse in one blow, modern warfare needs strong logistical capabilities to be guaranteed, the combat effectiveness of the German army is also less invincible under the stubborn resistance of the French army, the "Schlieffen Plan" follows the tradition of the German army attacking strong and defending weak, and it does not think of what to do once it enters the confrontation stage, and the Schlieffen organs are exhausted. In his dreams, he never expected that the right wing he cared most about was seriously weakened by the then chief of staff, Moltke Jr. (although Moltke Jr.'s decision also had his reasons)...
In short, on September 5, 1914, the German and French armies fought on the Marne River, after a week or so of fierce fighting, the German army did not defeat the French army, the two sides entered a stalemate, the German army's blitzkrieg failed, the "Schlieffen Plan" went bankrupt, the German army fell into a two-front battle, left and right to be beaten - this is the last thing the German army wants to see, but it really happened, and then Germany had to support it, which was one of the main reasons for the defeat of the German army in World War I.
Little Moltke
Fast forward twenty years and Nazi Germany came to power and launched World War II. At this time, Germany's situation was no better than in Schlieffen's time, and it was still the western front facing the old enemy France, the eastern front was the polar bear that had become the Soviet Union, and of course, between Germany and the Soviet Union, there was another military power, Poland. The first strategic priority for the Germans remained to avoid a two-front operation– as Schlieffen thought 35 years ago, and hitler now.
Nazi Germany's battle plan on the European continent was roughly as follows: Britain and France were great enemies and could not be reconciled, but fortunately, in order to divert the Nazi scourge to the Soviet Union, they adopted a policy of appeasement, and could take advantage of this, and safely concentrate their forces on the Polish battlefield and blitz Poland; then turn their guns to the west and strike France again; as for the Soviet Union, because they had just signed the "Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact" with them, there was no need to worry for the time being; after the Western Front was all straightened out, they would concentrate their forces and launch a surprise attack on the Soviet Union, and if they hit it, they would punch the polar bear in one punch. At that time, Britain is located on the northwest island, and there will be no big waves, and Europe and even the world will be dominated by Germany!
second world war
Hitler's dream was completed, and he immediately launched a blitzkrieg against the Central European military power Poland on September 1, 1939, and World War II broke out! Within a month the Germans had defeated Poland. When the German army launched the Eastern Front with all its might, its Western Front was extremely empty, with only 23 divisions, and Poland's allies, Britain and France, had more than 110 divisions on the Western Front, but Britain and France implemented a policy of appeasement, declared no war on Germany, and watched Poland perish - Hitler won the first battle, and the German army won a brilliant victory in blitzkrieg!
Hitler and his staff must have studied more than once the Schlieffen Plan, which, although defeated in actual combat, could not be said to be useless, and indeed infinitely close to its central purpose in the First World War: to destroy the French heavy army and to occupy Paris! Therefore, many of the strategic plans formulated by Hitler have the shadow of the "Schlieffen Plan".
France surrendered in World War II
On May 10, 1940, fascist Germany implemented the "Manstein Plan", launched a blitzkrieg against France, quickly forced Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and other small countries around France to surrender, bypassed the Maginot Line, and carried out heavy attacks on France. On 22 June, the French surrendered, France was knocked down by the same opponent twice in a century, Marshal Pétain organized the Vichy government, and France fell – Hitler's strategic intention to occupy France and avoid a two-front battle was achieved!
By the way, the "Manstein Plan" is actually a copy of the "Schlieffen Plan", World War II Hitler was able to defeat France in a month of lightning, the "Schlieffen Plan" is also indispensable, at this time, perhaps Schlieffen under the Nine Springs will also show a happy smile.
Pétain, head of the French puppet government
After the air raids on Britain and the attempt to bring Britain into surrender frustrated, Hitler launched a blitzkrieg against the Soviet Union the following year, on June 22, 1941 (the summer solstice, the longest day of the day), code-named "Project Barbarossa". At the beginning of the war, the thick-skinned polar bear was beaten by a set of combination punches of the German army, the country fell in a large area, and the Soviet Red Army was gradually defeated, but the Soviet Union's strong national strength, broad strategic depth, terrible army mobilization ability and extremely cold weather made the Soviet Union block Germany's three-plate axe, and finally won victory in the defense of Moscow and the defense of Stalingrad, of which the Stalingrad defense battle was the turning point of the entire Second World War, and the anti-fascist alliance achieved a strategic counteroffensive!
After Barbarossa, the Germans did not organize a large-scale, decent blitzkrieg. Blitzkrieg may look pleasing to the eye, and may put the opponent to death in a very short period of time, and achieve the most famous name in the history of the generals, but the price of doing so is also extremely heavy, that is, behind the combination of heavy weapons such as aircraft, artillery and tanks, there must be a very strong national strength as a backing. The so-called blitzkrieg is actually a gamble, betting on the fortunes of the country, once victorious, the opponent immediately bows down, such as Poland and France in World War II, especially the "Manstein Plan"; but once the Blitzkrieg bankruptcy, the follow-up strength can not keep up, immediately fell into passivity, there is no effective plan, the result is a dead end, the "Schlieffen Plan" of World War I is so, the "Barbarossa Plan" of World War II is also the same.
Barbarossa Plan
But then again, although Hitler was already defeated and died, and Nazi Germany was already in vain, we might as well assume that if Hitler had not launched the "Sea Lion Project" air raid on Britain and did not take the initiative to attack the Soviet Union in World War II, would the entire European continent have groaned and wailed under the iron hooves of the German Blitzkrieg? This is a question of great fear, but fortunately, history has passed, and there is no "if" problem. Yesterday I just watched Spielberg's "Schindler's List", every time I watch the war blockbusters made in the West, I have a deep fear of war, peace is so beautiful, how many soldiers' blood and civilian casualties in exchange, why not cherish it?
Movie "Schindler's List"