How did the German military strategy of blitzkrieg attack the enemy?

Answer 1

Blitzkrieg is German for lightning and that was the idea behind the launching of its attacks. Strike fast and its all over. The world had never seen a highly mechanised and thereby highly mobile Army before. The many Panzer [tank] Divisions led the attacks at incredible speed, with well armed, well trained, troops in the rear. The Countries and States of Europe could not withstand the onslaught and fell quickly one by one.

Answer 2

It allowed them to strike quickly and with precision. It also allowed them to decimate the competion with a large force of troops, tanks, and planes. It would leave those unfortunate enough to step in its way destroyed and decimated

Answer 3

Military thinking in all countries tends to be conservative, in the sense of sticking to the tried and true, and an unwillingness to climb out on a limb supporting new, unproven, untried ideas. The bold, daring, and original thought that is so valuable in wartime leaders is exactly the sort of thing that gets fiery officers marked down as passionate troublemakers between wars. Often there is a period when war comes where the old fogies dodder ineffectually about until finally supplanted by people willing to take risks, as the desperation drives a search for better ways of making war. The First World War had seen the introduction of new weapons that would be much better utilized in the Second World War, because the leaders of the first war were old horse soldiers still thinking in term of sabres and cavalry charges. This was particularly true of the tank and the airplane.

How should tanks be used? Well, no one knew. The tanks of WWI were underpowered and lightly armed and armored, and broke down seemingly every few minutes, so they did not get a fair trial to discover all their potential, though still their successes were very startling. After the war stodginess set in again. The basic debate was, should tanks be dispersed throughout the forces and used to support infantry, or should they be massed into their own formations to provide breakthrough power? With stodginess back in the saddle you may guess which way this debate was resolved in most armies. There were a few visionaries who managed to get their views heard without being squelched. The situation of the German Army was unique. Limited to only 100,000 men by the Treaty of Versailles, it was a hard core of professionals, who were always thinking of ways to try to overcome their slender numbers, should war come again. When Hitler arrived in power, he was interested in making the army as powerful as possible, as soon as possible. In this atmosphere German officers found it possible, by halting steps, to create the first armored division anywhere by 1935. This was tanks massed for breakthrough and exploitation, using speed and mobility, and firepower when necessary, to make untenable the enemy arrangements for defense. This new formation was demonstrated to Hitler that year in maneuvers, and though his celebrated "instinct" often caused more problems than it solved, this time Hitler came to the correct conclusion. He liked what he saw, and wanted more of it, all he could get, and as soon as possible. Alone among the armies of the world the Germans possessed armored divisions when the war began in 1939, ten of them. So, for instance, the French army, which actually had both more and better tanks than the Germans had, had dispersed their tanks throughout their forces to provide close support for their infantry, which left them unable to cope with the massed German armor rampaging into the rear areas. The Germans had also copied an idea from the US Navy, which had only recently invented dive bombing, and unwisely gave a demonstration to a German military attache. Soon the Germans had the Stuka dive bomber, blasting targets just in front of the advancing armor. This close cooperation between air and ground forces had been visualized and attempted in the first war, but the Germans had brought the concept to a much higher state of perfection than anyone else up to that time.

The US Army resolved the question of what to do with tanks - infantry support, or massed for breakthroughs - by deciding to do both. The WWII US Army had sixteen armored divisions for breakthrough power, and dozens of "independent" tank battalions as well. One of these independent battalions would be "attached" to an infantry division for close support, leaving the armored divisions free to remain concentrated to strike as opportunity offered. The US was also ultimately to take air-ground cooperation further than the Germans, with forward air controllers riding in the lead tanks of formations, communicating directly with pilots via newly developed FM radios.

Answer 4

Blitzkrieg was speedy, overwhelming attack, catching the enemy unprepared.