Fall Gelb And The German Blitzkrieg Of 1940: Operational Art

Fall Gelb And The German Blitzkrieg Of 1940: Operational Art PDF Author: Major Rick S. Richardson
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1786250772
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 69

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Book Description
The objective of this study is to determine if the German “blitzkrieg” and Fall Gelb of 1940 were an expression of operational art. Despite the mythology surrounding Fall Gelb, the campaign does not constitute a major breakthrough in operational art by the Germans. Fall Gelb was not an expression of operational art. This conclusion is based upon an analysis using the approaches posed by U.S. Army and joint doctrine, Dr. James Schneider and Dr. Shimon Naveh. The purpose of this study is to examine more closely what is meant by “operational art” and to use those contemporary insights to re-examine German military operations in France in May 1940, Fall Gelb. Fall Gelb was chosen because it is a campaign that is frequently studied and often used and abused to illustrate various points relating to military operations. The study of the Fall Gelb campaign offers a glimpse of past operations through the lens of contemporary thought. That study provides the contemporary military professional an opportunity to improve his understanding of operational art through the study of a historical campaign.

Fall Gelb And The German Blitzkrieg Of 1940: Operational Art

Fall Gelb And The German Blitzkrieg Of 1940: Operational Art PDF Author: Major Rick S. Richardson
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1786250772
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 69

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Book Description
The objective of this study is to determine if the German “blitzkrieg” and Fall Gelb of 1940 were an expression of operational art. Despite the mythology surrounding Fall Gelb, the campaign does not constitute a major breakthrough in operational art by the Germans. Fall Gelb was not an expression of operational art. This conclusion is based upon an analysis using the approaches posed by U.S. Army and joint doctrine, Dr. James Schneider and Dr. Shimon Naveh. The purpose of this study is to examine more closely what is meant by “operational art” and to use those contemporary insights to re-examine German military operations in France in May 1940, Fall Gelb. Fall Gelb was chosen because it is a campaign that is frequently studied and often used and abused to illustrate various points relating to military operations. The study of the Fall Gelb campaign offers a glimpse of past operations through the lens of contemporary thought. That study provides the contemporary military professional an opportunity to improve his understanding of operational art through the study of a historical campaign.

Fall Gelb & the German Blitzkrieg of 1940

Fall Gelb & the German Blitzkrieg of 1940 PDF Author: Rick S. Richardson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Germany
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"The objective of this study is to determine if the German "blitzkrieg" and Fall Gelb of 1940 were an expression of operational art. Despite the mythology surrounding Fall Gelb, the campaign does not constitute a major breakthrough in operational art by the Germans. Fall Gelb was not an expression of operational art. This conclusion is based upon an analysis using the approaches posed by U.S. Army and joint doctrine, Dr. James Schneider and Dr. Shimon Naveh. The purpose of this study is to examine more closely what is meant by "operational art" and to use those contemporary insights to reexamine German military operations in France in May 1940, Fall Gelb. Fall Gelb was chosen because it is a campaign that is frequently studied and often used and abused to illustrate various points relating to military operations. The study of the Fall Gelb campaign offers a glimpse of past operations through the lens of contemporary thought. That study provides the contemporary military professional an opportunity to improve his understanding of operational art through the study of a historical campaign. Fall Gelb must be analyzed using criteria derived from a modern understanding of operational art to objectively assess the significance of Fall Gelb. There are three distinctive approaches to operational art. One way to approach the problem is to use contemporary doctrine as a yardstick. Contemporary doctrine approaches the issue by using simple definitions and lists to describe the essential elements of operational art. Another approach is that taken by Dr. James Schneider from the U.S. Army School of Advanced Military Studies. Schneider's approach seeks to describe the phenomena associated with the practice of Operation Art. Schneider breaks down operational art into key attributes necessary for the practice of Operational Art. A third approach to the issue is that used by Dr. Shimon Naveh, an Israeli military theorist."--Abstract

Fall Gelb & the German Blitzkrieg of 1940

Fall Gelb & the German Blitzkrieg of 1940 PDF Author: Rick S. Richardson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Germany
Languages : en
Pages : 51

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Book Description


Blitzkrieg

Blitzkrieg PDF Author: Charles K. Pickar
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Lightning war
Languages : en
Pages : 50

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Book Description


Blitzkrieg

Blitzkrieg PDF Author: Charles K. Pickar
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Lightning war
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Blitzkrieg has been variously described as strategy, tactics, and even operational art. This ambiguity, coupled with a misinterpretation of this form of offensive combat, can cause false conclusions when studying the history of World War II and trying to relate this history to modern practice. Blitzkrieg was the tactical means the Germans used so pursue their strategy in World War 2. Applied against an enemy that was temporarily inferior in doctrine and technology, it was a great success and led to the aura which surrounds the word. This paper examines Blitzkrieg from a tactical and operational perspective. The result is an appreciation of where Blitzkrieg falls in the conceptual and theoretical realm of warfare. The first section examines Blitzkrieg from a theoretical perspective. The German practice of this form of maneuver warfare concentrated on battles of encirclement which would annihilate enemy forces. This analysis compares the German practice with the theoretical basis of radical deep battle. The result is a redefinition of Blitzkrieg as a tactical form of maneuver. The second section is an introduction of the characteristics of operational art. Blitzkrieg, rather than an expression of operational art, was instead a characteristic. Finally, two events, the German invasion of France in 1940, and the plans for the Summer offensive of 1942 are examined to determine the validity of the claim that Blitzkrieg is a tactical rather than operational action.

Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm

Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm PDF Author: Robert M. Citino
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
ISBN: 0700634010
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 431

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Book Description
When Germany launched its blitzkrieg invasion of France in 1940, it forever changed the way the world waged war. Although the Wehrmacht ultimately succumbed to superior Allied firepower in a two-front war, its stunning operational achievement left a lasting impression on military commanders throughout the world, even if their own operations were rarely executed as effectively. Robert Citino analyzes military campaigns from the second half of the twentieth century to further demonstrate the difficulty of achieving decisive results at the operational level. Offering detailed operational analyses of actual campaigns, Citino describes how UN forces in Korea enjoyed technological and air superiority but found the enemy unbeatable; provides analyses of Israeli operational victories in successive wars until the Arab states finally grasped the realities of operational-level warfare in 1973; and tells how the Vietnam debacle continued to shape U.S. doctrine in surprising ways. Looking beyond major-power conflicts, he also reveals the lessons of India’s blitzkrieg-like drive into Pakistan in 1971 and of the senseless bloodletting of the Iran-Iraq War. Citino especially considers the evolution of U.S. doctrine and assesses the success of Desert Storm in dismantling an entrenched defending force with virtually no friendly casualties. He also provides one of the first scholarly analyses of Operation Iraqi Freedom, showing that its plan was curiously divorced from the realities of military history, grounded instead on nebulous theories about expected enemy behavior. Throughout Citino points to the importance of mobility--especially mobilized armor--in modern operational warfare and assesses the respective roles of firepower, training, doctrine, and command and control mechanisms. Brimming with new insights, Citino’s study shows why technical superiority is no guarantee of victory and why a thorough grounding in the history of past campaigns is essential to anyone who wishes to understand modern warfare. Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm provides that grounding as it addresses the future of operational-level warfare in the post–9/11 era.

Fall Gelb 1940 (2)

Fall Gelb 1940 (2) PDF Author: Douglas C. Dildy
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9781472802743
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This highly illustrated title deals with the great blitzkrieg campaign of May/June 1940 as German forces poured through Holland and Belgium to confront the French and British. The campaign was audacious, relying on speed and feinting and maneuvers as much as superior force. In the end those qualities were to prove decisive to German success. Peter Dennis' superb illustrations illuminate a campaign which was in many ways ground-breaking, featuring the first ever airborne assault at a strategic level, and at this point the largest clash of armor in history.

Cross of Iron

Cross of Iron PDF Author: John Mosier
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
ISBN: 1429900776
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
A riveting account of the origins and development of the German army that breaks through the distortions of conventional military history Acclaimed for his revisionist history of the German Army in World War I, John Mosier continues his pioneering work in Cross of Iron, offering an intimate portrait of the twentieth-century German army from its inception, through World War I and the interwar years, to World War II and its climax in 1945. World War I has inspired a vast mythology of bravery and carnage, told largely by the victors, that has fascinated readers for decades. Many have come to believe that the fast ascendancy of the Allied army, matched by the failure of a German army shackled by its rigidity, led to the war's outcome. Mosier demystifies the strategic and tactical realities to explain that it was Germany's military culture that provided it with the advantage in the first war. Likewise, Cross of Iron offers stunning revelations regarding the weapons of World War II, forcing a reevaluation of the reasons behind the French withdrawal, the Russian contribution, and Hitler as military thinker. Mosier lays to rest the notion that the army, as opposed to the SS, fought a clean and traditional war. Finally, he demonstrates how the German war machine succeeded against more powerful Allied armies until, in both wars, it was crushed by U.S. intervention. The result of thirty years of primary research, Cross of Iron is a powerful and authoritative reinterpretation of Germany at war.

The Blitzkrieg Legend

The Blitzkrieg Legend PDF Author: Karl-Heinz Frieser
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
ISBN: 1612513581
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 594

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Book Description
Here, for the first time in English, is an illuminating German perspective on the decisive blitzkrieg campaign. The account, written by the German historian Karl-Heinz Frieser and edited by American historian John T. Greenwood, provides the definitive explanation for Germany’s startling success and the equally surprising military collapse of France and Britain on the European continent in 1940. In a little over a month, Germany defeated the Allies in battle, a task that had not been achieved in four years of brutal fighting during World War I. First published in 1995 as the official German history of the 1940 campaign, this book goes beyond standard explanations to show that the German victory was not inevitable and that French defeat was not preordained. Contrary to most accounts of the campaign, Frieser’s illustrates that the military systems of both Germany and France were solid and that their campaign plans were sound. The key to victory or defeat, Frieser argues, was the execution of operational plans—both preplanned and ad hoc—amid the eternal Clausewitzian combat factors of friction and the fog of war. He shows why, on the eve of the campaign, the British and French leaders had good cause to be confident and why many German generals were understandably concerned that disaster was looming for them. This study explodes many of the myths concerning German blitzkrieg warfare and the planning for the 1940 campaign. Frieser’s groundbreaking interpretation of the topic has been the subject of discussion since the German edition first appeared. This English translation is published in cooperation with the Association of the United States Army.

The Evolution of Operational Art

The Evolution of Operational Art PDF Author: John Andreas Olsen
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199599483
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Broadly defined as the grey area between strategy and tactics, operational art spans the theory and practice of planning and conducting campaigns and major operations aimed at accomplishing strategic and operational objectives in a given theatre of operations. An intermediate link between strategy and tactics has always existed, but a distinct concept that encompasses a systematic and deliberate plan of campaign for major operations is a mere two hundred years old. Based on country specific case-studies, this book describes how the concepts that underpin operational art originated, how they received practical expression in various campaigns, and how they developed over time. The point of departure is the campaigns of 'the God of War', Napoleon Bonaparte. The book then proceeds with chapters on the evolution of operational art in Prussia / Germany, the Soviet Union / Russia, the United Kingdom, United States, Israel, and China. The final chapter deals with the future of operational art in irregular warfare. Theory is critical to refining and improving existing methods of applying operational warfare, and its importance cannot be overstated; however, to be useful, theory and its accompanying vocabulary must be combined with a proper examination of historical trends and practical experience. The present volume attempts to achieve that combination. This book is a project of the Oxford Leverhulme Programme on the Changing Character of War.