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What was it that made the German Army so successful in the Beginning of WWII,
Some of the themes that always seems to appear for me when reading about German battlefield successes is a sound doctrine encompassing all-arms battle and Auftragstaktik - a mission command ethos that enabled all levels of command to support the higher commanders intent - permeating through the officer and NCO corps. Of course these are generalisations and a simplification of why the Wehrmacht was such a capable force, but the doctrine that underpinned integrated all-arms battlegroups was not really practiced effectively by any of the Western Allies. I think the Germans managed to develop the thinking soldier earlier on than others and it is no coincidence that Mission command is now a feature of most joined-up Armies.
This is altogether the wrong question. The question that needs to be answered is why, despite having so many overwhelming advantages, they still manged to screw the pooch and lose.
The Germans entered the war with greater economic potential, better trained manpower, a more cohesive and decisive leadership, more friends, better and more numerous equipment levels, better leadership, effective doctrines, higher levels of motorization central positioninterior lines surprise, and many other advantages. They still managed to lose the initiaitve in the west by 1941, upset their friends, isolate themselves, fight too many wars at the same time, waste their strength on unimportant fronts, become sloppy in their security, waste their military leadership, lose their training edges, mismanage their economy and so many other failures. And yet, people across the world belive in the myth of superior german war performance during the war.
Not interested in the 'political education' here, just the pure military one...
Not interested in the 'political education' here, just the pure military one...
Unfortunately politics is too tangled up with the military to talk about military matters on its own. The military is an arm of government just like diplomacy and economics without discussing Germanys (and its opponents) home political/economic situation you cant discuss its military organisation the two go hand in hand.
And yet, people across the world belive in the myth of superior german war performance during the war.
You have to remember that politics was involved heavily in certain German military decisions such as Stalingrad, and it is also worth remembering that German military leadership did make crucial mistakes that lost decisive battles.