Blitzkrieg = success

Blitzkrieg = success

By Isabella Ponce de León & Brenda Pedreschi

When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Western journalists adopted the term blitzkrieg to describe this form of modern warfare of the German army, they had all-motorized force concentration of tanks, infantry, artillery, combat engineers and air power, using overwhelming force at high speed to break through enemy lines, and, once the lines are broken, proceeding without regard to its flank. Thanks to Blitzkrieg strategy, German army was very feared at the beginning of the war and many of its operations were successful. Blitzkrieg operations were very effective during the campaigns of 1939 until 1941. All successful Blitzkrieg operations depended on surprise attacks and penetrations in enemy territory; in general, enemies were unprepared and had an inability to react effectively enough to the German's offensive operations. This situation happened in Poland, and in the Battle of France, were, the French, who made attempts to position defensive lines along rivers, were constantly frustrated when German forces arrived there first and started fire.

Blitzkrieg was a unique idea of warfare that most of the Allied forces could not effectively understand and counterattack until they gained reasonable experience under decent leadership.

Surprise was the main characteristic that gave so many victories to Germany, as the other countries were not prepared and didn’t expect that way of attack.

We can consider as cause of success the experience Germans had to make Blitzkrieg effective. Most of the German troops were in heavy training in Russian soil (Training in German soil was difficult due to the Treaty of Versailles) and Germans improved their armor units significantly, thanks to brilliant Russian tank prototypes. Many of the German generals were experienced and brilliant, thanks to their wealth of experience and education from WWI and battles in Russian soils. This gave an extra advantage over other countries because it is not useful to have a great strategy if there are no soldiers prepare to develop this strategy, preparation has the same or more impact in the success of a battle or war.

In Britain and France, the cavalry regiments ruled supreme and they believed that the tanks would not get any influence in their armies. The old traditional cavalry regiments dominated the High Commands of both countries and their political pull was great.

An important fact for the success of blitzkrieg was the incredulity of the allies of underestimating the German power because they could have prevent themselves better, and prepare their forces, even though Germany was not able to defeat Great Britain this occur because they realize before being attacked, but France suffered a different luck.

In 1940, Britain and France still had a World War I mentality. What tanks and armament they had, were poor compared to the German’s. British and French tactics were outdated and Britain still had the mentality that as an island they were safe, because they thought their strong and powerful navy would protect them.

The German Blitzkrieg was an enigma for the allies and a militar advantage and weapon to win battles for the Germans, their army was feared at the beginning of World War II, a strong and prepared army with secret tactics can be the key to winning battles, but not always to win wars, as was the case with Germany in World War II.

The Battle of Britain – The RAF vs. the Luftwaffe

By Antonella Chichizola

It was July 1940 and Britain had been left alone against Germany.  Winston Churchill was impatiently waiting for their attack to defeat Hitler and bring stability and hope to the rest of the world. Hitler was of course very confident about his forces, specially the Luftwaffe. He planned to attack Britain by two operations: one by air and the other by sea (Operation Sealion). But he gave less importance to the second one because the Luftwaffe was supposed to be good enough to end with Britain. Indeed, the Luftwaffe counted with a numerical superiority –about 1200 bombers and 1000 fighters against some 900 British fighters. However, Hitler didn’t count on the advantages of the RAF (Royal Air Forces), which included planes with longer fuel-life, knowledge of the territory as the battle was fought in Britain, and specially the position of the latest warning system: the radar.

Something that played against Germany was the fact that the German bombers were vulnerable once their shorter-range fighter escorts had turned for home, and they had a limited range and a limited bomb load. They had an excellent fighter: the German Messerschmitt Bf-109. Too bad for the Germans it had only enough fuel to stay in the air about 10-20 minutes over Britain. By the other side, the British Spitfires and Hurricanes could spend much longer in the air, and were also excellent fighters.

German Messerschmitt Bf-109

British Spitfire 

British Hurricanes

Radars also played a fundamental role in the victory of the relatively small army of the RAF.

 The word radar comes from the acronym “radio detection and ranging”. It was used in the Second World War by the RAF to locate the incoming enemy. It showed up enemy aircraft when they were as farther as 120 km away. They are based on a system of electromagnetic waves which allowed British pilots to detect the position of the German aircrafts without having to patrol to look for them; as they didn’t, they were saving fuel.

Hitler focused on bombing British cities, such as London, in order to gain supremacy instead of concentrating on the RAF airfields. This was a lethal error for Germany. As they were not being constantly attacked, British aircrafts had more time to recover and to rebuild airbases.

The Battle of Britain ended up being the first time Hitler was stopped from achieving his aims and it turned to be vital for preparing the future launch pad for the allied invasion of Europe in 1944. It seems that finally Hitler was starting to have some neglects over his plans.

                                                                     

Battle of Berlin: The beginning of the end, Soviet Union’s tactic

Battle of Berlin: The beginning of the end, Soviet Union’s tactic

By: Isabella Ponce de Leon

The Battle of Berlin was the final Battle between Germany and the USSR. It started the 26th of April of 1945 and finished two days later, the 28th of April This battle caused the surrender of the Nazi Army before the Red Army of the Soviet Union.

The purpose of the Allies Counterattack was to finish the war that the Nazi power started, and finally recover the lands lost between it. They wanted to enter to Germany, to Berlin, its capital and most important city, Hitler was there. In the 1930's and 1940's was the largest city in Europe and for twelve years capital of the Third Reich.

"The enemy knows I am here. That could provide the best opportunity to for us to lead him in to a trap".

Adolf Hitler

Hitler was conscious of the battle for Berlin coming, but he felt proud of his country and even thought that he had chances to defeat his enemies. But the truth was that his most important armies weren’t available for the defense of Berlin, instead they were several divisions left of young soldiers without much experience, the police and veterans.

It was very easy for the USSR to enter Polish territory and then, arrive to Germany. The Soviets managed to encircle the city of Berlin.

Soviet armies complete the encirclement of Berlin and continued to press the attack into the city of Berlin. Most of the city was occupied within a matter of days.

Towards the 25^th of April the Soviets had entered several Berlin's districts, while German troops moved back to the area of ​​government buildings, followed by the Soviet’s bombing.

On April 27 the Soviets finally penetrated the German defensive ring based on the Berlin subway and only the central areas of it were held by the Germans, whose troops were in a critical situation without external reinforcement options, and a growing shortage of weapons, ammunition and medical supplies.

Finally on April 28^th the Soviets advanced from the north of Berlin, getting dangerously near to the Reichstag, and to the bunker where Hitler was hidden. The place where the fight was more intense and bloody was the central territory of Berlin that surrounded the Reichstag. The precise place were the war was declared lost for the Germans.

Against Hitler’s assumptions, German armies were unprepared for an attack of the magnitude of the Red army and soviets did not stop until the city surrender and the war was finally over. Germans lost the war because of this surprise encirclement tactic of the Soviet Union, Hitler never thought that the USSR will press the borders of Germany and force his army to surrender, the Battle of Berlin was finally over on April 28, and with it all Hitler’s dream of making his country a great European power.

The battle of Berlin was a real nightmare for the Berlin citizens and for the entire Germans, while for the entire continent, it meant the end of the terrible World War II that Hitler started with the ambition and desire of turning his country into a powerful empire.

A witness of the horror lived by the citizens of Berlin, Dorothea von Schwanenfluegel, was a 29 year old wife and mother who lived in Berlin when the Battle took place. She and her daughter along with friends and neighbors hid in a department building during the battle, and her husband was recruited to fight in the SS, the Shutzstaffel.

Dorothea says that during the war, people were starving and if you left your house was certainly possible that you couls never come back:

‘’The city was already in ruins from Allied air raids, food was scarce, the situation desperate - the only hope that the Allies would arrive before the Russians.’’

After the war finished, Berlin was in ruins, local innocent people were dead and Germany was left in a terrible crisis after Hitler’s death. And all because of the ambition and radical ideology of one strong-minded man leading a country full of revenge.

“Atomic bombs: prevention of a greater evil“

by Brenda Pedreschi

“President Truman's decision to use the atomic bomb on Japan was for the purpose of saving lives and ending the war quickly in order to prevent a disastrous land invasion.“

Americans had always believed that the decision of dropping the atomic bombs on Japan was for solely military reasons. A timely end to the war would mean that no land invasion of Japan is necessary. Such an invasion would have been extraordinarily costly in terms of not only American lives, but also in terms of Japanese dead. Ending the war quickly would return soldiers to their homes and allow Americans to begin a life of normality again.

But truth is Truman had either partially or entirely different reasons for bombing Japan. They believe that the destruction of two Japanese cities would accomplish several things. Most obviously, it would punish the Japanese for the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the atrocious treatment of American prisoners of war.

Truman wanted to give the U.S. and edge in the coming Cold War by showing that he was not afraid to use these weapons of mass destruction.

On the other hand Truman should have chosen one of the several available ways to compel a Japanese surrender without an atomic bombing of two cities.

The most obvious alternative is an American invasion of Japan, but this alternative was seen as worse for Truman’s eyes because he believed that by invasion many soldiers and even innocents would die and he must avoid that, especially avoid USA soldiers to die.

Japanese philosophy of dying for their country and protecting it would end with many lives among Japanese after an American invasion. It is known that children were going to be sacrificed as "Sherman carpets." Japanese children were to be strapped with TNT and throw themselves under American tanks, thereby dying in the most honorable way possible, by killing the enemy.

Also many Japanese would prefer to die that to be captured by Americans or to see their country taken by Americans is the case of Saipan, where nearly 900 Japanese killed themselves rather than be taken prisoner by Americans. Such was the Japanese philosophy to fight to the last man. If an entire nation was compelled to launch suicide attacks against the occupying army, it is conceivable that many, many millions of Japanese civilians would die.

There are no acceptable excuses for the bombing in Japan, but USA was not the biggest enemy in the entire war, reason why it can’t be seen as the bad guy of the movie, especially when Japan first attacked by surprise Pearl Harbor.

Truly USA uses as excuse of throwing the bomb the willing of ending the war with Japan, it was to prove its superiority and power over fascism and communism. Japanese were willing to surrender and even thought its true and invasion may cause the death of many people that was not the main reason for USA to throw the bomb, that was mainly the excuse given to Americans to accept the disaster provoked.

USA appeared in the Second World War as a monster that was awaked by Japan, a monster that needed to prove its power and revenge.

Day of Infamy: causes

By Brenda Pedreschi 

It was December 7th 1941 when the day of infamy occur, on an otherwise peaceful Sunday morning on a beautiful Hawaiian island, the first wave of Japanese airplanes left 6 aircraft carriers and struck Pearl Harbor a few minutes before 8 AM local time.

In two waves of terror lasting two long hours, they killed or wounded over 3,500 Americans and sank or badly damaged 18 ships - including all 8 battleships of the Pacific Fleet - and over 350 destroyed or damaged aircraft.  At least 1,177 lives were lost when the Battleship U.S.S. Arizona exploded and subsequently sank. However, they did not sink any of American Pacific aircraft carriers and they left most of the fuel that was needed to win the war in the Pacific.

The Japanese attack brought the U.S. into the war on December 8 and brought it in the war determined to fight to the finish.

Pearl Harbor attack was the cause of USA get involved in the war, but which were the reasons of Japan to attack Pearl Harbor?

To understand why Japan lashed out, we must go back to World War I, with a long-term cause. Japan had been American ally. But when Japan tried to collect the share of the booty at Versailles, they ran into an obdurate Woodrow Wilson.

Wilson rejected Japan's claim to German concessions in Shantung, home of Confucius, which Japan had captured at a price in blood. Tokyo threatened a walkout if denied what she had been promised by the British. "They are not bluffing," warned Wilson, as he capitulated. "We gave them what they should not have."

But the short-term reasons that cause the outbreak of Pearl Harbor attack was the prevention against the United States from interfering in Japanese plans to conquer the Dutch East Indies, Malaysia, Singapore, Burma, and the rest of South Asia. This was part of Japan's overall strategic goal of conquering China. The resources of South Asia (primarily oil & rubber) had to be seized so that Japan's war machine could be kept functioning. The United States had stopped selling oil to Japan because of Japan's aggressions in China and Japan's recent seizure of French Indo-China.

Pearl Harbor attack was a surprise attack that only ensures the inevitable involving of USA in the Second World War. But the reasons why Japan attacked are only the example of the crisis around the world, the desire of power, territory and resources. War was seen as the only way to get what wanted and as a way of taking revenge of the past over other countries.

Japan underestimated the Americans and they had might seen the day of infamy as victory, were Americans truly defeated? Japanese will understand later that they had awakened a monster. 

The Negligence of the Ardennes Forest

By: Lorena Solari & Antonella Chichizola

It was 1939 and the Marginot Line was amazing, it seemed indestructible. It was carefully planned to defeat the German army. This fortified line of defense surrounded the limits between France and Germany, blocking the access to the German forces. The British and French were waiting for a German attack to defeat, but when Hitler reached this line on May 12, France turned to be under the control of Germany, and just one city stayed on the French side: Vichy. If the Marginot Line was thought to defeat a German attack and was supported by the British, how could France lose under Germany then? The main reason might be that France didn’t expect the tactic Germans applied: passing through Belgium and the Ardennes.

In World War I Germany invaded France by Belgium and the Ardennes through the Schlieffen plan. To avoid this happening again, the League of Nations declared that in Rhineland, an area located in the frontier with Belgium, it was forbidden to have an army. But when Hitler rose up to power, German forces were sent there, so it was “evident” that he was planning to reach France through Belgium.

It is also another cause of the neglect of the Ardennes that the French thought that the swamps, forests, and hills of that area were a strong barrier; sufficient for defeating a German attack. A German bout through this region was considered an extremely risky move.

Pitifully for the French, this underestimation of the German army caused an important and consequent in the future flaw: in the Margot line, they left a 50 mile (80 km) unprotected gap in the region of Ardennes.

On May 10^th, Hitler launched attacks on Holland and Belgium and two days after he entered French territory broking through the Ardennes Forest. Despite the months that had been available for preparation, the defending forces were easily destroyed by the Germans because of the strategy they used. As the Allies at first though that the Germans would attack through Belgium as they did in the First World War, they took charge of this place and protected it with their forces. As an addition, the other possible way for broking into France was blocked by the Maginot Line. However, the German General von Manstein was aware of the lightly protection they have given to the Ardennes Forest so he proposed a change in the plans – which at first did involve Belgium – to broke through this weakest sector of the allied line by attacking across the river Meuse.

It was a massive armored force lead by General von Kleist which broke through the Ardennes and breached the French line near Sedan. This breakthrough was marked the outcome of the Battle of France. British forces decided to retreat to the Channel at Dunkirk. There were about 10 000 French troops that escaped and saved along them.

If Marshal Pétain, French general, wouldn’t have been so fresh about the Ardennes forest and would have protected that area the story would have been very different, don’t you think so?

Why does Hitler failed in the invasion of Great Britain? Operation Sea lion: The Battle of Atlantic, struggle for the sea’s control

By: Isabella Ponce de León

It started the 4^th of July of 1940 and ended with the end of World War II. The German Army received the order to prepare a possible invasion to the British Islands. The plan of Hitler, during the Operation Sea Lion, was to invade Great Britain by the Atlantic sea. He knew that maintaining a war with England was dangerous, not only because they had the  greatest navy of  the world, but keeping open the West front when his real target was none other than the Eastern campaign would be very irresponsible. This Battle was of great importance because it defined whether Great Britain, a world power in that time, was going to be invaded by the German force or not. It took place practically along all the extension of the Atlantic sea.

In that moment, the German fleet was very small and had a big disadvantage compared to the Britain's Royal Navy, which outnumbered it by a lot. The Kriegsmarine, the German fleet, had lost a great portion of its large modern surface units in April of the same year during the Norwegian Campaign, the loss of two light cruisers and ten destroyers was really terrible, because these big boats were the most suited to operate between the Channels were the invasion would take place. They had only left the submarines, the most  powerful arm of the Kriegsmarine, but they were meant for destroying ships, not supporting an invasion.

 When the battle took place, for luck of the Germans, The British fleet was as vulnerable to the air attacks, as the Nazis expected to be. The Great Navy was bombarded and everyone thought that Germany had almost won the war. Also it is good to mention that Great Britain was alone, in this Battle, his Allies didn’t manifested. That is why it was a great and vulnerable blank to invade. But, does Great Britain, the majestic and strong power of Europe was going to be defeated by the German Nazis? The truth was that, even if the Royal Navy was neutralized, the Germans couldn’t enter the British borders through the channels they because had no specialized landing craft. They had only a few artillery boats that were for defenses and for destroying enemy’s fleets. If they used them, this would cause the Germans to have a limited quantity of artillery and tanks that could serve for protection and attacks. So the Germans were really discapacited to enter British territory, no matter what was the British situation.

The Germans would have needed to immediately capture a port, something that was impossible considering the strength and quick recovery of the British defenses, in the coast and around the harbours at that time. The British also had several contingency plans, including the use of poison gas. When the Germans were feeling the lords of the seas by destroying British boats with their air force, the British appeared then with airplanes and started bombarding Germans fleets.

Hitler got really mad at this situation; he had to cancel many plans he had for the invasion because his army was incapable of penetrating the harbors of Great Britain, who was superior to them in the seas and in air. Hitler created a plan and ordered to German sailors to block the British harbors with submarines, to stop all the medias that supplied resources and destroy merchant ships.

German submarines sank 2,848 merchant vessels in total, with a total of 14,000,000 tons.

Germany suffered crisis and lost entire armies and militar boats and submarines, while Great Britain, was strong and had a highly developed commerce, but the blocking of merchant ships and commerce caused by the Nazis caused several problems of resources until the start of 1945, where the battle was finished and Germany was left with the desire of invading it.

This is a video about Germans submarines that participated in the Battle of the Atlantic and the struggle to invade British territory:

Operation Barbarossa

Video 

The Little Ones in Auschwitz

By: Lorena Solari

In World War II Auschwitz was one of the worst intended whereabouts for the victims. There a single potato was enough for surviving one more day, the life conditions were not basics for a human being. This extermination camp was started in 1940 and is located at 60km west from Cracovia in Poland. People died by shootings, illnesses, gas cameras, lack of food, etc. But was in 1942 that an order that all the children of the occupied areas should go to Auschwitz was dictated, converting Auschwitz in a hell for the big and little ones.

When the nazis received a group of children, they immediately killed the most little ones, because they were too little to work, or not “useful”. The children that were able to live were separated from their mothers. If their mothers had the conditions to work, they were sent to Auschwitz too, but to a different area. Only the camps of the families with a gipsy origin or from Theresienstadt had the right to stay together. The other ones should live by their own. After this kids were selected they were sent to learn about construction to Birkenau (headquarter of Auschwitz also called Auschwitz II) while the crematories were built there. The kids lived in malnutrition, because they were forced to make extremely hard works with a bad alimentation.

The children’s life was horrible. They had no potable water, and drinking the contaminated water was forbidden. But they were as thirsty that they had to drink the water causing in them more probabilities on being infected with any of the illness of the camp because of the weakening of their bodies. Their bones could be totally recognized, differently from their muscles and fat. They were skinny and with holes, which caused them ulcerative wounds. Their lips were decayed and filled of ulcers, which caused them holes in their jaws and cheeks that finally were infected, and seemed like cancer. In many cases the organisms started to decompose and get full of water, they swelled until they converted into a deformed mass and were unable to move. Another problem that they suffered was the diarrhea, which caused them a huge loss of substances, and causing them to die.

In 1943, these children were sent to Auschwitz I again. There, they were exterminated by injecting them phenol. Some kids were sent to work in the camp as pawns, where the German authorities abused of them. Sometimes, the children were blond with light-colored eyes; the German authorities took them to be “Germanized” while the ones that looked like Jewish people were abused and bad threatened.

What this kids lived was a shock for their whole life. If an adult suffered in Auschwitz, for a kid was worst. Their first memories were seeing people dying or feeling hungry, painful, and unhappy. They never had the time to know what happiness was. This is what they can call “childhood” and what they remember of their first years of life. We can take as an example to Daniel Canoch, who at the age of 7 escaped from the concentration camps. He once visited Auschwitz and leaned back in his bed, and all what he remembered was horrible things. And that was what Nazis did, horrible things that build up what those children know now as their earliest memories.

Cold Barbarossa

By Lorena Solari 

Because of the bad performance that the USSR had in their war with Finland, the Axis power was sure that they could defeat the Red Army before the cold winter. Hitler´s plan was designed carefully to invade this big territory, he learned from Napoleon’s failure and planned a massive attack in the spring of 1941. The performance of Germany at the begging was really good, but, why did the USSR could defeat the Germans?

By November 1941 the German army had pushed 960 km inside the Soviet Union, having the control of important cities like Kiev. But what Germany really wanted was Moscow, the center of communism. Because of the advantage that Hitler had, he assumed that Stalin´s regime was going to finish. And when he started to attack, Stalin was caught by surprise, fact that led Hitler advance to Moscow. But the German army was weak and had not enough supplies. Finally, the USSR surrounded Moscow and defeated Germany. A consequence, Hitler was forced to move to Stalingrad, where he finally lost the whole eastern campaign. Germany had a carefully designed plan, but the Red Army had a weapon that was the most important of the battle: the “General Winter.”

What can a strong winter can do? The German army had a strategically made plan, but a historically extreme winter can change it in a surprise way. What this winter can do, at first is to unable the forces to move. The paths are filled with snow and make very difficult to proceed (Some people affirm that the soldiers need skis for a better mobilization). Another consequence of winter is that the machines freeze, and special lubricants are required for the vehicles and guns. Also, winter makes days shorter, another disadvantage that affects quickness. The soldiers that are not used to this type of climate may use special clothing that includes special gloves and shoes. And finally, the wounded soldiers needed to be hospitalized before they die as consequence of exposure.

But what is worst, the encouragement for keeping on the battle becomes worst. In the case of Germany, the plan was to defeat Russia before winter, reason why the supplies they had were calculated for spring and autumn. And when all seemed to be lost a soviet counterattack defeated the Germans. The USSR was affected by the winter too, but they did thought in the possibility of a strong winter and were conformed of soldiers used to the climate. German conditions where extremely bad, and this is proved in the testimony of a German soldier:

“We had no gloves. We had no winter shoes. We had no equipment whatsoever to fight or withstand the cold…. We lost a considerable part of our equipment…. Due to the cold we lost a lot of people who got frost-bitten, and we had not even the necessary amount of ointments, or the most simple primitive things to fight in…. Guns didn´t fire anymore. Even our wireless equipment didn´t work properly anymore because the batteries were frozen hard….”

Is amazing how our own nature can play an important role on war, ensuring the victory for a country, and acting as a decisive weapon. In my opinion, winter was the most important advantage that the USSR could have.