The Blitzkrieg Legend

The Blitzkrieg Legend

Author: Karl-Heinz Frieser

Publisher: Naval Institute Press

Published: 2013-01-15

Total Pages: 594

ISBN-13: 1612513581

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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.


Strategy For Defeat: The Luftwaffe, 1933-1945 [Illustrated Edition]

Strategy For Defeat: The Luftwaffe, 1933-1945 [Illustrated Edition]

Author: Williamson Murray

Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing

Published: 2015-11-06

Total Pages: 883

ISBN-13: 178625770X

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Includes the Aerial Warfare In Europe During World War II illustrations pack with over 200 maps, plans, and photos. This book is a comprehensive analysis of an air force, the Luftwaffe, in World War II. It follows the Germans from their prewar preparations to their final defeat. There are many disturbing parallels with our current situation. I urge every student of military science to read it carefully. The lessons of the nature of warfare and the application of airpower can provide the guidance to develop our fighting forces and employment concepts to meet the significant challenges we are certain to face in the future.


Democracies Against Hitler

Democracies Against Hitler

Author: Alexander J. Groth

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-08-10

Total Pages: 335

ISBN-13: 0429838271

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First published in 1999, what the confrontation between democracies and Hitlerism tells us about democracy is the subject of this book. It examines the response of political democracies to the phenomenon of Hitlerism, beginning with democracy in Germany itself in the ’20’s and ’30’s, and ending up with Britain and the U.S. in the ’40’s. Contrary to mythology, this response was far more a failure than a success. An iconoclastic treatment, it anticipates the crises of the future..


1944

1944

Author: Jay Winik

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2015-09-22

Total Pages: 656

ISBN-13: 1439136475

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**New York Times Bestseller** Jay Winik brings to life in “gripping” detail (The New York Times Book Review) the year 1944, which determined the outcome of World War II and put more pressure than any other on an ailing yet determined President Roosevelt. 1944 was a year that could have stymied the Allies and cemented Hitler’s waning power. Instead, it saved those democracies—but with a fateful cost. Now, in a “complex history rendered with great color and sympathy” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), Jay Winik captures the epic images and extraordinary history “with cinematic force” (Time). 1944 witnessed a series of titanic events: FDR at the pinnacle of his wartime leadership as well as his reelection, the unprecedented D-Day invasion, the liberation of Paris, and the tumultuous conferences that finally shaped the coming peace. But millions of lives were at stake as President Roosevelt learned about Hitler’s Final Solution. Just as the Allies were landing in Normandy, the Nazis were accelerating the killing of millions of European Jews. Winik shows how escalating pressures fell on an infirm Roosevelt, who faced a momentous decision. Was winning the war the best way to rescue the Jews? Or would it get in the way of defeating Hitler? In a year when even the most audacious undertakings were within the world’s reach, one challenge—saving Europe’s Jews—seemed to remain beyond Roosevelt’s grasp. “Compelling….This dramatic account highlights what too often has been glossed over—that as nobly as the Greatest Generation fought under FDR’s command, America could well have done more to thwart Nazi aggression” (The Boston Globe). Destined to take its place as one of the great works of World War II, 1944 is the first book to retell these events with moral clarity and a moving appreciation of the extraordinary actions of many extraordinary leaders.


Chemical Warfare

Chemical Warfare

Author: Fredric Brown

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-09-04

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 135152920X

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In the aftermath of 9/11, the potential terror of weapons of mass destruction--from nuclear, biological, and chemical to dirty bombs--preoccupies national security experts. In Chemical Warfare, Frederic J. Brown, presents a cogent, innovative framework for understanding the historical forces that have restrained the use of WMD and how they continue to have relevance today. Analyzing both world wars, he argues that the restraints on use were complex and often unpredictable and ranged from the political to the technological. The author offers a detailed examination of American chemical warfare policy as it was shaped by industry and public sentiment, as well as national and military leaders. The organization of the book into three parts reflects the importance of battlefield experiences during the First World War and of international political restraints as they evolved during the interwar years and culminated in ""no first use"" policies by major powers in World War II. Part I examines the use of chemical weapons in World War I as it influenced subsequent national policy decisions. Part II focuses on the evolution of political, military, economic, and psychological restraints from 1919 to 1939. Part III discusses World War II during two critical periods: 1939 to early 1942, when the environment of the war was being established largely without American influence; and during 1945, when the United States faced no credible threat of retaliation to deter its strategic and battlefield use of chemical weapons. Written at the height of controversy about the U.S. use of chemicals in Vietnam, Chemical Warfare offers a valuable historical perspective, as relevant now in its analysis of chemical and also nuclear policy as it was when first published.


Clash of Arms

Clash of Arms

Author: Russell Hart

Publisher: Lynne Rienner Publishers

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 496

ISBN-13: 9781555879471

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"Beginning with an investigation of the interwar neglect that left the Allied militaries incapable of defeating Nazi aggression at the start of World War II, Hart examines the wartime paths the Allies took toward improved military effectiveness. He also explores the continuous German adaptation that prolonged the war and increased the price of eventual Allied victory.


THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD IN CRITICAL ANALYSIS, PHOTOGRAPHS AND MAPS

THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD IN CRITICAL ANALYSIS, PHOTOGRAPHS AND MAPS

Author:

Publisher: Jeffrey Frank Jones

Published: 2020-05-10

Total Pages: 396

ISBN-13:

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CONTENTS by CHAPTER: 1. STALINGRAD: THE PRELUDE TO THE BATTLE 2. THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD: PREPARATORY PHASE DOCUMENTS 3. STALINGRAD: URBAN WARFARE 4. A DESPERATE STRUGGLE TO SAVE A CONDEMNED ARMY– A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE STALINGRAD AIRLIFT 5. AN ANALYSIS OF THE GERMAN DEFEAT AT STALINGRAD 6. THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD: PHOTOGRAPHS AND ORIGINAL MAPS INTRODUCTION: When one visits the huge, “Mother of Russia” war statue in Stalingrad (now renamed Volgograd), Russia, one gets the impression that an epic battle took place there. And, indeed, an epic battle—the World War II Battle of Stalingrad between Germany and the Soviet Union— did take place there. The battle, which lasted six months, produced over 1.5 million casualties and led to the destruction of an entire Germany army and half of another.3 It also at one point tied down seven Soviet armies. The magnitude of these figures makes the battle hard to imagine, but it is clear that Stalingrad was one of the largest and longest single battles in military history. Stalingrad also is significant in that it marked a key turning point in the war on the Eastern Front. While the ultimate outcome of Germany’s war effort in the East probably was determined by its failure to defeat the U.S.S.R. in its 1941 campaign (Operation BARBAROSSA), Stalingrad was the high water mark of Germany’s eastward advance. After its defeat at Stalingrad, the Reich never again occupied as much Soviet territory and, with brief exceptions, was in retreat.