'Blitzkrieg' is the wrong term (and more) | TIK Q&A 24

Three questions today relating to what a true "Blitzkrieg" campaign is (Craig Dashjian), if Germany could have invaded France first instead of invading Poland (Diego Torres-Siclait), and why the Western Front of WW2 was more "gentlemanly" than the others (Jim Land).

This video is discussing events or concepts that are academic, educational and historical in nature. This video is for informational purposes and was created so we may better understand the past and learn from the mistakes others have made.

Videos EVERY Monday at 5pm GMT (depending on season, check for British Summer Time).

Here’s some other videos you may be interested in -

My video titled “Why I'm Passionate about HISTORY and What Got Me Into it”

History isn’t as boring as some people think, and my goal is to get people talking about it. I also want to dispel the myths and distortions that ruin our perception of the past by asking a simple question - “But is this really the case?”. I have a 2:1 Degree in History and a passion for early 20th Century conflicts (mainly WW2). I’m therefore approaching this like I would an academic essay. Lots of sources, quotes, references and so on. Only the truth will do.

[TheImperatorKnight]

Also, Season 1’s Stalingrad script is currently 14, 924 words long, split into three episodes. I’m still tweaking it here or there, but it’s pretty much the greatest thing I’ve ever written. Map is not finished yet but nearly is so it shouldn’t be too long now. I will let you know as soon as I can confirm a release date.

This Q&A video was more of an opinion piece so I’m not sure which specific books to reference. However, if you want to know more about the concept of “Bewegungskrieg” and the evolution of the German military tradition, Citino’s “Death of the Wehrmacht” goes into it as it describes the campaigns of 1942. Highly recommended book in general if you’re interested in Fall Blau, Stalingrad, or El Alamien.

Cheers!

[Baltazarddt]

I read in "the German Army 1933-1945" by Matthew Cooper, that the first time Hitler heard about the term Blitzkrieg was in an italian newspaper

[CoBRA]

It was hard to look forward to Mondays, until I subbed to TIK

[toddmoss]

3:04 based upon the giant mouth analogy, the Polish campaign could be categorized as Pac-Man Krieg. 😄

[Justin_Kipper]

So, the Ramones should've called their song "Bewungugnskrieg
Bop" :)

[Waterflux]

My initial thought: context is EVERYTHING, including historical evolution. I think Bewegungskrieg, let alone the cliche 'Blitzkrieg', makes very little sense unless one is familiar with the history of Prussia and how it had managed to turn itself from a second-rate European power into one of the top-five -- i.e., Great Britain, Russia, France, Austria-Hungary, then Germany (under Prussian lead) -- through a fine cocktail of diplomacy and quick military campaigns. That is, for an economically inferior power like Prussia, it simply could not afford wars of attrition. Instead, Prussia had to pull off short but decisive campaigns in order to turn military victories into favorable political outcomes.

[Kilomikepapa]

It all boils down to the fact that Blitzkrieg is easier to say than all those other kriegs...Seriously though, thank you for these videos. They have given me cause to look more deeply into many aspects of this time in history and review some of the notions I’ve developed over the years.

[sebastienraymond]

What a beautiful question about the "Blitzkrieg" and superb answer that makes us want to think and read more about the subject. 👍

[juancastilla]

I agree with you. The Germans were preparing for a long war. That is why the Panzer III was officially accepted into service in the German army until September 28, 1939. The Fall Rot plan had to be improvised on the battlefield, as the original plan had planned a campaign of at least six months.

[BlitzOfTheReich]

1:05 I agree with you here. A professor I interviewed even said the Germans performed badly in Poland. Napoleon, 130 years prior, managed to capture Poland faster.

[meekmild]

Regarding the first question. Never thought of it that way. But it solves a lot of the inconsistencies that i have half noted. Well done sir. Overturning an established view, using available evidence, is a pleasure to see unrolled before my eyes. 5 stars.

[JJ.CAIDY]

(Relating to the first question) your war economy hypothesis is very very very interesting and I never thought about it that way. Historical analysis constantly shifts between looking at the finest details and then comparing them to the bigger picture, everything from a ww1 rifle to an entire military doctrine plays a part in how things begin and in how they play out.

[dorrin]

I see a notification that TIK has posted a video, I click said notification.


I'm a simple man.

[dakotathehunter]

I'd like to say thank you for doing these videos about 6 months or so ago I stumbled upon your content and your channel. You have gone through and explained economics better than any teacher I had through my schooling, you've also delved deep into conflict and reasoning while remaining as close to the fence as possible to give as much of an unbiased opinion possible. Your channel is an inspiration and an amazing example that research and reason are what is needed to drive thought instead of the assumption that much of the world resorts

[faeembrugh]

I read Len Deighton's book 'Blitzkrieg' (where he conversely points out that the term was unknown in German circles) and he describes the Polish campaign as essentially traditional German tactics governed by the position of railheads. However, the French campaign used the mobility of Panzers to strike into the rear with the kind of rapidity which foot soldiers and horse-drawn logistics could achieve victory due to the small scale of the conflict.

[atsekoutsoube]

As I'm getting older I continuously learn new things (Solon the Athenian in somewhat free translation). Any way, this is usually the case with TIK's videos. Thank you very much mate.

[patrickmorrissey]

You have the best channel by far! I've learned so much more from your show than any other place! Thanks please keep it up ⚔️☠️

[achillies]

Awesome. Thanks Tik. I have been telling people about your fantastic series on Operation Crusader. You couldn't write a book with more twists and turns. I wanted more and more but I had to wait for each episode. I am going to watch it THAT good.

[Runenschuppe]

From what I remember, Blitzkrieg was a terminology used BEFORE the start of WW2, describing the (imaginary) use of tanks and planes in a surprise attack to knock out a statistically superior opponent - which was seen as thoroughly discredited by the experiences in Spain and China between 1936 to 1939. It was only after the surprisingly quick victory over France in 1940 that the term was adopted by the German propaganda and then transferred into Allied vocabulary. German Wikipedia (yeah I know) is actually quite thorough here.

[bookaufman]

There's that great scene in band of Brothers where one of the American soldiers shouts to a surrendered German soldier''you have horses! What were you thinking?'' that sort of sums it up