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Ben Wynn

WW2 Military Historian

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y German armed forces will number no more than100,000 troops, and conscription will be abolished.

y Enlisted men will be retained for at least 12 years;officers to be retained for at least 25 years.yArmed aircraft, tanks and armored cars are

prohibited.y

(the "WarG

uilt Clause") lays sole responsibility forthe war on Germany. This includes accountabilityfor all the damage done to civilian population ofthe allies.

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y Conscript troops are often: Poorly disciplined , old,unfit for service and reluctant to endanger themselves.

y A small standing army meant that places in the armywere highly contested, allowing the army to beselective in its choice of candidate. Resulting in a verydedicated, healthy, intelligent body of men. This

allowed the Heer to teach its troops complexmaneuvers and to operate more equipment, all the waydown the ranks.

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y Germany was told the very thing its enemy feared itusing. Leading to a focus on new military technologiesand strategies for there use.

y The Wehrmacht claimed the German government wasresponsible for losing WW1. That in fact the Army was

winning and if the government had provided it withthe tools the allies had, they would have one.

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y Stalin assumes supreme command

of the Russian armed forces.

y He purges the armed forces all

the way down to the rank of Major.y Stalin incorporates komissars into the armed

forces ensuring orders are followed to the lettereffectively killing the armys ability to take the

initiative and react to enemy movement.y Stalin orders his army to attack and secure Finland

a massive failure.

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y The British Empire is bankrupt.y The victory in WW1 generated

conceit and a resistance to tacticalinnovation.

y Britain has a small standing armyon which little expenditure ismade.

y Research into new tactics remainstheoretical due to lack of funding.

yWhen war breaks out, Industry isordered to create weaponsdesigned for trench warfare (WW1thinking)

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y Large standing army

y Over-dependence on staticfortifications

y France was not prepared toattack Germany withoutBritish support. (WW1 TripleEntente thinking)

y French military defenceanticipated a repeat of WWIstyle conflict.

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y One who knows the enemy andknows himself will not be indanger in a hundred battles

y If you know the weather and youknow the ground, you may make

your victory complete.

y Attack were you are strongest andthe enemy is weakest.

y X

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y The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.(Sun Tzu)

y People herdingy Pre assault infiltration of covert troopsy recon from air/ from spiesy Pre-existing WW1 battle reports/maps

referencedy Military doctrine regarding encirclementy Techno- fear : tank & stukay Propaganday Paratroopersy Static defensey COMBINED ARMS ( a new way of waging war)

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y Russia had few roads. The majority of existing roads weredirt roads.

y German military planning grossly underestimated themanpower Stalin had at his disposal

y German military planning had no information on thetechnological advancements the Russians had made in theinterwar era

y German military planning had no appreciation of theindustrial capacity of Russia

y

Enormity of the countryy The campaign in the Balkans lost Germany vital timey General Winter and the Rasputitzay Hitlers immoral order and its effects onGerman armyy Partisans.

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y Stalins Not One StepBackwards order.

y Scorched Earth and

relocation policy.y German reliance on

horse powered transport

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y Soldiers in positions where there is no escape, will preferdeath to flight. If they will face death, there is nothing theymay not achieve. For the truth is, a desperate man and aman who sets some value on his life do not meet on eventerms. (Sun Tzu)

y Until Stalingrad the Axis had a kill ratio of 3-1. AtStalingrad it was close to 1-1.

y 760,000 Axis casualties. (Killed, injured or captured)y Though the Luftwaffe had air superiority at the beginning

of the attack on Stalingrad, the constant sorties over enemyheld territory and the Air Bridge operation cost the Axisthis vital power on the Eastern front.

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y The 6th army was the Axis largest ground force in operationat the time. The news of its destruction spread world wide.Dispelling permanently the myth of Axis indestructibility.

y The Axis powers lost an Italian, Romanian and Hungarianarmy. As well as the loss of a Croatian and SpanishDivision. The blow was felt in all corners of the Axissimitainiusly. Forever shaking Axis solidarity.

y The Axis could no longer protect its attack into theCaucasus.

y The Russian industry had now finished moving and wasable to supply its armed forces quickly.

y The Russian army and air force recovered its strength inmen and material while the Stalingrad battle left the Axiswithout the ability to attack.

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y TheGerman army was now forced to defend. A role forwhich it was not designed.

y The surrender of Field Marshal Poulus shook Hitlers

faith in his commanders. Resulting in his meddling inmilitary decision making increasing.

y The forces lost to the Axis were of the best quality, welltrained men with extensive field experience. In this

way the 6th

army was irreplaceable.

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y 230,000 German and Italian troops were taken as prisonersof war.

y Italy was now open to invasion.

y

The loss of an Italian army damages the alliance betweenGermany and Italy.

y The Italian people lose faith in Mussolini's leadership.

y British and American forces combine in victory. BoostingAllied moral.

y Allied airpower now in striking distance of Italy.

y African coast now entirely hostile to Axis shipping.

y Rommel now seen by Hitler as a defeatist.

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yWilliamson A. Murray:

"The decision to reinforce North Africa was one ofthe worst of Hitler's blunders: it placed some ofG

ermany's best troops in an indefensible positionfrom which, like Stalingrad, there would be noescape. Moreover Hitler committed the Luftwaffeto fight a battle of attrition under unfavourableconditions, and it suffered losses that it could not

afford.

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Blitz of Britain.y After the fall of France, Hitler planned operation Sea Lion the sea and

airborne invasion of Britain. The Luftwaffes primary objective was to achieveair superiority before the invasion. This they achieved by bombing Britishairfields, and aircraft factories. Thus stopping Allied pilots getting into the air,and allowing the Luftwaffe to destroy aircraft unable to take off at their leisure.British ports and shipping were also an Axis objective.

y While the Luftwaffes objective were being accomplished the German highcommand learned that Axis infrastructure would be unable to supply thenumber of landing and supply craft necessary to get the Axis forces to Englandand keep them supplied during the campaign. So the focus of the air warchanged to government and civilian targets in order to secure surrender or atreaty from the beleaguered British government. This they did not achieve.

y With the heat off, the British air force recovered their numbers by buildingfactories in country areas and disguising them as other things. Airfields weredropped in favor of fields long enough for fighters to take off and land. Thesewere changed randomly. A simple but effective method of detecting andintercepting Axis air raids was developed and implemented.

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y By summer 1941 the German Luftwaffe is fightingon 4 fronts:

y Over the channel vs Englandy Russian front: Luftwaffe has 3 army groups to

support. Army group north, center and south.yAfrican/Italian front or Mediterranean fronty Defense ofGerman productiony German pilots shot down over England and the

English Channel could be captured or drowned.TheGerman air force had a red cross marked seaplane unit for recovering Axis pilots. These wereengaged and shot down by allied pilots.

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y After operation Uranus, Luftwaffe has to supply 6th armyencircled at Stalingrad. Air bridge

y Impossible to achieve as the number of aircraft isinsufficient to supply the 250,000 troops even flying nightand day 7 days a week. 800 tons of supplies needed, 94 tonsof supplies were delivered per day.

y Russians knew the location of both Stalingrad airfieldsinside the defensive line. So could set anti air appropriately.

y The Axis pilots were unable to fly most days due to winterconditions/visibility. 500 aircraft and 1,000 crewmen lost.

y Germany was unable to recover pilots that survived beingshot down supplying, or defending transports that weresupplying Stalingrad, because they were flying over enemylines.

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y Pilots shot down over thedesert were hard torecover because:

y The desert terrain moves

constantly and has littlein the way of land marks.

y The desert conditionswere harsh andinhospitable.

y Because of the greatdistances betweenhabitable areas involved.