While not in charge of all tanks during the early stages of the war, Guderian built a solid reputation of success and was the key innovator who blew the hole in the French lines at Sedan in May 1940 that led to victory in that campaign.

This fast Soviet scout tank was demonstrated in Moscow before the war. Speedy tanks turned out to be one of those pre-war concepts that didn't really play out well during the war.

Guderian's troops finished the Polish campaign by taking the Polish city of Brest-Litovsk shortly before Red Army troops, driving in from the east, arrived. This led to one of the most unusual events of World War II, a joint military parade between Soviet and Wehrmacht troops on 22 September 1939. Guderian stood on a podium with Soviet Kombrig Semyon Krivoshein, both grinning widely.


After taking Poland and splitting it with the Soviet Union, the Wehrmacht turned its attention west. This required a concentrated effort and some superior tactics. The Germans showed that they could do both against some tough opponents.

The main opponent during the German offensive in the west was France. Although having only half the population of Germany, France had a storied military reputation and had spent lavishly on fortifications during the 1930s. Unfortunately for France, budget constraints and disapproval by its ally Belgium prevented it from completing those fortifications past the norther French city of Sedan.

The French weren't too worried about this, though, as that area of the front was considered impassible by heavy weapons due to narrow, winding roads and heavy forests. The Germans wisely decided to take a chance and sent Guderian's troops through the Ardennes straight toward Sedan. This plan was thought up by General Erich von Manstein and Adolf Hitler, with many others contributing suggestions, signing off on the plan, and taking the necessary actions for the plan to succeed.

The main obstacle for the Germans turned out to be the Meuse River. However, the Germans silenced French artillery on the west bank and built bridges across. General Erwin Rommel, a World War I hero, found a way across for his men without even building a bridge by finding a shallow spot and a weir. Once on the other side, the Germans were unstoppable.

The Germans did not call their tactics "Blitzkrieg." That was an invention of British media. However, it was an apt term to describe the revolutionary German tactics that made the invasion of the Netherlands, Belgium, and France quite speedy, in contrast to the long, tough slog it had been in World War I.

The Blitzkrieg philosophy involves the tight coordination of troops, tanks, and aircraft to create a concentrated effort at the enemy's weakest spot. This coordination is achieved through the use of radios, so that ground commanders can call in airstrikes to blast a hole through the enemy lines at the schwerpunkt, or spearhead of the advance. While the French had good equipment, they were completely overwhelmed by the German Blitzkrieg tactics.

Once across the Meuse, the Germans again confounded the French by heading west toward the English Channel rather than south toward Paris, as had been done during World War I. This proved quite successful and threatened to trap the English Expeditionary Army. However, the British escaped by a sea evacuation at Dunkirk. Once they were gone, all the Germans had to worry about was French resistance, which was spotty and inconsistent.




While the Wehrmacht had great success in the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, in mid-1941, it never again enjoyed the same level of success as it had in France in 1940. The French then had to endure a four-year occupation that was relieved only after the 6 June 1944 D-Day landings.


Stay tuned for more entries in this series where we look at footage related to particular parts of World War II.