Germany and the Second World War Volume II: Germany's Initial Conquests in Europe

by Maier, Klaus A.; Rohde, Horst; Stegemann, Bernd; Umbreit, Hans; McMurry, Dean S.; Osers, Ewald; Falla, P. S.

• ISBN13: 9780198228851
• ISBN10: 0198228856
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1991-08-22
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This is the second in the comprehensive ten-volume Germany and the Second World War. The six volumes so far published in German take the story up to 1943, and have achieved international acclaim as a major contribution to historical study. Under the auspices of the MilitargeschichtlichesForschungsamt (Research Institute for Military History), a team of renowned historians has combined a full synthesis of existing material with the latest research to produce what will be the definitive history of the Second World War. Germany's Initial Conquests in Europe surveys the first year of the war deliberately begun by Nazi Germany. The authors examine the train of interconnected political and military events, and set military operations against the background of Hitler's war policy and general aims, both immediate andlong term. Their comprehensive analysis, based on detailed scholarly research, is underpinned by a full apparatus of maps, diagrams, and tables. The conflict took a course quite different from that which Hitler had intended, but nevertheless resulted in a series of conquests for the Third Reich.At the same time, the establishment of hegemony on the European continent confronted the aggressor with new problems. Intensively researched and documented, Germany and the Second World War is an undertaking of unparalleled scope and authority. It will prove indispensable to all historians of the twentieth century.

Author Biography

Edited by Klaus A. Maier, Horst Rohde, Bernd Stegemann, and Hans Umbreit

Project coordinated by the Militargeschichtliches Forschungsamt

Translated from German by Dean S. McMurray, P.S. Falla, and Ewald Osers

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	ix
Notes on the Authors	xi
Note on the Translation	xii
Abbreviations	xiii
Glossary of German Terms	xv
Introduction	1	(2)
PART I Politics and Warfare in the First Phase of the German Offensive	3	(28)
Bernd Stegemann
PART II Action Plans and Situation Assessments of the Luftwaffe and Navy before the Outbreak of War	31	(36)
Total War and Operational Air Warfare	33	(27)
Klaus A. Maier
Air War Theory	33	(6)
Situation Assessment and Mission-Planning	39	(21)
Germany's Second Attempt to Become a Naval Power	60	(7)
Bernd Stegemann
PART III Hitler's First Blitzkrieg and its Consequences for North-eastern Europe	67	(84)
Horst Rohde
Germany and Poland in the Prelude to the Second World War	69	(12)
Military Preparations for a German-Polish War	81	(20)
The German Plan of Operations	81	(7)
Mobilization and Deployment of the Wehrmacht	88	(5)
The Polish Plan of Operations and Deployment	93	(8)
The Course of the Polish Campaign From 1 September to 6 October 1939	101	(26)
The Smashing of the Polish Defence System	101	(17)
The Invasion by the Red Army and the Collapse of Poland	118	(9)
Consequences of the Military Events in the Autumn of 1939	127	(17)
The Establishment of German Administration in Occupied Poland	127	(5)
German Occupation Policy	132	(8)
The Polish Government-in-Exile and Resistance in Poland	140	(2)
Eastern Poland under Soviet Rule	142	(2)
Development of the Situation in North-Eastern Europe: Effects of the Hitler-Stalin Pact	144	(7)
PART IV The First Phase of the War at Sea up to the Spring of 1940	151	(28)
Bernd Stegemann
The War in the Baltic	153	(3)
The War in the North Sea and the Arctic in 1939	156	(8)
The Use of Pocket Battleships Against Enemy Shipping	164	(5)
The War in the North Sea and the Arctic in 1940	169	(3)
Preparations for the Campaign in the West	172	(2)
The Mine War	174	(2)
The Submarine War	176	(3)
PART V Securing the Northern Flank of Europe	179	(48)
German Strategy	181	(16)
Klaus A. Maier
Allied Strategy	197	(9)
Klaus A. Maier
Operation Weserubung	206	(14)
Bernd Stegemann
Securing Germany's Political and Military Hold on the Occupied Territory	220	(7)
Bernd Stegemann
PART VI The Battle for Hegemony in Western Europe	227	(100)
Hans Umbreit
Strategic Defence in the West	229	(3)
Hitler's Decision to Attack the Western Powers	232	(33)
Military Decision in the West?	232	(2)
Assessment of the Western Opponent by the German Army Command	234	(1)
Military Opposition to an Extension of the War	235	(3)
Preparations for an Offensive in the West	238	(27)
The Plans of Attack	238	(16)
Special Operations	254	(1)
Propaganda	255	(5)
Military Administration	260	(2)
War Economy	262	(3)
Deployment and Strategy of the Western Powers Until 10 May 1940	265	(7)
Policies and Defence Efforts of the Neutral Countries: Belgium, Holland, and Luxemburg	272	(6)
German Victory in Western Europe	278	(49)
The Military Ratio of Strength	278	(2)
Determination of the Day of Attack	280	(1)
The Campaign in the West	281	(23)
Italy's Entry into the War	304	(9)
The German-French Armistice	313	(3)
The `New Order' in Western Europe	316	(11)
PART VII The Operational Air War until the Battle of Britain	327	(14)
Klaus A. Maier
PART VIII The Second Phase of the War at Sea (until the Spring of 1941)	341	(20)
Bernd Stegemann
The Submarine War	343	(4)
Co-operation with the Luftwaffe	347	(2)
Armed Merchant Raiders in the War Against Shipping	349	(3)
The Use of Large Surface Ships	352	(7)
The Organization of the German Navy in the West	359	(2)
PART IX Direct Strategy against Britain	361	(56)
Churchill's Determination to Continue the War	363	(3)
Hans Umbreit
Plans and Preparations for a Landing in England	366	(8)
Hans Umbreit
The Battle of Britain	374	(34)
Klaus A. Maier
The Solution of a Strategic and Tactical Dilemma	374	(9)
The Battle for Air Supremacy	383	(3)
The Extension of the Air Attacks to London	386	(16)
The `War of Attrition'	402	(6)
The Return to an Indirect Strategy Against Britain	408	(9)
Hans Umbreit
Conclusion Germany's Situation in the Late Autumn of 1940	417	(4)
Bibliography	421	(20)
Index of Persons	441