Only Peasants call it "BLITZKRIEG" - Bewegungskrieg
I found "Blitzkrieg" in a German military publication from December 1939 and it was published by the General Staff as well. Still, the term was rarely used and what the Germans were all about - for a long time - was "Bewegungskrieg" (war of movement) and to prevent the dreaded "Stellungskrieg" (positional war), whereas trench warfare ("Grabenkrieg") would be a subset of.
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»» SOURCES ««
Frieser, Karl-Heinz: Blitzkrieg-Legende: der Westfeldzug 1940, 4. Auflage, Oldenbourg: München, 2012.
Citino, Robert Michael: The German Way of War: From the Thirty Years’ War to the Third Reich, University press of Kansas: Lawrence, Kansas, USA, 2005 (Modern war studies).
Reichskriegsministerium (Hg.): Militärwissenschaftliche Rundschau. 1937-1945.
Franke, Hermann (Hg.): Handbuch der neuzeitlichen Wehrwissenschaften. Erster Band: Weltpolitik und Kriegführung, Verlag von Walter de Gruyter & Co.: Berlin und Leipzig, Germany, 1936.
Hughes, Daniel J.: Blitzkrieg, in: Brassey's Encyclopedia of Land Forces and Warfare, p. 155-162
Ong, Weichong: Blitzkrieg: Revolution or Evolution?, in: RUSI December 2017 - Vol. 152 No. 6, p. 82-87
Harris, J.P.: The Myth of Blitzkrieg, in War in History 1995 2 (3), p. 335-352
00:00 Intro
01:18 „Bewegungskrieg” everywhere
01:42 The Sources: Militärwissenschaftliche Rundschau & Handbuch der neuzeitlichen Wehrwissenschaften
03:04 Bewegungskrieg & Stellungskrieg in the Sources
03:53 Bewegung the source for Victory
04:31 Bewegungs- vs Stellungskrieg
05:24 First World War
06:38 Degeneration of War
07:51 But what about “Blitzkrieg”?
10:12 Militärwissenschaftliche Rundschau on “Blitzkrieg”
11:28 Summary
#Blitzkrieg #bewegungskrieg #ww2 #wehrmacht #germanarmy #mythvsreality
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Heyhey Are these books available in a digitized form?
As you are most likely aware, there is really nothing very much like the word 'Bewegungskrieg" in English. However, this is not the case for 'Blitz". For one, 'Blitzen' is the name of one of Santa Claus' reindeer, so the sound of the word was generally quite familiar to the ears of English speaking folk. And the reindeer were quite fast, traveling to every home in the world in the matter of a few hours.
@@martinruf8784no.
@@MilitaryHistoryVisualized @MilitaryHistoryVisualized I wanted to ask if germans used another non-doctrinal term to describe the same or a similar situation? If they used, did they use it more often? It would be kinda funny if they did
@@phillipsmith4814 which article and author are you referring to?
Who you callin' a peasant...
Be quite and eat your potatoes 😂
You misheard. He meant "pheasant".
@@youtubesnamingpolicysucksThey took the potatoes.
Oklahoma farmers beat bewegungskreig every time
Stop wasting time here. Those fields aren't going to work themselves.
It kind of reminds me of the term "Thunder Run:" used in the army to basically signify non-stop movement in a battle, but it isn't an actual term in doctrine.
"flex", "Screen line", GAC for any convoy anywhere any time. Doctrinal terminology is the eternal struggle
I think the closest doctrinal term is “maneuver warfare”!
thunder run, a term invented by Americans cocky about dunking on 80 iq Arab insurgents 😂 as a usmc vet it's embarrassing
At least a thunder run is something we can describe and point to examples of, "bltizkrieg" seems like you hit them with the Up+Up+Down+Down+Left+Right+Left+Right+B+A+Start combo.
Not quite from my understanding, a thunder run is to book it for a strategic objective disregarding the frontline ir supply routes, kind of a deep strike like that of the ghost division in France
I ran across the term "Blitzliebe" in a tabloid to describe a short, intense love affair. She done goose-stepped all over his heart, I guess...
😭
😂😂😂😂😂
was she high on meth while doing it?
Friendship ended with Stellungskrieg, Bewegungskrieg is now my best friend. Jokes aside, it seems that source mentions the campaigns of Napoleons quite a few times. 6:33 that looks like Ulm, where Napoleon defeated Mack "just by marching", according to the man himself.
Yo, fancy seeing you here.
@@Adonnus100 Hello there! Would you be so kind as to refresh me where we have met before? I am embarassed to admit that I am having trouble remembering.
@@VRichardsn Hey no worries. I think you commented on my "Hearts of Iron IV trailer" ages ago, maybe like 10 years ago. How time files.
@@Adonnus100 I just looked it up and you are absolutely correct. There over 600 comments there, and you still managed to remember, after 8 years! Impressive. And, after rewatching the video, I can confirm that it is still a great trailer.
@@VRichardsn Thanks, lol. The real reason I remembered you is a much weirder one though. I named the main villain in my novel "Richardsen", I just liked the spelling. Then later realised I got the name from your username haha.
Thank you for doing the research. That Gothic script gives me nightmares ever since my university research paper on Landsknechte.
It is quite easy now for me, unless it is single capitalized letters, then I am usually confused. And there are a few tricky ones, Masse vs Waffe.
I learned Fraktur when I first learned German as an exchange student, and forced myself to learn to write it also for my postcards to my parents. It's really quite beautiful. In many German cities, they published Adressbuecher before there were telephones, and it has been useful for my (very amateur) research.
You are a Wimp! 😢
@@MilitaryHistoryVisualized 10:47 Interesting that they'd dropped it (at least on the cover) from the Militärwissenschaftliche Rundschau in the last years of the war?
@Elitist20: If you look up the history of the "Fraktura" font (the gothic font), you see that the guys in charge were not really keen on that font. They preferred "Antiqua", and while Hitler called it "backwards", Bohrman called a font looking simliar jewish, and Göbbels was the big fan of Antiqua because Propaganda should be easily readable... So there you have it why they dropped the gothic font. In schools by 1941 already. And by the way in german speaking areas of europe a different handwriting font was common before their rise to power too. It was called "Kurrent-Schrift". And they banned it from schools in 1941 too. From then on normal cursive font common in the western world was taught. (After the war in arts it was taught sometimes, but not as normal use font anymore) It's quite fun to be able to read and write it. (although writing is much easier than reading. I can write it quite fast, but reading someone elses handwriting takes ages for me in that font)
Bernhard you rock. Your subtle sense of humor makes me laugh and your detailed research has guided me into some great readings. Thank you!
Wow, thank you!
I will not only second that, but also add that one of the reasons I enjoy and have enjoyed his channel is his willingness to continue to research and, if necessary, issue a mea culpa and give updated information instead of pretending he's perfect and never makes any kind of error. Your videos are top notch, Bernhard, and please do not ever change! On a related note, mentioning collections - you collect articles about the Bewegungskrieg like I collect articles about medical procedures and emergency medical techniques! Historian (you) vs Emergency Medical Technician (me) 😁👍👍 I can definitely identify with that particular passion (or mania, depending upon whom you speak to!)
"...the German officers might be obsessed with that word..." Me watching this on my man-portable, personal electronic device, driving to my tactical computer to plan the next training exercise so we can be a force-multiplier and achieve convergence...
*tactical MODULAR computer
"Blitzkrieg" means "Lightning War" as in a lightning fast war. So while it works, it's not the official name and just a derivative name made popular after the war. Very nice video detailing this subject with firsthand sources.
It was actually from what I understand an English propaganda word for the tactic. Hitler caught wind of it thought it was stupid because the combined arms tactics they used is how you win a war.
Blitz in German is lightning, flash, but it also has a meaning of very short moment, because one particular flash of lightning does not last long. For example Blitzkuchen is a coffee cake that could be made very quickly.
@@emberfist8347 last I checked they lost the war.
@@louiscypher4186 Because we got better at combined arms tactics than the Germans.
@@emberfist8347Because the English and Americans were big on logistics. If you run out of fuel and spare parts, your tanks and trucks are paper weights. The Americans ran a 98% availability rate on their Sherman tanks, the Germans managed 50% at best on the Panthers and far worse on the Tigers. The Russian T-34 was on par with the Panther but had no ammunition or fuel in 1941 (because fuel trucks and truck loads of ammunition impressed no-one on parade).
I actually noticed this obsession with Bewegungskrieg in a german picture volume on WW1 published in the 20s. There the german 1918 offensive is always hailed as restoring Bewegungskrieg
WW I Infiltration tactics combined with trucks, tanks and aircraft?
I've long assumed terms like "blitzkrieg" and "long lance" were coined by the media as a convenient shorthand and came into general use because they were evocative, and they were (and are) evocative because they were intended to be evocative and "evocative" is often at cross purposes with "literal".
Robert Citino has also written another book called "Death of the Wehrmacht" where he goes into detail about the German military's fascination with Bewegungskrieg while discussing the campaigns of 1942 - it's a good read.
The french should have known better: "Activité, Activité, Vitesse!" Napoleon Bonaparte
It is quite simple, Germany lacked resources for positional warfare, which is really war of attrition. In fact, main reason they went to war was to gain resources (both in WW1 and WW2) . So, they preferred short war, and that would be war of movement.
So the "allies" did want to cause mass casualties with their doctrines and germany cause tactical surrender (saving lives). 🤔
This is a good point, given the secret mass production of Tanks and fighter jets it is also quite not correct. In comparison to Poland, Netherlands, Belgium and french troops we had superior equipment as we had to rearm from scratch due to demiltarization. Add the surprise Moment of producing secret Brand New weapo ry the Panzerdivisions drove fear into the enemy lines. oh, and the Troops were drugged with amphetamine laced chocolate. So they could just keep marching. This advantage in technology lasted until the Afrika raids, which I dare say was where England began catching up with their equipment. And the industrial power of the US economy completely turned the tide once they was in. Italys Duce couldn't hold pace and his troops became a liability which added responsibilities in the south east of Europe and the Mediterenean. Valuable Units Rommel missed in his African encounters or for the new focus of Ukraine or blocking the daring Thommies on the West flanks. In terms of weaponry and supply or new Intentions fighting vs. outdated gear, J think I have the most respect for the Spanish Anarchists and their garbage rifles often dysfunctional . More people on both sides got injured by jamming 'muskets' rather then enemy fire hitting home. this scale only began leaning towards Franco after Germany began to test run their new stuff to have on field research.
You could go even deeper. Why did Germany lack resources? Its late industrial development meant that by the time its economy had caught up the world had been divided among the other powers and it only got scraps. It had to fight for its “place in the sun.” Winston Churchill during the 1913-14 debate over naval estimates summarised Britain’s (and the other powers) position very clearly: “We have got all we want in territory, and our claim to be left in unmolested enjoyment of vast and splendid possessions, mainly acquired by violence, largely maintained by force, often seems less reasonable to others than to us.”
I think you rush in time. until 1942 and USA entering war. There hasn't been shortage. Why would there. Most of mainland Europe was invaded and under German administration. It began with Hitler declaring war on Russia, opening a second Frontline. That and the Italian uselessness in battle with ramped up production in US and UK shifted the game.
@@BiWesCrew In terms of equipment, Germans had better aviation and more numerous tanks compared to Poland (not necessarily advantage in quality). Compared to France, French tanks were actually slightly better , and aviation slightly worse. Germans won mostly because of better training, tactics (radio) and doctrine. Real problem for Germans was not Britain or Us, it was USSR. In fact, decision to invade USSR doomed Third Reich. This was the opponent that was able to outproduce Germany, and when they overcome their first shock, war devolved into war of attrition Germans were so keen to avoid.
The correct name will never catch on simply because it's hard for Americans/Brits to pronounce
Not just them. I'd like to know who else would find that word easy, other than Germans. (I'm Swedish and I would much rather type/say blitzkrieg).
@@nian60 except native English speakers are the ones that count
I mean they made the name blitzkrieg.
@@samsonsoturian6013 And they picked blitzkrieg.
@@nian60well I bet if you have a quick quiz you'd find a majority of folk can't figure out øl or childbed Viksen. Blitzkrieg is only hard for the french as they hated all foreign lingua and for the Brits as them sending english to the World with every East India Company ship and its many soldiers were just to arrogant to pronounce any other than they already new. This still is the case, however anywhere they go the locals like to practise their english..So it is too easy to leave it be.
Peasants! Peasants everywhere!!!!!!
What's wrong with peasants? We all need to eat something, aren't peasants the best at providing sustenance?
Yes, Sire, the peasants are revolting!
@@SaulKopfenjagerthey are a bit umm U N E D U C A T E D
@@SaulKopfenjagerunpaid labour suck even more then underpaid and tax scammed
This was my assumption to the origins of Blitzkrieg. It would be a fast war through motorization of forces. And like others said, "No American can pronounce Bewegungskrieg" From Wiki: '...The Blitz name, coined in a prize competition, was first applied to the new Opel truck presented in November 1930. ...the authorities ordered the construction of the Opelwerk Brandenburg facilities in 1935, and through 1944 more than 130,000 Blitz trucks and chassis were produced.' Such are my thoughts on the subject.
Probably popularized by jewish communists in the west who instigated the conflict.
Dr. Robert Citino, who has written many fantastic books on German military operational history from 1870-1945, talks a lot about this and how "Blitzkrieg" was never an official military doctrine. Highly, highly recommend his books as accurate secondary sources.
Citino was cited in the video . . . .
@@LafayetteCCurtis My bad. Started, got excited, commented, had to leave. Planned on finishing later. Glad to hear though!
This is a wonderful video about the comparison between movement warfare and positional warfare... movement warfare is always carrying assault and offense towards enemy lines or gathering positions. while positional warfare carrying defense and utilizing concentration firepowers to imposing enemy retreat under casualties pressures
Very glad to see you really digging into contemporary wartime primary sources in the last few years. I never wouldve reached the conclusions i have about the Wehrmacht without getting to rifle through contemporary reports and publications, and its great you can finally elaborate on what the officer class was fixating on in place of the popular idea of "blitzkrieg". I liked your old video on it a lot but i did always think it was an issue that there wasnt much of an elaboration on what terminology *was* used.
Blitzkrieg. Short war. Makes sense. Thank you, I never thought about it that way.
First of all these guys were World War One veterans, they would have been vehemently opposed to trench warfare.
Btw the Mittler publishing house (E.S. Mittler & Sohn) still exists and still is a military publisher in Germany.
Enjoyed your video lecture on Positional Warfare. I await your your next video lecture.
Outstanding work 😮 back to basics. Great first hand sources.
Glad you liked it!
I wonder if appearing in quote marks means it is a derivative term for something that is not completely Bewegungskrieg? Sometimes the movement is fast, sometimes slow, sometimes moderate, but not always lightening.
I think it is mostly in the line of "so called", "not a technical term", "colloquially called", etc.
@@MilitaryHistoryVisualized One last thing occurred to me, if the allies were aware of these documents, and others, might they have referred to it as Blitzkrieg in order to annoy their enemy by using a distasteful term for it? Well, maybe that is just a thought too far. Never mind. I do not want to put a toe over the conspiracy line. 🤣
@@vladimpaler3498 nah, not really a thing, also they have quite often a lot of errors in their translations as well.
I enjoyed this episode when he was following the reading in the book. It gave me a chance to practice reading old script German which I haven't done in a long time.
Thank you Bernhard. This could have been a boring video but it was actually quite interesting.
If I could spell Bewegungskrieg without looking it up I might use it more often 😹
"Maneuver warfare" seems to be the proper English translation. Sadly, not quite as catchy as "Blitzkrieg" 😣
As always splendid first hand research and information presentation.
Hey, colleague here. Thanks for getting the job done, and good luck!
Primary source material is everything. I started collecting German field manuals about 25 years ago.
Blitzkrieg ... there, I said it.
Peasant 🫵🏻
Blitzkrieg is probably the longest German word an uneducated peasant like me can manage to pronounce without biting my tongue off.
bay way goon xs (as in excess) krieg
Thank you for clarifying this
Makes sense. When I was in grad school we used the term "Blitzbesuch" (lightning visit) to describe an intense search through an archive in a limited period of time. For instance: "I only have a day in Paris so I'm making a Blitzbesuch at the foreign ministry archive." Along with words like "Doktorvater" and "Festschrift" that have survived in academic parlance, it shows the continued influence of German educational traditions in American graduate education.
Just love those icons. Particularly the happy and sad faces with helmets. As ever an interesting article. Thanks
I can understand the need for a full set of Documents/Books. I would like to have a full set of vehicle Handbooks from the NVA and early Bundeswehr :) Great Video thanks
That Font is cool
It's like the "mad minute" of the British army pre-wwi. Officially 1 minute rapid fire,but would certainly look like a "mad minute" and I'm sure soldiers would have used the term unofficially.
Thank you so much for this video. It always bothers me when people misuse terms or concepts and use them as historical fact. One inaccuracy is then multiplied and spread on the internet or social media and the mass populace accepts it as hard truth. For example, no nation, allied or axis, ever used the term "Long Lance" when describing the Japanese Type 93 oxygen torpedo, not even Japan. The term was coined by a British author after World War Two was over and the name stuck. You can now see and here in extremely hard to count places. (millions...maybe more)
I came for the video, I stayed for all the comments explaining to Bernhard what he explained in the video. Stay classy comments, stay classy.
lol
Well that’s the schoolbooks in the bin then, great piece!
Nonsense, we are in no way obliged to use the same terms the Nazi regime and the Wehrmacht used. This is just wehraboo elitism disguised as "research".
kind of expected to see/hear a reference to the Karl-Heinz Frieser book "the Blitzkrieg Legend'. in it there are several etymological references not heard in this video.
Bewegungskrieg is an old concept, though. What made "Blitzkrieg" different and gave it it's name AFAIK was the use of combined arms tactics and the use of radio for coordination.
It seems like the Allied felt that the germans were on to something new, which is why they appropriated "blitzkrieg" to describe it, but the germans themselves just saw it as bewegungskrieg with new technology and did not name it with a novel term. In the German of the time "blitzkrieg" was not a term about operations, it was a grand strategy term whose motivation was more like "choose wars you can finish quickly".
So, basically: Amateurs talk Blitzkrieg; professionals talk Bewegungskrieg
1:02 Bewegungskrieg is clearly best translated as “modular lethality.”
I never expected to actually go "TRUEEEE" when hearing a quote from the Big A to the H. Truly, reality is stranger than fiction
takes a research historian to shed light into dark corners and create perspective. Thanks.
Hi thanks for the video. I am currently reading panzer leader can you tell me some of the errors you mentioned on the video. also I am thinking about buying lost victories Do you think it is worth it? And can you suggest books about WWII?
Here are some aspects covered: kzhead.info/sun/iLiglpeNf394nZE/bejne.html I would stay away from those memoirs or if you read them, consider them as "historical fiction". A good foundation is the Cambridge History of the Second World War, 3 books, each has dozens of short articles from leading scholars on important topics that cover fighting, politics, economy, social stuff, etc. Additionally, each author did a bibliographical essay, so if you want to do a deep dive into a topic, they also discuss the various books about it.
Thanks.. good information.
so, "blizkrieg" in the original german writings, refers to a war OVERALL, not to tactics or operations within that war. makes sense, because the tactical expression would probably be "blitzkampf", and at the operational level, it would be "blitzschlacht"
For people on the receiving end who were trying to defend against it, blitzkrieg" or lighting war was an apt description.
On the subject of nomenclature and WW2 misconceptions, I'd like to know the origin of the term 'Stuka Zu Fuß'. Was it an actual contemporary name for the rocket-firing Sd.Kfz 251, or is it a post-war invention like 'Hetzer' or 'Wolverine'? Or was it "a joke name for the Panzerfaust", like Beevor claims?
Wasn't raised in Germany. Raised by the people that beat Germany. Started studying the power of German and American propaganda in the early 1960's. ('Cause I'm a Canadian and wondered why Canada was never mentioned in Hollywood war movies) I'm pretty sure that Churchill was the first to refer to the bombing of London as "The Blitz" and I've long thought that blitzkrieg was from a speech by hitler, but I'm willing to concede that I'm wrong about that, (but I doubt it.) I'm referencing a book, "Berlin Diary", my most treasured possession. It was published in Canada and the USA two days before the invasion of the USSR. It was a Christmas present from my 17 year old mother to her father in 1941. It's a first printing of the secret diary of an American, William L. Shirer, who lived in Berlin from 1934 until escaping on December 6, 1940. It's mind blowing to read what people thought in those early days, The author was considered a friendly American by the German high command and wrote down his secret fears in the dead of the night. People were stunned at how quickly Poland was routed and nobody had any idea how it was done. The witnesses of blitzkreig were either killed or enslaved. It was assumed Poland had a lousy army and it wasn't until the war was over that we discovered how bravely they fought. One day after the western offensive began on May 10th, the Belgian defenses were overrun and the German High Command attributed their success to a "new method of attack". On May 24th, Shirer wrote, "Two weeks ago today Hitler unleashed his 'Blitzkreig' in the west." Since he had no access to non German information and that he noted the word as a quotation from the German, one can assume with almost perfect certainty that the word Blitzkreig was coined by Hitler no later than the invasion of France. This "new method of attack", as we all now know, was led by massive air attack followed by concentrated armour and then mobile infantry to smash through defenses and encircle and destroy a defensive line. It wasn't until 1942 that the allies learned how to defend against this strategy. To take a page from the Watergate hearings, what matters most in history is knowing not just what people knew but when they knew it.
Cool, you mention another KZhead channel what was it? Thank you.
How difficult or easy is that font to read? Garamond fonts have been around since the 16th Century. Too French and not Teutonic enough?
not hard. I learned Russian this year and compared with Cyrillic, Fraktur is easy. Basically, as long as you know what letter is what, and it's just 5 or so that are different to standard block letters, it's all good.
@@unlink1649 Weird, I'm the other way around. I learned Cyrillic last year and Hiragana this year, and both seem easier to me than Fraktur. I guess everyone is different!
Pretty Font, it is what I was taught, and use😮😂❤❤❤
As a german, it is not too difficult most of the time. Some letters are very different and look way too similar to others, but it doesn't matter because the brain is reading the whole word and can fill in the blank spaces. Names kill me though. Does that person's name start with P? B? R? Damn, time to google the chart again...
For a Germqn one ahould be able to read it fluently after a day.
Are those military journals digitalized somewhere? It'd be fun to have a crack at trying to decipher that font.
it would be cool as video, maybe to finish of this series as a trilogy, to do a video on the origins of the Allies starting saying blitzkieg / where they got it from
I would like to suggest that it was indeed, the British in particular, that embraced the term "Blitzkrieg" to describe the fluid and co-operative nature of the German attack, as new war doctrine, to conceal the fact that their own forces simply refused to co-operate with each other. The elitist attitudes of their navy, and air force, simply wouldn't allow it. It was the successful demonstration of Stukas dive bombing a path for the massed panzer formations, that made the British high command claim "Blitzkrieg" as a new form of warfare to hide their embarrassment.
I feel offended. :D
Wars prior to ww1 all had a maneuver element to them. Being stuck with trench warfare for four years might explain the obsession with bewegungskrieg.
Mainly on the Western front. Everywhere else it was pretty much business as usual!
Gothic script I find really tough to read - good job!
Glad you enjoyed it!
It is easier if one reads the words instead of the letters, of course, I know now nearly 90-99% of the words that come up, so it is mostly pattern recognition. If I run into single capitalized letters though, I am staring at them like a deer into the spotlight.
@@MilitaryHistoryVisualizedhahaha
@@MilitaryHistoryVisualized sounds like it's like reading Chinese or Japanese characters - you have to recognize words or even short phrases as a whole.
@@BiglerSakura depends, some characters are easy and generally, I think most people read words not letters.
Forgive my lack of knowledge of the German language here. If I'm complete off track, someone tell me. Kurtz being short, wouldn't it be something akin to kurtzkreig for short war? Or perhaps schnell for fast? Ergo schnellkreig for fast war? Lightning war does have a nice ring to it, but is there a more formal word, combined word that was also used in the period? Or was it kept between the movement war and positional war definitions?
Blitz as a prefix (?] in German as part of a compound word implies lightning fast. The implication is indeed very fast or quick, in the sense of "in the blink of an eye". This gives us the word blitzschnell or "lighting fast" and I would imagine these phrasings predate the term blitzkrieg, as this presupposition of "lightning fast" is needed for blitzkrieg as a term to even make sense. I mean it's not like the 3rd Reich was known for its linguistic sophistication, so it stands to reason the colloquialism "blitz-" was just adopted out of popular vernacular to mean "faster than any other war".
Kurzkrieg of Schnellkrieg sounds a bit odd and is probably too uhm... "descriptive". 😆 Blitzkrieg is more of a buzzword that invokes some picture in you head of lightning; swift and destructive power. And since its more of a buzzword and not the proper term the Germans would use the movement war and positional war terms when it comes to literature. But thats just my two cents.
@@ki3657"a compound word implies lightning fast. " And it's also just a word for "flash", both as in the flash from a lighting strike, and the flash used in photography. Remember that English has a weird way of separating words by spaces, while other languages put them together. The word "Blitzkrieg" would we written in English as "Blitz Krieg": flash war.
"Kurtz being short, wouldn't it be something akin to kurtzkreig for short war? " Correct, to a point, like "Kurtzgesagt". But they didn't want a "short" or "fast" war, they wanted something that was over in a flash: a blitz. Militarily the tactic was to always keep moving and keep advancing, so "bewegungskrieg" is much more accurate, but the term "Blitzkrieg" is just much more onomatopoeic.
“Blitzkrieg” just sounds more powerful. A lot of manuals have the same tendency to use colourful language for dramatic effect, I guess it can be considered a form of propaganda. Like “Sturmgewehr” instead of “Maschinenkarabiner”.
What an education! Thank you.
It is weird that people so obsessed with movement spent so little effort on logistics.
Both scholars and professionals talk about Blitzkrieg, because it's a recognised term regardless of who came up with it. But that is not important. What is important is the inspiration it has delivered to the the development of manouvre warfare, that can be called a development of movement warfare (bewegungskrieg). The current definition of manouvre is movement in combination with fire or the potential for fire.
That type is difficult to read. I would have hated to be a student in Germany. I have some WWII German technical publications and they don't use that type. I wonder if it is mostly military publications.
Yes, sometimes this font, called "Fraktur", wasn't used for running Text, though it wasn't uncommon to see it. It might also be the dare your documents were printed. The Nazis stopped using Fraktur in 1941.
It was used universally in technical and tactical military manuals until atleast 40-41. Officially, it was replaced in early 41, but I have several manuals from 42-43 that also use it. It seems to have fallen fully out of use by 44-45.
Holy hell!! Some of the German words are hilariously 😂😂 Not just bewegunskrieg but I noticed some in the pictures of the manuals or whatever,spelling bees would take forever in German 🤷♂️
Other languages combine words using spaces. We just squash everything together into one large word. But in international scrabble, we will always win ;)
German words are long because they are descriptions combined into a single word. The English equivalent would probably use some esoteric term derived from French, Latin, or Greek that wouldn’t make any sense intuitively.
Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz. My favorite German word is Habseligkeiten though.
@@fridrekr7510It is not about something esoteric derived from another language. The same mechanism exists in both languages, but differently. For example, take "Luftwaffenstützpunkt" and its counterpart "air force base". Both are adding meaning by appending words, but German language squashes everything into one word while English just adds a separate word.
@@rickglorieI prefer Panzerkampwagen for how it becomes a contraction of Panzer or Tank but means AFV.
Does term/prefix Blitz have a similar undertone and definition to "lightning" in english has or is it more specific to short length of time, like "flash" does? (by lightning, I mean: very fast, exciting, animated, and a relatively positive feel. As apposed to flash, meaning a bright light, disorienting and short in duration, almost instant. with a slightly negative feel.) Because if it's more like lightning in english, then that explains the rapid and nearly undocumented substitution. "Blitz-" being shorter, simpler and more catchy than "bewegungs-" would have naturally and easily taken over the longer term without confusion.
“Blitz” means lightning like the weather phenomenon. Think lightning bolt not flash of light. Most English word that use “flash” figuratively to mean quick would use “Blitz” in German. I’d say the undertones of “Blitz” are fast, powerful, and unexpected.
Yes, there is also the adjective "blitzschnell" (lightning/flash fast), ironically that adjective was used by the generals and Hitler regularly as far as I remember.
The myth of the Blitzkrieg was largely created by the British.
Usually it's Hollywood.
@@christopherdavis9996 In this instance it was British historians and journalists.
Nay, it was no myth. In 3 weeks time the Panzerdivisons circled the Ardennes and had the french defense forces fl🎉anked in a pincer movement with surrender the last resort. In comparison you can check out what World almighty Hightech force Russia achieved in Jkraine in the Same time space.
@@BiWesCrew Yawn, watch the video silly boy.
@@cvr527 Your complaint had been duly noted and rejected. On the grounds of unconditional surrender I've tried but can't endure the pain to my ears. I would if Diaper Don would do a glitchie Chaplin-Self impro on a dutch looking US-Adolf mixing his best Xanax wordsalat with Solling his bible - buy one get 666 truth social shares for free, SCHTONK P.S. He and his U-SS must put some work into outfits When I remember Jan 6th with IQ-Anons Version of YMCA in the heat of the Capitol riots...pathetic... it really looked like A Pride parade teaming up with NRA leftover crack. And the second brigade arrived a day late. Hitler used just one dutch coy for Reichstag. I guess they should fuckin read the books before banning and burning.. Hitler did.. Oh, and why not swear the legion in on the 2nd most World famous Austrian. ok, his Rammstein vox impersonation is useless, but his English is better than Diaper Dons and he's cosy with the bootlegger royalty Kennedys. what an asset to Putler he'd present. Problem ist: Too Trump to fuck the whole movement...
Very interesting Bernhard. More or less backs up your original video.
Glad you enjoyed it!
The english expression for "Bewegungskrieg" is "Maneuver Warfare"
In American, yes. In English: "Manoeuvre Warfare"
@@robertstallard7836 Ain't nobody got time for that
@@robertstallard7836Only if you insist on using the French corruption of the English language.
If the goal is a "short war" it can only be a war of movement.
Great, now I'll get to annoy my wife by repeating "bewegung" at random for the next three weeks
I have always understood that blitzkrieg explicitly involves the use of ground (infantry, tank and atillary), air, and if possible navy. Wouldn't that mean that the word "blitzkrieg" is a type of tactic like "gurelia combat". Gurelia also means "small war" and has just as much to do with the entire war as "lightning war".
Blitzkrieg is much easiar to write and use for non german speakers,so i think this is the reason it is much more popular thenthe other word. Also blitzkrieg,when used today,means a war of swift movement and violen and rapid strikes,so i think the word may be used as a synonime with the other word(war of movement)
The U.S. War Between The States (1861-65) was basically a war of movement, though at times it degenerated in the positional war, ie Vicksburg & Petersburg. It has sometimes been call the first war of the modern era. I wonder if it is ever mentioned in those publications.
Why wouldn't you just call it the American Civil War?
Have you ever compared each country’s WW2 artillery tactics and equipment? I’ve heard that artillery accounted for 50% of all casualties in WW2, but who had the most effective doctrine and equipment.
No, because there is very few written about artillery and that little what I read was a mixed bag in quality. I did several videos on artillery topics though. kzhead.info/channel/PLv0uEimc-uN_L8HQ82QF2fCnwBs4C2Afm.html
Are you able to find Karl Donitz speech upon being promoted to Admiral of the navy? Did he really claim to have built an unassailable base at the edge of the world (Antarctica)?
“Maneuver warfare”’s origins! Wow!
The fact that you found it only once, in a military journal and not a doctrinal publication, proves the point. The word sums up a number of characteristics of German military operations. It’s a simplification of their doctrine. Not their doctrine.
TBH Modern Western armies seem to have a very similar perception on maneuver warfare as the desired form of warfare. And that maneuver warfare devolves into positional warfare due to circumstance/inability rather than out of desire. Maneuver warfare it would seem is the default method of war.
now do "shock and awe"
And They Still Do Blitzkrieg’s just a Slang Term Popularized post WW2 for Basic Combined Military Culture of Today to the late 1800’s It’s Memorable because It’s an Important Time and It Resemble’s The Modern Day Very Funni
Bewegungskrieg Bop doesn’t really work though, does it?
Yeah Bewegungskrieg Is kinda hard to say and spell but I’m curious what the base words are
Ghengis Khan used Bewegungskrieg, so it even predates Frederick the Great. Those who think manoeuvre warfare was invented in the 30's are making a subtle mistake: tank warfare was invented in the 30's and then applied to manoeuvre warfare. The Germans get the credit because they used these lessons, unlike the British and Americans who did the experiments and then ignored the results.
Weren't open-field battles in the pre and early firearms days, like the Greeks, Romans and most famous medieval battles, based on movement?
I remember Ralf Raths mentioning, that the German generals didn’t see Bewegungskrieg as a new concept, but just as a continuation of 19th century cavalry warfare with tanks. The deadlock and trench warfare of WW1 was a historical anomaly in that regard.
One would assume all militaries would opt for the shortest war possible but…apparently not.
Peasants, eh? To quote another German author of doctrine: "Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of 'People Who Ccall It Blitzkrieg'" (Martin Luther, BTW)
Good videos but subtitles are small for a phone, may be a version where you translate verbally into English
My great grandfather was a prussian man born in 1919 and he used the term Blitzkrieg if i recall correctly,he passed away in 2012. In 2011 he was almost completely blind and suffered from athrosis in his hands..but he would have still beaten you into a pancake with a rhubarb stalk if you called him a peasant.
You miss the part that this is mostly about non-native speakers constantly throwing around "Blitzkrieg tactics" etc.
It is not a surprise 'cause that term is used literally everywhere
9:10 “should be thought twice” is a polite way to say that it is a terrible idea.
summarised: dont trust everything people say on the internet, and its what ordinary german soldiers called a quick war.
3:30 - 'Old Man Yells at Cloud' (The Simpsons)
It would be interesting to try to track when the french equivalent "guerre éclair" appeared for the first time... and if the French might be the "opponents" mentioned by Guderian.
Did it start with De Gaulle's treatise on a professional army?
4:02 The way they describe movement as "carrying fire" makes me think a better translation might be "maneuver" instead of movement.
Yes, the issue is „everyone“ has a different view on what manuever warfare is.
I particularly don't use it, due to a discussion I had with a staff officers years ago. Not sure if it was correct or not. But generally, doctrines differ although the might use the same terminology.
Fascinating! However, 'Blitzkrieg' rolls of the English tongue, while 'Bewegungskrieg' needs someone very comfortable with speaking German. I suspect 'Blitzkrieg' will therefore live on in English speaking countries.
Redefining a few terms doesn't bring back the dead or right the wrongs but it is an interesting thesis. When Patton read Rommel's book he realized that massed anti tank guns trump massed tanks. (I'm guessing, not being a soldier or an historian.) Can you do a video on that?
But of you have artillery to support the tanks then the anti tank guns will be much more vulnerable to that than the tanks themselves
@@thurbine2411 Infantry protected by hilly terrain takes on the artillery with bayonets, apparently. I'd need to see a video, to say for sure.