Blitzkrieg

Blitzkrieg, German for "lightning war," describes the combined arms doctrine that Nazi Germany used to devastating effect in the early years of World War II. The concept centered on concentrating tanks, mechanized infantry, and close air support at a narrow point in the enemy line, achieving a breakthrough, and then exploiting it with rapid armored advances deep into the enemy's rear before defenders could reorganize.

The doctrine was first demonstrated during the invasion of Poland in September 1939 and reached its most spectacular success during the Fall of France in May 1940, when German forces outmaneuvered the French and British armies in just six weeks. The key innovations were not individual weapons but the integration of combined arms, the delegation of tactical decision-making to field commanders, and the use of radio communications to coordinate fast-moving forces.

While the term "blitzkrieg" was largely a media creation rather than an official German military doctrine, the principles it describes, speed, concentration, combined arms, and exploitation of breakthroughs, remain fundamental to modern maneuver warfare. The U.S. military's AirLand Battle doctrine and its successor, multi-domain operations, draw directly from these concepts.