What does blitzkrieg mean

But unlike in , German forces fighting in had the benefit of new military technology developed or improved in the s and s, including tanks, motor vehicles, aircraft and radios. These new tools, combined with an emphasis on speed, mobility, focused attacks and encirclements, enabled the Wehrmacht to turn traditional military tactics into a devastatingly modern brand of warfare.

German commander Erwin Rommel , who led a Panzer division during the invasion of France, later employed blitzkrieg tactics against British forces in the deserts of North Africa in After blitzkrieg failed in the Soviet invasion, however, Hitler and German military leaders distanced themselves from the concept, claiming it was an invention of their enemies; Hitler himself denied he had ever used the word. General George Patton in Patton had carefully studied the German campaigns against Poland and France and also favored quick, decisive action as a way to avoid more costly conflict.

Robert T. David T. Zabecki, ed. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present.

The bombing was controversial because Dresden was neither important to German wartime production nor a major Dunkirk is a small town on the coast of France that was the scene of a massive military campaign during World War II.

On July 20, , during World War II , a plot by senior-level German military officials to murder Adolf Hitler and then take control of his government failed when a bomb planted in a briefcase went off but did not kill the Nazi leader. Recent Examples on the Web The blitzkrieg continued on the ensuing possession when Jones hit Stevenson with back-to-back passes a swinger for 13 yards and a seam shot for 23 to get things rolling.

First Known Use of blitzkrieg , in the meaning defined at sense 1. Learn More About blitzkrieg. Time Traveler for blitzkrieg The first known use of blitzkrieg was in See more words from the same year. Style: MLA. English Language Learners Definition of blitzkrieg. More from Merriam-Webster on blitzkrieg Britannica. Get Word of the Day daily email! Test Your Vocabulary. Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words? Love words? The deterrence concept presupposes a blitzkrieg attack.

The tactical art of the blitzkrieg requires the attacking force to turn away from strongpoints in an effort to continue high-speed movement. From Wikipedia. These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web.

Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. Translations of blitzkrieg in Chinese Traditional. See more. Need a translator?

Translator tool. What is the pronunciation of blitzkrieg? Browse blithe. Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes. Image credits. Word of the Day kind-hearted. About this. Blog Outsets and onsets! Read More. November 08, To top. English Examples Translations.