The Patterns of War Since the Eighteenth Century

6. The Second World War, 1939-45

The Second World War, 1939-45 I. Hitler’s War, 1939-41 A. The German Armed Forces to the Eve o f War. From the time Adolf Hitler took power in 1933, he was determined to carry out a German expansion over central and eastern Europe (including western Russia) that would establish the dominion of the Herrenuolk (“master race”), as Hitler conceived people of Germanic origin to be. The Greater Reich of which he dreamed would be independent of overseas resources and based on the enslavement of the Slavicpeoples, the union of all ethnic Germans, and the annihilation of “inferior races,” especially the Jews. With the resources and Lebensraum (“living space”) afforded by a centralized eastern European empire, Hitler believed that his Greater Reich could last a thousand years. He recognized, of course, that the realization of his dream of continental expansion would require the ruthless use of force and an especially powerful army designed for offensive operations. Hitler’s dream also required armed forces responsible to his will. Because they were opposed to Hitler’s policies, Field Marshal Werner von Blomberg, the Minister of War, and General Werner von Fritsch, Commander -in-Chief of the Army, were dismissed in 1938.At that time, Hitler replaced the Ministry of War with the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW or High Command of the Armed Forces), with himself as Oberbefehlshaber (Commander-in-Chief),and made the high commands of the Army (OKH), the Navy (OKM),and the Air Force (OKL)subordinate to the OKW. General Wilhelm Keitel was appointed as Hitler’s deputy in the OKW. Hitler appointed General Walther von Brauchitsch as the new Commander-in-Chiefof the Army, a talented soldier but one unlikely to stand up to Hitler in a difference of opinion. In August 1938, General Franz Halder succeeded General Ludwig Beck, another opponent of Hit6 The Second World War, 1939-45 I. Hitler's War, 1939-41 A. The German Armed Forces to the Eve of War. From the time Adolf Hitler took power in 1933, he was determined to carry out a German expansion over central and eastern Europe (including western Russia) that would establish the dominion of the Herrenvolk ("master race"), as Hitler conceived people of Germanic origin to be. The Greater Reich of which he dreamed would be independent of overseas resources and based on the enslavement of the Slavic peoples, the union of all ethnic Germans, and the annihilation of "inferior races," especially the Jews. With the resources and Lebensraum ("living space") afforded by a centralized eastern European empire, Hitler believed that his Greater Reich could last a thousand years. He recognized, of course, that the realization of his dream of continental expansion would require the ruthless use of force and an especially powerful army designed for offensive operations. Hitler's dream also required armed forces responsible to his will. Because they were opposed to Hitler's policies, Field Marshal Werner von Blomberg, the Minister of War, and General Werner von Fritsch, Commander -in-Chief of the Army, were dismissed in 1938. At that time, Hitler replaced the Ministry of War with the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW or High Command of the Armed Forces), with himself as Oberbefehlshaber (Commander-in-Chief), and made the high commands of the Army (OKH), the Navy (OKM), and the Air Force (OKL) subordinate to the OKW. General Wilhelm Keitel was appointed as Hitler's deputy in the OKW. Hitler appointed General Walther von Brauchitsch as the new Commander-in-Chief of the Army, a talented soldier but one unlikely to stand up to Hitler in a difference of opinion. In August 1938, General Franz Halder succeeded General Ludwig Beck, another opponent of Hit- 196 The Patterns of War since the Eighteenth Century ler, as Chief of the OKH General Staff. At least covertly, Halder was more willing than Brauchitsch to oppose Hitler, and he involved himself in the so-called Green Plot to remove the Fuhrer from power during the height of the Sudetenland Crisis in 1938. But both Halder’s opposition and the plot were quickly abandoned after Hitler’s triumph at the Munich Conference . Willingly or unwillingly, most German soldiers went along with Hitler ’s leadership until nearly the end of the war. Between 1933 and March 1935, the German army expanded by taking volunteers, and by the latter date it had reached a strength of 500,000 men and twenty-one divisions. Then, beginning with Hitler’s proclamation of compulsory military service in March 1935...