Eastern Front Prelude # 0.9 The Blitzkrieg of Western Europe Podcast Por arte de portada

Eastern Front Prelude # 0.9 The Blitzkrieg of Western Europe

Eastern Front Prelude # 0.9 The Blitzkrieg of Western Europe

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 Last time we spoke about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In a turbulent prelude to World War II, tensions soared as Hitler's rise transformed Europe’s landscape. The Soviet Union, wary of Germany's ambitions, sought alliances with Britain and France, aiming to deter further aggression. However, when these alliances faltered, Stalin turned to Nazi Germany, leading to the historic Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. This shocking agreement allowed both powers to divide Eastern Europe, particularly Poland, into spheres of influence, ensuring mutual non-aggression. As Europe braced for conflict, this pact altered geopolitical dynamics, alarming nations like Japan, who feared a united Axis front. The pact bought Stalin time to fortify his western borders, while Hitler prepared for rapid expansion. Thus, the seeds of a devastating conflict were sown, illustrating how failed diplomacy and ideological clashes shaped the world’s fate, setting the stage for global warfare that would ensue. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact remains a chilling reminder of alliances forged amid chaos. This episode is Prelude #9 The Blitzkrieg of Western Europe Well hello there, welcome to the Easter Front week by week podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800’s until the end of the Pacific War in 1945. Hello again, today we are diving into the outbreak of WW2. Buckle up. During the summer of 1939, Germany was gearing up to invade Poland. This operation, known as Case White, aimed for the main force of the Wehrmacht to penetrate Polish defenses in a pincer movement culminating in Warsaw. For the invasion, the German Army, referred to as the Heer, was organized into two major Army Groups, with a smaller group stationed in the west to deter any French or British advances. In the West, Colonel General Ritter von Leeb commanded Army Group C, tasked with defending the Westwall, which extended from Duisburg in the north to Mainz in the center and the Swiss border in the south. Although he was technically in charge of three field armies, the 1st, 5th, and 7th, their strengths were largely superficial, meant to project the appearance of a much larger force to intimidate the French and British. No tanks were available in the west, and Leeb's troops relied solely on Luftwaffe reconnaissance and anti-aircraft units for support. In the Polish theater of operations, the Army was organized into two groups for the invasion. The primary focus was assigned to Colonel General Gerd von Rundstedt, who led Army Group South. His mission was to move his forces from Silesia in a northerly direction toward Warsaw via Lodz. Rundstedt commanded three field armies: the 8th, 10th, and 14th, along with most of the Panzer divisions. At this point, there were only six Panzer divisions in the entire army. Additionally, there were four Leichte, or “Light,” divisions, each consisting of one Panzer battalion combined with an infantry brigade and an artillery regiment. These combined divisions had just 39 tanks. There are different opinions regarding the role of the Leichte divisions. Some paint them as a stop gap solution to motorize the army pending production of more tanks. Others say they were an experimental attempt to modernize the cavalry as reconnaissance divisions. The truth, as always, is probably a mixture of both. While they were more mobile than traditional infantry divisions, they were approximately half the size of a motorized infantry division, which did not have tanks. Rundstedt was in charge of all four Light Divisions: the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. He also oversaw four of the six Panzer divisions: the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th. The other military formation in the Polish theater was Army Group North, led by Colonel General von Bock. He commanded two field armies: the 3rd Army, stationed in East Prussia, ready to advance southward to converge with Army Group South in Warsaw, and the 4th Army in Pomerania, aiming to secure the Polish Corridor. Bock was also assigned a motorized corps under the General of Panzer Troops Guderian, which included one panzer division. Additionally, he received Panzer-Division Kempf, a combined task force of Panzer and SS regiments that fell short of the typical division strength. Panzer Division Kempf is notable for more than its odd combination of SS and panzer troops. It was made up of ...
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