<sod>  
 The key to Blitzkrieg was to organize the troops into mobile forces with excellent communications and command, able to keep the momentum up while the battle unfolded. The basic concept was to concentrate all available forces at a single spot in front of the enemy lines, and then break a hole in it with artillery and infantry, easy enough to do even in the Great War. Once the hole was opened, tanks could rush through and strike hundreds of miles to the rear. This allowed the attacking force to fight against lightly armed [[logistics]] units, starving the enemy of information and supplies. In this way even a small force could destroy a much larger one through confusion, avoiding direct combat as much as possible.
 
 Although trumpeted as a truly modern style of war, Blitzkrieg's theoretical basis was almost as old as war itself. Similar strategies were employed by [[Alexander the Great]] in classical times; [[Napoleon I|Napoleon]] was a master of them; and they were used on a smaller scale by both sides in the closing stages of World War I. Germany itself had a long tradition of using deep penetration tactics: in the [[Franco-Prussian War]] the Prussian army, knowing that the French could field larger forces, devised a war plan that relied on speed. If, on declaration of war, they could mobilise, invade and seize Paris fast enough, then they would be victorious before the vast French army could form and retaliate. This tactic was developed into the [[Schlieffen Plan]], used in part at the start of [[World War I]]. However, this was ineffective due to the advent of [[trench warfare]].
 
 In the early part of the Second World War, Blitzkrieg was put into practice only by the Germans. By the late 1930s they had re-organized their Army to include a number of elite ''Panzergruppen'', divisions consisting almost entirely of tanks, infantry in half-track [[APC]] and trucks to supply them. To this they had added a new weapon, the [[dive bomber]] (specifically the [[Junkers Ju 87]]) to replace artillery and allow for "breakthrough" attacks even far behind the lines.
 
 <eod> <sod> 
 The key to Blitzkrieg was to organize the troops into mobile forces with excellent communications and command, able to keep the momentum up while the battle unfolded. The basic concept was to concentrate all available forces at a single spot in front of the enemy lines, and then break a hole in it with artillery and infantry, easy enough to do even in the Great War. Once the hole was opened, tanks could rush through and strike hundreds of miles to the rear. This allowed the attacking force to fight against lightly armed [[logistics]] units, starving the enemy of information and supplies. In this way even a small force could destroy a much larger one through confusion, avoiding direct combat as much as possible.
 
Although trumpeted as a truly modern style of war, Blitzkrieg's theoretical basis was almost as old as war itself. Similar strategies were employed by [[Alexander the Great]] in classical times; [[Napoleon I|Napoleon]] was a master of them; and they were used on a smaller scale by both sides in the closing stages of World War I. Germany itself had a long tradition of using deep penetration tactics: in the [[Franco-Prussian War]] the Prussian army, knowing that the French could field larger forces, devised a war plan that relied on speed. If, on declaration of war, they could mobilise, invade and seize Paris fast enough, then they would be victorious before the vast French army could form and retaliate. This tactic was used to devastating effect in 1871, and was developed into the [[Schlieffen Plan]], which was used at the start of [[World War I]] and very nearly succeeded. (See [[trench warfare]] and [[Battle of the Marne]].)

 Although trumpeted as a truly modern style of war, Blitzkrieg's theoretical basis was almost as old as war itself. Similar strategies were employed by [[Alexander the Great]] in classical times; [[Napoleon I|Napoleon]] was a master of them; and they were used on a smaller scale by both sides in the closing stages of World War I. Germany itself had a long tradition of using deep penetration tactics: in the [[Franco-Prussian War]] the Prussian army, knowing that the French could field larger forces, devised a war plan that relied on speed. If, on declaration of war, they could mobilise, invade and seize Paris fast enough, then they would be victorious before the vast French army could form and retaliate. This tactic was developed into the [[Schlieffen Plan]], used in part at the start of [[World War I]]. However, this was ineffective due to the advent of [[trench warfare]].




 
 In the early part of the Second World War, Blitzkrieg was put into practice only by the Germans. By the late 1930s they had re-organized their Army to include a number of elite ''Panzergruppen'', divisions consisting almost entirely of tanks, infantry in half-track [[APC]] and trucks to supply them. To this they had added a new weapon, the [[dive bomber]] (specifically the [[Junkers Ju 87]]) to replace artillery and allow for "breakthrough" attacks even far behind the lines.
 
 <eod>