In Only Two Years, Hitler Devastated Europe.

How did Hitler manage to dominate Europe in such a relatively brief amount of time? Examine this huge new narrative, which focuses on Germany's most effective military maneuver during World War II. 🏴‍☠️🤬🤬🏴‍☠️

It's still early in the morning. The stars are shining brightly in the still night sky. There is a sense of anticipation in the air, as if a metal lightning storm is about to break the tranquility. The sounds of jet engines breaking the silence, tanks speeding across the landscape on the roar of diesel engines, and the earth trembling under the weight of troops marching suddenly broke the silence. The invasion of Europe by Nazi Germany has started. Adolf Hitler will be in charge of most of the continent's battle-damaged territory in just two short years. One word: blitzkrieg. How could such extensive destruction occur so quickly? In a remarkably short period of time, the Nazis were able to annex much of Europe. However, things become much clearer once you realize that this was a definite necessity, that Hitler and his top generals had no choice, and that they had planned for it.

The suffering of World War I was still deeply ingrained in the minds of the Germans and the German people as a whole. Hitler and the Nazi Party understood that they needed to conquer Europe swiftly and forcefully when they started to make their plans. Despite Hitler's best efforts, Germany was unable to prevail in a protracted conflict fought on multiple fronts. To ensure Nazi Germany would triumph, new strategies had to be tried out and perfected. Adolf Hitler began enacting laws and using his power to bolster the German war machine as soon as he was named chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933. In order to ensure that Germany had the quickest tanks, deadliest aircraft, and most potent weapons, enormous sums of money and resources were devoted to research and development.

The Germans' ability to come up with a strategy for conquering their neighbors and extending the Nazi Empire across Europe was made possible by their investment in wartime technology. Hitler required more land and resources to increase production and, essentially, rebuild the German military from scratch. The dictator had to be shrewd about how he acquired the territory surrounding Germany because he couldn't begin his war without the necessary tools and weapons. Hitler didn't want the Allies to figure out his scheme until it was too late. Many European nations adopted a non-confrontational approach to reining in Germany because no one wanted to start another world war. Hitler was aware of this and intended to take advantage of his enemies' reluctance to wage war.

The Rhineland, a demilitarized area established by the Treaty of Versailles, was once again occupied by German troops on March 7, 1936. The Allies forbade Germany from reclaiming the Rhineland after World War I because they understood that it was a resource-rich region that could be used to support the German economy and its manufacturing centers. Instead of resisting Hitler, the Allies capitulated and angrily ceded the Rhineland to Germany. After capturing the Rhineland, Hitler wasn't done. Three other areas in the vicinity of Germany that would yield even more resources were in his sights. To annex all three, Germany dispatched troops to Austria, Czechoslovakia, and the Sudetenland. Again, the Allied nations denounced Germany for its belligerent behavior, but no one wanted to send their militaries in to face the new Nazi power arising in central Europe.

Germany created more potent weapons and cutting-edge vehicles over the course of the following three years. Hitler and his advisors discussed how they would launch their war to establish the Third Reich while more soldiers were being trained and military equipment was being built in factories across Germany and its newly occupied territories. Given what they actually did, it's not difficult to picture Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels, and Gring sitting around a table discussing how to end the world. Hitler's ambitions extended beyond the obliteration of Europe; he also desired to bring the world to its knees. Production for war was at its peak as the Nazis planned the ideal course to defeat their adversaries and purge the continent of anyone they perceived as impure.

By the end of the summer of 1939, Nazi Germany had everything it needed to launch an invasion of neighboring nations and conquer Europe. Hitler was determined to overthrow anyone who stood in his way. He had a plan and access to the best military hardware in the area. The Nazis made the decision to engage in blitzkrieg, or rapid-fire, warfare. This word means "lightning war" in English. The Nazis could move steadily toward their next objective while winning battles thanks to the Blitzkrieg strategy. Trenches and slowing down would not exist. The development of technology that allowed Nazi tanks to be heavily armored and swiftly traverse various terrains made this kind of warfare possible. The Nazis were also able to drop more bombs with a little bit better accuracy thanks to advancements in aviation.

In addition to all of this, radio communication had advanced, enabling generals to send orders over greater distances much faster than before. With the aid of all these technological developments, Germany was able to wage a Blitzkrieg-style conflict that would decimate Europe. The Blitzkrieg strategy was straightforward but extremely successful. Before an assault, the German Luftwaffe would launch a series of bombing sorties behind the enemy lines to impede supplies and reinforcements. Spies and scouting teams would conduct reconnaissance at the location in order to gauge the size of the enemy force. The intelligence gathered would be used to spot weak spots in the enemy line that could be taken advantage of. These were the areas where tank divisions launched their attacks, heralding the start of the end for Germany's adversaries.

The order to advance the heavily armed Panzer tanks would come when it was appropriate. They would attack the enemy line with the help of soldiers and artillery. The goal at this point was not to defeat the opponent or even to win the game. Instead, until they could penetrate and get past the opposition, the Nazi forces would concentrate their efforts in one area. Tanks would rush through the opening once the line was broken, then infantry and vehicles with a lot of weapons would follow. The tanks would advance while the rest of the military forces occupied strategic locations along the passageway they had carved through the enemy's territory. In order to flood more troops into enemy-held territory, this corridor would then be used.

Convoys carrying supplies would be sent after them to ensure that Nazi forces had the ammunition and supplies they required to keep moving forward. The enemy line would have numerous weak spots that would be exploited with the same tactic, resulting in numerous points of entry and advancement for Nazi forces into enemy territory. The Luftwaffe would be recalled once more to conduct bombing runs on airfields, supply depots, and convoys while all of this was going on. The Nazi ground forces began to gradually encircle the enemy's armies, preventing them from resupplying their front lines. The enemy line was breached, leading to widespread disarray among their adversaries. As the enemy attempted to reorganize, they would discover that the Nazis had erected blockades along the corridor they had created and were using to advance further into the area.

Enemy forces were cut off from one another as a result, making it impossible for them to reassemble. The Nazis would then dispatch troops to widen the breach so they could move more easily. In order to prevent enemy forces from filling the gap, these soldiers would make sure it was well-defended while being supported by artillery. Losses for the Nazis could be catastrophic if the enemy was ever permitted to close their lines before the Panzers could encircle them. However, it was extremely unlikely that the Germans would ever be outmaneuvered once they had broken through an enemy line and begun advancing troops and supplies through the opening. Early on in the war, a victory was all but assured due to the speed at which the tanks moved and the relentless bombardment by German aircraft and artillery.

Any forces that did not quickly retreat would be caught by the forces that were now behind enemy lines. These soldiers would either be executed or made to submit. The Nazis' preferred method of warfare was this one, and it was more effective than anyone could have ever imagined. The Blitzkrieg method of warfare gave the Nazis the ability to annihilate nearly every army they encountered. The Germans were able to invade and conquer country after country thanks to their superior vehicles, weapons, and strategies. On September 1, 1939, a destructive wave began to sweep across Europe. The Schleswig-Holstein battleship was bobbing up and down in the murky Baltic Sea at 4:45 in the morning. The ship's captain was given the directive to open fire on a military transit depot in Westerplatte, Poland.

Nazi forces were simultaneously advancing across the Polish border in a Blitzkrieg-style. Luftwaffe planes flew overhead, bombing strategic military installations and supply hubs as German troops advanced. The first days of the invasion of Poland would demonstrate to the world just how lethal the Nazi military was. What was even more horrifying was how quickly German forces were able to crush Polish resistance and take over the nation. The border's weak spots were discovered and taken advantage of by the Nazis. Then, after encircling them, they forced a surrender by driving a wedge through entire army formations. Poland's leaders begged France and Britain for assistance because they had only agreed five months earlier to safeguard the integrity of Polish borders.

Nobody responded to their cries for assistance. It was already too late when France and Britain finally declared war on Germany as Nazi troops continued to pour across the Polish border. In little more than a month, Poland had been entirely taken over and occupied. This demonstrated the frightening speed with which Germany could attack, devastate, and conquer an entire nation. To be fair, East Prussia and the Soviet Union did provide some assistance to the Nazis during their invasion of Poland. However, as their Blitzkrieg ripped through enemy lines and allowed them to capture thousands of Allied soldiers, decimate entire armored divisions, and systematically destroy particular areas of Europe, Germany would not need or desire assistance in the upcoming battles.

When the smoke cleared from Poland, the rest of Europe gasped in horror at what Adolf Hitler and his troops had accomplished. Every able-bodied man in the nations to the west of Germany was mobilized. Although no one wanted to admit it, they all knew that the Nazi military would soon cross their borders with all of its might. Hitler asserted that Poland had launched the initial attack on Germany and that he was merely defending the ethnically German Poles. However, despite the fact that this was obviously untrue, the Allies were reluctant to enter another devastating conflict so soon after World War I had ended. Furthermore, with Poland fully occupied, there was no longer an ally in the area that could be saved. It was a mess because the Allies pretended not to notice as the Polish people were now made to serve Hitler and the Nazis.

Instead of moving swiftly to defend themselves, they took their time doing so. Nobody anticipated that Germany would launch another attack so soon after their invasion of Poland because the previous World War's fighting was so slow and tiresome. The Allies didn't fully appreciate how greatly they had miscalculated the Germans' thirst for blood until Hitler's next move. Trench warfare, as in World War I, would not be present. The Allies would need to adapt to the German Blitzkrieg because it was a completely different animal. Because of the Nazi strategy's very nature, there was sadly no time to prepare or build defenses against Hitler's Lightning War. The unthinkable occurred six months after Poland was overthrown, while the Allied governments were still attempting to decide how to deal with Adolf Hitler and his new regime.

German forces invaded Denmark on April 9, 1940. The Luftwaffe was once more dispatched on bombing sorties to destroy military installations and supply depots. Additionally, the Nazis used paratroopers to land behind enemy lines, hastening the encirclement of their forces. The Blitzkrieg strategy used in Poland was still in use, but the Nazi military leadership had added new elements. Denmark was aware that they would be powerless to stop the Nazi forces from advancing past their borders. Nazi troops arrived at important ports across the nation as German tanks advanced further north. Hitler's plans, though, didn't start with the invasion of Denmark. Before moving on to their next objective, Norway, the Nazi Blitzkrieg took one day to engulf the nation. In the midst of all this confusion, though, something extraordinary occurred.

The Danish people banded together as a kind of underground network when word spread that the Nazis were rounding up Jews and expelling them from the country. Jews would hide in non-Jewish homes until they could find safe passage to Sweden. This method helped save thousands of Danish Jews. They were concealed on board fishing trawlers that would later enter the Baltic. There wasn't much of a Nazi naval presence in the area at the time, and what little there was couldn't be bothered to search every fishing boat leaving the docks. As soon as they arrived in Sweden, Jews were able to seek asylum because the nation maintained its neutrality throughout the war and, thanks to its location and a little bit of luck, was spared from the onslaught of Nazi forces.

The Nazis did pass through Sweden later in the war, but Germany would never occupy the nation. Sweden’s neighbor, Norway, would not be as fortunate, as the Nazi plague spread the following day through Denmark and into that country. The Nazi strategy up to that point ran into a small snag in Norway. The terrain was mountainous and densely forested, and the country was long and narrow. This was not the best situation for setting up tanks and using them to break through enemy defenses. As a result, the Nazis had to use their navy to drop massive weapons and vehicles on Norway's shores before moving them into position. Airdropped paratroopers were used, but unlike Denmark, Norway proved to be more difficult to conquer.

The Nazi invasion force was slowed down after the Norwegians put up a fight and managed to sink several of their ships. After a few months, Germany finally overcame Norway and started using its heavy water facilities to carry out experiments that might eventually result in the creation of the atomic bomb. Thank goodness, Norwegian resistance forces destroyed these establishments before the Nazis could finish their research, sparing Europe from a nuclear holocaust. It was time to move west after Germany had secured the nations bordering it on the north. Adolf Hitler began his offensive across Europe in May of that year. This would turn out to be the Germans' most destructive and effective campaign of World War II.

In the upcoming weeks, the Nazis would use Blitzkrieg strategies to annihilate entire armies all the way into France. The Nazi Empire would eventually cover the entire continent of Europe after this offensive. Germany invaded France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg on May 10, 1940. The Nazis conducted several airstrikes in Belgium. This was done to destroy bases and weaken the Allied air force in the area. To drop bombs behind enemy lines and obstruct resupply routes, the Germans needed to maintain air superiority, which was essential for their Blitzkrieg offensive. Following the Luftwaffe's bombing sorties, infantry, armored vehicles, and tanks sped toward the Belgian lines. They almost immediately made it through and started constructing a Nazi corridor that extended further and farther into Allied territory.

Time and time again, this strategy proved effective. By May 28th, the Nazis had total control over Belgium. Their soldiers were either dead on the battlefield, on the run in France, or had already submitted. The Nazi war machine left destruction in its wake wherever it went. Cities in their entirety were reduced to ruin, and towns disappeared from the map. While the invasion of the Netherlands began at the same time as that of Belgium, the Luftwaffe adopted a slightly different strategy. Over the Netherlands and then into the North Sea, the aircraft flew. This suggested that they were traveling to England to launch airstrikes there. That was a ruse, though. When the Dutch relaxed their guard, the bombers circled back and destroyed the city of Rotterdam along with numerous military facilities.

The Nazis started dropping paratroopers into the Netherlands once the Dutch airfields were destroyed. On the front lines, Panzer tank divisions plowed into the entrenched Dutch forces, destroying their defenses and encircling the Allied forces with the help of the paratroopers already present. The Netherlands was occupied by the Nazis four days later. The reason for the quick surrender was the worry that other cities would experience the same fate as Rotterdam, which had been bombed to oblivion, as well as the speed with which the Nazi military swept the nation. A surprisingly distinct group of Nazi soldiers also participated in the Dutch campaign. Every German soldier mattered because the country's borders were crossed by the army's forces.

To begin the encirclement process, the 1st Kavallerie division fired through the opening created when the Blitzkrieg breached the Dutch line of defense. The fact that this unit was a cavalry division makes it special. It might seem odd that the Nazis brought horses to a tank battle, but the cavalry could sneak up on the adversary and quickly seize Dutch soldiers. Given that horses could travel over difficult terrain much more quickly than vehicles could, it makes sense that the Nazis continued to employ cavalry during World War II. Timing was crucial in Blitzkrieg warfare. Luxembourg fell to the Nazis' Lightning Warfare in just one day. The Panzer divisions rolled across the border largely unopposed because there weren't many Allied soldiers stationed in the nation. As they advanced to ensure that the front lines could be resupplied, Nazi troops captured key strategic locations.

It was now necessary for the Nazis to enter France. Using the Maginot Line, a network of fortifications constructed to shield France from a repetition of what happened in World War I, the Allied forces had established a strong line of defense. The French were pleased to have it now that Germany was approaching their door once more. Only one issue existed. It was not the entire French border that was fortified. On the French-German border, the Maginot Line was complete, but not on the Belgian border. The French expected the nations to its northeast to act as a deterrent to a German invasion.

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