Book Review: Achtung - Panzer!

 Old AF Sarge at Chant du Depart has been writing a fascinating (and very engaging) ongoing story of D-Day (I highly recommend it - he is an excellent writer and does a fine job writing from both sides).  This in turn has renewed some interest I had in World War II which has been in abeyance for many (40+ years).  Which, of course, reminded me of a book I had seen at my local used book store.  Which, of course, I bought.

Achtung - Panzer! is the theoretical and tactical presentation and case for tank warfare written by General Heinz Guderian.  It represents his thinking at the time (the book was published in 1937) on the potential of tank warfare and simply how the next war would be different than the last war.

The book starts with a broad overview of the Western Front in 1914 and 1915 and notes that the concept of warfare in that time prevented a successful resolution.  Infantry charges preceded by artillery bombardments did little to nothing to move either side to victory and only returned more and more dead bodies.  Addtionally, the way attacks were conducted (Artillery saturation) was almost always a giveaway as to where the attack would come.  Chemical Weapons (The Germans first, then the Allies) was used as weapon to attempt to achieve a breakthrough with limited results (uncertain outcome and the gas could blow back into one's own face).

The resolution - first exercised by the British at the Battle of The Somme, 1916 - was the creation of a motorized, armored, armed platform we call the tank.

The first uses of the tank were of limited success - they were mechanically inclined to break down, influenced greatly by the ground (they could fall into ditches, for example, and not get out), and were initially seen as being supportive of infantry.  But over time, the British and French discovered that massed groups of tanks could provide speedy initial assaults and breakthroughs to be followed up by infantry instead of only supportive of it,  especially as armor, motors, and weapons improved - also helped by the fact that the German High Command inexplicably failed to take the tank seriously or attempt to develop their own tank or even anti-tank weapons until late into the war (1918).  

(Interesting historical note:  The first tank to tank combat did not occur until 1918.  Only a bit over 20 years later, entire battles consisted of tanks.  So goes the speed of technological progress.)

The key to victory, Guderian states, is the concept of massed armor moving quickly to make breaches in the enemy line supported by aerial forces and followed up by quick exploitation of these gaps by motorized infantry.

After this historical review, Guderian then looks at three different models being developed in the InterWar period:  the British with an integrated motorized infantry/tank model, the French with a heavy tank battalion model, and the Russians with mass production.  

The final part of the book reviews what Guderian believes tank warfare should be in the then-coming future.  He notes that the development of the airplane in World War I from merely a reconnaissance tool to an item of attack and reconnaissance makes their interaction with these quick moving attacks a necessity to achieving victory.  Clever historians will recognize this as the genesis of Blitzkreig or Lightning War.

As a person of historical bent, I enjoyed this book.  The review of history was very useful (my World War I knowledge is not very complete) and I found the thinking of Guderian very interesting in terms of how he clearly recognized the applications and successes of the tank as applied by the Allies, something which completely escaped the German High Command.  It also reinforced the concept - true of life in general - that breakout success that leads to victory is found in surprise and speed, especially in the situation where everyone and everything has settled into a stalemate.

He is an excellent writer (he was an instructor for many years) and the translation is a good one.  Highly recommended.