Second World War Concepts - Essay Example

[Supervisor’s Second World War Concepts Discuss and explain separately the three following concepts: a) Explain the differences between Strategy, Tactics, Logistics and the military relation between infantry, artillery armour and aviation, as applied in world war II in 1939-4 The World War II is an example of excellent coordination between infantry, artillery armour and aviation. By World War II, there were two modes of strategic bombing. "Area" or "terror" bombing deliberately or heedlessly hazarded noncombatants, while "precision" bombing, sometimes at a risk to airmen, focused on military or war-related facilities to avoid civilian losses. A trend toward the former in China, Spain, and Finland in the late 1930s was followed by the Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Forces Bomber Command in 1940-41, mainly due to daylight losses and navigation and bombing accuracy difficulties. In 1942-43, however, the U.S. Army Air Force went to war following a daylight precision bombing doctrine, then drifted toward area bombing, culminating in the Dresden raid and the firebombing of Japan. Conceding that "ethical restraints were not the most important limitation on terror bombing," Crane argues that their influence-amid doctrines, command pressures, and public attitudes--"cannot be completely discounted" (p. 8), and relies on official reports and statements to survey the range of views of strategic bombing among the senior airmen. USAAF trial night bombing missions are not noted, nor are such shaping forces as pacifist lobbying, the Army Industrial College, the Geneva air talks, the Nye Hearings, many, many boards and committees, and the Color/Rainbow War Plans. Nor will many students of propaganda agree that serious concern for public opinion in war-waging dates from the American Civil War. Much of the genealogy of RAF area-bombing lies out of view, from the Independent Air Force in World War I and interwar Air Staff processes, through various Bomber Command chiefs frustrations, the area-bombing scheme of Lindemann, Churchills science advisor, to the August 1942 Moscow Conference, when Churchill promised Stalin to bomb German cities in lieu of a "Second Front." However bellicose in style and rhetoric, Bomber Command chief Air Marshal Sir Arthur "Bert" Harris, was heir to that momentum. Whatever his influence was on Americans, especially on LeMay, the latter is cast as a kind of air-age Cromwell, and his considerable organizing and leadership skills are muted. After speculating how Nimitz or MacArthur might have reined in LeMay, Crane judges the twenty-first Bomber Command "more efficient" than the RAF Bomber Command, which is perplexing since their respective milieux varied widely, in duration, technologies, and distances. Whatever its debits, Cranes study is well worth reading. It describes how customs of war, international law, and honor codes were crushed in the Totalenkreig of World War II by the frenzied pursuit of victory at all costs. Yet it also shows how an air commanders personal style and morality sometimes affected doctrinal and tactical choices to favor precision over terror bombing. On balance, it is a valuable entry into the contentious and ever-growing literature about the use of air power. b) apply von Mellentin to explain in detail the effectiveness of combined armour strategies (Blizkrieg) used in World war II during Rommel North African campaigns of 1940-1943 ( including the Italian campaign of 1940 and Tunisian Campaign of 1943). Focus on tactics and role of armour and movement in desert warfare. Add references if you can from the documentary desert War and film The English Patient. During World War II, Germany was the most powerful nation in the world. In a matter of days, Germany destroyed the Polish army. Later, they disposed of France and came within twenty-two miles of Britain. Without the interference of the United States, Germany may have conquered all of Europe. How did they do it? How did a nation who wasnt even supposed to have a standing army after the Treaty of Versaille manage to take over so much land? The answer starts in Britain, 1919. Colonel John Fuller was the chief of staff of the British Tank Corps. He was disappointed by the lack of tanks used during the Great War. Not only that, but we didnt like how they were used. So he started on a plan to utilize tanks, in a combination with strong, mobile artillery support. He published his ideas in his book Reformations of War in 1923, and later in Foundation of the Science of War in 1926. So what? Fuller has some new idea for tanks. Who cares? Obviously not Great Britain. John Fullers ideas were ignored by the British army, but they caught the interest of German officials. In fact, in 1926, leaders of the German army asked the government to commission the production of new tanks that would enable them to use this tactic they called Blitzkrieg in any future conflicts. Heres where Germany hit a snag. According to the Treaty of Versaille, Germany could not develop new weapons of war. In fact, they were only allowed an army of 100,000 soldiers, and no conscription, no tanks, no heavy artillery, no poison-gas supplies, no aircraft and no airships. But Germany was determined to get around this. These experimental new tanks were called tractors. The Light Tractor weighed ten tons and carried a 37mm gun and the Heavy Tractor was a 20-tonner with two turrets, one forward with a 77mm gun, and one at the rear carrying a machine-gun. Germany had another problem. Blitzkrieg required a mobile army. The Chief of Army Command, Hans von Seeckt, took on this task. Seeckt remolded the army from the traditional mass army into a mobile shock force of 35 units. Seeckt also questioned the effectiveness of large armies. In his book Thoughts of a Soldier, he explains that technical science and tactical skill would win the wars of the future. He predicted that "the whole future of warfare appears to me to lie in the employment of mobile armies, relatively small but of high quality and rendered distinctly more effective by the addition of aircraft, and in the simultaneous mobilization of the whole forces, either to feed the attack or for home defense." c) apply these five Principles of War to explain the contenders success/mistakes: Objective, Manoeuvre , Economy of Force , Unity of Command , Leadership (choose a general: Rommel, Montgomery, Patton.) Although the Spanish Civil war and the Italian invasion of Abyssinia were major causes of the Second World War, it was the weakness of the League of Nations that... The aim of the League of Nations was to maintain world peace, and due to their lack of strength and inability to enforce sanctions and consequences their aims were far from achieved. The fascist nations of Germany and Italy were allowed to persue their aggressive military aims with little or no penalties. By 1939, Italy and Germany were influential and powerful nations ready to conquer all of Europe. The First World War caused many problems to arise worldwide. 14 million people died as a result of the First World War and most people had lost a family member. The fact the war was seen as being a pointless one only made matters worse, as the people believed that their loved ones had died for nothing. There were worldwide economic problems and many people found themselves unemployed. For the countries that had lost the war, the situation was even worse. Germany suffered greatly from the Treaty of Versailles, and Italy also had many problems to deal with that were not being solved. New, democratic governments had been put in place by the Western powers in many European countries. However, as these countries were not used to being governed by a democratic system, many governments became corrupt and little was being achieved. As many people in Europe were unhappy, and their governments were not providing the solutions for the difficulties the times had presented, the people of many countries turned to strong, charismatic dictators. The difficulties of the post-war period caused fascism to rise in many countries after World War One. In 1922, the fascist leader, Benito Mussolini came to power in Italy. He was the first of many right-winged leaders to come to power during the between wars period. Portugal, Spain and Germany also came to be controlled by fascist dictators during this period of time. The word fascist was first used in Italy by Benito Mussolini. His fascist theory was against socialism, liberalism and democracy, and it promoted the belief that the power of the group is more important than the individual. "The foundation of Fascism is the conception of the State. Fascism conceives of the State as an absolute." (Benito Mussolini, 1932) The symbol for Fascism is an axe and a bunch of sticks, all tied tightly together. The theory behind the symbol is that one rod or stick can be broken, but a bundle tied together will not break as every rod and stick will support the other. Thus, the nation will remain strong. "Fascism stands for liberty. The only liberty worth having". Discuss and explain separately the three following concepts: a) Explain the differences between Strategy, Tactics, Logistics and the military relation between infantry, artillery armour and aviation, as applied in world war II in 1939-45 ( use any battle as quick mini-example). In the 1880s, Italy attempted to gain control of Abyssinia, and for the first time, a native African army managed to defeat a European army. Italy were ashamed and embarrassed by this event, and did not forget it. In 1922, Benito Mussolini came to power in Italy, and in attempting to strengthen his position and Italys power; he decided to become a great Mediterranean power. For both strategic and vengeful reasons, Mussolini sent his army into Africa to conquer Abyssinia. In 1934, 600 men from the Abyssinian army were escorting British officials from Addis Ababa to inspect the frontiers. On their way, they passed through Wal-Wal, and found that an Italian fort had been established. Shots were fired and an Abyssinian commander was killed. Mussolini demanded an apology from Abyssinia, but Abyssinia refused and appealed to the League of Nations. An investigation was carried out to determine who fired the first shots, and it was found that it was Italy that had begun the battle. Italy apologised, but began to build up their troops in Abyssinias neighbouring country, Somaliland. It was at this stage that the League of Nations should have intervened and placed sanctions on Italy. By not doing so, Mussolini was able to build up his troops and prepare for war. The fact that the League of Nations appeased Italy gave Mussolini the confidence to continue with his plans, as he understood that the League was afraid to take any serious action. The Leagues main fear was that Italy would ally itself with Germany, and so, did they not want to annoy or frustrate Mussolini and force him into this alliance. It was because of this that the League of Nations allowed Italy to do as it pleased, hence allowing a strong and threatening nation to gain great power. The Italian attack on Abyssinia began on October 3, 1935. While the League did impose a trade ban on Italy, it did not ban the trade of oil and petrol, Italys most essential materials. This trade ban did not affect Italy at all, and Italy continued in its attempts to take over Abyssinia. In December 1935, Britain and France held secret meetings to discuss the Abyssinian crisis. They designed a compromise known as the Hoare-Laval pact, in which half of Abyssinia would be given to Italy. Britain and France did not want to anger Italy so they did not consider the wants and the needs of the Abyssinian people. This pact reflected the weakness of the League and their unwillingness to take any form of action against Italy. Mussolini may have accepted the deal, as the war was not going well for him. However, the media discovered the details of the pact and there was public outcry and the pact was scrapped. Eventually, Italy managed to take over Abyssinia and the world had taken no serious action to stop him. After the Abyssinian crisis, Britain and France hoped to re-establish a good relationship with Italy. However, Mussolini had been annoyed by Britain and France, so he turned to Hitler. The League of Nations had failed in preventing the Abyssinian crisis and preventing Italy becoming allied with Germany. After the Abyssinian crisis, no one took the League seriously, and rightfully so. The League lost all credibility, and so was unable to neither help nor deal with the next serious issue that came about, the Spanish civil war. b) apply von Mellentin to explain in detail the effectiveness of combined armour strategies (Blizkrieg) used in World war II during Russian Campaign of 1941-1944 ( Battle of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk , Don, Donetz). Focus on tactics and Armour in warfare and Winter combat, and different Germans and Russians. References from films Russian Campaign, Battle of Stalingrad, Enemy at Gates, The Fall. In a cogent introduction, British historian Max Hastings stresses that the enormity and ferocity of the land campaign between Germany and Russia, the true centerpiece of World War II, were, and still are, in good part lost on Americans. The strategy of the U.S.--a small land force with air superiority--was premised on Russia paying the price in blood to defeat Hitler. At wars end, Allied dead totaled perhaps one million citizens; the Soviets lost 27 million. U.S. and British forces killed a combined 220,000 German troops; the Russians killed three million and also shot 167,000 of their own troops attempting to flee the battlefield. Introspective Private Reese records his disdain for military service as well as his acceptance of its inevitability, and sets down in page after graphic page the absurdity of the war and his amazement at his own ability to sometimes revel in it (often drunk). After looting a captured train of spirits and food, he writes, "we...whooped and skipped over the rails and danced in the cars...made a Russian woman prisoner dance naked for us, greased her tits with boot polish and got her as drunk as we were." In the aftermath of a night battle, however, he starkly recalls the faces of the dead and contemplates what is gained by fighting: "If I fell tomorrow, life would go on without me...thousands more were ready to work and to bring the task to completion, to quarrel with destiny, and prevail or, like me, fall by the wayside." After a furlough, Reese returned to the Front and was killed in 1944; his diary was preserved for decades by his mother. c) apply these five Principles of War to explain the contender s success/mistakes: Objective, Manoeuvre, Economy of Force, Unity of Command, Leadership (choose a general: Manstein, Guderian, Hitler, Zhukov, Stalin.) By 1939 there was as much food being produced in Russia as there had been in 1928. This was made much worse by the fact that Russias population had increased by 20 million.Stalin had introduced collectivisation in order to feed the industrial workers. The Great Patriotic War began disastrously for Russia. Stalin had signed a non-aggression pact with Germany in September 1939 and Poland was divided between them. Stalin also attacked and overran Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania When Hitler invaded Russia in 1941, Stalin was so shocked that he refused to believe the fact and did nothing for a week. During this week 150,000 Russian soldiers were either killed or wounded. In one city alone, Kiev, 600,000 Russian soldiers were captured. "By October 1941, three million Soviet soldiers were prisoners of war." During the Battle of Moscow, over 8,000 Russian citizens were executed for cowardice. In 1942 however, Stalin withdrew from the planning of defence and left it to a young general by the name of Georgi Zhukov. Zhukov was instrumental in the turn-around of Russian fortunes and by 1943 the balance of power in the Russo-German war was turning. The Great Patriotic War costed Russia over 13,000,000 soldiers and over 7,000,000 civilian casualties. On the 2nd of May 1945 Berlin was forced to surrender, this was the end of World War Two. War time in the USSR was extremely costly for Stain and the Soviets. By the end of 1945 the land was a devastating wasteland. 40,000 hospitals, 65,000 kilometres of railway 70,000 villages 1,200 towns and 100,000 collective farms had been destroyed. , 19 million civilians and 9 million soldiers had died; 20 million soviets were now homeless. It is obvious that the Second World War had a hugely devastating impact on the people and the land of the USSR. Read More