German success in the European war was due a number of key reasons. The Germans implemented the 300-year-old strategy of bewegungskrieg, with startling success. In addition, reactionary Allied military thinking, manifested in rejection of new technologies, combined with strategic ineptitude also contributed to contribute to German success. Furthermore, the extensive indoctrination and preparation of youth for war meant that the generation of landsers fighting in the campaigns of 1939-1942 were superior soldiers to their allied counterparts.
German success up until 1942 had its roots in the Prussian-Military style of warfare bewegungskrieg or ‘manoeuvre warfare.’ Due to the barren nature of Prussia, forefather of the German state, the nation was forced to engage in wars that were ‘kurts und vives’ in the words of Frederick the Great, that is to say ‘short and lively.’ …show more content…
From 1933 onwards the youth of Germany were prepared for war. Imparted within them was a fanatic belief in the NSDAP regime, one of which one manifest itself in German success up to 1942. The youth was also rendered ready for war through intensive physical activity. Hitler declared that the purpose of education was “building bodies which are physically healthy to the core.” T he Hilter-Jugend was designed to turn children into the next generation of German landsers that would fight in the campaigns of Poland, France and the Low Countries, and Russia. The effect of this policies is marked when considering Shirer’s contrast between the “German soldiers, browned and clean cut from a youth in the sunshine on adequate diet,” and the “tragic examples of the youth that England had neglected” who he describes as being “hollow chested, round shouldered” and had “pasty complexions.” In this sense the indoctrination and preparation of youth for war was vital in the German successes in the European war until