German Army and the Defence of the Reich - Military Doctrine and the Conduct of the Defensive Battle 1918-1939

An exploration of the development of military theory and doctrine in the German army between the wars.

List of contents

Introduction and definitions; Part I. The Foundations of Defensive Warfare in the Inter-War Period: 1. Defence doctrine before the First World War; 2. The lessons of the First World War; 3. Military planning in the aftermath of the First World War; Part II. The Seeckt Era: Years of Ignorance: 4. Hans von Seeckt and the rebirth of the offensive; 5. The manual Führung und Gefecht der verbundenen Waffen and the conduct of the defensive battle; Part III. Adapting to Reality 1923-33: 6. Military thought after the occupation of the Ruhr; 7. Civil-military co-operation; 8. The manual Truppenführung and the increased importance of defence; Part IV. Defensive Warfare in the Third Reich 1933-9: 9. Political ideology versus military reality: defensive warfare 1933-6; 10. The rebirth of offensive warfare 1936-9; Conclusion: the defensive battle in the Second World War and beyond.

About the author

Matthias Strohn was educated at the Universities of Münster, Germany, and Oxford where he obtained a Masters degree and a Doctorate. He teaches military history to British army officer cadets and officers at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He currently holds the rank of Captain in the German armed forces (Bundeswehr) reserve and is attached to the German staff college where he lectures on military history to international staff and German general staff officers.

Summary

This book comprehensively revises our understanding of the development of military theory and doctrine in the German army between the wars. It shows that military planning concentrated primarily on a defensive war against superior enemies with the German army too weak for most of the period to effectively repel invaders.

Product details

• Authors: Matthias Strohn
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 02.02.2017
• EAN: 9781316633694
• ISBN: 978-1-316-63369-4
• No. of pages: 292
• Series: Cambridge Military Histories; Cambridge Military Histories
• Subjects: Education and learning > Miscellaneous; Humanities, art, music > History > General, dictionaries; POLITICAL SCIENCE / Security (National & International), HISTORY / Europe / Germany, European History, Germany, HISTORY / Military / General, military history, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, HISTORY / Military / Strategy, Defence strategy, planning & research, Military and defence strategy, Modern warfare, c 1919 to c 1939 (Inter-war period), c 1918 to c 1939 (Inter-war period)