Germany's History
After World War I
After World War I and the Versailles Treaty Germany's armored production was greatly restricted.
Hans von Seeckt was commander-in-chief from 1919 to 1926.3 He wanted to reorganize the Army into a more mobile fighting force.3 He started using war games for training purposes.3 He advocated that orders given to commanders were to be short and direct, thus leaving the local commander the flexibility to choose the method to fulfill the mission.3 This was known as Auftragstaktik.3
In 1924 Hans von Seeckt wrote in a German Army manual that once tanks were perfected that they would be able to used in mobile warfare.3
In 1924 Ernst Volckheim wrote Tanks in Modern Warfare and German Tanks in the World War.3 He predicted that tanks would be faster, mobile, and independent of infantry and calvary.3 He also advocated the use of radios in all vehicles.3
In the early 1930s a secret program of rearming was instituted.
Sweden bought the design of the Leichter Kampfwagen that was developed by Daimler. They modified the tank buy adding a rotating turret. There was also secret agreement with Sweden which accumulated a lot of technical data. In Sweden, Heinz Guderian was able to drive a Stridsvagn Strv. m/21 in 1929 during an official visit.
The German's developed a strategy known as Vernichtungsgedanke(annihilation concept). This is where German forces would fall onto the flanks of an enemy, surround, and then destroy it.
Once the Nazis came to power most of this secrecy was abandoned and tank development was more in the open. The manufacturing industry seized the opportunity to develop new weapons.
The Germans also learned from the teachings of British tank pioneers Liddell Hart and Fuller. Heinz Guderian was one of the main architects for the development of the Panzer forces.
Heinz Guderian
In 1922 Captain Heinz Guderian was a communications specialist who was promoted to serving in the Transport Troops Inspectorate. While there he started to read about armored warfare. He said "it was principally the books and articles of the Englishmen, Fuller, Liddell Hart, and Martel, that excited my interest and gave me food for thought."
Soon he started writing his own articles. He was able to rise up the promotion ladder and many wondered if the tanks of the day would be able to live up to what Guderian was writing about.
He was appointed Chief of Staff to the Inspectorate of Motorized Troops in 1931. Many in the German Army hierarchy resisted Guderian's ideas, but it is said Hitler watched one of Guderian's demonstrations and said "That's what I need! That's what I'm going to have!"
On November 20, 1938, he was promoted to General der Panzertruppen and appointed Chief of Mobile Troops. His background in communications let him to insist that all vehicles have a radio and specialized command vehicles be constructed. Another important feature was to be able to communicate with the Luftwaffe's ground attack planes to provide air support.
Guderian laid the foundation for panzer tactics. The panzers were to break through the enemy lines on a front of no more than 5,000 yards. The would go to their objective regardless of what was in the way. Antitank guns would be brought up to set up points where the panzers could retreat through if they were counterattacked by enemy armor. After the antitank guns had blunted the enemy's counterattack then the panzers would again attack them enemy.
Growing Pains
In 1926 the secret Treaty of Rapallo was signed by the Germans and Russians. This enabled the Germans to developed "agricultural tractors" and developed and tested them in Russia as well as Sweden.
At the Red Army training school at Kama these were tested. The first was a light tank similar to the British Vickers Medium Mark II. It was designed by Rheinmetall Borsig of Berlin/Tegel and Düsseldorf and code named the leichter Traktor (light tractor). The next larger was developed in 3 versions called the Grosstraktor (large tractor). There were around 20 tons and we similar to the Vickers tank. Dr. Ferdinand Porsche designed the Grosstraktor I and it was built by Daimler-Benz with a 75 mm gun. Rheinmetall built the Grosstraktor II which mounted a 105 mm gun. The Grosstraktor III was built by Krupp.
In 1926, Major-General Alfred von Vollard-Bockelberg became the head of the Transport Troops Inspectorate and in 1927 he began training the transport officers in the theories of armored warfare. He based the teachings on the British Army pamphlet Provisional Instructions for Armored Vehicles 1927. They held exercises with cardboard tanks placed on car chassis.
He then went to the Ordnance Department in 1929 and stayed there until 1933. He was responsible for accelerating the mechanization of the army. He also formed the 1st motorcycle and mechanized reconnaissance units. He also helped in the design phase of the PzKpfw I and PzKpfw II.
Rearming
In January 1933, the Nazis came to power, and on March 15, 1935, Adolf Hitler renounced the Treaty of Versailles and announced that Germany would rearm. The development of the agricultural tractors began being developed in Germany itself. These were called Landwirtschaftliche Schleppern (La.S.). The first prototypes were ready in December 1933 and first ran on February 3, 1934. By the end of July an order for 150 vehicles had been placed with Henschel und Sohn GmbH of Kassel. These were the PzKpfw Is.
On October 15, 1935, the first 3 Panzer Divisions were formed and the 2nd was commanded by Guderian. They were to have 561 tanks each.3 However, German industry couldn't meet the needed vehicles.3 The 4th & 5th Panzer Divisions were formed in 1938, and the 10th Panzer Division in April 1940. There were composed of:
- a panzer brigade,
- 2 regiments,
- 2 battalions,
- 1 heavy company,
- 3 light/medium companies,
- 2 battalions,
- 2 regiments,
- a motorized infantry brigade,
- an infantry regiment,
- 2 truck born battalions,
- a motorcycle battalion,
- an infantry regiment,
- a motorized artillery regiment,
- an armored reconnaissance battalion,
- 2 armored car squadrons,
- a motorcycle machine gun squadron,
- a heavy weapons squadron,
- antitank battalion,
- engineer battalion,
- signals battalion,
- antiaircraft battalion, and
- divisional service units.
To support infantry operations there were 2 independent panzer brigades and an independent panzer regiment formed.
The cavalry units were mechanized into 4 light divisions. The consisted of:
- a panzer battalion,
- 4 motor-rifle battalions,
- reconnaissance units,
- artillery units, and
- engineer units.
Condor Legion
Hitler had sent a German contingent to support Franco's Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War. It was realized that the PzKpfw I was inadequate as a combat vehicle. When possible captured Russian T-26s and BTs were added to the armored units.
Development
Experimental vehicles were designated with a prefix of VK (Volkettenfahzeuge "fully tracked vehicle") and the next 2 numbers were the weight, the next 2 the prototype number and sometimes on the end in brackets was the manufacturer. Once it was in service it was given the name Panzerkampfwagen (armored fighting vehicle), which was sometimes abbreviated PzKpfw or PzKw. Then it was designated a class (I-VI) and within these Ausführung (model) starting with A were given. All vehicles were given an Ordnance Inventory Number (Sonderkraftfahrzeug - SdKfz).
The different series of vehicles were assigned different SdKfz numbers:
| PzKpfw Is | 101 - 111 |
| PzKpfw IIs | 120s |
| PzKpfw IIIs | 140s |
| PzKpfw IVs | 160s |
| PzKpfw Vs | 170s |
| PzKpfw VIs | 180s |
| Half tracks and armored cars | 200s |
Production of tanks began in earnest in the 1930s. Most of the tanks were too light for combat and 2 larger models were under development. The Zugführerwagen (company commander's vehicle) and the Bataillonführerwagen (battalion commander's vehicle) were to be known as the PzKpfw III & IV respectively. The PzKpfw Is & IIs were intended as only training vehicles until the IIIs & IVs came off the production lines.
Spying
In the 1930s British Army officer Captain Norman Baillie-Stewart was convicted of passing secrets on the British Vickers Independent tank to the Germans.
Austria
During the occupation of Austria in 1938 weaknesses in the new tanks were shown as well as their advantages of long range mobility. The 2nd Panzer Division of Guiderian's Corps covered 420 miles in 48 hours.
About 30% of the tanks broke down before reaching Vienna.2
Czechoslovakia
During the occupation on March 15 and 16, 1939, it was shown that the panzer divisions could operate on the frozen roads and cross country.1 A panzer division went over 100 miles without a breakdown.1
Some crews still didn't have the experience to fix mechanical problems that occurred on the march.2
Poland
The Germans invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. They had approximately 3,200 tanks. Of these 1,445 were PzKpfw Is, 1,223 PzKpfw IIs, 98 PzKpfw IIIs, and 211 PzKpfw IVs. The rest were Czechoslovakian tanks.
Six panzer divisions were used: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 10th.1 Also the Ordnance Departments testing unit, the Panzer Lehr battalion, was also used.1 The Panzer Lehr also had PzKpfw IIIs and PzKpfw IVs.1
There were also 4 motorized infantry divisions, 4 light divisions, and 40 infantry divisions used.2
After Poland the light divisions were expanded and became the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Panzer Divisions.
France
After the capture and examination of British and French tanks the Germans started to focus their designs on tanks with superiority in firepower. Future designs needed to have sufficient firepower to defeat any future designs from Britain.
North Africa
The 15th Panzer Division and 5th Light Panzer Division were sent to North Africa in February 1941.1
Yugoslavia
The 5th, 8th, 9th, 11th, 14th, and 16th (reserve) Panzer Divisions were involved in the attack on Yugoslavia in April 1941.1
Greece
The 2nd and 5th Panzer Divisions were used in the invasion of Greece.1
Russia
After encountering the T-34/76 in 1941, the German design bureaus went to work on designing tanks with even bigger guns and thicker armor.
Production
Demand for tanks during the war outstripped production. The maximum amount of tanks produced in one month was 720.
Sources:
- Tanks of World War II, Duncan Crow, 1979
- Steel Fist Tank Warfare 1939-45, Nigel Cawthorne, 2003
- Panzers At War, Michael and Gladys Green, 2005
- No Simple Victory - World War II In Europe, 1939-1945, 2006, Norman Davies
