#blitzkreig

When Britain and France declared war on Germany following the Nazi invasion of Poland, many expected that war to be a retread of the infantry tactics of WWI.

That line of thinking clearly led to the French strategy of constructing the heavy concrete fortifications of the Maginot Line. Those expectations where shattered in May 1940, when the Germans launched a fast-paced “Blitzkreig” (“lightning war”) spearheaded by Panzer tanks. Lacking heavy artillery, the Germans attacked French positions at Sedan with massed Stuka dive bombers. The intense air assault quickly demoralized the defenders and the German forces easily broke through. France fell soon afterwards.