Heinz Guderian
General Heinz Guderian
Heinz Guderian (June 17, 1888 - May 14, 1954) was Hitler's well known "Panzer General" and one of the founders of the so-called "Blitzkrieg". He was pivotal in the development of German tanks between the wars and first wrote many of the principles of tank combat. His ideas were greatly influenced by J.F.C. Fuller and to a less extent Charles de Gaulle and B.H. Liddell Hart. Some also consider him as under heavy influence of Mikhail Tukhachevski.
He wrote the book Achtung Panzer!, about tank warfare, shortly before World War II.
Generals Guderian and Wenck amid a war conference
During the First World War he served as a Signals officer and later as a General Staff officer. In Second World War he first served as the commander of the XIX Army Corps in the Polish campaign and the invasion of France. He commanded Panzer Group 2 in Operation Barbarossa and from 5 October 1941 the Second Panzer Army. In December he was transferred to the reserve pool of the Oberkommando des Heeres. From 1 March 1943 he worked as the Inspector-General of the Armoured Troops and from 21 July 1944 also as the Chiefs of the Army General Staff. He was sent on leave on 28 March 1945.
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"If the tanks succeed, then victory follows."
"There are no desperate situations, there are only desperate people."
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