Huh. So the German shocktroop tactics of 1917 and 1918 was basically the infantry version of what we would later know as "Blitzkrieg tactics" - infiltration and destruction of the rear, pouring through weak lines, and then mopping up with the rest of the army.
I love it. Assign it to my students, but it's academic and fairly complicated, so only in more advanced national security classes. Basically, it argues that the main techniques of blitzkrieg and other principles of modern warfare originate in late WWI and are still with us today.
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Makes sense. The armies in that war were a lot more sophisticated and open to learning and honing their skill than we give them credit due to the stereotypes.
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It took a while. Surprised by aggregate effect of new technology and institutionally sclerotic, they threw a lot of bodies at a failing strategy. But, Biddle argues, those factors created immense pressure to innovate. Common conceptions of WWI mostly focus on beginning.
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I recently read a book on the Israeli War of Attrition (Hebrew), all the while thinking: If only IDF commanders had learned about WWI, there are so many mistakes they could have avoided...
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