World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseHeinz Wilhelm Guderian was born in Kulm, West Prussia. He entered the Army in 1907 and was assigned under his father's battalion. During WW1, he was a Signals and General Staff officer. After the war, he remained with the new limited German Army, Reichswehr. During this time, tanks, which were just introduced in the Great War, became a subject of fascination for the few innovative commanders. In France, Charles de Gaulle's theory on mobile warfare was dismissed as crazy, while Britain's Basil Liddell Hart's ideas were regarded as impractical. Guderian had much greater luck in Germany, however. He studied de Gaulle and Liddell Hart's theories, and published his own vision of usage of armor in Achtung-Panzer! in 1937. The book caught the eyes of Adolf Hitler (and people beyond the WW2-era: it is still referred to in some military academies today), who kept Guderian in command for his ideas on mobile warfare even though Guderian had a history of being anti-Nazi.

ww2dbaseGuderian commanded the XIX Army Corps during the invasion of Poland and the invasion of France. In both campaigns, he successfully employed his tanks in ways where his forces overran the strongest enemy defensive locations by concentrating his strength at the weakest defensive points, then enveloped and isolated the strong points. "We believe that by attacking with tanks we can achieve a higher rate of movement than has been hitherto obtainable and... that we can keep moving once a breakthrough has been made", he said later. "One hits somebody with his fist and not with fingers spread." In 1941, he commanded Panzergruppe Guderian in Operation Barbarossa in Russia, where he received the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves. His army conquered Smolensk in a short time, and turned south to threaten Kiev, but was relieved of command on 25 Dec 1941 for disobeying an order from Hitler. On 1 Mar 1943, he was appointed Inspector-General of the Armored Troops, then on 21 Jul 1944 the Chief of Staff of the Army. He was dismissed by Hitler on 28 Mar 1945 after an argument, ending his involvement in WW2.

ww2dbaseGuderian surrendered himself to the Americans on 10 May 1945. Although he remained a prisoner until 1948, he was not tried for war crimes, though the Polish government protested. At the Battle of Wizna, Guderian threatened to execute Polish POWs if the Polish commander did not surrender; since none were actually executed, the incident was dismissed as a bluff employed by Guderian.

Famous Quote(s)

• "One hits somebody with his fist and not with fingers spread."
      » On Blitzkrieg philosophy
• "As a result of the cold, the machine-guns were no longer able to fire?. The result of all this was a panic.... The battle worthiness of our infantry is at an end."
      » 1 Nov 1941

Heinz Guderian Interactive Map

Photographs

Heinz Guderian Timeline

Visitor Submitted Comments

Show older comments

1.  BILL says:
8 May 2009 05:39:33 PM

Heinz Guderian called the Russian T-34 the best tank in the world.