Summary of Lloyd Clark's The Battle of the Tanks

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 The Battle of Prokhorovka, the largest tank battle in history, was the result of Hitler and Stalin’s tyrannical architects, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, who were guided by fervent ideologies and driven by unbridled ambition.
#2 The German people were upset with the Kaiser, who was a reform-shy, anti-democratic figure. They were hungry, their armed forces were broken, their economy was crushed, and politics was in crisis. The decline from a strong war-maker to a feeble peace-maker was so abrupt that it destabilized the nation and left its population reeling.
#3 The Treaty of Versailles was very unpopular in Germany, and many believed that it would lead to future conflict. The French press thought the settlement was too lenient, and British economist John Maynard Keynes thought the reparations were too great for Germany to bear.
#4 Hitler became politicized while he was serving in the German army on the Western Front. He began preaching nationalist ideals to his comrades, and his speeches became increasingly well received by audiences that grew steadily from dozens to thousands.

Sujets

• Politique
• Former Soviet Union
• Histoire
• URSS
• Russia
• History

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 24 juillet 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798822547407
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Lloyd Clark's The Battle of the Tanks
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4 Insights from Chapter 5 Insights from Chapter 6 Insights from Chapter 7 Insights from Chapter 8 Insights from Chapter 9
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The Battle of Prokhorovka, the largest tank battle in history, was the result of Hitler and Stalin’s tyrannical architects, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, who were guided by fervent ideologies and driven by unbridled ambition.

#2

The German people were upset with the Kaiser, who was a reform-shy, anti-democratic figure. They were hungry, their armed forces were broken, their economy was crushed, and politics was in crisis. The decline from a strong war-maker to a feeble peace-maker was so abrupt that it destabilized the nation and left its population reeling.

#3

The Treaty of Versailles was very unpopular in Germany, and many believed that it would lead to future conflict. The French press thought the settlement was too lenient, and British economist John Maynard Keynes thought the reparations were too great for Germany to bear.

#4

Hitler became politicized while he was serving in the German army on the Western Front. He began preaching nationalist ideals to his comrades, and his speeches became increasingly well received by audiences that grew steadily from dozens to thousands.

#5

Hitler was chairman of the Nazi party by the summer of 1921. He worked hard to make it seem like he lived for the common man, but he was actually just looking for power. He staged a political stunt in 1923, when Germany was gripped by hyperinflation, by trying to take power in Munich.

#6

Hitler’s ideas did not have shocking implications just for Germany, but also for Europe and the wider world. He emphasized that war was quite in keeping with nature, and that an authoritarian government led by a dictator was needed to prepare the nation for such a programme.

#7

Hitler wanted to remove the shackles of Germany’s democracy, and in March 1933, he introduced a enabling bill that freed him from the legal restraint of the President, parliament, and the voters. It passed with the intimidation of the SA and SS chanting We want the bill or fire and murder.

#8

After Hitler amalgamated the offices of Chancellor and President, he began to manipulate the attitudes and beliefs of the German population. He ordered the press to prioritize propaganda, and he oversaw it at a new ministry, which controlled the press, literature, music, theater, radio, and film.

#9

Hitler was the personification of Germany’s past, present, and future, and he demanded unquestioning compliance from the Nazi Party’s creed. The Nazi regime used propaganda to create a sense of omnipresence, so that nobody could walk through city, town, or village without seeing a photograph of Hitler or a swastika-emblazoned flag.

#10

The Nazi obsession with cleansing was also reflected in their policy towards the Jews. They began to publish anti-Semitic propaganda, and dismissed Jews from positions in government and entertainment industries.

#11

Hitler’s economic plan was to minimize imports, but this was incompatible with the requirement for more raw resources to fulfil the rearmament programme. German industry was directed to produce synthetic oil, petrol, textiles, and rubber, but it missed its output targets by massive margins.

#12

When the Nazis came to power, there was no radical change in foreign policy, but there was a change in tone. Hitler’s regime added grit to international relations as it flagrantly set out on a course to destroy the Versailles agreement and regain Germany’s rightful status as a great power.

#13

The Nazi regime, from 1933, made it clear that its agenda for Europe was inextricably linked to what the military could deliver. It turned the officer corps’ gaze away from politics and towards the fulfillment of their own pent-up ambition.

#14

The German army, led by new generation of dynamic and innovative generals, underwent a rapid development during the 1930s. The German fighting method, which was known as blitzkrieg, embraced maneuver in a balanced all-arms approach to war.

#15

Hitler was able to draw confidence from his early international successes, and he began to believe his own rampant publicity. He was willing to challenge any nation that blocked his way, and he believed that he was on the verge of greatness.

#16

The Munich agreement had been signed in September 1938, and it had given Germany the advantage of being able to deal with its enemies one front at a time. Hitler regarded this new deal as pragmatic.

#17

The invasion of Poland showed what Germany was capable of and it went beyond military accomplishment. It proved the Blitzkrieg method, the kesselschlacht, and the vernichtungsschlacht.

#18

Hitler had miscalculated. Germany had upset the balance of power in Europe, and presented a threat that would remain extant until the country had been destroyed. As a result, there would be much more fighting before Hitler could turn east.

#19

Hitler was very involved in the military, and would constantly interfere with the generals’ decisions. He did not trust the army high command’s temperament, loyalty, or decision-making ability, and he thought they were too class-conscious, negative, and cautious.

#20

The German attack on France and the Low Countries did not take place until the following May, due to various planning, logistical, and weather considerations. In the intervening period, Hitler sought to secure his northern Scandinavian flank, acquire coastal bases for the navy, and protect the supply of iron ore from Norway and Sweden.

#21

The rapid fall of France and the Low Countries seemed to reaffirm the military’s approach to defeating an enemy quickly, but there had been no plan to encircle or annihilate the enemy in one campaign.

#22

The Battle of Britain was a major setback for Hitler, as the Luftwaffe was unable to create the conditions under which an invasion could take place. The Führer was furious, but the invasion was postponed and plans were never to be revived.
Insights from Chapter 2

#1

In 1937, Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky was to have the honor of representing the Soviet Union at the coronation ceremony of George VI in London. He never arrived. His fate was sealed in Moscow at a reception held after the May Day Parade when an ebullient Joseph Stalin remarked that it was time to finish with the officers’ enemies because they were in the army, in the staff, and even in the Kremlin.

#2

The route to totalitarianism and war in Russia began with revolution in 1917. The Romanov dynasty, which had ruled Russia for centuries, was overthrown by the Soviets in 1917.

#3

The abdication of the Tsar in March 1917 provided the impetus for further change. The Soviets, workers’ councils, began to make progress on some local issues. However, they were dominated by extreme left-wing socialists, and they agitated for more fundamental changes through a Marxist revolution.

#4

Lenin was the leader of the Soviet Union, and he died in 1924. He was perceived by many as an irreplaceable icon. The country needed to find a new leader, but they were afraid of the unknown.

#5

Lenin’s struggle to succeed him was already a year old by the time he was buried in a mausoleum on Moscow’s Red Square. The front runners jostled for position, and carefully maneuvering himself into position by marginalizing his opponents and gaining allies was Stalin.

#6

Stalin was a diligent and hardworking leader who demanded loyalty from his employees, but was also fair and approachable. He helped to ensure that education was made mandatory for children and supported a universal literacy program.

#7

The Soviet Union’s cultural life was controlled by the Communist Party, and it was a sterile wasteland of the simplistic political settings so common in Socialist Realism.