On the German Art of War

Truppenfuehrung", the 20th-century equivalent of Sun Tzu's "Art of War", served as the basic manual for the German army from 1934 to the end of World War II. This document provided the doctrinal framework for blitzkrieg and, as a consequence, for the victories of Hitler's armies. Rather than giving German military leaders a "cookbook" on how to win battles, the manual offered instead a set of intellectual tools to be applied to complex and continually changing battle conditions. The keys to understanding the psychology, philosophy and social values of the German army that fought World War II are to be found here. This English-language translation is annotated to help the reader understand its military and social context.