Ernst Volckheim - Influence On Heinz Guderian

Influence On Heinz Guderian

While the much better known German officer, General Heinz Guderian would claim by the 1930s to be the 'Father of Blitzkrieg,' and give Volckheim only passing credit, this claim has been challenged in modern times by such military historians as James S. Corum as a gross self-exaggeration. In fact, Guderian's actual publications before 1936 were relatively few in number, and some historians such as Corum have claimed that they did not address questions of fundamental armored combat doctrine. Guderian's famous book, Achtung Panzer was an influential early publication on armored warfare, and while forcefully written, when compared to Volckheim's early writings, Guderian's book was not particularly original. Modern historians now see Guderian's true inspiration for German armored doctrine to be the largely unsung Volckheim. Guderian made only passing mention of Volckheim in his memoirs. Nevertheless, no matter how much Guderian was or was not directly influenced by Volckheim's ideas, with Guderian's much higher rank as a general officer and subsequent influence within both Army and Nazi Party circles, it would be Guderian who would become one of the driving forces in both the development and wider acceptance of the possibilities of armored and mechanized forces in the German Army.