Hitler's Northern War: The Luftwaffe's Ill-fated Campaign, 1940-1945 (Modern War Studies) - Hardcover

Claasen, Adam R.A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0700610502 ISBN 13: 9780700610501

Publisher: University Press of Kansas, 2001

Synopsis

Adolf Hitler had high hopes for his conquest of Norway, which held both great symbolic and great strategic value for the Fuhrer. Despite early successes, however, his ambitious Northern campaign foundered and ultimately failed. Adam Claasen reveals the full story of this neglected episode and shows how it helped doom the Third Reich to defeat. Hitler and Raeder, the chief of the German navy, were determined to take and keep Norway. By doing so, they hoped to preempt Allied attempts to outflank Germany, protect sea lanes for German ships, access precious Scandinavian minerals for war production, and provide a launchpad for Luftwaffe and naval operations against Great Britain. Beyond these strategic objectives, Hitler also envisioned Norway as part of a pan-Nordic stronghold - a centrepiece of his new world order. But as Claasen shows, Hitler's grand expectations were never realized. Goring's Luftwaffe was the vital spearhead in the invasion of Norway, which marked a number of wartime firsts. Among other things it involved the first large-scale aerial operations over sea rather than land, the first time operational objectives and logistical needs were fulfilled by air power, and the first deployment of paratroopers. Although it got off to a promising start, the German effort, particularly against British and arctic convoys, was greatly hampered by flawed strategic thinking, interservice rivalries between the Luftwaffe and navy, the failure to develop a long-range heavy bomber, the diversion of planes and personnel to shore up the German war effort elsewhere, and the Northern theatre's harsh climate and terrain. Claasen's study covers every aspect of this ill-fated campaign from the 1940 invasion until war's end and shows how it was eventually relegated to a backwater status as Germany fought to survive in an increasingly unwinnable war. His compelling account sharpens our picture of the German air force and widens our understanding of the Third Reich's way of war.

About this title

Review

"This unique book is a valuable addition to World War II aviation history. Claasen writes in a clear, well-paced style that should satisfy both the general reader and scholar."--Journal of Military History

"This is a most important work. As a case study of combined operations planning and execution, it offers valuable lessons to anyone interested in the dynamics of inter-service co-operation, and provides significant insights into German grand strategy, ideology, and military culture. Based on an impressive array of primary sources and sound scholarship, engagingly written, and well illustrated with useful maps, the book sheds much new light on a neglected aspect of the Second World War."--International History Review

"A closely reasoned, well-paced, and richly argued book."--The Historian

"An important and original contribution to the history of military airpower in World War II."--James Corum, author of The Luftwaffe

"Claasen has completely mastered this difficult chapter of World War II. His study reveals, for the first time, the full story of the Luftwaffe's operations in Scandinavia and provides valuable insights into both the inner conditions of the Luftwaffe and German war strategy generally."--Horst Boog, author of Die Deutsche Luftwaffenführung, 1935-1945

"An impressive study of combined arms and grand strategy that will appeal to both scholars and general readers."--Edward Homze, author of Arming the Luftwaffe

Edition details

• Publisher: University Press of Kansas
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0700610502
• ISBN 13: 9780700610501
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 400