The second volume in the Germany and the Second World War series, this volume examines the train of interconnected political and military events, and set military operations against the background of Hitler's war policy and general aims, both immediate and long term.

• Introduction


• Part I: Politics and warfare in the First Phase of the German Offensive


• Part II: Action Plans and Situation Assessments of the Luftwaffe and Navy before the Outbreak of War


• I: Klaus A. Maier: Total War and Operational Air Warfare


• II: Bernd Stegemann: Germany's Second Attempt to Become a Naval Power


• Part III: Hitler's First Blitzkrieg and its Consequences for North-eastern Europe


• I: Germany and Poland in the Prelude to the Second World War


• II: Military Preparations for a German-Polish War


• III: The Course of the Polish Campaign from 1 September to 6 October 1939


• IV: Consequences of the Military Events in the Autumn of 1939


• V: Development of the Situation in North-Eastern Europe: Effects of the Hitler-Stalin Pact


• Part IV: The First Phase of the War at Sea up to the Spring of 1940


• I: The War in the Baltic


• II: The War in the North Sea and the Arctic in 1939


• III: The Use of the Pocket Battleships against Enemy Shipping


• IV: The War in the North Sea and the Arctic in 1940


• V: Preparations for the Campaign in the West


• VI: The Mine War


• VII: The Submarine War


• Part V: Securing the Northern Flank of Europe


• I: Klaus A. Maier: German Strategy


• II: Klaus A. Maier: Allied Strategy


• III: Bernd Stegemann: Operation Weserubung


• IV: Bernd Stegemann: Securing Germany's Political and Military Hold on the Occupied Territory


• Part VI: The Battle for Hegemony in Western Europe


• I: Strategic Defence in the West


• II: Hitler's Decision to Attack the Western Powers


• III: Deployment and Strategy of the Western Powers until 10 May 1940


• IV: Policies and Defence Efforts of the Neutral Countries: Belgium, Holland, and Luxemburg


• V: German Victory in Western Europe


• Part VII: The Operational Air War until the Battle of Britain


• Part VIII: The Second Phase of the war at sea (until the Spring of 1941)


• I: The Submarine War


• II: Co-Operation with the Luftwaffe


• III: Armed Merchant Raiders in the War Against Shipping


• IV: The Use of Large Surface Ships


• V: The Organization of the German Navy in the West


• Part IX: Direct Strategy Against Britain


• I: Hans Umbreit: Churchill's Determination to Continue the War


• II: Hans Umbreit: Plans and Preparations for a Landing in England


• III: Klaus A. Maier: The Battle of Britain


• IV: Hans Umbreit: The Return to an Indirect Strategy Against Britain


• Conclusion


• Bibliography

Project co-ordinated by the Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt
; Translated from the German by Dean S. McMurray, and Ewald Osers
; Translation Editor: P. S. Falla