This is the second in the comprehensive ten-volume Germany and the Second World War. The volumes so far published have achieved international acclaim as a major contribution to historical study. Under the auspices of the Militargeschichtliches Forschungsamt (Research Institute for Military History), a team of renowned historians has combined a full synthesis of existing material with the latest research to produce what will be the definitive history of the Second World War.

Germany's Initial Conquests in Europe surveys the first year of the war deliberately begun by Nazi Germany. The authors examine 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. Their comprehensive analysis, based on detailed scholarly research, is underpinned by a full apparatus of maps, diagrams, and tables. The conflict took a course quite different from that which Hitler had intended, but nevertheless resulted in a series of conquests for the Third Reich. At the same time, the establishment of hegemony on the European continent confronted the aggressor with new problems.

Intensively researched and documented, Germany and the Second World War is an undertaking of unparalleled scope and authority. It will prove indispensable to all historians of the twentieth century.

Edited by Klaus A. Maier, Horst Rohde, Bernd Stegemann, and Hans Umbreit

Project coordinated by the Militargeschichtliches Forschungsamt

Translated from German by Dean S. McMurray, P.S. Falla, and Ewald Osers

Introduction
Part I: Politics and warfare in the First Phase of the German Offensive Bernd Stegemann
Part II: Action Plans and Situation Assessments of the Luftwaffe and Navy before the Outbreak of War
I. Total War and Operational Air Warfare, Klaus A. Maier
II. Germany's Second Attempt to Become a Naval Power, Bernd Stegemann
Part III: Hitler's First Blitzkrieg and its Consequences for North-eastern Europe Horst Rohde
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 Hilter-Stalin Pact
Part IV: The First Phase of the War at Sea up to the Spring of 1940 Bernd Stegemann
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. German Strategy, Klaus A. Maier
II. Allied Strategy, Klaus A. Maier
III. Operation Weserubung, Bernd Stegemann
IV. Securing Germany's Political and Military Hold on the Occupied Territory, Bernd Stegemann
Part VI: The Battle for Hegemony in Western Europe Hans Umbreit
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 Klaus A. Maier
Part VIII: The Second Phase of the war at sea (until the Spring of 1941) Bernd Stegemann
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. Churchill's Determination to Continue the War, Hans Umbreit
II. Plans and Preparations for a Landing in England, Hans Umbreit
III. The Battle of Britain, Klaus A. Maier
IV. The Return to an Indirect Strategy Against Britain, Hans Umbreit
Conclusion
Bibliography