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Colonel John Fuller, the chief of staff of the British Tank Corps, is credited with developing this tactic after his extreme disappointment with the effect of tanks during World War I. His ideas, which were ignored by the British Army, called for long-range mass tank attacks. He envisioned this attack to be supported by air power as well as motorized infantry and artillery support. He wrote two books in the 1920s which detailed his ideas: ''Reformation of War'' and ''Foundation of the Science of War''. In 1926, the German Army began ordering tanks and vehicles which would allow them to implement Colonel Fuller's ideas. <ref>http://www.lycos.com/info/blitzkrieg--german-wehrmacht.html?page=2</ref><ref>http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWblitzkreig.htm</ref>

In 1937 [[Heinz Guderian]] wrote the book ''Achtung - Panzer!'' describing the combined arms tactics used initially by the Germans in WWII and later on by armies throughout the world. The Germans tested an application of these tactics in 1938 during the [[Spanish Civil War]] and as a result [[German High Command]] formulated plans to dismantle Polish defenses in 1939. <ref>httphttps://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9068990/Spanish-Civil-War</ref>

The first significant use of blitzkrieg tactics in the post-war era was in the 1967 [[Six Day War]] when Israel, after destroying almost the entire Egyptian air force on the ground in a little more than an hour, sent a three pronged tank attack south to seize the [[Sinai peninsula]] and north to occupy the [[Golan heights]].<ref>httphttps://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1967/Six-Day-War/12303074818188-2/</ref>

The resumption of hostilities in Iraq that led to the [[Iraq War]] relied upon "Shock and Awe" a derivative of blitzkrieg doctrine, but . Using a series of quick and lightning attacks across the Iraqi border the US military was able to shock the Iraqi armed forces into submission. It was also a tactic used since the [[American Civil War]], when massed artillery bombardment was first used to weaken and demoralize enemy forces before an advance. ==See also== * [[Maneuver warfare]]* [[List of military strategies and concepts]]

* Fanning, William J. "The Origin of the Term 'Blitzkrieg': Another View," ''Journal of Military History,'' Vol. 61, No. 2 (Apr., 1997), pp. 283-302 &nbsp;283–302 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2953968 in JSTOR]* Frieser, K.H. ''The Blitzkrieg Legend: The 1940 Campaign in the West'' (2005) [httphttps://books.google.com/books?id=7Y0MxdP-ws4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=intitle:The+intitle:Blitzkrieg+intitle:Legend+intitle:The+intitle:1940+intitle:Campaign+intitle:in+intitle:the&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=30&as_brr=0 excerpt and text search]* Kaufmann, J. E. ''Hitler's Blitzkrieg campaigns: the invasion and defense of Western Europe'' (2002) 382 pages; [httphttps://books.google.com/books?id=65-v0wkrWYEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=intitle:Blitzkrieg&lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=2000&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=30&as_brr=0 excerpt and text search] * Lind,William S. ''Maneuver Warfare Handbook'' (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1985) [httphttps://books.google.com/books?id=yoV8zcCOV8kC&dq=intitle:Maneuver+intitle:Warfare+intitle:Handbook&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=30&as_brr=0 excerpt and text search]