Showing posts with label Nazi Germany. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nazi Germany. Show all posts

Friday, 24 March 2023

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By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans

The Battle for Luxembourg was a short battle between the Luxembourg Gendarmerie, Volunteer Corps and the German Wehrmacht that resulted in a swift victory for Nazi Germany. The invasion that prompted it began on the 10th of May 1940 and lasted just one day. As a result of the 1867 Treaty of London, Luxembourg had no army and relied on a small force of Gendarmes and volunteers for its defence. Despite not even possessing an army, Luxembourg still managed to fend off the German Blitzkrieg longer than Denmark, which despite actually possessing an army and air force surrendered after just two hours of fighting when it got invaded by Nazi Germany on the 9th of April 1940.

Thursday, 23 March 2023

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By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans
 
Ancak, ulusun hayatı tehlikeye girmedikçe, savaÅŸ bir cinayettir - Unless a nation's life faces peril, war is murder (By Mustafa Kemal Atatürk)
 
Staying neutral during the Second World War was an art form that Türkiye managed to master through clever diplomacy. It would take until February 1945 when the country finally declared war on Nazi Germany and Japan, and even then no Turkish troops actually took part in the remainder of World War II. In fact, Türkiye's late entry into the war was little more than a formality after the Allies conditioned Türkiye's full belligerency in order to be invited to the United Nations. This no-show was undoubtedly much to the dismay of the British, who had actually expected Türkiye to declare war on Germany already on the 28th of October 1940, when Italy launched its invasion of Greece.

Friday, 23 December 2022

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By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans

The use of Leopard 1A3 and Leopard 2A4 MBTs by the Turkish Army is quite well known, with Türkiye even deploying the latter in combat against Islamic State in late 2016. Yet the story of German-made Panzers in Türkiye doesn't start with the delivery of the first Leopard 1s in the 1980s, but rather with the delivery of Panzer III Ausf. Ms and Panzer IV Ausf. Gs from Nazi Germany in 1943. Here they joined an exotic inventory of tanks and other AFVs already in service with the Turkish Army. In fact, Türkiye is the only country in the world to have operated tanks from nearly all major players of the Second World War, including the Soviet Union, the UK, Germany, the U.S. and France.