Heinz Guderian dies in West Germany. Considered by some historians a unique example of an officer who theorized a new military technique and also put his theory into practice, Guderian remains one of the most famous and important figures of the Second World War, and his campaigns at the head of the panzers remain essential examples for the study and understanding of mobile warfare with mechanized forces. It is worth noting this paradoxical circumstance: although Guderian, in a certain sense, embodied the “blitzkrieg” as the greatest advocate of the use of armored vehicles and was one of the principal architects of Germany’s successes in World War II, at the same time, he was well aware, even several years before the outbreak of war, of the enormous war potential of the Soviet enemy and the quantitative superiority of the Soviet armed forces over those of Germany.
