If war is to be a successful extension of foreign policy, a country must have the means to wage it effectively. Emasculated militarily by the restrictions of the Versailles Treaties, Germany needed methods of circumventing them. These were already in place by the late-1920s; Hitler accelerated this process and openly flouted the Treaty from 1935 onwards. By 1939 the Wehrmacht could muster some 103 divisions, backed by over 3,200 tanks - though only about 10% or so were of modern design. By the time the Luftwaffe 'came out' in March 1935, it already had almost 2,500 aircraft, and this had risen to 4,000 by 1939.

The Kriegsmarine was the weakest of the services, even though its existence had been formally acknowledged in the Anglo-German Naval Treaty of 1935. At the outbreak of war it could summon only a paltry 2 battle cruisers, 3 pocket battleships, 6 cruisers, 17 destroyers and 56 U-boats - of which only half were ocean-going. Two heavy battleships - the Bismarck and Tirpitz - were nearing completion and a large U-boat construction plan was underway. However, in spite of considerably increased production, the expansion of the Kriegsmarine was not due to reach fruition until 1944, a little later than the schemes to refit the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe.

The German armed forces in 1939, then, were not yet at peak efficiency and were experiencing serious growing pains. Yet as a result of starting virtually from scratch, much of its equipment was of a modern and effective nature. More importantly, its abilities were carefully harnessed to its expected application. The co-ordination of overwhelming ground and air power in a confined area and short period of time was not a new technique - but it was taken to new peaks of efficiency by Germany's well-motivated and skilful commanders.

The Blitzkrieg, as it became known, goes a long way- to explaining German aims at the outbreak of war: a short, sharp strike, to achieve limited objectives. Germany simply was prepared, economically, military or politically, for a long war or global conquest. Nevertheless, Germany possessed the most formidable fighting forces in Europe.