Riders of the apocalypse
Subtitle: German cavalry and modern warfare, 1870-1945
By: D. R. Dorondo
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Annapolis, MD
Language: eng
Number of pages: 312
ISBN-13: 9781612510866
Subjects: Germany. Heer; Cavalry; Germany; World War, 1939-1945; Cavalry operations; History
Description: Military historian David R. Dorondo examines the history of the German cavalry, a combat arm that survived World War I and rode to war again in 1939. He places the cavalry's World War II actions within the larger context of the mounted arm's development from the Franco-Prussian War to the Third Reich's surrender. The author contends that politicized command decisions, technical insufficiency, industrial bottlenecks, and wartime attrition forced Army leaders to rely on combat horsemen throughout World War II. He describes these horsemen as best represented by the 1st Cavalry Brigade/Division that saw combat in Poland, Holland, France, Russia, and Hungary, but whose service was dishonored by the 8th Waffen-SS Cavalry Division, a unit that killed more civilians than enemy soldiers. Drawing extensively on primary sources, Dorondo shows clearly how the cavalry's tradition carried on in a world undergoing rapid military industrialization, a story not widely known until now.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: The day of the horseman; title: The legacy of 1870; title: Not quite sunset: the cavalry in World War i; title: False dawn: the interwar period, 1918-1933; title: The field of Mars: cavalry equipment, horses, and doctrine in the 1930s; title: Bucking the trend: the cavalry rides to war, 1939-1940; title: Barbarossa: the 1st Cavalry Division in Russia, 1941-1942; title: Hell's outriders: cavalry of the Waffen-SS; title: Pale horsemen: the 8th Waffen-SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer, 1942-1943; title: Last recall: the 1st Cavalry Corps, 1943-1945; title: Epilogue. Whither the horses?.