Achtung – Panzer!
book by Heinz Guderian
Achtung – Panzer! (English: "Attention, Tank!" or, more idiomatically, "Beware the Tank!"), written by Major-General Heinz Guderian, a German World War II army general, is a book on the application of motorised warfare. First published in 1937, it expounds a new kind of warfare: the concentrated use of tanks, with infantry and air force in close support as combined arms, later known as Blitzkrieg tactics. The book also argues against the continued use of cavalry given the proven effectiveness of the machine gun, and advocates replacing the cavalry with mechanised infantry. It was never properly studied by the French or the British general staff, both of whom helped introduce the tank.
The first half of the book focuses on the advent of positional or 'trench warfare' in World War I, and the subsequent development of the first tanks. Here Guderian outlines the development of tanks and tank tactics throughout the Great War and during the interwar period. Later he discusses the effects of the Treaty of Versailles upon the German armed forces before detailing the recovery from the setbacks the Treaty caused in terms of development of mechanised forces. Guderian concludes by promoting the further development of the German tank force and providing suggestions concerning the future application of tanks and their relationship with other arms.
Influence
"Achtung – Panzer!" influenced motorized warfare in modern warfare.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Achtung – Panzer!” as book by Heinz Guderian. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as book by Heinz Guderian. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2664337. The first chronological checks are 1937.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Achtung – Panzer!” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.