The Nazis were crack addicts!

[Faith No More]

Not as far as I am aware. If you mean by accepted knowledge that they popped pervitin as if there was no tommorrow, I agree with you. There was even a nickname for that drug amongst the soldiers. "Panzerschokolade". But the reason for the early stages of the war being that successful is the fact that the allies still fought the war of 1918 whereas the Germans fought the war of 1940. Amphetamins are supposed to be uppers and would make you more reckless, but looking at the casualty numbers of the Polish as well as the French campaign, nothing points to that. In fact, for the day and age, the Germans were losing very few soldiers in these campaigns.

The methamphetamines we have today would make you more reckless, but what the Germans would have been taking would have been something more akin to Adderall than anything comparable to the uppers that make you reckless we have now. Amphetamines(not to be confused with methamphetamine) are a "get shit done" drug. They help you focus and accomplish tasks.

[abaris]

OK, that's a comprehensive list of what Pervitin does and how it is classyfied. It's in German, but I'm going to translate the crucial quoted part here.

Pervitin unterdrückt Müdigkeit, Hungergefühl und Schmerz. Es verleiht kurzzeitig Selbstbewusstsein, ein Gefühl der Stärke und dem Leben eine ungewohnte Geschwindigkeit. Zu den Nebenwirkungen gehören Persönlichkeitsveränderungen, Psychosen und Paranoia aufgrund von Schlafentzug oder bei Prädisposition.

Pervitin supresses tiredness, Hunger and pain. It makes you feel confident, gives you a sense of strenght and the illusion being quicker than everybody else. Side effects are personality disorders, Psychosis and Paranoia because of sleep depravation or because of preexisting conditions.

Sound suspiciously like speed.

http://www.chemie.de/lexikon/Pervitin.html

That's an article on Czech addicts using Pervitin as their drug of choice from 2007.

http://www.encod.org/info/PERVITIN-NEW-D...CE-IN.html

Due to its ubiquitous popularity and highly addictive character, pervitin has not only made its way into small towns and dance parties, but is also rising in use elsewhere in the region. The report states, “Methamphetamines have become the No. 1 problem drugs for individuals seeking treatment in Slovakia, and a high usage level is now being recorded in certain subpopulations in Hungary.”

So, it certainly doesn't look as if it was less dangerous than it is now.

And that's from the German magazine Der Spiegel, relating stories of Pervitin use in WWII

http://www.spiegel.de/international/the-...54606.html

The effects were seductive. In January 1942, a group of 500 German soldiers stationed on the eastern front and surrounded by the Red Army were attempting to escape. The temperature was minus 30 degrees Celsius. A military doctor assigned to the unit wrote in his report that at around midnight, six hours into their escape through snow that was waist-deep in places, "more and more soldiers were so exhausted that they were beginning to simply lie down in the snow." The group's commanding officers decided to give Pervitin to their troops. "After half an hour," the doctor wrote, "the men began spontaneously reporting that they felt better. They began marching in orderly fashion again, their spirits improved, and they became more alert."

[Faith No More]

Ah, yeah, that's what I get for trying to jump into a subject while I'm at work. I didn't notice the OP was specifically about Pervitin. I'll have to look to take a more in-depth look into it later.

[abaris]

I'm rather amazed, they produced it till 1988. I wonder what medical purpose it serves besides it being an upper.

Also, that's how it looked like - as chocolate for the troops. Official Wehrmacht package.

[downbeatplumb]

I tell you what, I'm convinced there's something highly suspicious in Coca Cola too. There's no way it's so addictive with just the "official" ingredients, and other Colas don't come close to it either. I reckon they send a massive bribe each year to the authorities so as not to have to reveal what their little spike is.

One word "Pringles".

[Faith No More]

Okay, so the OP is about an author that wrote a book saying that the Germans used Pervitin for their soldiers, including the Blitzkrieg. I was under the impression that they used amphetamines, but apparently they used methamphetamine. Here is a clip from the article which is an interview with the author...

The army realized there is a drug out there that might be of interest to soldiers because Pervitin keeps you awake for a long time… for the first couple of days, you don't need to sleep. It was used for the first time when Germany attacked Poland, and then when Germany attacked France in 1940, a Blitzkrieg strategy. Before that attack, the German army ordered 35 million tablets of Pervitin for the soldiers advancing on France. Pervitin was used heavily in the German army.

So, this article doesn't mention any conclusions to the effect the drug had on the Blitzkrieg, but the Germans certainly seem to have believed it was an effective tool. It appears that there may be a case in there to make that it the drugs were part of the reason the Blitzkrieg was so effective.

[abaris]

It appears that there may be a case in there to make that it the drugs were part of the reason the Blitzkrieg was so effective.

Yeah, but that seems a little far fetched. No historian I know of makes that point or even remotely hints at that having an effect. The general consensus in a nutshell is what I said above. The Germans fighting the war of 1940 and the allies still being stuck in 1918.

And you know how it is with the history channel. I wouldn't trust them as far as I can throw them. Minor detail, but I once watched a documentary about the blood judge Rolannd Freisler and the played a speech by Hans Frank atributing it to Freisler. Probably along the lines of noone would notice. Or, what's worse, but in line with their usual historical correctness - they really didn't know.

[Faith No More]

Oh, I know the History Channel is nothing an historian would ever reference. They did play a lot of great shows on WW II, though.

It may be a bit of stretch to say it had an effect on the Blitzkrieg itself, but the Germans clearly felt it helped. I'm sure having soldiers that could go days without sleep helped a lot.