WHO IS THE AUTHOR OF THE WAR PLAN OF THE GERMAN CAMPAIGN TO THE WEST IN 1940?

Sa？etak The development of the war plan within German campaign to the West in 1940 has elements of the military-historical drama, with regard to the size of the risk. The significance of the German war plan in 1940 is even greater, having in mind German dispiriting experience from World War I, on the same theatre of war. Military historians have connected its inception with Field Marshal von Manstein. The aim of this paper is not to throw into doubt the fact that von Manstein had proposed to the Army Command the plan he had described in his memoirs, but to shed some light on the role of Hitler as Commander-in-Chief in military preparations and creation of the plan, regardless of von Manstein. People who were in immediate vicinity of Hitler were used as reliable sources in this paper. Through a critical analysis of these sources, it is possible to establish that Hitler was the author of the war plan in German campaign to the West in 1940 and, as Commander-in-Chief, he possessed necessary competencies for such accomplishment. Independently, but at the same time, Manstein developed an identical plan that reached Hitler in an indirect way, not earlier than in February 1940, due to objection of the Army Command. Hence, it is more adequately to talk about Hitler’s war plan. In this case, the Commander-in-Chief managed to enforce his war plan upon the entire Army Command, and Manstein was the only senior officer who supported him