German Military Leaders/Nazi Era/High Level Generals
"High Level Generals"
This article will consist more of a narrative about events during the pre-war Nazi era, with some info and comments about the German generals involved.
When Hitler was appointed chancellor in January 1933, he was NOT in charge of the German armed forces, then known as the Reichswehr. Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg was the legal supreme commander ("Oberste Befehlshaber") of the Reichswehr, by virtue of his position as the elected president of Germany. When von Hindenburg died in August 1934, with virtually all opposition silenced, Hitler abolished the elected presidency and combined its functions into the chancellorship, thus making him the new supreme commander of the Reichswehr, which he renamed the "Wehrmacht" within a short time. He appointed Werner von Blomberg, then a colonel general (Generaloberst),* as commander in chief of the Reichswehr (later called the Wehrmacht), and promoted him to field marshal the very next year. Von Blomberg was born in Pomerania, then a province in northern Germany, and a part of Prussia, but since the end of World War Two a part of Poland, and he came from the "army" branch of the Wehrmacht. He had been the Defense Minister (later renamed the "War Minister") from the early days of Hitler's chancellorship. The expansion of the German Wehrmacht was undertaken by von Blomberg with great vigor, and he was seen by many as too close to Hitler, who seemed to genuinely like him. Von Blomberg, however, was in the way of high ranking Nazi Hermann Göring, who wanted von Blomberg's position for himself. In early 1938, von Blomberg married, with both Hitler and Göring as witnesses. Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS and police, provided Göring with evidence of the young lady's past, construed to be prostitution, but to my knowledge, never proven. Göring went to Hitler with the evidence, presenting it to Hitler with the idea that a scandal had to be avoided, especially since Hitler had been a witness at the marriage. Hitler told von Blomberg to get an annulment, but he refused, instead choosing to resign his office. This all tied into a manufactured scandal, this time involving the commander in chief of the army (Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres) , Werner von Fritisch.
Von Fritsch was born just outside Düsseldorf, an area later incorporated into Düsseldorf proper. He was a "Freiherr," which equates to "baron." He was favorable toward Hitler and the Nazis early in Hitler's rule, and he was appointed commander in chief of the army a couple of years thereafter, and he was promoted to colonel general. Von Fritisch gradually grew skeptical of Hitler's aggressive foreign policy, fearing the Führer would get the country into war before it could fully prepare. As with von Blomberg and almost simultaneously with the accusations about von Blomberg's new wife, Göring and Himmler accused von Fritsch of homosexual activities (this was before the "gay" terminology). The general resigned, but chose to fight the matter in court, where he was acquitted! Still a supporter of Hitler, von Fritsch served in Poland during that campaign in 1939. Not long before it ended, von Fritsch was hit by Polish gunfire and killed. The belief by many is that he wanted to die in battle to restore his damaged honor.
These events involving von Blomberg and von Fritsch gave Hitler an opportunity to expand his own power within the German military, as the move to "nazify" the Wehrmacht accelerated. Hitler, the supreme commander, did away with the War Ministry and set up the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, the High Command of the Armed Forces. He appointed Wilhelm Keitel** as Chief (Chef) of the Wehrmacht. Keitel was born near Braunschweig (Brunswick) in northern Germany. He was never all that popular or respected by his fellow generals, since he rarely opposed Hitler, and some made a play on his name with the German word "Lakai," which means "lackey,"*** and is pronounced "lahki," with a long "i," calling him "Lakeitel." Even when he was not in agreement with Hitler, he always quickly gave in. Keitel signed off (literally) on Hitler's military policies, and he was tried at Nuremberg as a major war criminal,**** where he was convicted, sentenced to death and hanged in late 1946. He wrote his memoirs in prison during the last weeks of his life. Since Hitler assumed many of the functions of the commander in chief of the Wehrmacht, Keitel really operated more as Hitler's chief of staff. Overall, in my opinion, Keitel was pretty inconsequential, since he failed to influence Hitler on military matters and policies, especially given Keitel's position in the military hierarchy. I'm not saying that would have been easy to do. I guess you could say though, Keitel was consequential by being inconsequential.
After von Fritsch resigned as commander in chief of the army, Hitler appointed Walther von Brauchitisch, who had been born in Berlin, and was a long time friend of Keitel, to replace von Fritsch. He was promoted to colonel general by Hitler at that time, and to field marshal after the defeat of France in 1940. Like many of the generals, he wasn't totally committed to the Nazis, but he loved the idea of expansion of the military, particularly the army, and the increased prestige this expansion helped to give Germany. Von Brauchitsch was on the periphery of serious opposition to Hitler, but he could never bring himself to cross over and commit to the circle of army conspirators against the regime, and he was against killing Hitler. While the Germans inflicted serious defeats on the Soviets during the opening months of the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, by December they had failed to take Moscow or to bring about a collapse of the Soviet military. This brought severe criticism of von Brauchitsch from Hitler, as the Führer was never one to take responsibility for his own decisions. In the midst of a major Soviet counteroffensive, von Brauchitsch suffered a hear attack, and was relieved of his command in December 1941. This brought about more intervention by Hitler, as he named HIMSELF as the new commander in chief of the army. So now Hitler was the supreme commander of the armed forces, had assumed most of the functions of commander in chief of the armed forces, and was the commander in chief of the army. Von Brauchitsch was basically respected within the military, and he was given high marks for operational planning, but he just couldn't stand up to Hitler, or to fully join the other side and oppose the Führer. He was to be tried for war crimes (not as a major criminal, see note below), but for signing off on Hitler's various orders early in the war. He died before his trial was held in 1948.
* There is no such rank in the American military, and while the various general ranks don't completely correspond between the two countries, it is essentially equivalent to a four-star general, and a field marshal is equivalent to a five-star general.
** Pronounced as one syllable with a long "i" sound, "kitl," not like the actor Harvey Keitel, who pronounces it in two syllables as, "ki-tel."
*** Both the English and German words are borrowed from French "laquais."
**** The most famous Nuremberg Trials were those of the upper leadership of the Nazi Party, the German government, and the German military, and usually called the "trial of the major war criminals" (and there were some acquittals). Most of these leaders never pulled a trigger at an execution, dropped poison gas canisters into gas chambers in concentration camps, or worked slave laborers to death or near death, BUT they developed plans to implement some or all of these policies, making all of these things (and more) possible. There were also trials of people who operated below these top leaders, as well as perpetrators of specific crimes, but just because they weren't termed "major war criminals," doesn't lessen the crimes they were charged with.
WORD HISTORY:
See-This goes back to Indo European "sekw/sek," which meant "to see, to follow with the eyes, to notice." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "se(k)hwanan," which meant "to see." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "seon" ("to see") which then became "sen," and then "seen," before the modern spelling.^ Common throughout the other Germanic languages: German has "sehen," Low German Saxon "sehn," West Frisian "sjen," Dutch "zien," Swedish, Danish, Norwegian "se," Norwegian also has "sjå" in some dialects, and Icelandic "sjá." Just to further show the close relationship between English and German, both West Germanic languages, English has "saw" for the past tense form of "see," while German has "sah(en)."
^ The West Germanic languages typically used "n," "an," or "en" on the end of verbs in their infinitive forms; thus meaning "to" + whatever the action meaning was, in this case, "to see." As you can tell, the other West Germanic languages have more commonly retained that form through time.
This article will consist more of a narrative about events during the pre-war Nazi era, with some info and comments about the German generals involved.
When Hitler was appointed chancellor in January 1933, he was NOT in charge of the German armed forces, then known as the Reichswehr. Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg was the legal supreme commander ("Oberste Befehlshaber") of the Reichswehr, by virtue of his position as the elected president of Germany. When von Hindenburg died in August 1934, with virtually all opposition silenced, Hitler abolished the elected presidency and combined its functions into the chancellorship, thus making him the new supreme commander of the Reichswehr, which he renamed the "Wehrmacht" within a short time. He appointed Werner von Blomberg, then a colonel general (Generaloberst),* as commander in chief of the Reichswehr (later called the Wehrmacht), and promoted him to field marshal the very next year. Von Blomberg was born in Pomerania, then a province in northern Germany, and a part of Prussia, but since the end of World War Two a part of Poland, and he came from the "army" branch of the Wehrmacht. He had been the Defense Minister (later renamed the "War Minister") from the early days of Hitler's chancellorship. The expansion of the German Wehrmacht was undertaken by von Blomberg with great vigor, and he was seen by many as too close to Hitler, who seemed to genuinely like him. Von Blomberg, however, was in the way of high ranking Nazi Hermann Göring, who wanted von Blomberg's position for himself. In early 1938, von Blomberg married, with both Hitler and Göring as witnesses. Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS and police, provided Göring with evidence of the young lady's past, construed to be prostitution, but to my knowledge, never proven. Göring went to Hitler with the evidence, presenting it to Hitler with the idea that a scandal had to be avoided, especially since Hitler had been a witness at the marriage. Hitler told von Blomberg to get an annulment, but he refused, instead choosing to resign his office. This all tied into a manufactured scandal, this time involving the commander in chief of the army (Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres) , Werner von Fritisch.
Von Fritsch was born just outside Düsseldorf, an area later incorporated into Düsseldorf proper. He was a "Freiherr," which equates to "baron." He was favorable toward Hitler and the Nazis early in Hitler's rule, and he was appointed commander in chief of the army a couple of years thereafter, and he was promoted to colonel general. Von Fritisch gradually grew skeptical of Hitler's aggressive foreign policy, fearing the Führer would get the country into war before it could fully prepare. As with von Blomberg and almost simultaneously with the accusations about von Blomberg's new wife, Göring and Himmler accused von Fritsch of homosexual activities (this was before the "gay" terminology). The general resigned, but chose to fight the matter in court, where he was acquitted! Still a supporter of Hitler, von Fritsch served in Poland during that campaign in 1939. Not long before it ended, von Fritsch was hit by Polish gunfire and killed. The belief by many is that he wanted to die in battle to restore his damaged honor.
These events involving von Blomberg and von Fritsch gave Hitler an opportunity to expand his own power within the German military, as the move to "nazify" the Wehrmacht accelerated. Hitler, the supreme commander, did away with the War Ministry and set up the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, the High Command of the Armed Forces. He appointed Wilhelm Keitel** as Chief (Chef) of the Wehrmacht. Keitel was born near Braunschweig (Brunswick) in northern Germany. He was never all that popular or respected by his fellow generals, since he rarely opposed Hitler, and some made a play on his name with the German word "Lakai," which means "lackey,"*** and is pronounced "lahki," with a long "i," calling him "Lakeitel." Even when he was not in agreement with Hitler, he always quickly gave in. Keitel signed off (literally) on Hitler's military policies, and he was tried at Nuremberg as a major war criminal,**** where he was convicted, sentenced to death and hanged in late 1946. He wrote his memoirs in prison during the last weeks of his life. Since Hitler assumed many of the functions of the commander in chief of the Wehrmacht, Keitel really operated more as Hitler's chief of staff. Overall, in my opinion, Keitel was pretty inconsequential, since he failed to influence Hitler on military matters and policies, especially given Keitel's position in the military hierarchy. I'm not saying that would have been easy to do. I guess you could say though, Keitel was consequential by being inconsequential.
After von Fritsch resigned as commander in chief of the army, Hitler appointed Walther von Brauchitisch, who had been born in Berlin, and was a long time friend of Keitel, to replace von Fritsch. He was promoted to colonel general by Hitler at that time, and to field marshal after the defeat of France in 1940. Like many of the generals, he wasn't totally committed to the Nazis, but he loved the idea of expansion of the military, particularly the army, and the increased prestige this expansion helped to give Germany. Von Brauchitsch was on the periphery of serious opposition to Hitler, but he could never bring himself to cross over and commit to the circle of army conspirators against the regime, and he was against killing Hitler. While the Germans inflicted serious defeats on the Soviets during the opening months of the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, by December they had failed to take Moscow or to bring about a collapse of the Soviet military. This brought severe criticism of von Brauchitsch from Hitler, as the Führer was never one to take responsibility for his own decisions. In the midst of a major Soviet counteroffensive, von Brauchitsch suffered a hear attack, and was relieved of his command in December 1941. This brought about more intervention by Hitler, as he named HIMSELF as the new commander in chief of the army. So now Hitler was the supreme commander of the armed forces, had assumed most of the functions of commander in chief of the armed forces, and was the commander in chief of the army. Von Brauchitsch was basically respected within the military, and he was given high marks for operational planning, but he just couldn't stand up to Hitler, or to fully join the other side and oppose the Führer. He was to be tried for war crimes (not as a major criminal, see note below), but for signing off on Hitler's various orders early in the war. He died before his trial was held in 1948.
* There is no such rank in the American military, and while the various general ranks don't completely correspond between the two countries, it is essentially equivalent to a four-star general, and a field marshal is equivalent to a five-star general.
** Pronounced as one syllable with a long "i" sound, "kitl," not like the actor Harvey Keitel, who pronounces it in two syllables as, "ki-tel."
*** Both the English and German words are borrowed from French "laquais."
**** The most famous Nuremberg Trials were those of the upper leadership of the Nazi Party, the German government, and the German military, and usually called the "trial of the major war criminals" (and there were some acquittals). Most of these leaders never pulled a trigger at an execution, dropped poison gas canisters into gas chambers in concentration camps, or worked slave laborers to death or near death, BUT they developed plans to implement some or all of these policies, making all of these things (and more) possible. There were also trials of people who operated below these top leaders, as well as perpetrators of specific crimes, but just because they weren't termed "major war criminals," doesn't lessen the crimes they were charged with.
WORD HISTORY:
See-This goes back to Indo European "sekw/sek," which meant "to see, to follow with the eyes, to notice." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "se(k)hwanan," which meant "to see." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "seon" ("to see") which then became "sen," and then "seen," before the modern spelling.^ Common throughout the other Germanic languages: German has "sehen," Low German Saxon "sehn," West Frisian "sjen," Dutch "zien," Swedish, Danish, Norwegian "se," Norwegian also has "sjå" in some dialects, and Icelandic "sjá." Just to further show the close relationship between English and German, both West Germanic languages, English has "saw" for the past tense form of "see," while German has "sah(en)."
^ The West Germanic languages typically used "n," "an," or "en" on the end of verbs in their infinitive forms; thus meaning "to" + whatever the action meaning was, in this case, "to see." As you can tell, the other West Germanic languages have more commonly retained that form through time.
Labels: English, etymology, German History, Germanic languages, Hitler, Walther von Brauchitsch, Wehrmacht, Werner von Blomberg, Wilhelm Keitel
posted by Randy at 12:20 PM
2 Comments:
Fritsch was acquitted by a court in Nazi Germany? That's something!
Like the part about 'lackey.'
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