Erwin Rommel: The General Who Defied Hitler

he served in World War one and World War two he's still one of Germany's most respected military leaders and yet he never even wanted to be in the military who is this man that led German troops to victories that define Hitler at his own peril what made him who he is and what keeps his name in the history books well that's what we're looking at in today's via graphics the life of our win Rommel the desert fox born in Germany in 1891 Oh in Rommel didn't have the military in his DNA his father was a teacher and he was the only member of family to enter the military as a career of his three siblings that live to adulthood one brother became a dentist another became an opera singer and his sister became an art teacher as a child Rommel wasn't particularly athletic in fact he's even been described as frail but he hit his stride in his early teens discovering sports and becoming a leader among his peers around this same time he also discovered his love of mathematics and engineering he built his own glider and was known to spend his free time taking apart machinery and putting it back together again a teenage Rommel even dismantled an entire motorcycle and rebuilt it now robot he was clearly intelligent that his grades they didn't reflect it without good grades Rommel couldn't continue his education at university with his talent for machinery he considered working at a factory nares childhood home but his father didn't want him working that instead his father pushed Rommel into military service at the age of 18 Rommel began studying at the officer cadet school in Tokyo as part of the 124 for Wurttemberg Infantry Regiment he graduated in 1911 by January of 1912 was commissioned as a lieutenant as a battery commander he became part of the one hundred and twenty fourth weingarten regiments so he showed his military talent early on he was still a young men and it's no surprise that Rommel had more going on in his life than just his military service Rommel had met a young woman by the name of wahlburger stemmer while he was posted in Weingarten the team began a romance and wahlburger ended up pregnant when Rommel learns of her pregnancy he promised that they would marry and live in a house and be a family before they could marry though while they gave birth to a daughter that she named Gertrude months later Rommel stationed away from Weingarten sent wahlburger a letter that contained far different news than what she expected the letter broke the news that he couldn't marry her she wasn't from the right class to be an officer's wife and Raul's career was his priority then there was the fact that he was also in love with another woman the other woman was at Lucy Mullen she and Rommel met while he was in cadet school though they did not marry until 1916 Rommels a clear commitment to Lucy did not stop Wahlburgers from loving him though she stayed devoted to him for years believing that as long as he never had children with another woman there was a chance that he would return to her but he never did in 1928 wahlburger learned that Lucy was pregnant with Rommels trials unable to deal with the news she killed herself Rommel and Lucy were supportive of Gertrude both financially and emotionally they welcomed her into their home they did introduce her as their niece when Rommel was fighting in Africa the scarf that he wore was knitted for him by Gertrude Rommel and Lucy's own son Manfred was born in 1928 and even went on to become mayor of stewed art 20 years as Raul's family life was taking shape so was his military career months after his illegitimate daughter was born World War one broke out Rommel began his war service as a platoon commander in Verdun where he soon established the fearlessness that he became known for only a month into the war he charged a group of French soldiers with a bayonet on his own he had no ammunition but the French troops did rawat was shot in the leg but this was only to be the first of many injuries that he sustained during his military service Rommel was so well known for charging ahead and ending up in the thick of it that his troops used to say where Rommel is there as the front row both served in France Romania and Italy during World War one he was not only respected for his courage but for his leadership in implementing new strategies and maneuvers for warfare one of Rommels most exceptional victories came as he led troops in the mountainous region of Caporetto in Italy Rommels troops were poorly fed conditions were horrific but with the use of new infiltration tactics the German and austro-hungarian troops had a decisive victory over the Italian army 9,000 Italian men were captured 150 of them officers Rommel didn't achieve this by following orders quite the contrary in fact when he was told to stand down he moved forward and attacked he also used the strategy of coming out the attacks from surprising directions and creating confusion and disorder among the Italian troops for his role in the battle Rommel received the pole in their reach a prestigious German Order of Merit even before his achievements at the Battle of Caporetto Rommel had earned the Iron Cross and had been promoted to first lieutenant in 1918 he received another promotion to captain when World War one ended Rommel stayed in the military leaving the Infantry Regiment insta got most of the work involved dealing with civil unrest but Rommel didn't use the same aggressive tactics he was known for in the battlefield in fact he avoided using force as much as he could negotiations took the place of action in the town of lindau rather than attack the Communists who were staging an uprising in the town Rommel used diplomacy to get the city's governments back under control recognized for his leadership capabilities Rommel was soon appointed to teach at The Dresden Infantry School among the advice Rommel offered future military leaders is this advice that he followed in his own military career be an example to your men in your duty and in your private life never spare yourself and let the troops see that you don't in your endurance of fatigue and privation always be tactful and well mannered and teach your subordinates to do the same avoid excessive sharpness or harshness of voice which usually indicates the man who has shortcomings of his own hide during this time Rommel also said to work putting his military strategies on paper in 1934 Rommels book on infantry training was published he was no longer teaching having left that role in 1933 but he was leading troops in gauslaa it was in gossip that he encountered Adolf Hitler for the first time Hitler was chancellor and he was in Gosselaar to inspect troops by 1937 Hitler was well aware of Rommel and his reputation he named Rommel the war ministry liaison for the Hitler Youth but Rommel was not a member of the Nazi Party ian's another Hitler Youth Leader disagreed about tactics and organization for the group and in the end Rommel lost his role in 1938 even though Rommel wasn't a member of the Nazi Party he was still a supporter of Hitler during his rise to power he did agree with Hitler's efforts to remilitarization Hitler still wanted Rommel in the upper echelons of the military in fact he made a direct request that Rommel be part of the unit that traveled with Hitler the assignment not only gave Rommel access to the Fuehrer but it also gave him more free time for his hobbies and interests than he had ever had before he once again started focusing on math and engineering and even took time away to go skiing but this wasn't a last because war it was just around the corner 1939 was a watershed year for Europe and the world under Hitler's orders Germany invaded Poland on September the 1st 1939 as part of the preparation for the invasion Rommel had been promoted to Major General and was entrusted with protecting Hitler as war erupted then in 1940 ronald was put in charge of the 7th Panzer Division the Panzer divisions made up of armored tanks were an ideal opportunity for Rommel to put his particular strategic skillset on display initially plans were for Rommel to head up a mountain division but with Hitler's support Rommel was able to land at the head of the division he wanted in addition to armored tanks Rommel was also leading rifle regiments a motorcycle battalion and an engineer battalion and he was doing this out of the usual order of military protocol when Hitler made ramallah General he bypassed other more experienced military men to do so this started some grumblings within the German military but Rommel soon proved himself to be worthy of the rank he put his division through their training paces for months and in May they set off for battle in France the battle it didn't start out well for Rommel and his troops bridges were out where they needed to cross a river and the French were firing stopping the German troops from making attempts to cross but what more outsmarted them he said buildings on fire creating a wall of smoke that gave his troops the cover they needed as they fired back across the river at the French they then got in rubber boats and made their way across the water using materials from another Panzer Division they built a bridge and the full division moved across Rommel he wasn't standing back and giving orders no the general was actually in the thick of the action firing a machine gun and even wading into the water to put the bridge together once again Rommels division made quick progress within days they had captured 10,000 French soldiers and only lost three dozen of their own men for this victory Rommel was awarded the Knight's Cross in the coming weeks Rommel continued his advance across France he announced his successes to Hitler in a telegram containing only four words em on the coast throughout the 7th Panzer divisions move across France Rommel moved his troops so quickly and surreptitiously that even the German High Command couldn't keep track of them this led them to dub is the ghost division after the Germans marched through France stories arose about Rommel shooting an unarmed French prisoner for not following orders he's also been accused of involvement in the massacre of French African soldiers from Senegal and men under his command were involved in the killing of dozens of men who were surrendering and therefore posed no threat to the German soldiers while some of his troops were very likely involved in such atrocities historians believe Rommel would not have given commands for such brutal attacks according to historian Rafael Shak although there is no evidence incriminating Rommel and self his unit did fight in areas where German massacres of black French prisoners of war were extremely common in June 1940 after the German takeover of France the plan was at first for Rommel to head to Britain that would be the next nation that Germany would take over but it was decided that the German air force wasn't strong enough to do what needed to be done in order to take over England and instead Rommel was sent to Africa the Afrika Korps was a newly created division of the German military and general Rommel was the man who led it to victories the Italians had been suffering crushing losses in northern Africa and Hitler wanted the Germans there to beat back for British Rommel arrived in Libya in 1941 and he was supposed to answer to the Italian commanding military officer but he disagreed with the Italians tactics they wanted the Italian and German troops to use a defensive strategy Rommel wanted to advance and take on the British directly Hitler agreed with Rommel meant Rommel began planning an offensive the British however had no idea that was the plan their only intelligence was the Rommels orders were to stay put when Rommel moved his troops forward they were caught well off-guard Rommels sly maneuvering had proved fruitful for him once again but even with success the Italian leader Garibaldi was not happy Rommel had disobeyed orders and no matter the outcome that was not the way the military was supposed to work however Rommel he had a response for Garibaldi though one cannot forget unique opportunities to sit by for the sake of trifles outside of Germany Rommel was capturing the attention of world leaders Winston Churchill was known to utter what else matters but beating him but the nickname he earns miss clandestine maneuverings in Africa is what has stuck through the decades of history and I would be the desert fox but his successes they came to an end the British recaptured the city of Tobruk and Rommels gains had been lost then Rommel was part of a crucial meeting with Hitler and another german military leader albert kesselring the two field marshals they disagreed in how the Germans should move forward in Italy they presented their arguments and Hitler agreed with Kesselring Kasserine took over and Rommel was moved to lead the troops on the coast of France by the time Rommel was reassigned to France he was starting to be more and more skeptical of Hitler his strategies and his goals Rommel didn't support the brutal actions of the SS and eventually he came to believe that a Germany would be better off negotiating an end to the war instead of continuing the carnage and all the death and he wasn't alone in his beliefs a group of men who agreed with Rommel even suggested that he should become Germany's new leader though Rommel didn't act on that suggestion the mere fact he had the suggestion ultimately helped seal Rommels fate from the time he was in charge of coastal forces in 1943 Rommel spent his time and strategy building up coastal defenses he set mines built barbed wire obstructions and even had troops flood areas of the coast to make it harder for treats to pass through he also wanted to bring more tanks closer to the coast but no one else agreed with him that that was necessary in the summer of 1944 it would turn out that Rommel well he was right to want to move more tanks to the coast On June the 5th 1944 Rommel left France he headed home to Germany so that he could be with his wife on her birthday June the 6th when he left France he and the rest of the German military thought the weather would be bad and they didn't have to worry about any allied movement on the coast and they also thought that if any trouble was to come it would be a Calais but the Allies had used the German military's weak intelligence system to get them to think that the attack would come at Calais while he was at home celebrating his wife's birthday Rommel received a phone call that shocked him the Allies had landed at Normandy on June the 6th the weather had cleared and the troops were storming the beaches Rommel left Germany immediately to head to the front he and other leaders established a counter-attack plan but allied fire was too strong and needed troops weren't able to arrive Rommel himself was injured badly by Allied airstrikes in the end 155 thousand Allied troops landed during the d-day invasion growing to 1 million after the initial push the forces stormed through German defenses during the summer of 1944 sir Rommel it was clear that Germany couldn't overcome the losses and he continued forward march of the Allies he broke the news of his assessment to Hitler telling him that a political solution was likely the best way forward at this point the Fuhrer though he did not agree this meeting would ultimately be the last between the two men as victory for Germany was looking less and less likely opposition to Hitler was growing in Germany high-ranking military officials including those close to rommel were starting to make plans to get rid of Fuehrer assassination was among the many options they contemplated knowing Rommel disagreed with Hitler and was growing increasingly upset with the Fuhrer the men plotting to overthrow Hitler tried to bring him into the fold to this day it's unclear if Rommel was actually involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler or not and if he was it's unclear just how much he knew his widow later said Rommel only wanted Hitler to be brought to court and nothing more if you're a very he thought that Rommel wanted him dead and in the end that's what masses on July the 20th 1944 a group of conspirators smuggled a bomb inside a briefcase into a meeting at Hitler's headquarters there was supposed to be two bombs but there was only time to prepare one and when it exploded Hitler survived instead of a successful coup the conspirators found themselves facing treason charges and the death penalty and Rommel was among those implicated in October 1944 two of Hitler's generals confronted Rommel as SS troops surrounded the area the generals told Rommel that he had three options he could go to speak to Hitler directly and explain himself he could go to court or he could commit suicide there and then Rommel well he opted for suicide in his final communication with his wife he explains why in view of my services in Africa I have the chance of dying by poison two generals have brought it with them it is fatal in three seconds if I take the poison none of the usual steps will be taken against my family that is against you they will also leave my staff alone having explained to his family what was to happen Rommel got into an SS car he took the cyanide capsule but Hitler's general had brought and he died he was wearing his Africa Corps jacket and carrying his field marshals baton the world was told he died of wounds he had sustained from Allied air attacks in the wake of d-day and he was buried with full military honors only after the war did the truth emerge Rommel was not met with the same disdain from world leaders as other Germans were in the wake of World War two even Winston Churchill spoke highly of him he also deserves our respect because although a loyal German soldier he came to hate Hitler and all his works and took part in the conspiracy to rescue Germany by displacing the maniac and tyrants for this he paid the forfeit of his life when Rommel was a talented leader but his military duties served a regime that had terrible intentions and committed horrific atrocities Rommels life and death were intertwined with a watershed era in human history an era upon which he left its mark so I really hope you found that video interesting if you did please do hit that thumbs up button below and do not forget to subscribe we put out brand new videos every Monday and every Thursday also check out some videos from the archive over there on the right also if you want to vote on who we do on this channel please head over to our website and do so there is a link in the description below and as always thank you for watching

Channel: Biographics

Views: 1,880,958

Keywords: biographics, biography, biographies, people, famous people, simon whistler, Erwin Rommel, Erwin Rommel Biography, Biography of Erwin Rommel, General Erwin Rommel, Erwin Rommel life story

Id: 6cQLNXELdtw

Length: 16min 58sec (1018 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 28 2017