Rommel was originally sent to North Africa to aid the Italians, who had been soundly defeated by the British repeatedly. Given a small German force and constantly outnumbered, Rommel was almost always able to maneuver himself into a winning position. During this time, he earned his nickname for his victorious surprise attacks and also became very well known for leading his army at the front rather than from the safety of the back lines. However, in the summer of 1942, with fatigued troops and lacking supplies, Rommel was ordered to attack the Suez Canal. This led to his defeat at the hands of the British army, under Bernard Montgomery, at the second battle of Alamein.
Called back to Europe in 1943 due to the landings of Operation Torch and the overwhelmingly superior position of the Allies, Rommel was then ordered to take charge of Army Group B, the force which defended the French coast. His positioning and preparations on the coast demonstrated how he believed the Allies needed to be prevented from proceeding inland in order to stop the invasion. At this point in 1944, Rommel no longer believed Germany had a chance to win the war. Instead, by repelling the invasion, Rommel hoped to negotiate more agreeable terms for peace with the Allies in the west.
Toward the end of the war, Rommel clearly saw that Germany was destined to lose and therefore tried to convince Hitler of this fact many times. However, Hitler refused to accept this logic and refused to surrender. At this time, Rommel’s friends had also secretly organized an assassination attempt on Hitler. During this planning, they suggested to Rommel that he should take over when Hitler was overthrown. However, Rommel was never informed of the goal of killing Hitler and never took part in this attempt. Nonetheless, Rommel was accused of treason both for his association with the conspirators and for his defeatist attitude with respect to the war. Rommel was then given the choice to protect his family by committing suicide, a death which would be disguised as a heart attack to avoid a public trial showing to the people of Germany that this popular general had become an enemy of the nation. Rommel accepted this offer and on October 14, 1944 died at the age of 52.
https://www.biography.com/people/erwin-rommel-39971
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/erwin-rommel-erwin
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Erwin-Rommel
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10008295
This was an interesting read for me because while we learned a bit about Rommel in the documentary, information on his efforts for nazi Germany weren't really discussed. Some the most interesting and sad things about his life occurred days before his death. In conversation with his son on the day of his death, he said, "I have just had to tell your mother, that I shall be dead in a quarter of an hour" While many of his actions throughout his military life were atrocious, nonetheless he was a tactical champion and paid the greatest price for his family's well being.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/rommel.htm
Shawn, good job on a well-written post. I think it is important to know about certain figures in the history of the Axis Powers of WW2, just as we learn about the leaders of the Allies. Especially Erwin Rommel, who has retained a reputation of being one of the "decent German generals" during WW2. However, there is a controversy around this topic, as historians are beginning to disagree with this assessment, saying that Rommel was not uniquely decent but rather a "typical war criminal general" of the time. This is an important problem, one that Germany frequently faces with its troubled past. So, I think it is important to learn about these controversial figures of the past.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/was-the-desert-fox-an-honest-soldier-or-just-another-nazi-6272076.html