History UsefulNotes / ErwinRommel

* Ulrich Tukur played him in the German made-for-TV movie ''Rommel'' (2012), which was also distributed on DVD in France as ''Rommel, le guerrier d'Hitler''.

His son Manfred went on to be a capable and popular mayor of Stuttgart for the CDU (the major conservative party) which may have helped delay the critical assessment of the man behind the myth in Germany. To this day the [[UsefulNotes/WeAreNotTheWehrmacht Bundeswehr]] uses Erwin Rommel's name and tradition, though - like almost anything the Bundeswehr does - this is not well liked by the political left in Germany.

Rommel was not the only German military leader mythologised by the British and American governments after the war, but he came to outshine the others because of the prominence of their Crimes. During the war, Gerd von Rundstedt and Albert Kesselring had been as famous as Rommel in The Anglosphere as a result of their service in France and Italy. Yet Gerd von Rundstedt was guilty of such a long and well-substantiated laundry list of War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity that the British were only able to save him from execution by claiming that he was too old and sickly to stand trial in the first place [[note]] He was 73, had hardened arteries and arthritis, and might have been slightly senile. For his own part, Rundstedt had never spared a Jew on health grounds [[/note]] The wealth of evidence of Kesselring's War Crimes against Italian civilians (to prevent Partisan attacks) was also thoroughly damning, so much so that a British military tribunal was forced to find him guilty and sentenced him to death - though they managed to commute this to imprisonment, and in 1952 had him released from prison on health grounds. Attempts to claim that the fundamentally 'honourable' nature of both men was proven by their 'clean' conduct of combat operations against British troops and good treatment of British POW, were eventually undermined by the truth's sheer obviousness. [[note]]It is also the case that in the interregnum period betwen wars, many British and German officers - later generals - forged peacetime relationships that often became friendships. They were, after all, from the same social class and had been to the same sort of schools and colleges, sometimes the same ones. Panzer strategist General Heinz Guderian, for instance, dedicated his book on tank tactics to his dearest friend, the British officer Basil Liddell-Hart who had been an architect of blitzkreig strategy. After the war, many senior British officers - and politicians - refused to believe a bunch of decent chaps much like themselves could ever have done such beastly things, it was unthinkable. Putting them on trial was not a thing a decent chap should do to another decent chap. Despite being complicit in some Nazi outrages, Guderian received only a notional five-year sentence and was out a lot sooner on health grounds, because of highly-placed British intercession.[[/note]]

Rommel was not the only German military leader mythologised by the British and American governments after the war, but he came to outshine the others because of the prominence of their Crimes. During the war, Gerd von Rundstedt and Albert Kesselring had been as famous as Rommel in The Anglosphere as a result of their service in France and Italy. Yet Gerd von Rundstedt was guilty of such a long and well-substantiated laundry list of War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity that the British were only able to save him from execution by claiming that he was too old and sickly to stand trial in the first place [[note]] He was 73, had hardened arteries and arthritis, and might have been slightly senile. For his own part, Rundstedt had never spared a Jew on health grounds [[/note]] The wealth of evidence of Kesselring's War Crimes against Italian civilians (to prevent Partisan attacks) was also thoroughly damning, so much so that a British military tribunal was forced to find him guilty and sentenced him to death - though they managed to commute this to imprisonment, and in 1952 had him released from prison on health grounds. Attempts to claim that the fundamentally 'honourable' nature of both men was proven by their 'clean' conduct of combat operations against British troops and good treatment of British POW, were eventually undermined by the truth's sheer obviousness.

* He's aptly featured on the cover of the RealTimeStragey video game ''VideoGame/AfrikaKorpsVsDesertRats''.

''Generalfeldmarschall'' Erwin Rommel (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944), nicknamed ''"[[RedBaron The Desert Fox]]"'' by British (and later German) propagandists, was the commander of [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons German forces]] in North Africa during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and held famous commands against the Western Allies. These included one of Germany's ten early-war panzer divisions (the 7th), one of fifty German corps (the ''Deutsches Afrikakorps''), and one of just seven German Army Groups (Army Group Africa, later Army Group B). The last of these commands gave Rommel command of a full ''tenth'' of Germany's total combat strength, and ''half'' of the combat forces deployed against the Western Allies in France in mid-1944.

->''"He was a splendid military gambler, dominating the problems of supply and scornful of opposition [...] His ardor and daring inflicted grievous disasters upon us, but he deserves the salute which I made 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 tyrant.''
-->-- '''UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill''', British Prime Minister, military dilettante, and non-logistician, ''[[UnreliableNarrator The Second World War, Vol. 3: The Grand Alliance (1950)]]'', p. 177

->''""Every major military commander in history has taken on two personas - the man and the myth. When it comes to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel the gap between reality and legend is wider than most."''
-->-- '''Major General (retired) David T. Zabecki''', ''Rethinking Rommel'', Military History periodical, Vol.32(5) p.24, 2016

''Generalfeldmarschall'' Erwin Rommel (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944), nicknamed ''"[[RedBaron The Desert Fox]]"'' by British (and later German) propagandists, was the commander of German forces in North Africa during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and held famous commands against the Western Allies. These included one of Germany's ten early-war panzer divisions (the 7th), one of fifty German corps (the Afrika Korps), and one of just seven German Army Groups (Army Group Africa, later Army Group B). The last of these commands gave Rommel command of a full ''tenth'' of Germany's total combat strength, and ''half'' of the combat forces deployed against the Western Allies in France in mid-1944.

* He appeared as the villain in Creator/BillyWilder's 1942 film ''Film/FiveGravesToCairo'', where he was played by Creator/ErichVonStroheim.

-> '''Manfred Rommel''': ''"At twelve o'clock to-day two Generals are coming to discuss my future employment", my father started the conversation. "So today will decide what is planned for me; whether a [[HangingJudge People's Court]] or a new command [[PlaceWorseThanDeath in the East]]." "Would you accept such a command?", I asked. He took me by the arm, and replied: "My dear boy, [[HordesFromTheEast our enemy in the East]] is so terrible that every other consideration has to give way before it. If he succeeds in overrunning Europe, even only temporarily, [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt it will be the end of everything which has made life appear worth living]]. Of course I would go."''

--> '''Manfred Rommel''': ''"At twelve o'clock to-day two Generals are coming to discuss my future employment", my father started the conversation. "So today will decide what is planned for me; whether a [[HangingJudge People's Court]] or a new command [[PlaceWorseThanDeath in the East]]." "Would you accept such a command?", I asked. He took me by the arm, and replied: "My dear boy, our enemy in the East is so terrible that every other consideration has to give way before it. If he succeeds in overrunning Europe, even only temporarily, it will be the end of everything which has made life appear worth living. Of course I would go."''

Within Germany itself, the wafer-thin-Nazi-layer theory was quickly accepted as a polite fiction. This self-deception was useful because it allowed German citizens to feel that they and the German military had been blameless for the regime's 'secret' crimes. This was important because many people had been fully aware and supportive of the regime's atrocities, and they found it difficult to reconcile this support with the image of themselves as good people. Over time, the cumulative effects of self-serving bias and memory distortion enabled many Germans who had not personally committed atrocities to come to genuinely believe that the ''Wehrmacht'' in which so many of them had served had been an 'honourable' institution. While it was generally accepted that the ''Wehrmacht'' might have had committed some minor indiscretions 'in the east', these were of course just a response to the savagery of their Asiatic Communist opponents - who 'forced' them to adopt 'extreme' measures against their goodhearted nature to survive - and were not representative of the institution or its character as a whole.

Rommel was also a much more useful symbol to West Germany in particular because he could be portrayed as an opponent of the regime, unlike von Rundstedt and Kesselring. This portrayal hinged around the circumstances of his death, as a victim of the regime he had hitherto served so loyally and which had rewarded him so richly. Rommel had been wrongly convicted of participation in the 20th July 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler and install a military dictatorship, and had committed suicide rather than be executed. This was used as 'proof' that Rommel had wanted kill Hitler and had opposed Nazism. Today we know that although Rommel was aware of the plot, and how he stood to benefit from it, he neither reported it nor participated in it. His well-established desire for power and fame does suggest that he hoped to benefit from the plot if it succeeded and avoid punishment if it failed, but there is no definitive proof for this or any other conclusion.

In 1970, the German ''Bundeswehr'' named a ''Lutjens''-class destroyer for him. He always wore a braided scarf knitted for him by Gertrud. Because of this, even he has sometimes been given a HistoricalHeroUpgrade and HistoricalBadassUpgrade beyond what the historical record supports, especially since he was one of the German commanders to most consistently fight the Western Allies and (supposedly) WeAllLiveInAmerica or the rest of the West. Most portrayals correctly show he was no blood soaked ghoul or total incompetent; but many also overlook how he supported [[UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany two less]] [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany than savory]] governments and suffered a FatalFlaw duo of arrogance and selfishness, whether it was refusing Hitler's orders to execute Commandos and Jews]] or [[KickTheDog ignoring or insulting his Italian allies in North Africa. Suffice it to say that he was an archtypical NobleDemon who "fought for the wrong side": decent in his own way, but still an eager servant of the most evil regime the world has ever known.

In 1970, the German ''Bundeswehr'' named a ''Lutjens''-class destroyer for him. He always wore a braided scarf knitted for him by Gertrud. Because of this, even he has sometimes been given a HistoricalHeroUpgrade and HistoricalBadassUpgrade beyond what the historical record supports, especially since he was one of the German commanders to most consistently fight the Western Allies and (supposedly) WeAllLiveInAmerica or the rest of the West. Most portrayals correctly show he was no blood soaked ghoul or total incompetent; but many also overlook how he supported [[UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany two less]] [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany than savory]] governments and suffered a FatalFlaw duo of arrogance and selfishness, whether it was [[ManipulativeBastard refusing Hitler's orders to execute Commandos and Jews]] or [[KickTheDog ignoring or insulting his Italian allies in North Africa.]] Suffice it to say that he was an archtypical NobleDemon who "fought for the wrong side": decent in his own way, but still an eager servant of the most evil regime the world has ever known.

When UsefulNotes/WorldWarI broke out in 1914, Rommel served in France with the 6th, however, seeking action, he transferred to the elite German ''Alpenkorps''. He quickly began to display some of the same skills and flaws that would both make his legend and help his downfall. After quickly acquiring a track record as a brave, resourceful officer who had excellent tactical judgement and a cool head under pressure, he won a 2nd class Iron Cross in 1914 and a 1st class one in 1915. For his service in Italy at the Battle of the Isonzo in 1917, in which he captured an Italian fortification of 7000 men with a force of only 100, he was awarded the ''Pour le Merite'', UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany's highest military honour. His account of that battle and his service in France and Romania was published as ''Infanterie Greift an'', or ''Infantry Attacks''[[note]][[Film/{{Patton}} General George Patton]] would like it to be known that he [[MagnificentBastard HAS READ THIS BOOK!]][[/note]] in 1937. It is still considered a valuable primer in infantry tactics, but it included some of his flaws, including his escape from an Italian attack that all but destroyed his command staff. He managed to make his way back to imperial lines on his own, [[AesopAmnesia still convinced that the Italian military was sub-par]] 'and' [[HarsherInHindsight without considering he might need to adapt his strategy.]] When WWI ended, Rommel remained in the newly formed ''Reichswehr''. His Swabian heritage and accent initially caused him career problems in a service dominated by Prussian aristocrats, leading Rommel to refuse promotion to the "Troops Office" - the [[BlatantLies completely-harmless-and-totally-non-threatening-human-resources-office-that-definitely-isn't-the-General-Staff-Germany-wasn't-allowed-under-the-Versailles-Treaty.]] Instead, he became Colonel of an ''Alpenkorps'' Battalion, and later held several teaching posts in the German Army. During one occasion, he refused to allow SS units to parade before his battalion in front of Hitler and Goebbels. They backed down. Later, Hitler appointed him Colonel of the ''Führerbegleitbataillon'', his personal protection brigade. During this time, Rommel had a spat with a Nazi newspaper, ''Das Reich'', which had written a fictitious biography of him as an ardent Nazi and early Party supporter. He had a son, Manfred, born in 1928

* He served as one of the historical inspirations for [[Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy Grand Admiral Thrawn]].

* Ernst Joachim Eugen Rommel from [[Anime/StrikeWitches Strike Witches Operation Victory Arrow vol.2]] is based from him, and more younger than Erwin was during World War II.

-->-- '''UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill''', British Prime Minster, military dilettante, and non-logistician, ''[[UnreliableNarrator The Second World War, Vol. 3: The Grand Alliance (1950)]]'', p. 177

''Generalfeldmarschall'' Erwin Rommel (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944), nicknamed ''"[[RedBaron The Desert Fox]]"'' by British (and later German) propagandists, was the commander of German forces in North Africa during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and held famous commands against the Western Allies. These included one of Germany's ten early-war panzer divisions (the 7th), one of fifty German corps (the Afrika Korps), and one of just seven German Army Groups (Army Group Africa, later Army Group B). The last of these commands gave Rommel command of a full ''tenth'' of Germany's total combat strength, and ''half'' of the combat forces deployed against the Western Allies in France in mid-1944. His son Manfred went on to be a capable and popular mayor of Stuttgart for the CDU (the major conservative party) which may have helped delay the critical assessment of the man behind the myth in Germany. To this day the [[UsefulNotes/WeAreNotTheWehrmacht Bundeswehr]] uses Erwin Rommel's name and tradition, though - like almost anything the Bundeswehr does - this is not well liked by the political left in Germany.

Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel was born on the 15th of November 1891 in Heidenheim, Baden-Württemburg, then part of [[UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany the German Empire.]] His father, Erwin Rommel Sr, had been an artillery lieutenant and was by this point the headmaster of the local school. His mother, Helene, was an aristocrat, though from the minor von Luz family. Rommel, with characteristic terseness, said his childhood was "quite happy". As a young man, he displayed astounding technical aptitude, building a working full-scale glider with a friend at the age of 14, and later buying a motorbike to tinker with in his bedroom. He also developed an illicit relationship with a local fruitseller, Walburga Stemmer, who bore his child. He later broke off the relationship, though he continued to support and remained very close to his "niece", Getrud. Despite an ambition to become an engineer, his father insisted that he gain some military experience first, so the 19 year old Rommel took a ''Fähnrich'''s commission in the 124th Württemberg Infantry Regiment. During his time at the Officer Cadet School in Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland), he met Lucia Mollin, commonly called Lucie, who would become his wife. He graduated from the Danzing Officer Cadet School on his 20th birthday, in 1911, becoming a ''Leutnant'' in the 6th Württemburg the following year.

[[AsYouKnow Of course]], the German military voluntarily killed a dozen million civilians in 'national security' and 'foraging' measures of its own volition with no input from or in partnership with other state organizations. Far from being blissfully unaware of Germany's genocidal programs, it carried them out in several countries including Belarus and France. The German Army's regulations on 'foraging', the treatment (immediate execution) of communist party officials, and collective retaliation in the form of mass-enslavement or execution for communities in the vicinity of partisan attacks broke most of TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar to which Germany had agreed. Every German Army commander at Corps level (in charge of 30-60,000 troops) and above - bar a handful appointed in the war's final months - could have been charged with war crimes and hanged.

''Generalfeldmarschall'' Erwin Rommel, nicknamed ''"[[RedBaron The Desert Fox]]"'' by British (and later German) propagandists, was the commander of German forces in North Africa during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and held famous commands against the Western Allies. These included one of Germany's ten early-war panzer divisions (the 7th), one of fifty German corps (the Afrika Korps), and one of just seven German Army Groups (Army Group Africa, later Army Group B). The last of these commands gave Rommel command of a full ''tenth'' of Germany's total combat strength, and ''half'' of the combat forces deployed against the Western Allies in France in mid-1944. His son Manfred went on to be a capable and popular mayor of Stuttgart for the CDU (the major conservative party) which may have helped delay the critical assessment of the man behind the myth in Germany. To this day the [[UsefulNotes/WeAreNotTheWehrmacht Bundeswehr]] uses Erwin Rommel's name and tradition, though - like almost anything the Bundeswehr does - this is not well liked by the political left in Germany.

Rommel returned to his family home in Ulm at the end of his convalescence, expecting to be sent back into combat. However, it was not to be. On July 20th, the anti-Nazi officer Claus von Stauffenberg detonated a bomb in Hitler's headquarters in East Prussia. After the bomb failed to kill Hitler and the conspirators failed to take over the country, Gestapo revenge was swift. Rommel was implicated (while Rommel didn't necessarily assist the plotters, he certainly knew about the whole thing and didn't bother to tell anybody). Rather than allow a decorated hero to be dragged before the People's Court and wreck national morale, Hitler instead dispatched General Wilhelm Burgdorf with a vial of cyanide and the threat that, if Rommel did not commit suicide, he would be punished. Rommel said goodbye to his wife and son. Manfred asked if the family should not stand and fight. Erwin replied that it was [[DirtyCoward better for only him to die than suffer.]] "Besides," he said, "we've no ammunition." A few minutes later, he bit on the vial, killing himself. He was 52 years old.

->''"He was a splendid military gambler, dominating the problems of supply and scornful of opposition [...] His ardor and daring inflicted grievous disasters upon us, but he deserves the salute which I made him [...] He also deserves our respect because, although a loyal German soldier, [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation he came to hate Hitler and all his works, and took part in the conspiracy to rescue Germany by displacing the maniac and tyrant]].''

** [[StrategyVersusTactics The real Operational and Tactical plans]] used by each side - which are always 'brilliant' (success) or 'not as brilliant as that of the enemy' (failure).

** TThe real long-term 'morale' or short-term 'mood' of the soldiers - which is always 'high' (success) or 'resilient' (failure).

To understand the myth of Rommel's martial omnipotence, we must first understand what media outlets can and cannot say about military operations. They can:

* Accurately describe the character and personal habits of the commander - e.g. 'he drinks tea every morning, [[FrontlineGeneral likes touring the front lines]] (they love that, it makes them look 'closer to earth'), and is as confident as he is brilliant'

They cannot:

* Accurately describe [[StrategyVersusTactics the real Operational and Tactical plans]] used by each side - which are always 'brilliant' (success) or 'not as brilliant as that of the enemy' (failure).
* Accurately describe the real numbers of troops, equipment, weaponry, and ammunition - which are always 'adequate' (success) or 'insufficient to counter the raw numbers at the disposal of the enemy' (failure).
* Accurately describe the real standards of training - which are always 'excellent' (success) or 'excellent, but rendered moot by the enemy's superior numbers and/or training' (failure).
* Accurately describe the real long-term 'morale' or short-term 'mood' of the soldiers - which is always 'high' (success) or 'resilient' (failure).

* The 1951 film ''Film/TheDesertFox: The Story of Rommel'', starring James Mason in the title role, portrayed him sympathetically. Mason played Rommel a second time in ''The Desert Rats'', where he's a WorthyOpponent to the Anglo-Australian protagonists.

Although Rommel was very far from being a modest man, he ''was'' a man of very modest abilities. He was a decent tactician, but he was unable to conceptualise warfare at a level larger than his immediate line of sight - the so called ''Operational level of warfare''. He also did not understand how the logistics of a line-of-sight battlefield was a ''very'' different beast to that conducted over many dozens or even hundreds of kilometres. His refusal of initiative to his subordinates and his constant touring of the front lines meant that when he was promoted to Operational-level command, the bulk of his forces went only semi-commanded and semi-informed (or not at all) for many hours or even days at a time. This meant that while the five-kilometre section of the front lines that Rommel was on at any given moment was relatively well-run, the other twenty-to-two-hundred were (appreciably) less so than under most contemporary German operational commanders.