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Gerd RundshtedtField Marshal of the German Army.
Date of Birth: 12.12.1875
Country:  Germany |
Content:
Biography of Gerd von Rundstedt
Gerd von Rundstedt was a German field marshal during World War II. He commanded large units in European campaigns and played a key role in the German military.
Early Life
Rundstedt was born in Aschersleben, Saxony, into an aristocratic Prussian family. At the age of 12, he was sent to a military academy. He began his service in the army in 1892 as a junior officer. In 1902, he entered the General Staff Academy. From 1907 to 1910, he served in the General Staff and held various positions in the army. During World War I, he participated in the Battle of the Marne and the offensive on the River Narew in Russia. He continued his service in various staff positions and ended the war as a major and chief of staff of the 15th Corps in France.
Interwar Period
After the war, Rundstedt's career in the Weimar Republic's 100,000-man army progressed slowly, and by 1932 he had achieved the rank of infantry general. When Hitler came to power, Rundstedt held the position of commander of the 1st Army Group in Berlin. As a Prussian aristocrat, Rundstedt believed that the army should stay out of politics. He successfully prevented Walter von Reichenau, a Nazi supporter, from becoming the army's commander-in-chief in 1934 and 1938. In 1938, Rundstedt protested against the Nazi persecution of General Fritsch. Additionally, he offended Hitler by advising him not to get involved with "that negro ass" Mussolini. As a result, Rundstedt was retired in the rank of colonel general, marking his first of four retirements.
World War II
In September 1939, the war broke out, and Rundstedt was called back into the army to command Army Group South during the successful invasion of Poland. During the French campaign in 1940, Rundstedt commanded Army Group A, which played a crucial role in the capture of France. Despite his success, Rundstedt did not give the order to attack the surrounded troops at Dunkirk, allowing the evacuation of over 100,000 soldiers. Rundstedt claimed that this decision was made by Hitler with the intention of seeking a peace treaty with Britain. For his success in France, Rundstedt was promoted to field marshal in July 1940. He also participated in the planning of Operation Sea Lion, the invasion of the British Isles. He later served as the commander of occupation forces in France and was responsible for coastal defense in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France.
Although Rundstedt initially opposed the invasion of the Soviet Union, he was given command of Army Group South. The group consisted of 43 German divisions (including 5 tank divisions) and 14 Romanian divisions. Despite the majority of his forces being non-motorized infantry, Rundstedt achieved success, capturing 150,000 prisoners, 2,000 tanks, and 2,000 guns near the Romanian border. In August, his troops surrounded large Soviet forces in the Battle of Uman, capturing over 100,000 prisoners, 300 tanks, and 800 guns. In September, Rundstedt's troops, supported by General Guderian's 2nd Panzer Army, surrounded the main Soviet forces near Kiev, capturing 660,000 prisoners, 884 tanks, and over 3,000 guns. After these victories, Rundstedt turned the 1st Panzer Army towards the southeast to counter the Soviet 11th Army's advance in the Melitopol area. By early October, his troops reached the Azov Sea near Berdiansk, trapping the Soviet 18th Army. In the battle of Chernigovka, which ended on October 10th, the Red Army suffered heavy losses, and around 100,000 troops were captured.
In November, Rundstedt suffered a heart attack but continued the offensive. However, the German forces were forced to retreat due to a counterattack. Hitler was furious and replaced Rundstedt with General Walter von Reichenau. In March 1942, Hitler reintegrated Rundstedt into the military and appointed him as the commander of occupation forces in the West. During this time, Rundstedt realized the lack of fortifications along the Atlantic coast and began fortification works with the support of General Rommel. However, when it came to the debates about the Normandy invasion, Rundstedt advocated for positioning tank divisions in the rear of the operation to be quickly deployed to any sector where the Allies might appear. Rommel insisted on placing the tanks along the coastline, behind the artillery zone of the Allied fleet, as he believed that the Allied air force would prevent them from advancing. Rundstedt expressed his concerns about the riskiness of the Normandy invasion but had limited influence due to his lack of initiative since his appointment. The dispersed tank divisions and inadequate reinforcements in Normandy led to catastrophic consequences when the Allied invasion began.
After the Normandy operation in June 1944, Rundstedt urged Hitler to negotiate a peace with the Allies. In response, Hitler replaced him with Field Marshal Gunther von Kluge. Following the failed July 20 plot, Rundstedt agreed to participate in the Army Honor Court, which resulted in the dismissal of hundreds of officers deemed disloyal to Hitler. Many of them were executed.
In August 1944, von Kluge committed suicide, and Field Marshal Model was relieved of his post only 18 days after being appointed as the commander of the Western Front. Rundstedt was once again appointed as the commander and quickly consolidated the troops, achieving victory over the Allies in the Dutch operation. Although he was the commander during the offensive towards Antwerp, which failed due to the Allied superiority in the Ardennes offensive, Rundstedt had been against the offensive from the beginning and distanced himself from it. He was again removed from command in March 1945 after advising Wilhelm Keitel that it was better for Hitler to seek peace with the Allies than to continue the hopeless war.
Rundstedt was captured by the 36th American Infantry Division on May 1, 1945. During his interrogation, Soviet investigators asked him which battle he considered decisive in the war. While they expected him to say "Stalingrad," he instead said "The Battle of Britain." Frustrated by his response, the investigators closed their notebooks and left. He suffered another heart attack during the interrogations and was transported to the UK, where he was held in a prisoner of war camp in Bridgend. The British regarded him as a war criminal, accusing him of organizing mass killings in Soviet-occupied territories. Rundstedt was not brought to trial, allegedly due to his poor health, although American investigators believed that the British decision was based on political motives. He was released in July 1948 and lived in Hanover until his death.
