Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt (December 12, 1875 -
February 24, 1953) was a Generalfeldmarschall of the German Army during
World War II. He held some of the highest field commands in all phases of the war.
Early life
Born in Aschersleben in the Province of
Saxony into an aristocratic Prussian family, von Rundstedt joined the
German Army in 1892, then entered Germany's elite military academy in 1902 – an institution that accepted only 160 new students annually and weeded out
75% of the students through exams. During World War I he rose in rank until 1918 when he was
a major and was chief of staff of his division.
After the war, von Rundstedt rose steadily in the small 100,000 man army and in 1932, was appointed commander of the
3rd Infantry Division. Later that year he threatened to resign when
Franz von Papen declared martial law and ordered
his troops to eject members of the Nazi Party from state government offices. In 1938 he
retired after it was understood that Werner von Fritsch - Commander-in-Chief of the
German Army (OKH) - was framed by the Gestapo
World War II
In September 1939 World War II began, and von Rundstedt was recalled to lead Army Group
South during the successful invasion of Poland. Turning to the West, he
supported Manstein's "armored fist" approach to the invasion of France, and this was eventually selected as Fall
Gelb. During the battle he was placed in command of seven panzer divisions, three
motorized infantry divisions, and 35 regular infantry divisions.
By May 14, 1940, the armored divisions led by Heinz Guderian had crossed the Meuse and had opened up a huge gap in the
Allied front. General von Rundstedt had doubts about the survivability of these units without infantry support, and asked for a
pause while the infantry caught up; the halt allowed the British to evacuate their forces to Dunkirk. Later Rundstedt forbade an attack on the Dunkirk beachhead, allowing the British to fully evacuate it.
This turn of events has raised eyebrows over the years. von Rundstedt and others subsequently argued that the decision was
Hitler's and stemmed from his belief that Britain would more readily accept a peace treaty if he magnanimously spared what
remained of her expeditionary force. What was in Hitler's mind cannot be verified, and though his willingness to acquiesce in the
halt is puzzling, the final decision on the matter was Rundstedt's, as Hitler delegated power over the matter to him, much to
Halder's uncomprehending exasperation.
Von Rundstedt was promoted to field marshal on July 19, 1940
and took part in the planning of Operation Sealion. When the invasion was called off,
von Rundstedt took control of occupation forces and was given responsibility to develop the coastal defenses in the
Netherlands, Belgium and France.
Operation Barbarossa
In June 1941 von Rundstedt took part in Operation Barbarossa as commander of
Army Group South, where he led 52 infantry divisions and five Panzer divisions into the Soviet
Union. At first his progress was slow, but in September AG South captured Kiev in a double
encirclement operation made possible by Stalin's unreasoning refusal to abandon it, even though the Dnieper had been crossed both
north and south of it. The Germans claimed a fantastic haul of 665,000 Russian prisoners based on the encircled divisions'
nominal, pre-combat strength as revealed by captured Soviet records. The Soviets reported that owing to previous losses - also
exaggerated by the Germans, yet not subtracted by them from their tally of Soviet prisoners - the encircled divisions possessed
merely 452,000 men and that, of those, 150,541 made their way out of the pocket before the lumbering German infantry divisions
caught up with the armor and the ring of encirclement was consolidated. Thus "only" 300,000 men were permanently trapped, whether
captured or killed. After this von Rundstedt moved east to attack Kharkov and Rostov. He strongly opposed continuing the advance into the Soviet Union during the winter and advised
Hitler to call a halt, but his views were rejected.
In November, von Rundstedt had a heart attack, but he refused to be
hospitalized and continued the advance, reaching Rostov on November 21. A counter-attack
forced the Germans back. When von Rundstedt demanded to be allowed to withdraw, Hitler became furious and replaced him with
General Walther von Reichenau.
Western Battlefield
Hitler recalled von Rundstedt to duty in March 1942, placing him once again in command of the
west. There he proved tardy, so much so that as late as the autumn of 1943, no fortifications worthy of mention existed along the entire Atlantic shore. It was only after
Erwin Rommel's appointment as von Rundstedt's ostensible subordinate that fortification
work began in earnest. During the debates preceding the landing von Rundstedt insisted that the armoured reserves should be held in the operational rear so
that they could all be rushed to whatever sector the Allies happened to land in. Geyr von Schweppenberg, the armoured commander, supported him. Rommel, by contrast, insisted
that the armoured forces must be deployed very near the shoreline, just beyond the reach of allied naval artillery, since Allied
command of the air would preclude moving them from further than that. Badly affected by his experiences in Africa, Rommel
believed that Allied air operations would prohibit movement during the day and even gravely inhibit movement at night. He was
likewise convinced that a landing as far west as Normandy was out of the question and that very
little armour should be committed there. Inclined to accept the unlikelihood of a Normandy
landing, Rundstedt nonetheless felt that this was an insane gamble. Rommel was able to have his way because von Rundstedt's
authority had all but evaporated as a result of his inactivity since his appointment. The armoured divisions were dispersed and
only two were spared to the northern French shore, west of the Seine, with only one assigned to the Normandy sector, with
disastrous consequences once the invasion began. After the D-Day landings in June
1944, von Rundstedt urged Hitler to negotiate a peace settlement with the Allies. Hitler responded by replacing him with General
Günther von Kluge.
As a result of the July 20 Plot, which outraged von Rundstedt, he agreed to join
Guderian and Wilhelm Keitel on the Army Court of Honour that expelled hundreds of officers suspected of being opposed to Hitler, often on the
flimsiest of evidence. This removed them from the jurisdiction of the military and turned
them over to Roland Freisler. Many were executed.
In mid-August 1944, von Kluge committed suicide and Fieldmarshall Model was given
command of OB West for eighteen days before he was relieved of duty and von Rundstedt was once again placed in command in the
west. He quickly rallied the troops just in time to fight Operation Market
Garden, winning the battle. Although he was Commander of the Western Forces during the offensive to retake
Antwerp (which failed against hopeless odds in what would be known as the Battle of the Bulge), he was opposed to that offensive from its inception and
essentially washed his hands of it. He was relieved of command once again in March 1945 after telling Wilhelm Keitel that Hitler should make peace with the Allies, rather than continue to fight a hopeless
war.
After the War
Rundstedt was captured by the US 36th Infantry Division on
May 1, 1945. While being interrogated he suffered another heart
attack, and was taken to Britain, where he was held in captivity in a Prisoner-of-War Camp in Bridgend, South Wales. He was
charged by the British as a war criminal. The charges against him concerned his involvement in mass murders in occupied Soviet
territories. On October 10 1941, his subordinate,
Walther von Reichenau the 6th army's commander issued his infamously bloodthirsty
"Reichenau Order".[1] Upon
receiving a copy Rundstedt, much impressed, immediately reissued the order to his other army commanders, presenting it as a model
to orders he expected them to issue to their troops. He was also recorded as very helpful to Einsatzgruppen. When questioned on the matter and presented with damning testimony from an Einsatzgruppe
commander, Rundstedt could do no more than say that it was impudence for the SS man to "talk this way about a field marshal" yet
proved unable to challenge this and documentary evidence. Ultimately he never faced trial, allegedly because of his poor health,
though the American prosecution team suspected that political considerations underlay the British decision. He was released in
July 1948, and lived in Hanover until his death.
Family
On January 22, 1902 von Rundstedt married Luise Bila
von Götz (d. 1952) and they had one child Hans Gerd von Rundstedt (1903-1948).
Summary of the military career
Dates of rank
- Fähnrich: March 22, 1892
- Leutnant: January 01, 1899
- Oberleutnant: October 01, 1902
- Hauptmann: March 22, 1909
- Major: November 28, 1914
- Oberstleutnant: October 01, 1920
- Oberst: February 01, 1923
- Generalmajor: November 01, 1927
- Generalleutnant: March 01, 1929
- General der Infanterie: October 01, 1932
- Generaloberst: March 01, 1938
- Generalfeldmarschall: July 19,
1940
Notable decorations
See also
References
- Blumentritt, Günther, Von Rundstedt: The Man and the Soldier, London:
Odhams Press, 1952
- Liddell Hart, B. H., The German Generals Talk, New York: William and
Morrow, 1948, chap. 7
- Messenger, Charles, The Last Prussian: A Biography of Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt,
1875-1953, London: Brassey's, 1991 ISBN 0-08-036707-0
- Ziemke, Earl, "Gerd Von Rundstedt" in Hitler's Generals, ed. Correlli Barnet, New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1989
External links
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