Walther von Brauchitsch
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Walther von Brauchitsch (4 October 1881 – 18 October 1948) was a German military general during the Nazi era and was the Commander of the German Army during the early years of the Second World War from 1938 until his dismissal in 1941. He was also a soldier serving in the western front during the First World War. In 1933 when the Nazis first took over the government, he was put in charge of the East Prussian Military District. He became very dependent on Hitler from borrowing a lot of money for his financial help.
Biography edit
He was born into an aristocratic military family in 1881 along side his older brother Adolf von Brauchitsch who had served in the Reichswehr before his retirement in 1929 and his family had a longtime tradition of serving in the military. He served as a soldier in battle during the 1st World War and was promoted to captain during the 1st half of the war. But after many brutal battles, he was at the rank of Major by the end of the war.
When Adolf Hitler became Chancellor in 1933, Von Brauchitsch now poromoted to Lieutanant General became the commander of the German army in the East Prussia region, he would later become the commanding officer of the 1st Army Corps in 1935. However Von Brauchitsch would develop a despute with another fellow Nazi Erich Koch (who was himself a crook who enjoyed great power) with the pair keeping their bitter rivalry unofficial.
When Schutzstaffel leader Heinrich Himmler planned to replace army troops with his SS guards in East Prussia, he labelled Brauchitsch as a "junker" after the general prevented him from placing his troops in East Prussia with the purpose of persecuting Jews.
Colonel General Brauchitsch would later take command of the German High Command of the Army when his predecessor Werner von Fritsch was forced to retire from his position after being accused of homosexuality (which were in reality a trap set by Hitler to get rid of von Fritsch). General von Brauchitsch now the head of the German Army, welcomed the rearmament of Germany but was opposed to the annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia, but despite his opposition, he along with general Wilhelm Keitel (who was the Head of the Armed Forces as a whole) were both awarded by Hitler with a golden party badge in commemoration for the annexations nevertheless.
In May of 1939, months before the outbreak of the 2nd World War, General Brauchitsch visited the middle east for an inspection of the Italian military force, after his visit he was told by Fritsch that the Italian military was in a poor fighting shape.
By the time the 2nd world war broke out, General Brauchitsch oversaw most of the plans during the invasion of Poland and Germany's blitzkrieg campaign throughout Europe. He supported the harsh treatment against the Polish people and claimed it will secure Germany's need for Lebensraum ("living space"). He presided over the death sentences conducted against the Polish people during the early parts of the war having played a central role in the death sentences.
But however, he along with General Franz Halder didn't really think that the Invasion of France would be successful and at one point even thought about over throwing Hitler believing that the Invasion would fail. So in a meeting with the General Staff, General Brauchitsch tried to ask Hitler to cancel invasion plans against France which resulted with Hitler yelling at him personally. When the German Army began planning their invasion of France, General Manstein presented a plan that would ensure Germany's victory against the French Army in which Brauchitsch saw as a potential hope that it can give the German army a real chance of success against France and Britain.
General Brauchitsch was one of the generals who played a major role in the Invasion of France during summer of 1940, resulting with German victories, the French surrendered and the British retreated. With the surprising swift defeat of France, Brauchitsch became confident that with the quick surrender of France, he believed that the British might be defeated and fall to the Germans just as quickly with Hitler intending to have Brauchitsch head the military operation in his cencelled Operation Sea Lion plan. Brauchitsch's army had also conquered both Yugoslavia and Greece in April 1941 with both countries falling very quickly to his large military force. General Brauchitsch also had ordered his army and commanders to cease criticism against the Nazi policies.
General Brauchitsch, just like he had in France, had also played a key role in the German invasion of the Soviet Union in Summer of 1941 (Operation Barbarossa), taking part in the planning and making modifications to the original plan. He, along with Wilhelm Keitel even complied with Hitler's orders for the German army to kill Russian people in the occupied territory. But however, when winter set in, his health begins to decline which resulted in a heart attack, But even so, he is still determined to make sure that the German army win the Battle of Moscow and give a final defeat to the Soviet Union. But due to the weather in Moscow which hindered the Germans, the battle of Moscow resulted in a defeat to the German Army and thus Operation Barbarossa had ended in failure.
After the failure of Operation Barbarossa, General Brauchitsch was dismissed from his position by Hitler who then took command of the Army himself. After the war, former General Brauchitsch remained in retirement without any assignment for the rest of the war. With his later actions being himself condemning the 20 July plot which sought to assassinate Hitler.
After the war, Walther von Brauchitsch was arrested by British soldiers around August of 1945 (4 months after Germany's defeat) and was held at a prisoner camp in South Wales to be convicted in the High Command trial. But he died from pneumonia in 1948 before he could be convicted and tried.