Felix S.

asked • 02/10/15

Who is considered the greatest nazi general of WWII?

Who is considered the greatest nazi general of WWII? Who was the best strategist and tactical genius of the German army. I am mostly considering only front line commanders and field marshals who led major operations, unless there was someone in the general staff worthy of praise.

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Daniel W. answered • 02/10/15

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There are two famous German generals from WWII.   The first was Erwin Rommel " The Desert Fox", the second was Heinz Guderian, who lead Germany's panzer armies during their Russian invasion  of 1941-42.   The problem with the German army wasn't its generals. It was the fact that Hitler constantly interfered with the army's leaders to effectively lead their troops.
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Felix S.

Clearly Hitler was the worst enemy of his own army but I'm trying to reason out who the #1 general was despite this.
What of the mighty Manstein and his ability to continuely fight the russian steamroller despite hitler's increasing interference, and his offensive success in the Crimea? 
Although I admire greatly Guderian fighting style and his early war success in france and russia, he was also removed from the front relatively early in war after the foolish dismissal of his command following Moscow. So was that enough to set him as the best?
As for Rommel, I have always thought of him as somewhat overestimated. We know of him the most because he was the general that the Americans fought the most. But consider our poor quality in North Africa and the questionable significance of the entire African theatre. He also failed to ever really threaten the Normandy beachhead.
A more apt defensive tactician to consider may be Model who was difficult to work with but undoubtably effective. 
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02/10/15

Daniel W.

Who you consider "the best" is a matter of opinion, of course.  The only reason why the Germans were even in North Africa is because the Italians had bungled the region so badly, Hitler had to support his ally there.  Rommel did a masterful job in his holding action against the British and Americans there despite the continuous siphoning of his men and equipment to the Eastern Front.  He also built the defenses along the Normandy coasr, but was not allowed to move his Panzer divisions into Normandy, because Hitler was convinced the main invasion was going to take place at Calais. By the time those troops were allowed to move, the beach heads were so secure, there was no more threat of defeat there.    
The reason why Guderian was sacked isn't because of his inability to command, it was rather because he was critical of Goering's boast that he could keep the front line troops supplied by air. This was proven a year later when the Germans attempted to keep Stalingrad supplied by air and failed miserably. You have to remember that Guderian's troops were at the point loft exhaution
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02/11/15

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