fbpx
Wikipedia

Erwin Rommel and the Bundeswehr

November 01, 2023

A significant controversy exists over Germany's Bundeswehr's use of Erwin Rommel as its role model. Numerous critics take issue with the Bundeswehr's reverence towards Rommel as its primary role model.[2][3][4][5][1][6][7] While recognizing his great talents as a commander, they point out several problems, including Rommel's involvement with a criminal regime and his political naivete. However, there are also many supporters of the continued commemoration of Rommel by the Bundeswehr, and there remains military buildings and streets named after him and portraits of him displayed.

The Field Marshal Rommel Barracks' exercise field with the Teutoburg Forest, usually affiliated with Arminius, in the background. Critics note that the blend of the two figures, represented by the placing of a Rommel portrait and an Arminius statue together in the main building, seems to combine Germanic cults with veneration towards the Wehrmacht.[1]

Critics of Rommel's commemoration by the Bundeswehr edit

The politician scientist Ralph Rotte [de] calls for his replacement with Manfred von Richthofen.[3] Cornelia Hecht opines that whatever judgement history will pass on Rommel – who was the idol of World War II as well as the integration figure of the post-war Republic – it is now the time in which the Bundeswehr should rely on its own history and tradition, and not any Wehrmacht commander.[8] Jürgen Heiducoff [de], a retired Bundeswehr officer, writes that the maintenance of the Rommel barracks' names and the definition of Rommel as a German resistance fighter are capitulation before neo-Nazi tendencies. Heiducoff agrees with Bundeswehr generals that Rommel was one of the greatest strategists and tacticians, both in theory and practice, and a victim of contemporary jealous colleagues, but argues that such a talent for aggressive, destructive warfare is not a suitable model for the Bundeswehr, a primarily defensive army. Heiducoff criticizes Bundeswehr generals for pressuring the Federal Ministry of Defence into making decisions in favour of the man who they openly admire.[5] The Green Party's position is that Rommel was not a war criminal but still had entanglements with war crimes, and that he cannot not be the Bundeswehr's role model.[9][1] The political scientist and politician Alexander Neu criticises the Ministry's undeterred attitude to the fact Rommel was at least near-Nazi and did serve the unjust regime, and comments that the association of Rommel with the spirit of the Bundeswehr is not new, but they did not expect that the Federal Ministry of Defence, without providing at least a bibliography, would declare him a victim of the regime as well.[10]

Supporters edit

Historian Michael Wolffsohn supports the Ministry of Defense's decision to continue recognition of Rommel, although he thinks the focus should be put on the later stage of Rommel's life, when he began thinking more seriously about war and politics, and broke with the regime. Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) reports that, "Wolffsohn declares the Bundeswehr wants to have politically thoughtful, responsible officers from the beginning, thus a tradition of 'swashbuckler' and 'humane rogue' is not intended".[11] According to authors like Ulrich vom Hagen and Sandra Mass though, the Bundeswehr (as well as NATO) deliberately endorses the ideas of chivalrous warfare and apolitical soldiering associated with Rommel.[12][13][14] According to Cornelia Hecht, the Bundeswehr believes that "chivalry and fairness", which Rommel embodied more than any other Wehrmacht generals, are timeless military virtues.[8][15] At a Ministry conference soliciting input on the matter, Dutch general Ton van Loon advised the Ministry that, although there can be historical abuses hidden under the guise of military tradition, tradition is still essential for the esprit de corps, and part of that tradition should be the leadership and achievements of Rommel.[16] Historian Christian Hartmann opines that not only Rommel's legacy is worthy of tradition but the Bundeswehr "urgently needs to become more Rommel".[17] The Field Marshal Rommel Barracks, Augustdorf stresses his leadership and performance as worthy of tradition and identity, establishing, among other things, Rommel having committed no proven war crime as a reason to keep the name.[1] The Sanitary Regiment 3, stationed at the Rommel Barracks in Dornstadt, also desires (almost unanimously, as revealed by an interdepartmental opinion poll) to keep the name.[18] There has also been discussion regarding the Hammelburg Garrison ("the heart of German infantry", according to von der Leyen), which considers Rommel as "name patron" and "identification figure" together with Adolf Heusinger (the main street on which the garrison is located is named after Rommel while one of the barracks is named after Heusinger). The city council has defended the street's name.[19][20][21]

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces Hans-Peter Bartels (SPD) supports the keeping of the name and the tradition associated with Rommel, but notes that the reasons should not be his initial successes in the North African campaign (1940-1943), or that the former adversary armies have continued to worship him until this day. Bartels adds that Rommel, who probably supported the Resistance, is a borderline case, regarding which historians find it hard to ascertain, and German history is full of such ambiguities.[22][23] In early 2017, the German Federal Ministry of Defence, in response to a petition championed by historian Wolfgang Proske and backed by politicians from the Left Party, defended the naming of barracks after Rommel, with the justification that the current state of research does not support their allegations. In 2019, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence explained that although there are controversies regarding Rommel's role in the resistance against National Socialism, Rommel did disregard criminal orders and reject the enemy image enforced by the regime. Additionally, the Bundeswehr also finds his courage in trying to end the war meaningful and worthy of tradition.[24]Sönke Neitzel supports the commemoration, although he notes that Rommel "rode the waves of the regime" and only mustered the courage to break with it at the last minute, but in a way unlike any other general. He also considers Rommel's other virtues and military capability to be important, since membership of the resistance does not help modern soldiers in Mali. Historian Hannes Heer argues that Rommel was not a resistance fighter, and that membership of the resistance, instead of secondary virtues and military capability, should be the only touchstone of commemoration.[25][26]

Alternative views edit

Historian Johannes Hürter opines that instead of being the symbol for an alternative Germany, Rommel should be the symbol for the willingness of the military elites to become instrumentalised by the Nazi authorities. As for whether he can be treated as a military role model, Hürter writes that each soldier can decide on that matter for themselves.[27] Historian Ernst Piper [de] argues that it is totally conceivable that the Resistance saw Rommel as someone with whom they could build a new Germany. According to Piper though, Rommel was a loyal national socialist without crime rather than a democrat, thus unsuitable to hold a central place among role models, although he can be integrated as a major military leader.[28] Wolfgang Benz also comments "His fate gives an idea of the possibilities the military resistance could have offered had such a charismatic leader of troops been at the helm."[29]

References edit

Informational notes

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d Schnadwinkel 2017.
  2. ^ Knab 2017.
  3. ^ a b Rotte 2017.
  4. ^ Schmitt 2017.
  5. ^ a b Heiducoff 2017.
  6. ^ Kummer 2017.
  7. ^ Menne 2017.
  8. ^ a b Kanold 2017.
  9. ^ Böhmer 2012.
  10. ^ Wrobel 2017.
  11. ^ MDR 2017.
  12. ^ Hagen 2014, pp. 183–184.
  13. ^ Mass 2006, p. 254.
  14. ^ Knab 1999, pp. 16–17.
  15. ^ Hecht, Häußler & Linder 2008, p. 128.
  16. ^ Leithäuser 2017.
  17. ^ Sanches, Miguel (13 October 2017). "Wie viel Wehrmacht steckt noch in der Bundeswehr?". Berliner Morgenpost. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  18. ^ SWP 2018.
  19. ^ Oppong, Marvin (19 September 2008). "Rommel soll weg". Frankfurter Rundschau. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  20. ^ Dünnebier, Wolfgang (18 May 2017). "Wirbel um Hammelburger Kaserne in der Rommelstraße". Main Post. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  21. ^ Czygan, Michael (24 July 2017). "Von der Leyen lobt Soldaten in Hammelburg". Main Post. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  22. ^ Bartels 2017.
  23. ^ FAZ 2018.
  24. ^ Fuch, Carola (27 September 2019). "Trotz Kritik Rommel-Kasernen behalten den Namen". Stuttgarter Zeitung. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  25. ^ Krauß, Bärbel (15 May 2017). "Militärhistoriker Neitzel zur Bundeswehr-Affäre "Von der Leyens Bildersturm ist Quatsch"". stuttgarter-nachrichten.de. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  26. ^ Scholter, Judith; Werner, Frank (3 July 2018). "Von der Wehrmacht lernen?". No. ZEIT Geschichte Nr. 4/2018. Die Zeit. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  27. ^ Hürter 2018.
  28. ^ Quanz 2018.
  29. ^ Schulz, Bernhard (17 April 2019). "Einsam in der Volksgemeinschaft". Der Tagesspiegel. Retrieved 27 April 2019.

Bibliography

  • Bartels, Hans-Peter (19 November 2017). "Kein Pomp. Keine Helden. Nirgends Pracht". Die Welt. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  • Böhmer, Willi (6 November 2012). "Rommelkaserne umtaufen". swp.de. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  • FAZ (28 March 2018). "Geht nicht darum, alle Erinnerungsstücke wegzuräumen". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  • Hagen, Ulrich vom (2014). Homo militaris: Perspektiven einer kritischen Militärsoziologie. Verlag (transcript). ISBN 978-3-8394-1937-3.
  • Hecht, Cornelia; Häußler, Johannes; Linder, Rainer, eds. (2008). Mythos Rommel. Stuttgart: Haus der Geschichte Baden-Württemberg. ISBN 978-3-933726-28-5.
  • Heiducoff, Jürgen (20 August 2017). "Kapitulation vor neonazistischen Realitäten". Neue Rheinische Zeitung. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  • Hürter, Johannes (2018). "Standpunkt: Zeithistoriker Johannes Hürter von der Uni Mainz über die Legende der "sauberen Wehrmacht" und falsches Heldengedenken". Wiesbadener Tagblatt. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  • Kanold, Jürgen (19 May 2017). "Bundeswehr: Verminte Geschichte". swp.de. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  • Knab, Jakob (1999). "Verklärung und Aufklärung Von den Heldenmythen der Wehrmacht zur Traditionspflege der Bundeswehr" (PDF). Vierteljahresschrift für Sicherheit und Friede (2/1999). Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  • Knab, Jakob (19 May 2017). "Traditionspflege ist eine wertende Auswahl" (PDF). Die Tagespost. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  • Kummer, Silja (8 March 2017). . Heidenheimer Zeitung. Archived from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  • Leithäuser, Johannes (17 August 2017). "Identität und Unbehagen". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
  • Mass, Sandra (2006). Weisse Helden, schwarze Krieger: zur Geschichte kolonialer Männlichkeit in Deutschland 1918–1964. Böhlau Verlag Köln Weimar. pp. 249, 252, 258, 294, 301. ISBN 978-3-412-32305-9.
  • Menne, Evelin (2017). . dielinke-lippe.de. Archived from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  • MDR (12 June 2017). . Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Aktuell. Archived from the original on 18 June 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  • Quanz, Florian (19 October 2018). "Historiker Ernst Piper warnt vor neuer Debatte um Erwin Rommel". HNA. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  • Rotte, Ralph (3 August 2017). "Richthofen statt Rommel". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  • Schmitt, C. (14 June 2017). "Paderborner Aktionsbündnis übt scharfe Kritik an Namensbeibehaltung der "Rommel-Kaserne"". PaderZeitung. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  • Schnadwinkel, Andreas (10 May 2017). "Rommel-Kaserne will Namen behalten". Westfalen-Blatt. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  • SWP (4 April 2018). "Bundeswehr Der Name "Rommel" bleibt". swp.de. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  • Wrobel, Claudia (1 February 2017). "Das können keine Vorbilder für uns sein". Die junge Welt. Retrieved 18 April 2017.

Further reading edit

  • Coetzee, Daniel (2013). Philosophers of War: The Evolution of History's Greatest Military Thinkers. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-07033-4.
  • Connelly, Mark (2014). "Rommel as icon". In I. F. W. Beckett (ed.). Rommel Reconsidered. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-1462-4.
  • Connelly, Owen (2009). On War and Leadership: The Words of Combat Commanders from Frederick the Great to Norman Schwarzkopf. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1-4008-2516-5.
  • Creveld, Martin van (1977). Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-21730-X.
  • Däniker, Gustav; Keren, Michael; Sylvan, Donald A. (2002). International Intervention: Sovereignty Versus Responsibility. Psychology Press. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-7146-5192-7.
  • Detsch, Roland (2002). "Die andere Wahrheit". context politik: wissenschaft: kultur. from the original on 11 December 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  • Deuel, Wallace R. (1943). A 'Model' Teuton; MEET MR. BLANK. By R.G. Waldeck. 179 pp. New York: G.P. Putnam's Boris. $2.50. Mr. Blank -- The Model Teuton (The New York Times Book Review, Volume 2). Arno Press. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  • Dick, Bernard F. (13 Jan 2015). The Star-Spangled Screen: The American World War II Film. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-813-14895-3.
  • Dixon, Norman F. (2016). On the Psychology of Military Incompetence. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-09780-7.
  • Dowe, Christopher; Hecht, Cornelia (2016). "Von Mythen, Legenden und Manipulationen. David Irving und seine verzerrende Deutungen von Erwin Rommel, Hans Speidel und Cäsar von Hofacker". In Haus der Geschichte Baden-Württemberg (ed.). Verräter? Vorbilder? Verbrecher? Kontroverse Deutungen des 20. Juli 1944 seit 1945. Frank & Timme GmbH. pp. 129–160. ISBN 9783732902767.
  • Duffy, James P.; Ricci, Vincent L. (2013). Target Hitler: The Many Plots to Kill Adolf Hitler. Enigma Books. ISBN 978-1-936274-03-1.
  • Echternkamp, Jörg (2010). Die 101 wichtigsten Fragen – der Zweite Weltkrieg. C. H. Beck. ISBN 978-3-406-59314-7.
  • Edwards, Jill (2012). El Alamein and the Struggle for North Africa: International Perspectives from the Twenty-first Century. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-977-416-581-8.
  • Evans, Richard J. (2009). The Third Reich at War. New York: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-101548-4.
  • Fischer, Thomas (2014). "Rommel und Hitler". SWR. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  • Fraser, David (1993). Knight's Cross: A Life of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. New York: HarperCollins. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  • Friedmann, Jan (23 May 2007). . Spiegel Online. Archived from the original on 11 December 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  • Gabel, Christopher (2014). Great Commanders [Illustrated Edition]. Pickle Partners Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78289-446-9.
  • Giordano, Ralph (2000). Die Traditionslüge: vom Kriegerkult in der Bundeswehr. Kiepenheuer & Witsch. ISBN 978-3-462-02921-5.
  • Giordano, Ralph (2010). Mein Leben ist so sündhaft lang: ein Tagebuch. Kiepenheuer & Witsch. ISBN 978-3-462-04240-5.
  • Goldschmidt Waldeck, Rosie (1943). Meet Mr. Blank: The Leader of Tomorrow's Germans. G. P. Putnam's sons.
  • Hachten Wee, Patricia; Wee, Robert James (2004). World War II in Literature for Youth: A Guide and Resource Book. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-5301-0.
  • Hamilton, Nigel (2012). "Defeating the Desert Fox". The National WWII Museum. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  • Hanley, Brian (2008). Planning for Conflict in the Twenty-first Century. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-34555-5.
  • Hansen, Randall (2014). Disobeying Hitler: German Resistance After Valkyrie. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-992792-0.
  • Hart, Russel A. (2014). "Rommel and the 20th July Bomb Plot". In F. W. Beckett (ed.). Rommel Reconsidered. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-1462-4.
  • Hartmann, Bernd (2011). Panzers in the Sand: The History of Panzer-Regiment 5, 1942-45, Volume 2. Stackpole Books. p. 138. ISBN 9780811744324.
  • Holles, Everett (1945). Unconditional Surrender. Howell, Soskin. p. 227.
  • Kanold, Jurgen (28 February 2012). "Denkmal des Anstoßes". swp.de. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  • Kitchen, Martin (2009). Rommel's Desert War: Waging World War II in North Africa, 1941–1943. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-50971-8.
  • Kitchen, Martin (14 January 2014). A World in Flames: A Short History of the Second World War in Europe and Asia 1939–1945. Routledge. p. 84. ISBN 978-1-317-90094-8.
  • Knopp, Guido (2013). Hitlers Krieger. C. Bertelsmann Verlag. ISBN 978-3-641-11998-0.
  • Knorr Jr., Major Marvin (2015). The Development Of German Doctrine And Command And Control And Its Application To Supporting Arms, 1832–1945. Pickle Partners Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78625-062-9.
  • Knox, MacGregor (2000). Hitler's Italian Allies: Royal Armed Forces, Fascist Regime, and the War of 1940–1943. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-43203-0.
  • Krause, Michael D.; Phillips, R. Cody (2006). Historical Perspectives of the Operational Art. Government Printing Office. ISBN 978-0-16-072564-7.
  • Kubetzky, Thomas (2010). "The mask of command": Bernard L. Montgomery, George S. Patton und Erwin Rommell. LIT Verlag Münster. ISBN 978-3-643-10349-9.
  • Lasserre, Caroline (8 July 2014). "Rommel ist und bleibt ein Mythos". Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. from the original on 11 December 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  • Latimer, Jon (2002). Alamein. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01016-1.
  • Levine, Alan J. (2007). D-Day to Berlin: The Northwest Europe Campaign, 1944–45. Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-1-4617-5085-7.
  • Levine, Alan J. (1999). The War Against Rommel's Supply Lines, 1942-1943. Praeger. p. 183. ISBN 9780275965211.
  • Lewin, Ronald (1998) [1968]. Rommel As Military Commander. New York: B&N Books. ISBN 978-0-7607-0861-3.
  • Lieb, Peter (2013). Erwin Rommel. Widerstandskämpfer oder Nationalsozialist?. pp. 303–343. doi:10.1524/vfzg.2013.0015. S2CID 147061655. {{cite encyclopedia}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  • Lieb, Peter (2014). "Rommel in Normandy". In I. F. W. Beckett (ed.). Rommel Reconsidered. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-1462-4.
  • Luvaas, Jay (1990). "Liddell Hart and the Mearsheimer Critique: A 'Pupil's' Retrospective" (PDF). Strategic Studies Institute. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  • Macksey, Kenneth (1979). Rommel: Battles and Campaigns. Arms & Armour Press. ISBN 978-0-85368-232-5.
  • Maier, Manfred (2013). "Vortrag Manfred Maier zu der Geschichte des Heidenheimer Rommeldenkmals". In Geschichtswerkstatt Heidenheim (ed.). Vorlage für die Arbeitsgruppe «Umgestaltung des Rommel-Denkmals». p. 49.
  • Majdalany, Fred (2003). The Battle of El Alamein: Fortress in the Sand. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 31–32. ISBN 978-0-8122-1850-3.
  • Major, Patrick (2008). "'Our Friend Rommel': The Wehrmacht as 'Worthy Enemy' in Postwar British Popular Culture". German History. Oxford University Press. 26 (4): 520–535. doi:10.1093/gerhis/ghn049.
  • Marshall, Charles F. (1994). Discovering the Rommel Murder. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-4278-8.
  • McMahon, T. L. (2014). Operational Principles: The Operational Art of Erwin Rommel and Bernard Montgomery. Pickle Partners. ISBN 978-1-78289-742-2.
  • Mearsheimer, John (1988). Liddell Hart and the Weight of History. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-2089-4.
  • Megargee, Geoffrey P. (2000). Inside Hitler's High Command. Lawrence, Kansas: Kansas University Press. ISBN 0-7006-1015-4.
  • Messenger, Charles (2009). Rommel: Leadership Lessons from the Desert Fox. Basingstoke, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-60908-2.
  • Murray, Williamson (1995). "Knight's Cross, A Life of Field Marshall Erwin Rommel by David Fraser". The Journal of Military History. Virginia Military Institute and the George C. Marshall Foundation. 59 (2): 345–346. doi:10.2307/2944594. ISSN 1543-7795. JSTOR 2944594.
  • Murray, Williamson; Millett, Allan Reed (2009). A War To Be Won: fighting the Second World War. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-04130-1.
  • Murray, Williamson (2011). Military Adaptation in War: With Fear of Change. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-91586-1.
  • Naumann, Klaus (2009). "Afterword". In Charles Messenger (ed.). Rommel: Leadership Lessons from the Desert Fox. Basingstoke, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-60908-2.
  • Neitzel, Sönke (2005). Abgehört. Deutsche Generäle in britischer Kriegsgefangenschaft 1942–1945. Berlin: Propyläen. ISBN 978-3-548-60760-3.
  • Paterson, Tony (4 December 2011). "Was the Desert Fox an honest soldier or just another Nazi?". The Independent.
  • Pimlott, John, ed. (2014) [1994]. Rommel: In His Own Words. London: Amber Books. ISBN 978-1-78274-190-9.
  • Pyta, Wolfram (2015). Hitler: Der Künstler als Politiker und Feldherr. Eine Herrschaftsanalyse. Siedler Verlag. ISBN 978-3-641-15701-2.
  • Rau, Petra (2013). Our Nazis. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 132–134. ISBN 9780748668663. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  • Remy, Maurice Philip (2002). Mythos Rommel. Munich: Ullstein. ISBN 3-548-60385-8.
  • Reuth, Ralf Georg (2005). Rommel: The End of a Legend. London: Haus Books. ISBN 978-1-904950-20-2.

November 01, 2023
erwin, rommel, bundeswehr, significant, controversy, exists, over, germany, bundeswehr, erwin, rommel, role, model, numerous, critics, take, issue, with, bundeswehr, reverence, towards, rommel, primary, role, model, while, recognizing, great, talents, commande. A significant controversy exists over Germany s Bundeswehr s use of Erwin Rommel as its role model Numerous critics take issue with the Bundeswehr s reverence towards Rommel as its primary role model 2 3 4 5 1 6 7 While recognizing his great talents as a commander they point out several problems including Rommel s involvement with a criminal regime and his political naivete However there are also many supporters of the continued commemoration of Rommel by the Bundeswehr and there remains military buildings and streets named after him and portraits of him displayed The Field Marshal Rommel Barracks exercise field with the Teutoburg Forest usually affiliated with Arminius in the background Critics note that the blend of the two figures represented by the placing of a Rommel portrait and an Arminius statue together in the main building seems to combine Germanic cults with veneration towards the Wehrmacht 1 Contents 1 Critics of Rommel s commemoration by the Bundeswehr 2 Supporters 3 Alternative views 4 References 5 Further readingCritics of Rommel s commemoration by the Bundeswehr editThe politician scientist Ralph Rotte de calls for his replacement with Manfred von Richthofen 3 Cornelia Hecht opines that whatever judgement history will pass on Rommel who was the idol of World War II as well as the integration figure of the post war Republic it is now the time in which the Bundeswehr should rely on its own history and tradition and not any Wehrmacht commander 8 Jurgen Heiducoff de a retired Bundeswehr officer writes that the maintenance of the Rommel barracks names and the definition of Rommel as a German resistance fighter are capitulation before neo Nazi tendencies Heiducoff agrees with Bundeswehr generals that Rommel was one of the greatest strategists and tacticians both in theory and practice and a victim of contemporary jealous colleagues but argues that such a talent for aggressive destructive warfare is not a suitable model for the Bundeswehr a primarily defensive army Heiducoff criticizes Bundeswehr generals for pressuring the Federal Ministry of Defence into making decisions in favour of the man who they openly admire 5 The Green Party s position is that Rommel was not a war criminal but still had entanglements with war crimes and that he cannot not be the Bundeswehr s role model 9 1 The political scientist and politician Alexander Neu criticises the Ministry s undeterred attitude to the fact Rommel was at least near Nazi and did serve the unjust regime and comments that the association of Rommel with the spirit of the Bundeswehr is not new but they did not expect that the Federal Ministry of Defence without providing at least a bibliography would declare him a victim of the regime as well 10 Supporters editHistorian Michael Wolffsohn supports the Ministry of Defense s decision to continue recognition of Rommel although he thinks the focus should be put on the later stage of Rommel s life when he began thinking more seriously about war and politics and broke with the regime Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk MDR reports that Wolffsohn declares the Bundeswehr wants to have politically thoughtful responsible officers from the beginning thus a tradition of swashbuckler and humane rogue is not intended 11 According to authors like Ulrich vom Hagen and Sandra Mass though the Bundeswehr as well as NATO deliberately endorses the ideas of chivalrous warfare and apolitical soldiering associated with Rommel 12 13 14 According to Cornelia Hecht the Bundeswehr believes that chivalry and fairness which Rommel embodied more than any other Wehrmacht generals are timeless military virtues 8 15 At a Ministry conference soliciting input on the matter Dutch general Ton van Loon advised the Ministry that although there can be historical abuses hidden under the guise of military tradition tradition is still essential for the esprit de corps and part of that tradition should be the leadership and achievements of Rommel 16 Historian Christian Hartmann opines that not only Rommel s legacy is worthy of tradition but the Bundeswehr urgently needs to become more Rommel 17 The Field Marshal Rommel Barracks Augustdorf stresses his leadership and performance as worthy of tradition and identity establishing among other things Rommel having committed no proven war crime as a reason to keep the name 1 The Sanitary Regiment 3 stationed at the Rommel Barracks in Dornstadt also desires almost unanimously as revealed by an interdepartmental opinion poll to keep the name 18 There has also been discussion regarding the Hammelburg Garrison the heart of German infantry according to von der Leyen which considers Rommel as name patron and identification figure together with Adolf Heusinger the main street on which the garrison is located is named after Rommel while one of the barracks is named after Heusinger The city council has defended the street s name 19 20 21 The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces Hans Peter Bartels SPD supports the keeping of the name and the tradition associated with Rommel but notes that the reasons should not be his initial successes in the North African campaign 1940 1943 or that the former adversary armies have continued to worship him until this day Bartels adds that Rommel who probably supported the Resistance is a borderline case regarding which historians find it hard to ascertain and German history is full of such ambiguities 22 23 In early 2017 the German Federal Ministry of Defence in response to a petition championed by historian Wolfgang Proske and backed by politicians from the Left Party defended the naming of barracks after Rommel with the justification that the current state of research does not support their allegations In 2019 the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence explained that although there are controversies regarding Rommel s role in the resistance against National Socialism Rommel did disregard criminal orders and reject the enemy image enforced by the regime Additionally the Bundeswehr also finds his courage in trying to end the war meaningful and worthy of tradition 24 Sonke Neitzel supports the commemoration although he notes that Rommel rode the waves of the regime and only mustered the courage to break with it at the last minute but in a way unlike any other general He also considers Rommel s other virtues and military capability to be important since membership of the resistance does not help modern soldiers in Mali Historian Hannes Heer argues that Rommel was not a resistance fighter and that membership of the resistance instead of secondary virtues and military capability should be the only touchstone of commemoration 25 26 Alternative views editHistorian Johannes Hurter opines that instead of being the symbol for an alternative Germany Rommel should be the symbol for the willingness of the military elites to become instrumentalised by the Nazi authorities As for whether he can be treated as a military role model Hurter writes that each soldier can decide on that matter for themselves 27 Historian Ernst Piper de argues that it is totally conceivable that the Resistance saw Rommel as someone with whom they could build a new Germany According to Piper though Rommel was a loyal national socialist without crime rather than a democrat thus unsuitable to hold a central place among role models although he can be integrated as a major military leader 28 Wolfgang Benz also comments His fate gives an idea of the possibilities the military resistance could have offered had such a charismatic leader of troops been at the helm 29 References editInformational notes Citations a b c d Schnadwinkel 2017 Knab 2017 a b Rotte 2017 Schmitt 2017 a b Heiducoff 2017 Kummer 2017 Menne 2017 a b Kanold 2017 Bohmer 2012 Wrobel 2017 MDR 2017 Hagen 2014 pp 183 184 Mass 2006 p 254 Knab 1999 pp 16 17 Hecht Haussler amp Linder 2008 p 128 Leithauser 2017 Sanches Miguel 13 October 2017 Wie viel Wehrmacht steckt noch in der Bundeswehr Berliner Morgenpost Retrieved 27 April 2019 SWP 2018 Oppong Marvin 19 September 2008 Rommel soll weg Frankfurter Rundschau Retrieved 6 May 2019 Dunnebier Wolfgang 18 May 2017 Wirbel um Hammelburger Kaserne in der Rommelstrasse Main Post Retrieved 6 May 2019 Czygan Michael 24 July 2017 Von der Leyen lobt Soldaten in Hammelburg Main Post Retrieved 6 May 2019 Bartels 2017 FAZ 2018 Fuch Carola 27 September 2019 Trotz Kritik Rommel Kasernen behalten den Namen Stuttgarter Zeitung Retrieved 26 May 2020 Krauss Barbel 15 May 2017 Militarhistoriker Neitzel zur Bundeswehr Affare Von der Leyens Bildersturm ist Quatsch stuttgarter nachrichten de Retrieved 27 April 2019 Scholter Judith Werner Frank 3 July 2018 Von der Wehrmacht lernen No ZEIT Geschichte Nr 4 2018 Die Zeit Retrieved 27 April 2019 Hurter 2018 Quanz 2018 Schulz Bernhard 17 April 2019 Einsam in der Volksgemeinschaft Der Tagesspiegel Retrieved 27 April 2019 Bibliography Bartels Hans Peter 19 November 2017 Kein Pomp Keine Helden Nirgends Pracht Die Welt Retrieved 8 April 2018 Bohmer Willi 6 November 2012 Rommelkaserne umtaufen swp de Retrieved 21 August 2017 FAZ 28 March 2018 Geht nicht darum alle Erinnerungsstucke wegzuraumen Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Retrieved 8 April 2018 Hagen Ulrich vom 2014 Homo militaris Perspektiven einer kritischen Militarsoziologie Verlag transcript ISBN 978 3 8394 1937 3 Hecht Cornelia Haussler Johannes Linder Rainer eds 2008 Mythos Rommel Stuttgart Haus der Geschichte Baden Wurttemberg ISBN 978 3 933726 28 5 Heiducoff Jurgen 20 August 2017 Kapitulation vor neonazistischen Realitaten Neue Rheinische Zeitung Retrieved 20 August 2017 Hurter Johannes 2018 Standpunkt Zeithistoriker Johannes Hurter von der Uni Mainz uber die Legende der sauberen Wehrmacht und falsches Heldengedenken Wiesbadener Tagblatt Retrieved 8 February 2019 Kanold Jurgen 19 May 2017 Bundeswehr Verminte Geschichte swp de Retrieved 20 August 2017 Knab Jakob 1999 Verklarung und Aufklarung Von den Heldenmythen der Wehrmacht zur Traditionspflege der Bundeswehr PDF Vierteljahresschrift fur Sicherheit und Friede 2 1999 Retrieved 20 August 2017 Knab Jakob 19 May 2017 Traditionspflege ist eine wertende Auswahl PDF Die Tagespost Retrieved 19 August 2017 Kummer Silja 8 March 2017 Feministischer Protest Rommel Denkmal mit rosa Pussy Hat geschmuckt Heidenheimer Zeitung Archived from the original on 22 August 2017 Retrieved 22 August 2017 Leithauser Johannes 17 August 2017 Identitat und Unbehagen Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Mass Sandra 2006 Weisse Helden schwarze Krieger zur Geschichte kolonialer Mannlichkeit in Deutschland 1918 1964 Bohlau Verlag Koln Weimar pp 249 252 258 294 301 ISBN 978 3 412 32305 9 Menne Evelin 2017 Warum Umbenennungen sinnvoll sind dielinke lippe de Archived from the original on 22 August 2017 Retrieved 22 August 2017 MDR 12 June 2017 Wolffsohn Entscheidung fur Rommel Kaserne richtig Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Aktuell Archived from the original on 18 June 2017 Retrieved 20 August 2017 Quanz Florian 19 October 2018 Historiker Ernst Piper warnt vor neuer Debatte um Erwin Rommel HNA Retrieved 8 February 2019 Rotte Ralph 3 August 2017 Richthofen statt Rommel Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Retrieved 19 August 2017 Schmitt C 14 June 2017 Paderborner Aktionsbundnis ubt scharfe Kritik an Namensbeibehaltung der Rommel Kaserne PaderZeitung Retrieved 20 August 2017 Schnadwinkel Andreas 10 May 2017 Rommel Kaserne will Namen behalten Westfalen Blatt Retrieved 19 August 2017 SWP 4 April 2018 Bundeswehr Der Name Rommel bleibt swp de Retrieved 8 April 2018 Wrobel Claudia 1 February 2017 Das konnen keine Vorbilder fur uns sein Die junge Welt Retrieved 18 April 2017 Further reading editCoetzee Daniel 2013 Philosophers of War The Evolution of History s Greatest Military Thinkers ABC CLIO ISBN 978 0 313 07033 4 Connelly Mark 2014 Rommel as icon In I F W Beckett ed Rommel Reconsidered Mechanicsburg PA Stackpole Books ISBN 978 0 8117 1462 4 Connelly Owen 2009 On War and Leadership The Words of Combat Commanders from Frederick the Great to Norman Schwarzkopf Princeton Princeton University Press ISBN 978 1 4008 2516 5 Creveld Martin van 1977 Supplying War Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 0 521 21730 X Daniker Gustav Keren Michael Sylvan Donald A 2002 International Intervention Sovereignty Versus Responsibility Psychology Press p 117 ISBN 978 0 7146 5192 7 Detsch Roland 2002 Die andere Wahrheit context politik wissenschaft kultur Archived from the original on 11 December 2016 Retrieved 30 May 2016 Deuel Wallace R 1943 A Model Teuton MEET MR BLANK By R G Waldeck 179 pp New York G P Putnam s Boris 2 50 Mr Blank The Model Teuton The New York Times Book Review Volume 2 Arno Press Retrieved 14 September 2017 Dick Bernard F 13 Jan 2015 The Star Spangled Screen The American World War II Film University Press of Kentucky ISBN 978 0 813 14895 3 Dixon Norman F 2016 On the Psychology of Military Incompetence Basic Books ISBN 978 0 465 09780 7 Dowe Christopher Hecht Cornelia 2016 Von Mythen Legenden und Manipulationen David Irving und seine verzerrende Deutungen von Erwin Rommel Hans Speidel und Casar von Hofacker In Haus der Geschichte Baden Wurttemberg ed Verrater Vorbilder Verbrecher Kontroverse Deutungen des 20 Juli 1944 seit 1945 Frank amp Timme GmbH pp 129 160 ISBN 9783732902767 Duffy James P Ricci Vincent L 2013 Target Hitler The Many Plots to Kill Adolf Hitler Enigma Books ISBN 978 1 936274 03 1 Echternkamp Jorg 2010 Die 101 wichtigsten Fragen der Zweite Weltkrieg C H Beck ISBN 978 3 406 59314 7 Edwards Jill 2012 El Alamein and the Struggle for North Africa International Perspectives from the Twenty first Century Oxford University Press ISBN 978 977 416 581 8 Evans Richard J 2009 The Third Reich at War New York Penguin ISBN 978 0 14 101548 4 Fischer Thomas 2014 Rommel und Hitler SWR Retrieved 30 May 2016 Fraser David 1993 Knight s Cross A Life of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel New York HarperCollins Retrieved 23 April 2016 Friedmann Jan 23 May 2007 World War II New Research Taints Image of Desert Fox Rommel Spiegel Online Archived from the original on 11 December 2016 Retrieved 4 March 2016 Gabel Christopher 2014 Great Commanders Illustrated Edition Pickle Partners Publishing ISBN 978 1 78289 446 9 Giordano Ralph 2000 Die Traditionsluge vom Kriegerkult in der Bundeswehr Kiepenheuer amp Witsch ISBN 978 3 462 02921 5 Giordano Ralph 2010 Mein Leben ist so sundhaft lang ein Tagebuch Kiepenheuer amp Witsch ISBN 978 3 462 04240 5 Goldschmidt Waldeck Rosie 1943 Meet Mr Blank The Leader of Tomorrow s Germans G P Putnam s sons Hachten Wee Patricia Wee Robert James 2004 World War II in Literature for Youth A Guide and Resource Book Scarecrow Press ISBN 978 0 8108 5301 0 Hamilton Nigel 2012 Defeating the Desert Fox The National WWII Museum Retrieved 8 October 2016 Hanley Brian 2008 Planning for Conflict in the Twenty first Century Greenwood Publishing Group ISBN 978 0 313 34555 5 Hansen Randall 2014 Disobeying Hitler German Resistance After Valkyrie New York Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 992792 0 Hart Russel A 2014 Rommel and the 20th July Bomb Plot In F W Beckett ed Rommel Reconsidered Mechanicsburg PA Stackpole Books ISBN 978 0 8117 1462 4 Hartmann Bernd 2011 Panzers in the Sand The History of Panzer Regiment 5 1942 45 Volume 2 Stackpole Books p 138 ISBN 9780811744324 Holles Everett 1945 Unconditional Surrender Howell Soskin p 227 Kanold Jurgen 28 February 2012 Denkmal des Anstosses swp de Retrieved 4 August 2016 Kitchen Martin 2009 Rommel s Desert War Waging World War II in North Africa 1941 1943 Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 50971 8 Kitchen Martin 14 January 2014 A World in Flames A Short History of the Second World War in Europe and Asia 1939 1945 Routledge p 84 ISBN 978 1 317 90094 8 Knopp Guido 2013 Hitlers Krieger C Bertelsmann Verlag ISBN 978 3 641 11998 0 Knorr Jr Major Marvin 2015 The Development Of German Doctrine And Command And Control And Its Application To Supporting Arms 1832 1945 Pickle Partners Publishing ISBN 978 1 78625 062 9 Knox MacGregor 2000 Hitler s Italian Allies Royal Armed Forces Fascist Regime and the War of 1940 1943 Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 1 139 43203 0 Krause Michael D Phillips R Cody 2006 Historical Perspectives of the Operational Art Government Printing Office ISBN 978 0 16 072564 7 Kubetzky Thomas 2010 The mask of command Bernard L Montgomery George S Patton und Erwin Rommell LIT Verlag Munster ISBN 978 3 643 10349 9 Lasserre Caroline 8 July 2014 Rommel ist und bleibt ein Mythos Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Archived from the original on 11 December 2016 Retrieved 3 August 2016 Latimer Jon 2002 Alamein Cambridge MA Harvard University Press ISBN 978 0 674 01016 1 Levine Alan J 2007 D Day to Berlin The Northwest Europe Campaign 1944 45 Stackpole Books ISBN 978 1 4617 5085 7 Levine Alan J 1999 The War Against Rommel s Supply Lines 1942 1943 Praeger p 183 ISBN 9780275965211 Lewin Ronald 1998 1968 Rommel As Military Commander New York B amp N Books ISBN 978 0 7607 0861 3 Lieb Peter 2013 Erwin Rommel Widerstandskampfer oder Nationalsozialist pp 303 343 doi 10 1524 vfzg 2013 0015 S2CID 147061655 a href Template Cite encyclopedia html title Template Cite encyclopedia cite encyclopedia a journal ignored help Lieb Peter 2014 Rommel in Normandy In I F W Beckett ed Rommel Reconsidered Mechanicsburg PA Stackpole Books ISBN 978 0 8117 1462 4 Luvaas Jay 1990 Liddell Hart and the Mearsheimer Critique A Pupil s Retrospective PDF Strategic Studies Institute Retrieved 8 February 2016 Macksey Kenneth 1979 Rommel Battles and Campaigns Arms amp Armour Press ISBN 978 0 85368 232 5 Maier Manfred 2013 Vortrag Manfred Maier zu der Geschichte des Heidenheimer Rommeldenkmals In Geschichtswerkstatt Heidenheim ed Vorlage fur die Arbeitsgruppe Umgestaltung des Rommel Denkmals p 49 Majdalany Fred 2003 The Battle of El Alamein Fortress in the Sand University of Pennsylvania Press pp 31 32 ISBN 978 0 8122 1850 3 Major Patrick 2008 Our Friend Rommel The Wehrmacht as Worthy Enemy in Postwar British Popular Culture German History Oxford University Press 26 4 520 535 doi 10 1093 gerhis ghn049 Marshall Charles F 1994 Discovering the Rommel Murder Mechanicsburg Pennsylvania Stackpole Books ISBN 978 0 8117 4278 8 McMahon T L 2014 Operational Principles The Operational Art of Erwin Rommel and Bernard Montgomery Pickle Partners ISBN 978 1 78289 742 2 Mearsheimer John 1988 Liddell Hart and the Weight of History Ithaca N Y Cornell University Press ISBN 978 0 8014 2089 4 Megargee Geoffrey P 2000 Inside Hitler s High Command Lawrence Kansas Kansas University Press ISBN 0 7006 1015 4 Messenger Charles 2009 Rommel Leadership Lessons from the Desert Fox Basingstoke NY Palgrave Macmillan ISBN 978 0 230 60908 2 Murray Williamson 1995 Knight s Cross A Life of Field Marshall Erwin Rommel by David Fraser The Journal of Military History Virginia Military Institute and the George C Marshall Foundation 59 2 345 346 doi 10 2307 2944594 ISSN 1543 7795 JSTOR 2944594 Murray Williamson Millett Allan Reed 2009 A War To Be Won fighting the Second World War Harvard University Press ISBN 978 0 674 04130 1 Murray Williamson 2011 Military Adaptation in War With Fear of Change Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 1 139 91586 1 Naumann Klaus 2009 Afterword In Charles Messenger ed Rommel Leadership Lessons from the Desert Fox Basingstoke NY Palgrave Macmillan ISBN 978 0 230 60908 2 Neitzel Sonke 2005 Abgehort Deutsche Generale in britischer Kriegsgefangenschaft 1942 1945 Berlin Propylaen ISBN 978 3 548 60760 3 Paterson Tony 4 December 2011 Was the Desert Fox an honest soldier or just another Nazi The Independent Pimlott John ed 2014 1994 Rommel In His Own Words London Amber Books ISBN 978 1 78274 190 9 Pyta Wolfram 2015 Hitler Der Kunstler als Politiker und Feldherr Eine Herrschaftsanalyse Siedler Verlag ISBN 978 3 641 15701 2 Rau Petra 2013 Our Nazis Edinburgh University Press pp 132 134 ISBN 9780748668663 Retrieved 8 February 2019 Remy Maurice Philip 2002 Mythos Rommel Munich Ullstein ISBN 3 548 60385 8 Reuth Ralf Georg 2005 Rommel The End of a Legend London Haus Books ISBN 978 1 904950 20 2 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Erwin Rommel and the Bundeswehr amp oldid 1172344666, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.