Rommel Survives the War...

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Rommel did believe redistributive mass murder of civilians for partisan activity should be punished though all he could do in 1944 is demand to Hitler to no avail that he be allowed to lead the court-marshal of officers for doing so.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f132/jmc247/Misc/4fed2698-9aa7-4884-b401-3845c1cc5c9d.jpg
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That much we already know and the shell of the book exists in scattered parts. He actually started writing it before the war.

We know quite a few of the messages including the ending message from the scattered manuscripts that in essence Rommel would have argued as he did to his son that tanks have a new place in warfare, but that tanks alone could not be militarily decisive if one side definitively controls the air and he believed Americans would keep control of the air for a long time to come given the industrial power of the US.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f132/jmc247/Misc/1944II-1.png

These two bits of info has instilled in me admiration for the man.

You seem to know the desert fox quite well!
 
He would not have been charged at Nuremberg . probably have a pint with Churchill before being made head of the Bundeswehr.
 
He would have to go through Monty, Auk and Patton first. ;)

I think most Allied officers and political leaders would have seen the value of a Rommel free to build West Germany up, if not at the head of the Bundeswehr or in high public office, then somehow.
 
I think most Allied officers and political leaders would have seen the value of a Rommel free to build West Germany up, if not at the head of the Bundeswehr or in high public office, then somehow.

Considering that Churchill, many members of the British parliament, and many American and British and Commonwealth military commanders paid tribute to him upon his death publicly in worst war Europe had seen since the 30 Years War I would say that was a fair bet. Monty next to Churchill probably had the best tribute.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f132/jmc247/Misc/Monty2.png

There is a reason the anti-Nazi resistance eventually got over there reluctance to talk to him and tell him what was going on in the East. A book I picked up recently that I noticed was selling well in Poland about Rommel saving the lives of certain Polish families when asked to at a ball The Night I Danced With Rommel brings up this point that anti-Nazi Europeans would listen on the radio would listen to Churchill and other high ranking Allied political and military figures talk about Rommel as honorable, chivalrous and it made clear that they thought if anyone in Europe could bring a negotiated end to the war early for central Europe on better terms then they feared was coming it was him.

Rommel knew a bit better then the July Plotters and civilian anti-Nazi resistance that without some real level of military success in Normandy they wouldn't talk to him about terms as he always had a decent idea of the pulse of Allied opinion as he was talking to Allied officers throughout 1944 just like he did in Africa.

By talking to Allied troops throughout the war paid off for him long term in that many thousands of them got to talk to him and spread the message back home to their populations and governments about him. His style of always being running around the front and getting to know the troops ruined his health, but in turn let legions of war heroes in WAllied nations get to know him quite well so a British colonel he very well may have saved the life of and then had tea and chatted with authored his first major biography after the war which was turned into a big budget Hollywood film.

Few soldiers embodied the virtues of chivalry as did Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Rommel insisted his troops give prisoners the same treatment as German officers, and he refused orders to execute prisoners. During a battle in North Africa, a German officer held a gun to the head of a captured British colonel. The officer told the colonel to order a group of British troops to surrender, but the colonel refused. When Rommel overheard the threat, he ordered the German officer to holster his gun because his demand violated the rules of war. Rommel then shared water and tea with the British officer. Rommel didn't survive the war, but the colonel did. He later authored the first major biography of Rommel, "The Desert Fox."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/09/living/higher-call-military-chivalry

There are actually two possibilities with Rommel living one that he lives as a distraught and depressed man helping the German military, writing speeches, writing books, but that is about it. Rommel always believed the German people outside of a small number of louts, crazies, and sociopaths were inherently a good people. According to his son his father in the last year of his life had already started changing and was starting to become increasingly emotionally unrecognizable from the man he once knew as what was going on in the East was starting to be told to him in late 1943 and early 1944.

The events of 1945 and actually seeing what had been going on in the East compared to hearing 3rd hand stories about it, the rape and ethnic cleansing of Eastern Germany, and finding out how involved the army was in killing civilians in the East would have been bad enough for him. But, on an individual level he knew and played with all of Goebbles children and was closest to Hedwig the young girl on the video below who went towards him and liked to walk like he did with her hands behind her back... well one can see on the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=HQaTdaMc8RI#t=44s

That their mother killed all of them and then herself is the kind of thing that very well might break Rommel's faith in his own judgment of people as it would be unthinkable to him that Magda would do such a thing and it might break his faith in the inherent decency of Germans as a people. If that happens then the it could be many years if ever before he does more then go through the expected motions at promoting the new West German Army and giving speeches.

The second possibility is that Rommel decides with half the country under Soviet domination now is not the time to look backwards or stew in depression that now is time to take the bull by the horns and reshape Germany's post war future. The second possibility could radically alter things as to be blunt Rommel had the kind of respect in the major WAllied capitals and with their populations that Adenauer or any other post war German figure couldn't even begin to touch. He also would have huge reservoirs of public support in Germany.

The Soviets would also see him as a vastly stronger figure then an Adenauer one to respect, but to also worry about. Rommel negotiating between the Soviets, British, and Americans in the early stages of the Cold War would be interesting. I could imagine that could end up a lot of ways.
 
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Howlers

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Considering that Churchill, many members of the British parliament, and many American and British and Commonwealth military commanders paid tribute to him upon his death publicly in worst war Europe had seen since the 30 Years War I would say that was a fair bet. Monty next to Churchill probably had the best tribute.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f132/jmc247/Misc/Monty2.png

There is a reason the anti-Nazi resistance eventually got over there reluctance to talk to him and tell him what was going on in the East. A book I picked up recently that I noticed was selling well in Poland about Rommel saving the lives of certain Polish families when asked to at a ball The Night I Danced With Rommel brings up this point that anti-Nazi Europeans would listen on the radio would listen to Churchill and other high ranking Allied political and military figures talk about Rommel as honorable, chivalrous and it made clear that they thought if anyone in Europe could bring a negotiated end to the war early for central Europe on better terms then they feared was coming it was him.

Rommel knew a bit better then the July Plotters and civilian anti-Nazi resistance that without some real level of military success in Normandy they wouldn't talk to him about terms as he always had a decent idea of the pulse of Allied opinion as he was talking to Allied officers throughout 1944 just like he did in Africa.

By talking to Allied troops throughout the war paid off for him long term in that many thousands of them got to talk to him and spread the message back home to their populations and governments about him. His style of always being running around the front and getting to know the troops ruined his health, but in turn let legions of war heroes in WAllied nations get to know him quite well so a British colonel he very well may have saved the life of and then had tea and chatted with authored his first major biography after the war which was turned into a big budget Hollywood film.



There are actually two possibilities with Rommel living one that he lives as a distraught and depressed man helping the German military, writing speeches, writing books, but that is about it. Rommel always believed the German people outside of a small number of louts, crazies, and sociopaths were inherently a good people. According to his son his father in the last year of his life had already started changing and was starting to become increasingly emotionally unrecognizable from the man he once knew as what was going on in the East was starting to be told to him in late 1943 and early 1944.

The events of 1945 and actually seeing what had been going on in the East compared to hearing 3rd hand stories about it, the rape and ethnic cleansing of Eastern Germany, and finding out how involved the army was in killing civilians in the East would have been bad enough for him. But, on an individual level he knew and played with all of Goebbles children and was closest to Hedwig the young girl on the video below who went towards him and liked to walk like he did with her hands behind her back... well one can see on the video below.


That their mother killed all of them and then herself is the kind of thing that very well might break Rommel's faith in his own judgment of people as it would be unthinkable to him that Magda would do such a thing and it might break his faith in the inherent decency of Germans as a people. If that happens then the it could be many years if ever before he does more then go through the expected motions at promoting the new West German Army and giving speeches.

The second possibility is that Rommel decides with half the country under Soviet domination now is not the time to look backwards or stew in depression that now is time to take the bull by the horns and reshape Germany's post war future. The second possibility could radically alter things as to be blunt Rommel had the kind of respect in the major WAllied capitals and with their populations that Adenauer or any other post war German figure couldn't even begin to touch. He also would have huge reservoirs of public support in Germany.

The Soviets would also see him as a vastly stronger figure then an Adenauer one to respect, but to also worry about. Rommel negotiating between the Soviets, British, and Americans in the early stages of the Cold War would be interesting. I could imagine that could end up a lot of ways.

Well said you seem to be very knowledgeable on this
 

CalBear

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Well said you seem to be very knowledgeable on this
You were specifically notified by PM NOT to resurrect long inactive threads since it is a specific violation of Board Policy and Rules.

This now a Formal Warning not to do so. I strongly urge you to take notice of it.
 
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