#documentary #erwinrommel #rommel
This video presents a short biography of one of the most known figures of World War Two, Erwin Rommel.
Born in Heidenheim, Württemberg, Rommel was the son of a schoolteacher and joined the German Army in 1910 as an officer-aspirant. In January 1912, he was commissioned a second lieutenant and was assigned to a field artillery regiment in March 1914, shortly before the outbreak of World War I. He fought on the Western Front and was twice wounded. After recovering from his second wound, he transferred to the Württemberg Mountain Battalion and served in the Vosges, then on the Romanian and Italian fronts during 1917–18. He exhibited a marked talent for tactics, which he demonstrated by a bold infiltration during the Battle of Caporetto in the Italian campaign.
By the end of World War I, Rommel had risen to the position of staff officer, and in the much-reduced post–Treaty of Versailles army, he commanded an internal security company during 1919–21, then took charge of a company in the 13th Infantry Regiment headquartered at Stuttgart. In October 1929, Rommel was appointed an instructor at the Infantry School in Dresden; as a result of this assignment, he wrote what became the standard text on infantry tactics, Infanterie Greiftan (Infantry Attacks), which was published in 1937.
In February 1940, Rommel assumed command of the 7th Panzer Division and was a key field commander during the Battle of France in May–June 1940. Having demonstrated that he was one of Germany’s leading exponents of armored warfare, Rommel was dispatched to Libya following the fall of France to command the Afrika Korps beginning in February 1941. In this command, he earned the sobriquet “Desert Fox” as he twice pushed British forces back across the Egyptian-Cyrenaican frontier in a spectacular series of large-scale armored battles. After the British surrendered at Tobruk in June 1942, Rommel was promoted to field marshal.
In October–November 1942, Rommel suffered a severe defeat at the second of the two Battles of El Alamein and was recalled to Europe in March 1943. This was not to punish Rommel for his defeat but to save him from further defeat. Hitler did not want the German people to see his favorite general in anything other than the context of victory.
Rommel was assigned to command Army Group B in northern Italy, then, in January 1944, was named to command of German forces in the Low Countries and northern France. In this role, he oversaw the general rehabilitation and reinforcement of the “Atlantic Wall” defenses in anticipation of an Allied Cross-Channel invasion. It would be Rommel’s Army Group B that would bear the initial brunt of the Normandy landings (D-day) in June 1944.
On July 17, 1944, Rommel was wounded in an Allied air attack, then, following the July Plot (to assassinate Hitler) three days later, he was implicated in the assassination conspiracy. Although Hitler arrested and executed some 5,000 persons suspected of complicity in the plot, he did not want the popular Rommel to be formally charged. Instead, the field marshal was given the option of ending his own life—and thereby saving his family from Nazi retribution.
On October 14, 1944, he took cyanide. The Nazi propaganda machine reported that he had died a hero of the Reich, having succumbed to war wounds. Erwin Rommel was given a full state funeral.
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox, was a man of exceptional skill and unwavering dedication. His exploits in North Africa and his influence on modern military strategy make him a figure worth remembering. Rommel's life is a testament to the complexities of war and the difficult choices faced by those who serve their nations. His legacy continues to inspire future generations of military leaders, reminding us of the enduring impact of great commanders in history.

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