Word: germanic
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1930-1939
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Three weeks ago Generaloberst Walther von Brauchitsch was little more than a name outside Germany, an untried general who was supposed to be a good organizer but no theorist, whose rise to the position of Commander in Chief of the German Land Forces had been due at least partly to his willingness to back Adolf Hitler where more experienced generals would not. This week Brauchitsch was a name to put beside those of Moltke, Ludendorff and Schlieffen: not only was he Germany's No. 1 Krieger (warrior), but he had fostered, planned and led the Blitzkrieg-and proved...
...Germany, Heinrich Alfred Hermann Walther von Brauchitsch is almost as obscure as he is abroad, and for two reasons: 1) Germans are rationed only one hero and his name is Adolf Hitler; 2) Brauchitsch is the typical German Army officer, self-effacing, obedient and personally dull. Only time he ever got himself talked about was last year, when he divorced his first wife to marry young and pretty Charlotte Schmidt, daughter of a Silesian judge. Nevertheless, he possesses the thoroughness, persistence and greatness in his field that have made the Army the highest expression of German efficiency and perhaps...
...movement, as opposed to a war of position, carried out with the fastest units available. Before World War I it was cavalry that flanked enemy positions, cut off communications, destroyed supplies. In both the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 the Germans won their decisive battles within six weeks after hostilities began. In the last World War they tried and failed-but only after the retreat from Paris did the War settle down to one of position and exhaustion. This time Brauchitsch had previous German experience to rely on, plus the theories...
...Brauchitsch became chief of Group Command 4 in Leipzig, the jumping-off place to the top jobs in the German Army. By then the Army was in a turmoil. Hitler was impatient to begin his grabs and the Army knew it was not ready. Loyalties were split between the Army and the Nazis, and there was sharp disagreement between those who were willing to back Hitler in a bluff and those who counseled delay. Brauchitsch kept mum, but when the purge came and Blomberg and Fritsch lost their jobs,* his good friend Reichenau recommended him to Hitler...
...depend on us. For more serious business, we are not yet ready." A few days later he had taken over command of the Austrian Army. In September 1938, he said the same thing in almost the same words-and marched into the Sudetenland at the head of the German troops. He occupied Bohemia and Moravia last spring, but still the Army was not ready. Last month, as motorized divisions began concentrating in Slovakia, in Silesia and East Prussia, Walther von Brauchitsch said good-by to his pretty wife and flew across the corridor to take personal command of the awaited...