Erich von Manstein
Encyclopedia
Erich von Manstein was a field marshal
in World War II
. He became one of the most prominent commanders of Germany
's World War II armed forces (Wehrmacht
). During World War II he attained the rank of Field Marshal
(Generalfeldmarschall
) and was held in high esteem by his fellow officers as one of the Wehrmacht's best military strategists.
He was the initiator and one of the planners of the Ardennes
offensive alternative in the invasion of France
in 1940. He received acclaim from the German leadership for the victorious battles of Perekop Isthmus, Kerch
, Sevastopol and Kharkov
. He commanded the failed relief effort at Stalingrad
and the Cherkassy pocket evacuation. He was dismissed from service by Adolf Hitler
in March 1944, due to his frequent clashes with Hitler over military strategy. In his memoirs, Verlorene Siege (1955), translated into English as Lost Victories, he is critical of Hitler above all for denying the Army flexible defensive maneuverability and for "over-reliance" on his "will", and critical of the attempt by other military officers on Hitler's life.
In 1949, he was tried in Hamburg
for war crimes and was convicted of "neglecting to protect civilian lives" and using scorched earth tactics which denied vital food supplies to the local population. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison, later reduced to 12, but he only served 4 years before being released. After release from a British prison in 1953, he became a military advisor to the West German Government
.
, the tenth child of a Prussia
n aristocrat, artillery
general Eduard von Lewinski
(1829–1906), and Helene von Sperling (1847–1910). His father's family was of partial Polish
origin - Brochwicz coat of arms (Brochwicz III). Hedwig von Sperling (1852–1925), Helene's younger sister, married Lieutenant General Georg von Manstein (1844–1913). The couple were not able to have children, thus it was decided that this tenth, unborn child would be adopted by his uncle and aunt. When he was born, the Lewinskis sent a telegram to the von Mansteins which stated: You got a healthy boy today. Mother and child well. Congratulations.
Not only were both Erich von Manstein's biological and adoptive father Prussian generals, but his mother's brother and both his grandfathers had also been Prussian generals (one of them, Gustav
, leading a corps in the Franco-Prussian War
of 1870–71). In addition, he was also a nephew of Paul von Hindenburg
, the future Generalfeldmarschall and President of Germany, whose wife Gertrud was a sister of Hedwig and Helene. Thus, his career in the Prussian Army
was assured from birth. He attended the Lycée in Strasbourg
(1894–99), a territory which had been annexed by the German Empire
after the Franco-Prussian War
of 1870–71. He spent six years in the cadet corps (1900–1906), in Plön
and Groß-Lichterfelde
and joined the Third Foot Guards Regiment (Garde zu Fuß) in March 1906 as an ensign. He was promoted to Lieutenant in January 1907, and in October 1913, entered the Prussian War Academy.
, von Manstein served on both the German
Western Front
(Belgium
/France
1916: Attack on Verdun
, 1917–18: Champagne
) and the Eastern Front
(1915: North Poland
, 1915–16: Serbia
, 1917: Estonia
). In Poland
, he was severely wounded in November 1914. He returned to duty in 1915, was promoted to captain and remained as a staff officer until the end of the war. In 1918, he volunteered for the staff position in the Frontier Defence Force in Breslau (Wroclaw
) and served there until 1919.
n landowner in 1920. She died in 1966. They had three children: a daughter named Gisela, and two sons, Gero (b. 31 December 1922) and Rüdiger. Their elder son Gero, serving as a Lieutenant in the Wehrmacht, died on the battlefield in the northern sector of the Eastern Front on 29 October 1942.
Von Manstein stayed in the armed forces after World War I
. In the 1920s, he participated in the formation of the Reichswehr
, the German Army of the Weimar Republic
(restricted to 100,000 men by the Versailles Treaty). He was appointed company commander in 1920 and later battalion commander in 1922. In 1927 he was promoted to Major and began serving with the General Staff, visiting other countries to learn about their military facilities. In 1933 the Nazi Party
rose to power in Germany thus ending the Weimar period. The new regime renounced the Versailles Treaty and proceeded with large scale rearmament and expansion of the military.
On 1 July 1935, von Manstein was made the Head of Operations Branch of the Army General Staff (Generalstab des Heeres), part of the Army High Command (Oberkommando des Heeres
). During his tenure, he proposed the development of Sturmgeschütz
e, self-propelled assault guns that would provide heavy direct-fire support to infantry, relieving the mobile tank forces of this responsibility. In World War II, the resulting StuG series proved to be one of the most successful and cost-effective German weapons.
He was promoted on 1 October 1936, becoming the Deputy Chief of Staff (Oberquartiermeister I) to the Chief of the Army General Staff, General Ludwig Beck
. On 4 February 1938, with the fall of Werner von Fritsch
, von Manstein was transferred to the command of the 18th Infantry Division
in Liegnitz, Silesia
with the rank of Generalleutnant
. On April 20, 1939 to celebrate Hitler's 50th birthday, Manstein delivered a speech to his troops, in which he praised Hitler as a leader sent by God to save Germany, and warned the "hostile world" that if it kept erecting "ramparts around Germany to block the way of the German people towards their future", then he would be quite happy to see the world plunged into another world war.
, von Manstein was appointed Chief of Staff to Gerd von Rundstedt
’s Army Group South
. Here he worked along with von Rundstedt’s Chief of Operations, Colonel Günther Blumentritt
in the development of the operational plan. Von Rundstedt accepted von Manstein’s plan calling for the concentration of the majority of the army group’s armoured units into Walther von Reichenau
’s 10th Army, with the objective of a decisive breakthrough which would lead to the encirclement of Polish forces west of the Vistula River. In von Manstein’s plan, two other armies comprising Army Group South, Wilhelm List’s 14th Army and Johannes Blaskowitz
’s 8th Army, were to provide the flank support for Reichenau’s armoured thrust towards Warsaw
, the Polish capital. Privately, von Manstein was lukewarm about the Polish campaign, thinking that it would be better to keep Poland as a buffer between Germany and the Soviet Union
. He also worried about an Allied attack on the West Wall once the Polish campaign started, thus drawing Germany into a two-front war.
Launched on 1 September 1939, the invasion began successfully. In Army Group South’s area of responsibility, armoured units of the 10th Army pursued the retreating Poles, giving them no time to set up a defence. The 8th Army prevented the isolated Polish troop concentrations in Łódź, Radom
and Poznań
from merging into a cohesive force. Deviating from the original plan that called for heading straight for the Vistula and then proceeding to Warsaw, von Manstein persuaded von Rundstedt to encircle the Polish units in the Radom
area. The plan succeeded, clearing the bulk of Polish resistance from the southern approach to Warsaw.
, to develop a plan for action in the west against France
and the Low Countries
. The different plans that the General Staff suggested were given to von Manstein and his staff, who, with Gerd von Rundstedt
's approval, formalized an alternative plan for Fall Gelb
(Case Yellow). This plan received Hitler's attention in February 1940 and finally his agreement.
By late October, the bulk of the German Army was redeployed to the west. Von Manstein was made Chief of Staff of von Rundstedt’s Army Group A
in western Germany. Like many of the army's younger officers, von Manstein opposed Fall Gelb
, criticizing it for its lack of ability to deliver strategic results and the uninspired use of the armoured forces, which may have come from OKH's inability to influence Hitler's planning. Von Manstein pointed out that a repeat of the Schlieffen Plan
, with the attack directed through Belgium
, was something the Allies expected, as they were already moving strong forces into the area. Bad weather in the area caused the attack to be cancelled several times and eventually delayed into the spring.
During the autumn, Von Manstein, with the informal cooperation of Heinz Guderian
, developed his own plan; he suggested that the panzer divisions attack through the wooded hills of the Ardennes
where no one would expect them, then establish bridgeheads on the Meuse River
and rapidly drive to the English Channel
. The Germans would thus cut off the French and Allied armies in Belgium and Flanders
. Von Manstein's proposal also contained a second thrust, outflanking the Maginot Line
, which would have allowed the Germans to force any future defensive line much further south. This second thrust would perhaps have avoided the need for the Fall Rot (Case Red) second stage of the Battle of France (Von Manstein, 2004). The plan was after the event nicknamed Sichelschnitt (sickle cut).
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
originally rejected the proposal. Halder had von Manstein removed from von Rundstedt's headquarters and sent to the east to command the 38th Army Corps. But Hitler, looking for a more aggressive plan, approved a modified version of von Manstein's ideas, which today is known as the Manstein Plan
. This modified version, formulated by Halder, did not contain the second thrust. Von Manstein and his corps played a minor role during the operations in France, serving under Günther von Kluge
's 4th Army. However, it was his corps which helped to achieve the first breakthrough during Fall Rot, east of Amiens
, and was the first to reach and cross the River Seine. The invasion was an outstanding military success and von Manstein was promoted to full general
and awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
for suggesting the plan.
, serving under General Erich Hoepner
. Attacking on 22 June 1941, von Manstein advanced more than 100 miles in only two days and seized two vital bridges over the Dvina River at Dvinsk.
, had perished when his plane landed in a Russian minefield. The 11th Army was tasked with invading the Crimea
, capturing Sevastopol
and pursuing enemy forces on the flank of Army Group South during its advance into Russia [Von Manstein, (2004)]. On September 8, 1941, Otto Ohlendorf
of Einsatzgruppe D, which travelled in the wake of Manstein's 11th Army reported that relations with the 11th Army were "excellent". Manstein had the 11th Army provide Einsatzgruppe D with vehicles, gas, drivers and military police to cordon areas where Einsatzgruppe D planned to shoot Jews.
After the initial German breakthrough, the rest of the Perekop
area had to be secured. After ten days of fighting, the Soviet line was overrun on 28 October. The Germans quickly seized control of the whole peninsula, and by 17 November, only the city of Sevastopol
held out.
The attack on Sevastopol began 30 October 1941 but failed and on 21 December, just as the Germans were preparing for their last push, the Soviets launched a spoiling attack, forcing them back. Shortly thereafter the Soviet winter offensive began, producing the Wehrmacht's so-called "Winter Crisis".
Just over a week later, on 26 December 1941, the Soviets landed on the Kerch Straits, and on 30 December executed another landing near Theodosia
. Only a hurried withdrawal from the Kerch Straits, in contravention of Manstein's orders, by 46 Infantry Division under General Hans Graf von Sponeck
s command prevented a collapse of the eastern part of the Crimea, although the division lost most of its heavy equipment. This situation forced von Manstein to cancel a resumption of the attack on Sevastopol and send most of his forces east to destroy the Soviet bridgehead. The situation was stabilised by late April 1942.
Operation Trappenjagd, launched on 8 May 1942, aimed at expelling the Russian forces from the Kerch peninsula. After feinting against the north, the 11th army attacked south, and the Soviets were soon reduced to fleeing for the Kerch Straits. Three Soviet armies (44th, 47th and 51st), 21 divisions, 176,000 men, 347 tanks and nearly 3,500 guns were lost. The remains of the force were evacuated and Trappenjagd was completed successfully on 18 May. German losses were 3,397 men ( 600 KIA ) and 8 tanks. During this period, Manstein played a leading role in helping Einsatzgruppe D exterminate the Jewish popluation of the Crimea. A Captain Ulrich Gunzert after watching Einsatzgruppe D massacre a group of Jewish women and children, was shocked by he had seen and went to Manstein to ask him to do something to stop the massacres. Manstein told Captain Gunzert to forget what he had seen, and to focus on fighting the Red Army instead. Gunzert later wrote about Manstein's actions that "It was a flight from responsibility, a moral failure".
With months delay von Manstein turned his attention once more towards the capture of Sevastopol, a battle in which Germany used some of the largest guns ever built. Along with large numbers of regular artillery pieces, super-heavy 600mm mortars and the 800mm "Dora" railway gun
were brought in for the assault. The furious barrage began on the morning of 7 June 1942, and all of the resources of the Luftwaffe
's Luftflotte 4, commanded by Wolfram von Richthofen
, descended on their targets, continuing for five days before the main assault began.
The outer defensive rings were breached by 16 June 1942, and on 4 July 1942 Sevastopol fell. Hitler, delighted at hearing the good news, phoned von Manstein and commended him as "The Conqueror of Sevastopol", informing him that he had ordered von Manstein's promotion to Generalfeldmarschall
.
, which had been under siege from autumn the previous year. Von Manstein, with elements of the 11th Army, was transferred to the Leningrad
front to lead Operation Nordlicht, which was hoped to be the final capture of the city, set to launch on 15 September 1942. Hitler was confident that with considerable amounts of artillery and the new Tiger tank
this operation would finally break the determined Soviet defence; von Manstein, on the other hand, was more pessimistic, arguing that a simultaneous attack in the north by the Finns would be needed.
On 27 August 1942 the Soviets launched a spoiling attack against Georg Lindemann
’s 18th Army
in the narrow German salient west of Lake Ladoga
. Von Manstein was forced to divert his forces in order to avoid catastrophe. A series of bitter battles ensued, in which von Manstein's smaller forces managed to outmanoeuvre the larger Soviet forces, which lost over 60,000 men over the course of the next few months. This meant, however, that the Germans were not able to execute a decisive assault on Leningrad, and the siege continued into 1943.
On 21 November 1942, during the Battle of Stalingrad
, Adolf Hitler appointed von Manstein commander of the newly created Army Group Don
(Heeresgruppe Don), consisting of a hastily assembled group of tired men and machines, and ordered him to lead Operation Wintergewitter
(Winter Storm), the rescue effort by Hermann Hoth
's 4th Panzer Army
and auxiliary Romania
n troops to relieve the 6th Army
of Friedrich Paulus
trapped inside Stalingrad. Manstein advised Hitler not to order the 6th Army to break out, stating that he could successfully break through the Soviet lines and relief the besieged 6th Army. After 1945, Manstein was to engage in forgery of documents, and claimed falsely that he told Hitler that the 6th Army must break out. The American historian Gerhard Weinberg
wrote that "Because of the sensitivity of the Stalingrad question in post-war Germany, Manstein worked as hard to distort the record on this matter as on his massive involvement in the murder of Jews". Wintergewitter, launched on 12 December, achieved some initial success and von Manstein got his three panzer divisions and supporting units of the 57th Panzer Corps (comprising the 23rd Panzer Grenadier Division, and the 6th and 17th Panzer Divisions
) within 30 miles of Stalingrad by 20 December. However, the corps was halted at the town of Aksay, and strong Russian forces eventually pushed them back.
On 19 December 1942 von Manstein had ordered Paulus
to execute the attack to linkup with the 57th Panzer Corps. Erich von Manstein did not however order the abandonment of Stalingrad, only to be prepared for doing so. Some state that Manstein could have ordered the abandonment of Stalingrad but they disregard that this could not be done without Hitler knowing it. The 6th Army
never executed the attack because it considered it did not have enough fuel and ammunition to do so.
Operation Saturn
, a massive Red Army
offensive in the southernmost part of the front, aimed at capturing Rostov
and thus cutting off the German Army Group A
, which was still withdrawing from the Caucasus
, forced von Manstein to divert his forces to help hard-pressed Army Group A
, in its retreat to Ukraine
, thus avoiding the collapse of the entire front. The attack also prevented the 48th Panzer Corps (comprising the 336th Infantry Division, the 3rd Luftwaffe Field Division
, and the 11th Panzer Division
), under the command of General Otto von Knobelsdorff
, from joining up with the 57th Panzer Corps as planned. Instead, the 48th Panzer Corps held a line along the River Chir, beating off successive Russian attacks. General Hermann Balck
used the 11th Panzer Division to counterattack Russian salients. But the Romanian, Italian, and Hungarian armies on the flanks were overwhelmed, and the 48th Panzer Corps was forced to retreat. As a result, the remnants of the 4th Panzer Army retreated, as its northern flank was exposed by the loss of the Don.
combined with Army Group B and was made into the new Army Group South
(Heeresgruppe Süd), which was led by von Manstein. On 21 February 1943, he launched a counteroffensive into the overextended Soviet flank. The assault proved a major success; von Manstein's troops advanced rapidly, isolating Soviet forward units and forcing the Red Army to halt most of its offensive operations. By 2 March tank spearheads from Hoth's 4th Panzer Army and Army Detachment Kempf met, cutting off large portions of the Soviet Southwest Front, and by 9 March the Wehrmacht had inflicted a heavy defeat on the Soviets at Krasnograd and Barvenkovo. An estimated 23,000 Soviet soldiers were killed and a further 9,000 were captured. Additionally, 615 Soviet tanks and 354 guns were captured.
Von Manstein then pushed forward, with his effort being spearheaded by Paul Hausser
's 2nd SS Panzer Corps, recapturing Kharkov on 14 March, after bloody street fighting in what is known as the Third Battle of Kharkov
. In recognition for this accomplishment, von Manstein received the Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross. The 2nd SS Panzer Corps then captured Belgorod
on 21 March. Von Manstein proposed a daring action for the summer nicknamed the "backhand blow", which was intended to outflank the Red Army into the Sea of Azov
at Rostov
, but Hitler instead chose the more conventional Operation Citadel aimed at crushing the Kursk
salient.
, who led the Soviet defense at Kursk, praised von Manstein. But due to the almost complete failure of the northern sector's pincer led by Günther von Kluge
and Walther Model, chronic lack of infantry support and an operational reserve, as well as Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily, Hitler called off the offensive. Von Manstein protested, asserting that the victory was almost at hand as he felt he had achieved local superiority, and that with a little more effort, he could crack the Soviet defenses before they could bring up their reserves. After the failure of Citadel, the Soviets launched a massive counterattack against the exhausted German forces.
A German victory in the sense of annihilating the surrounded Soviet forces required both the completion of the encirclement (that is the linking of the northern and southern German pincers) and holding the encirclement long enough to overcome the encircled Soviet forces. Even if the first had been accomplished it does not follow that the second would automatically follow. The German forces post-Stalingrad were never able to force the Soviets into significant retreats, except for temporary reversals like Kharkov. After halting the German offensive at Kursk, the Soviets had enough strength to launch immediate counterattacks.
. From October 1943 to mid-January 1944, von Manstein stabilized the situation on the Southern Front. However, the Soviets established a salient from Kiev
, and were within reach of the crucial town of Zhitomir. The Germans launched a successful counteroffensive, in which 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
and 2nd SS Division Das Reich
, together with 1st
, 7th
, 19th, and 25th Panzer Divisions and 68th Infantry Division (part of 4th Panzer Army
), wheeled around the flank of the Russians in front of Zhitomir. Several notable victories were won at Brussilov, Radomyshl, and Meleni, under the guidance of General Hermann Balck
. Balck and his chief of staff had wanted to attack the base of the salient and go for Kiev, but General Raus
favoured a more prudent approach. In late January 1944, von Manstein was forced to retreat further westwards by the Soviet offensive. In mid-February 1944, he disobeyed Hitler's order to "hold his ground at all costs" and ordered 11th and 42nd Corps (consisting of 56,000 men in six divisions) of Army Group South
to break out of the "Korsun Pocket", which occurred on 16-17 February 1944. Eventually, Hitler accepted this action and ordered the breakout after it had already taken place.
. Von Manstein advocated an elastic, mobile defence. He was prepared to cede territory, attempting to make the Soviet forces either stretch out too thinly or to make them advance so fast so that their armoured spearheads could be counter-attacked on the flanks with the goal of encircling and destroying them. Hitler ignored von Manstein's advice and continued to insist on static warfare; all positions held by the Germans were to be defended to the last man. Because of these frequent disagreements, von Manstein publicly advocated that Hitler relinquish control over the army and leave the management of the war to professionals, starting with the establishment of the position of commander-in-chief in the East (Oberbefehlshaber Ost). Hitler, however, rejected this idea numerous times, fearing that it would weaken his hold on power in Germany.
This argument also alarmed some of Hitler's closest associates, such as Hermann Göring
, Joseph Goebbels
and the SS chief Heinrich Himmler
, who were not prepared to give up any of their powers. Himmler started to openly question von Manstein's loyalty and he insinuated to Hitler that von Manstein was an idealist and a defeatist unsuitable to command troops. Von Manstein's frequent arguing, combined with these allegations, resulted in Hitler relieving von Manstein of his command on 31 March 1944. On 2 April 1944, Hitler appointed Walther Model, a firm supporter, as commander of Army Group South as von Manstein's replacement. Nevertheless, von Manstein received the Swords for his Knight's Cross
, the third highest German military honour for his military service to the Wehrmacht.
After his dismissal, von Manstein entered an eye clinic in Breslau for cataract
surgery. He recuperated near Dresden
and then retired from military service all together. Although he did not take part in the attempt to kill Hitler
in July 1944, he had been contacted by Henning von Tresckow
and others in 1943 about the plot. While von Manstein did agree that change was necessary, he refused to join them as he still considered himself bound by duty. (He rejected the approaches with the statement: "Preussische Feldmarschälle meutern nicht" – "Prussian Field Marshals do not mutiny.") He also feared that a civil war would ensue. Though he did not join the plotters, he did not betray them either. In late January 1945, he collected his family from their homes in Liegnitz and evacuated them to western Germany. He surrendered to British
Field Marshal Montgomery and was arrested by British troops on 23 August 1945.
in 1946, von Manstein was only called as a witness for the defence. Von Manstein was subsequently interned by the British as a prisoner of war
in "Special Camp 11" in Bridgend
, Wales
. Later, because of pressure from the Soviets, who wanted him extradited to stand trial in the USSR, the British accepted their indictments and charged him with war crimes, putting him on trial before a British Military Tribunal in Hamburg
in August 1949. In part, because of the Soviet demands in the Cold War
environment and respect for his military exploits, many in the British military establishment, such as Field Marshal Montgomery ("Monty") and the military strategist B. H. Liddell Hart, openly expressed sympathy for von Manstein's plight and, along with the likes of Sir Winston Churchill
, donated money for the defence. Churchill saw the trial as yet another effort of the then-ruling Attlee
government to appease the Soviets.
In court, von Manstein's defence, led by the prominent lawyer Reginald Thomas Paget, argued that he had been unaware that genocide
was taking place in the territory under his control. It was argued that von Manstein did not enforce the Commissar order
, which called for the immediate execution of Red Army Communist Party commissars. According to his testimony at the Nuremberg Trials
, he received it, but refused to carry it out. He claimed that his superior at the time, Field Marshal von Leeb
, tolerated and tacitly approved of his choice, and he also claimed that the order was not carried out in practice. Manstein had perjured himself when he claimed that he did not enforce the “Commissar Order”: documents from 1941 showed that he passed the “Commissar Order” to his subordinates, and that he had suspected “commissars” shot Manstein's lawyer Paget claimed that the only commissars Manstein had shot were in the rear area in the Crimea by police units, likely because of partisan activities.
Manstein issued an order on 20 November 1941: his version of Field Marshal von Reichenau's
infamous "Severity Order
" of 10 October 1941, which equated "partisans" with "Jews" and called for their extermination. Following complaints by some of his officers about the massacres being committed by Einsatzgruppen
, Reicheanu issued the "Severity Order" to explain to his men why in his view the massacres were necessary. Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt
, the commander of Army Group South and Reicheanu's superior, upon hearing of the "Severity Order" expressed his "complete agreement" with it, and send out a circular to all of his generals suggesting that they issue their own versions of the "Severity Order". Manstein's lawyer Paget claimed that he had a subordinate write a more moderate version of the order and he wrote a part himself in which he recommended lenient treatment of non-Communists in order to secure their cooperation. This did not apply to the Jewish population, whom Manstein equated with Communism, and wanted to see exterminated. The order stated that::
The order also stated: "The food situation at home makes it essential that the troops should as far as possible be fed off the land and that furthermore the largest possible stocks should be placed at the disposal of the homeland. Particularly in enemy cities a large part of the population will have to go hungry." This also was one of the indictments against von Manstein in Hamburg; not only neglect of civilians, but also exploitation of invaded countries for the sole benefit of the "homeland", something considered illegal by the then current laws of war
.
The order additionally stated that "severe steps will be taken against arbitrary action and self interest, against savagery and indiscipline, against any violation of the honour of the soldier" and that "respect for religious customs, particularly those of Muslim Tartars, must be demanded." The evidence for this order was first presented by prosecutor Telford Taylor
on 10 August 1946, in Nuremberg. Von Manstein acknowledged that he had signed this order of 20 November 1941, but claimed that he did not remember it. The American historians Ronald Smelser and Edward Davies wrote in 2008 that Manstein was a vicious anti-Semitic of the first order who whole-heartily agreed with Hitler’s idea that the war against the Soviet Union was a war to exterminate “Judeo-Bolshevism” and that was simply lying when he claimed he could not remember his version of the “Severity Order”. This order was a major piece of evidence for the prosecution at his Hamburg trial. The court struck the words 'issued an order himself' from the charge.
While Paget got von Manstein acquitted of many of the seventeen charges, he was still found guilty of two charges and accountable for seven others, mainly for employing scorched earth
tactics and for failing to protect the civilian population, and was sentenced on 19 December 1949, to 18 years imprisonment which was near the maximum for the charges that were retained. This caused a massive uproar among von Manstein's supporters and the sentence was subsequently reduced to 12 years. As part of his work championing his client, Paget published a best-selling book in 1951 about Manstein's career and his trial which portrayed Manstein as a honourable soldier fighting heroically despite overwhemling odds on the Eastern Front, who had been convicted of crimes that he did not commit. Paget's book helped to contribute to the growing cult around Manstein's name. However, he was released on 6 May 1953 for medical reasons.
Von Manstein, one of the highest ranking generals in the Wehrmacht, claimed ignorance of what was happening in the concentration camps. In the Nuremberg Trials, he was asked "Did you at that time know anything about conditions in the concentration camps?" to which he replied "No. I heard as little about that as the German people, or possibly even less, because when one was fighting 1,000 kilometres away from Germany, one naturally did not hear about such things. I knew from pre-war days that there were two concentration camps, Oranienburg
and Dachau
, and an officer who at the invitation of the SS had visited such a camp told me that it was simply a typical collection of criminals, besides some political prisoners who, according to what he had seen, were being treated severely but correctly." However, Manstein ignored the massacres committed in the occupied areas of the Soviet Union by the Einsatzgruppen
who travelled in the wake of the German Army, including Manstein's own 11th Army. That Manstein was well aware of the Einsatzgruppen massacres is proven by a 1941 letter he sent to Otto Ohlendorf
, where Manstein demands Ohlendorf to hand over the acquired wrist-watches of the killed Jews. Smelser and Davies note that Manstein's letter complaining that the SS were keeping all of the wrist-watches of murdered Jews to themselves was the only time that Manstein ever complained about the actions of the Einsatzgruppen in the entire Second World War.
, von Manstein served as his senior defense advisory and chaired a military sub-committee appointed to advise the parliament on military organization and doctrine for the new German Army, the Bundeswehr
and its incorporation into NATO. He later moved with his family to Bavaria
. His war memoirs, Verlorene Siege
(Lost Victories), were published in Germany in 1955, and translated into English
in 1958. In them, he presented the thesis that if only he had been in charge of strategy instead of Hitler, the war on the Eastern Front could have been won. For the most part, Manstein was disparaging of other German generals, whom Manstein portrayed as incompetent. Manstein took all credit for German victories for himself, while blaming Hitler and other generals for every defeat. As for the Red Army, Manstein portrayed the average Russian soldier as brave but badly led. Manstein depicted the entire Soviet officer corps as hopelessly incompetent, and portrayed the war on the Eastern Front as a battle between a German Army that was vastly superior in fighting ability being steadily ground down by an opponent that was superior only in numbers. Smelser and Davies wrote that this aspect of Verlorene Siege was very self-serving as it allowed Manstein to ignore several occasions such as the fall of Kiev in November 1943, where the Stavka
not only fooled him, but defeated him as well. A noteworthy aspect of Verlorene Siege was Manstein's avoidence of political issues, instead treating the entire war as an operational matter. Manstein refused to express any regret for fighting under a genocidal regime, and nowhere in Verlorene Siege did Manstein issue any sort of moral condemnation of National Socialism. Instead, Hitler was only criticized for faulty strategic decisions. Smelser and Davies wrote that Manstein's criticism of Hitler was extremely self-serving as Manstein made the false claim that he wanted the 6th Army to be pulled out of Stalingrad after it was encircled, only to be overruled by Hitler; and Manstein attacked Hitler for launching Operation Citadel, a plan that Manstein himself had developed and championed. Manstein's lament about Germany's "lost victories" in the Second World War seemed to imply that the world would have been a much better place if Nazi Germany had won the war. Manstein made the entirely false claim that he did not enforce the "Commissar Order", and made no mention of his own considerable role in the Holocaust, such as sending 2,000 of his soldiers to help the SS massacre 11,000 Jews in Simferopol
in November 1941. Verlorene Siege was much acclaimed and a best-seller when it was published in the 1950s. The favorable portrait Manstein drew of himself in Verlorene Siege continues to influence the popular picture of him to this day. The German historian Volker Berghahn
wrote in 2004 that Manstein's memoirs were "totally unreliable", and if more had been known about Manstein's war crimes in the 1940s, he might had been hanged. Berghahn wrote that by "By the time Christian Streit published his book Keine Kamaden about the mass murder of Red Army prisoners of war at the hands of the Wehrmacht, professional historians firmly accepted what Manstein and his comrades had denied and covered up, i.e., that the Wehrmacht had been deeply involved in the criminal and genocidal policies of the Nazi regime".
Never having been a member of the Nazi Party, he had no trouble in West Germany
unlike some of the Reichs more notorious Hitler supporters. Because of his influence, for the first few years of the Bundeswehr he was seen as the unofficial chief of staff. Even later, his birthday parties were regularly attended by official delegations of Bundeswehr and NATO top leaders such as General Hans Speidel
who was the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied ground forces in Central Europe
from 1957 to 1963. This was not the case with other Field Marshals such as Milch
, Schörner
, von Küchler
and others, who were disregarded and forgotten after the war.
Erich von Manstein suffered a stroke and died in Munich
on the night of 9 June 1973. He was buried with full military honours. His obituary in The Times
on 13 June 1973, stated that "His influence and effect came from powers of mind and depth of knowledge rather than by generating an electrifying current among the troops or 'putting over' his personality."
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He became one of the most prominent commanders of Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
's World War II armed forces (Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
). During World War II he attained the rank of Field Marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
(Generalfeldmarschall
Generalfeldmarschall
Field Marshal or Generalfeldmarschall in German, was a rank in the armies of several German states and the Holy Roman Empire; in the Austrian Empire, the rank Feldmarschall was used...
) and was held in high esteem by his fellow officers as one of the Wehrmacht's best military strategists.
He was the initiator and one of the planners of the Ardennes
Ardennes
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...
offensive alternative in the invasion of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
in 1940. He received acclaim from the German leadership for the victorious battles of Perekop Isthmus, Kerch
Battle of the Kerch Peninsula
Battle of the Kerch Peninsula was a World War II offensive by German and Romanian armies against the Soviet Crimean Front forces defending the Kerch Peninsula, in the eastern part of the Crimea. It was launched on 8 May 1942 and concluded around 18 May 1942 with the near complete destruction of...
, Sevastopol and Kharkov
Third Battle of Kharkov
The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of offensive operations on the Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by the German Army Group South against the Red Army, around the city of Kharkov , between 19 February and 15 March 1943...
. He commanded the failed relief effort at Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
and the Cherkassy pocket evacuation. He was dismissed from service by Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
in March 1944, due to his frequent clashes with Hitler over military strategy. In his memoirs, Verlorene Siege (1955), translated into English as Lost Victories, he is critical of Hitler above all for denying the Army flexible defensive maneuverability and for "over-reliance" on his "will", and critical of the attempt by other military officers on Hitler's life.
In 1949, he was tried in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
for war crimes and was convicted of "neglecting to protect civilian lives" and using scorched earth tactics which denied vital food supplies to the local population. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison, later reduced to 12, but he only served 4 years before being released. After release from a British prison in 1953, he became a military advisor to the West German Government
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
.
Early life
Von Manstein was born Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Lewinski in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, the tenth child of a Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n aristocrat, artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
general Eduard von Lewinski
Eduard von Lewinski
Eduard Julius Ludwig von Lewinski was a Prussian general.Von Lewinski was born in Münster in the Province of Westphalia. He served in the 1864 Danish-Prussian War as a captain of the 1st Guard fortress company. In the 1866 German war he was assigned as a staff officer to the First Army division...
(1829–1906), and Helene von Sperling (1847–1910). His father's family was of partial Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
origin - Brochwicz coat of arms (Brochwicz III). Hedwig von Sperling (1852–1925), Helene's younger sister, married Lieutenant General Georg von Manstein (1844–1913). The couple were not able to have children, thus it was decided that this tenth, unborn child would be adopted by his uncle and aunt. When he was born, the Lewinskis sent a telegram to the von Mansteins which stated: You got a healthy boy today. Mother and child well. Congratulations.
Not only were both Erich von Manstein's biological and adoptive father Prussian generals, but his mother's brother and both his grandfathers had also been Prussian generals (one of them, Gustav
Albrecht Gustav von Manstein
Albert Ehrenreich Gustav von Manstein was a Prussian general who served during the Austro-Prussian War and the Franco-German War. He was the adoptive grandfather of Erich von Manstein....
, leading a corps in the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
of 1870–71). In addition, he was also a nephew of Paul von Hindenburg
Paul von Hindenburg
Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg , known universally as Paul von Hindenburg was a Prussian-German field marshal, statesman, and politician, and served as the second President of Germany from 1925 to 1934....
, the future Generalfeldmarschall and President of Germany, whose wife Gertrud was a sister of Hedwig and Helene. Thus, his career in the Prussian Army
Prussian Army
The Royal Prussian Army was the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.The Prussian Army had its roots in the meager mercenary forces of Brandenburg during the Thirty Years' War...
was assured from birth. He attended the Lycée in Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
(1894–99), a territory which had been annexed by the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
after the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
of 1870–71. He spent six years in the cadet corps (1900–1906), in Plön
Plön
Plön is the district seat of the Plön district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and has about 13,000 inhabitants. It lies right on the shores of Schleswig-Holstein's biggest lake, the Great Plön Lake, as well as on several smaller lakes, touching the town on virtually all sides...
and Groß-Lichterfelde
Lichterfelde (Berlin)
Lichterfelde is a locality in the borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf in Berlin, Germany. Until 2001 it was part, with Steglitz and Lankwitz of the former Steglitz borough.-History:...
and joined the Third Foot Guards Regiment (Garde zu Fuß) in March 1906 as an ensign. He was promoted to Lieutenant in January 1907, and in October 1913, entered the Prussian War Academy.
World War I
During World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, von Manstein served on both the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
(Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
/France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
1916: Attack on Verdun
Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun was one of the major battles during the First World War on the Western Front. It was fought between the German and French armies, from 21 February – 18 December 1916, on hilly terrain north of the city of Verdun-sur-Meuse in north-eastern France...
, 1917–18: Champagne
Champagne (province)
The Champagne wine region is a historic province within the Champagne administrative province in the northeast of France. The area is best known for the production of the sparkling white wine that bears the region's name...
) and the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War I)
The Eastern Front was a theatre of war during World War I in Central and, primarily, Eastern Europe. The term is in contrast to the Western Front. Despite the geographical separation, the events in the two theatres strongly influenced each other...
(1915: North Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, 1915–16: Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, 1917: Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
). In Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, he was severely wounded in November 1914. He returned to duty in 1915, was promoted to captain and remained as a staff officer until the end of the war. In 1918, he volunteered for the staff position in the Frontier Defence Force in Breslau (Wroclaw
Wroclaw
Wrocław , situated on the River Oder , is the main city of southwestern Poland.Wrocław was the historical capital of Silesia and is today the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. Over the centuries, the city has been part of either Poland, Bohemia, Austria, Prussia, or Germany, but since 1945...
) and served there until 1919.
Inter-war era
Von Manstein married Jutta Sibylle von Loesch, the daughter of a SilesiaSilesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
n landowner in 1920. She died in 1966. They had three children: a daughter named Gisela, and two sons, Gero (b. 31 December 1922) and Rüdiger. Their elder son Gero, serving as a Lieutenant in the Wehrmacht, died on the battlefield in the northern sector of the Eastern Front on 29 October 1942.
Von Manstein stayed in the armed forces after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. In the 1920s, he participated in the formation of the Reichswehr
Reichswehr
The Reichswehr formed the military organisation of Germany from 1919 until 1935, when it was renamed the Wehrmacht ....
, the German Army of the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
(restricted to 100,000 men by the Versailles Treaty). He was appointed company commander in 1920 and later battalion commander in 1922. In 1927 he was promoted to Major and began serving with the General Staff, visiting other countries to learn about their military facilities. In 1933 the Nazi Party
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
rose to power in Germany thus ending the Weimar period. The new regime renounced the Versailles Treaty and proceeded with large scale rearmament and expansion of the military.
On 1 July 1935, von Manstein was made the Head of Operations Branch of the Army General Staff (Generalstab des Heeres), part of the Army High Command (Oberkommando des Heeres
Oberkommando des Heeres
The Oberkommando des Heeres was Nazi Germany's High Command of the Army from 1936 to 1945. The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht commanded OKH only in theory...
). During his tenure, he proposed the development of Sturmgeschütz
Sturmgeschütz
Sturmgeschütz is a German word for "assault gun", usually abbreviated StuG. The vehicle was a leading weapon of the Sturmartillerie, a branch of the German artillery tasked with close fire support of infantry in infantry, panzer, and panzergrenadier units...
e, self-propelled assault guns that would provide heavy direct-fire support to infantry, relieving the mobile tank forces of this responsibility. In World War II, the resulting StuG series proved to be one of the most successful and cost-effective German weapons.
He was promoted on 1 October 1936, becoming the Deputy Chief of Staff (Oberquartiermeister I) to the Chief of the Army General Staff, General Ludwig Beck
Ludwig Beck
Generaloberst Ludwig August Theodor Beck was a German general and Chief of the German General Staff during the early years of the Nazi regime in Germany before World War II....
. On 4 February 1938, with the fall of Werner von Fritsch
Werner von Fritsch
Werner Thomas Ludwig Freiherr von Fritsch was a prominent Wehrmacht officer, member of the German High Command, and the second German general to be killed during World War II.-Early life:...
, von Manstein was transferred to the command of the 18th Infantry Division
German 18th Infantry Division
The German 18th Infantry Division was formed on 1 October 1934 as Infanterieführer III in Liegnitz and renamed 18. Infanterie-Division on 15 October 1935. Mobilized in August 1939 it participated in the Invasion of Poland and in 1940 in the Battle of France...
in Liegnitz, Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
with the rank of Generalleutnant
General (Germany)
General is presently the highest rank of the German Army and Luftwaffe . It is the equivalent to the rank of Admiral in the German Navy .-Early history:...
. On April 20, 1939 to celebrate Hitler's 50th birthday, Manstein delivered a speech to his troops, in which he praised Hitler as a leader sent by God to save Germany, and warned the "hostile world" that if it kept erecting "ramparts around Germany to block the way of the German people towards their future", then he would be quite happy to see the world plunged into another world war.
Poland
On 18 August 1939, in preparation for Fall Weiß, the German invasion of PolandInvasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
, von Manstein was appointed Chief of Staff to Gerd von Rundstedt
Gerd von Rundstedt
Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt was a Generalfeldmarschall of the German Army during World War II. He held some of the highest field commands in all phases of the war....
’s Army Group South
Army Group South
Army Group South was the name of a number of German Army Groups during World War II.- Poland campaign :Germany used two army groups to invade Poland in 1939: Army Group North and Army Group South...
. Here he worked along with von Rundstedt’s Chief of Operations, Colonel Günther Blumentritt
Günther Blumentritt
Günther Blumentritt was a German officer in World War I, who became a Staff Officer under the Weimar Republic and went on to serve as a general for Nazi Germany during World War II...
in the development of the operational plan. Von Rundstedt accepted von Manstein’s plan calling for the concentration of the majority of the army group’s armoured units into Walther von Reichenau
Walther von Reichenau
Walter von Reichenau was a German Generalfeldmarschall during World War II.-History:Reichenau was born in Karlsruhe to a Prussian general and joined the German Army in 1903. During World War I he served on the Western Front...
’s 10th Army, with the objective of a decisive breakthrough which would lead to the encirclement of Polish forces west of the Vistula River. In von Manstein’s plan, two other armies comprising Army Group South, Wilhelm List’s 14th Army and Johannes Blaskowitz
Johannes Blaskowitz
Johannes Albrecht Blaskowitz was a German general during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
’s 8th Army, were to provide the flank support for Reichenau’s armoured thrust towards Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, the Polish capital. Privately, von Manstein was lukewarm about the Polish campaign, thinking that it would be better to keep Poland as a buffer between Germany and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. He also worried about an Allied attack on the West Wall once the Polish campaign started, thus drawing Germany into a two-front war.
Launched on 1 September 1939, the invasion began successfully. In Army Group South’s area of responsibility, armoured units of the 10th Army pursued the retreating Poles, giving them no time to set up a defence. The 8th Army prevented the isolated Polish troop concentrations in Łódź, Radom
Radom
Radom is a city in central Poland with 223,397 inhabitants . It is located on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship , having previously been the capital of Radom Voivodeship ; 100 km south of Poland's capital, Warsaw.It is home to the biennial Radom Air Show, the largest and...
and Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
from merging into a cohesive force. Deviating from the original plan that called for heading straight for the Vistula and then proceeding to Warsaw, von Manstein persuaded von Rundstedt to encircle the Polish units in the Radom
Radom
Radom is a city in central Poland with 223,397 inhabitants . It is located on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship , having previously been the capital of Radom Voivodeship ; 100 km south of Poland's capital, Warsaw.It is home to the biennial Radom Air Show, the largest and...
area. The plan succeeded, clearing the bulk of Polish resistance from the southern approach to Warsaw.
France
On 27 September 1939, Warsaw formally surrendered, although isolated pockets of resistance remained. That same day, Hitler ordered the Army High Command, led by General Franz HalderFranz Halder
Franz Halder was a German General and the head of the Army General Staff from 1938 until September, 1942, when he was dismissed after frequent disagreements with Adolf Hitler.-Early life:...
, to develop a plan for action in the west against France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
. The different plans that the General Staff suggested were given to von Manstein and his staff, who, with Gerd von Rundstedt
Gerd von Rundstedt
Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt was a Generalfeldmarschall of the German Army during World War II. He held some of the highest field commands in all phases of the war....
's approval, formalized an alternative plan for Fall Gelb
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
(Case Yellow). This plan received Hitler's attention in February 1940 and finally his agreement.
By late October, the bulk of the German Army was redeployed to the west. Von Manstein was made Chief of Staff of von Rundstedt’s Army Group A
Army Group A
Army Group A was the name of a number of German Army Groups during World War II.-Western Front, 1940:During the German invasion of the Low Countries and France Army Group A was under the command of General Gerd von Rundstedt, and was responsible for the break-out through the Ardennes...
in western Germany. Like many of the army's younger officers, von Manstein opposed Fall Gelb
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
, criticizing it for its lack of ability to deliver strategic results and the uninspired use of the armoured forces, which may have come from OKH's inability to influence Hitler's planning. Von Manstein pointed out that a repeat of the Schlieffen Plan
Schlieffen Plan
The Schlieffen Plan was the German General Staff's early 20th century overall strategic plan for victory in a possible future war in which the German Empire might find itself fighting on two fronts: France to the west and Russia to the east...
, with the attack directed through Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, was something the Allies expected, as they were already moving strong forces into the area. Bad weather in the area caused the attack to be cancelled several times and eventually delayed into the spring.
During the autumn, Von Manstein, with the informal cooperation of Heinz Guderian
Heinz Guderian
Heinz Wilhelm Guderian was a German general during World War II. He was a pioneer in the development of armored warfare, and was the leading proponent of tanks and mechanization in the Wehrmacht . Germany's panzer forces were raised and organized under his direction as Chief of Mobile Forces...
, developed his own plan; he suggested that the panzer divisions attack through the wooded hills of the Ardennes
Ardennes
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...
where no one would expect them, then establish bridgeheads on the Meuse River
Meuse River
The Maas or Meuse is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea...
and rapidly drive to the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
. The Germans would thus cut off the French and Allied armies in Belgium and Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
. Von Manstein's proposal also contained a second thrust, outflanking the Maginot Line
Maginot Line
The Maginot Line , named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts, and other defences, which France constructed along its borders with Germany and Italy, in light of its experience in World War I,...
, which would have allowed the Germans to force any future defensive line much further south. This second thrust would perhaps have avoided the need for the Fall Rot (Case Red) second stage of the Battle of France (Von Manstein, 2004). The plan was after the event nicknamed Sichelschnitt (sickle cut).
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht was part of the command structure of the armed forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.- Genesis :...
originally rejected the proposal. Halder had von Manstein removed from von Rundstedt's headquarters and sent to the east to command the 38th Army Corps. But Hitler, looking for a more aggressive plan, approved a modified version of von Manstein's ideas, which today is known as the Manstein Plan
Manstein Plan
The Manstein Plan was the primary war plan of the German Army during the Battle of France in 1940.-Overview of the Plan:Developed by German Generalleutnant Erich von Manstein, the plan greatly modified the original 1939 versions by Franz Halder of the invasion plan known as Fall Gelb...
. This modified version, formulated by Halder, did not contain the second thrust. Von Manstein and his corps played a minor role during the operations in France, serving under Günther von Kluge
Günther von Kluge
Günther Adolf Ferdinand “Hans” von Kluge was a German military leader. He was born in Posen into a Prussian military family. Kluge rose to the rank of Field Marshal in the Wehrmacht. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
's 4th Army. However, it was his corps which helped to achieve the first breakthrough during Fall Rot, east of Amiens
Amiens
Amiens is a city and commune in northern France, north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in Picardy...
, and was the first to reach and cross the River Seine. The invasion was an outstanding military success and von Manstein was promoted to full general
General (Germany)
General is presently the highest rank of the German Army and Luftwaffe . It is the equivalent to the rank of Admiral in the German Navy .-Early history:...
and awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
for suggesting the plan.
Barbarossa
In February 1941, von Manstein was appointed commander of the 56th Panzer Corps. He became involved in Operation BarbarossaOperation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
, serving under General Erich Hoepner
Erich Hoepner
Erich Hoepner was a German general in World War II. A successful panzer leader, Hoepner was executed after the failed 20 July Plot in 1944.- Life :Hoepner was born in Frankfurt an der Oder, Brandenburg...
. Attacking on 22 June 1941, von Manstein advanced more than 100 miles in only two days and seized two vital bridges over the Dvina River at Dvinsk.
Crimea and the Battle of Sevastopol
In September 1941, von Manstein was appointed commander of the 11th Army. Its previous commander, Colonel-General Eugen Ritter von SchobertEugen Ritter von Schobert
Eugen Siegfried Erich Ritter von Schobert was a German general who served in World War I and World War II. He died in the Soviet Union when his observation plane crashed in a Soviet minefield.-Early life:...
, had perished when his plane landed in a Russian minefield. The 11th Army was tasked with invading the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
, capturing Sevastopol
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
and pursuing enemy forces on the flank of Army Group South during its advance into Russia [Von Manstein, (2004)]. On September 8, 1941, Otto Ohlendorf
Otto Ohlendorf
Otto Ohlendorf was a German SS-Gruppenführer and head of the Inland-SD , a section of the SD. Ohlendorf was the commanding officer of Einsatzgruppe D, which conducted mass murder in Moldova, south Ukraine, the Crimea, and, during 1942, the north Caucasus...
of Einsatzgruppe D, which travelled in the wake of Manstein's 11th Army reported that relations with the 11th Army were "excellent". Manstein had the 11th Army provide Einsatzgruppe D with vehicles, gas, drivers and military police to cordon areas where Einsatzgruppe D planned to shoot Jews.
After the initial German breakthrough, the rest of the Perekop
Perekop
Perekop is a village located at the Perekop Isthmus connecting Crimean peninsula to the Ukrainian mainland. It is known for the Fortress Or Qapi that served as the gateway to Crimea...
area had to be secured. After ten days of fighting, the Soviet line was overrun on 28 October. The Germans quickly seized control of the whole peninsula, and by 17 November, only the city of Sevastopol
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
held out.
The attack on Sevastopol began 30 October 1941 but failed and on 21 December, just as the Germans were preparing for their last push, the Soviets launched a spoiling attack, forcing them back. Shortly thereafter the Soviet winter offensive began, producing the Wehrmacht's so-called "Winter Crisis".
Just over a week later, on 26 December 1941, the Soviets landed on the Kerch Straits, and on 30 December executed another landing near Theodosia
Theodosia
Feodosiya is a port and resort city in Crimea, Ukraine, on the Black Sea coast. During much of its history the town was known as Caffa or Kaffa .- History :...
. Only a hurried withdrawal from the Kerch Straits, in contravention of Manstein's orders, by 46 Infantry Division under General Hans Graf von Sponeck
Hans Graf von Sponeck
Hans Graf von Sponeck or Hans Emil Otto Graf Sponeck was a German General-Leutnant during World War II who was imprisoned for disobeying orders and later executed. He was the father of Hans von Sponeck....
s command prevented a collapse of the eastern part of the Crimea, although the division lost most of its heavy equipment. This situation forced von Manstein to cancel a resumption of the attack on Sevastopol and send most of his forces east to destroy the Soviet bridgehead. The situation was stabilised by late April 1942.
Operation Trappenjagd, launched on 8 May 1942, aimed at expelling the Russian forces from the Kerch peninsula. After feinting against the north, the 11th army attacked south, and the Soviets were soon reduced to fleeing for the Kerch Straits. Three Soviet armies (44th, 47th and 51st), 21 divisions, 176,000 men, 347 tanks and nearly 3,500 guns were lost. The remains of the force were evacuated and Trappenjagd was completed successfully on 18 May. German losses were 3,397 men ( 600 KIA ) and 8 tanks. During this period, Manstein played a leading role in helping Einsatzgruppe D exterminate the Jewish popluation of the Crimea. A Captain Ulrich Gunzert after watching Einsatzgruppe D massacre a group of Jewish women and children, was shocked by he had seen and went to Manstein to ask him to do something to stop the massacres. Manstein told Captain Gunzert to forget what he had seen, and to focus on fighting the Red Army instead. Gunzert later wrote about Manstein's actions that "It was a flight from responsibility, a moral failure".
With months delay von Manstein turned his attention once more towards the capture of Sevastopol, a battle in which Germany used some of the largest guns ever built. Along with large numbers of regular artillery pieces, super-heavy 600mm mortars and the 800mm "Dora" railway gun
Schwerer Gustav
Schwerer Gustav and Dora were the names of two massive World War II German 80 cm K railway siege guns. They were developed in the late 1930s by Krupp for the express purpose of destroying heavy fortifications, specifically those in the French Maginot Line...
were brought in for the assault. The furious barrage began on the morning of 7 June 1942, and all of the resources of the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
's Luftflotte 4, commanded by Wolfram von Richthofen
Wolfram von Richthofen
Dr.-Ing. Wolfram Freiherr von RichthofenIn German a Doctorate in engineering is abbreviated as Dr.-Ing. . was a German Generalfeldmarschall of the Luftwaffe during the Second World War...
, descended on their targets, continuing for five days before the main assault began.
The outer defensive rings were breached by 16 June 1942, and on 4 July 1942 Sevastopol fell. Hitler, delighted at hearing the good news, phoned von Manstein and commended him as "The Conqueror of Sevastopol", informing him that he had ordered von Manstein's promotion to Generalfeldmarschall
Generalfeldmarschall
Field Marshal or Generalfeldmarschall in German, was a rank in the armies of several German states and the Holy Roman Empire; in the Austrian Empire, the rank Feldmarschall was used...
.
Leningrad
After the capture of Sevastopol the German high command felt that any city could be taken with a determined enough attack, and von Manstein was seen as the right man to finally break LeningradLeningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
, which had been under siege from autumn the previous year. Von Manstein, with elements of the 11th Army, was transferred to the Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
front to lead Operation Nordlicht, which was hoped to be the final capture of the city, set to launch on 15 September 1942. Hitler was confident that with considerable amounts of artillery and the new Tiger tank
Tiger I
Tiger I is the common name of a German heavy tank developed in 1942 and used in World War II. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. E, often shortened to Tiger. It was an answer to the unexpectedly formidable Soviet armour encountered in the initial months of...
this operation would finally break the determined Soviet defence; von Manstein, on the other hand, was more pessimistic, arguing that a simultaneous attack in the north by the Finns would be needed.
On 27 August 1942 the Soviets launched a spoiling attack against Georg Lindemann
Georg Lindemann
Georg Heinrich Lindemann was a German cavalry officer and field commander who served in the German army during World War I and World War II . He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves...
’s 18th Army
German Eighteenth Army
The 18th Army was a World War I and World War II field army.-World War I:The 18th Army was formed in 1918 by the German OHL and commanded by General Oskar von Hutier.-World War II:...
in the narrow German salient west of Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world.-Geography:...
. Von Manstein was forced to divert his forces in order to avoid catastrophe. A series of bitter battles ensued, in which von Manstein's smaller forces managed to outmanoeuvre the larger Soviet forces, which lost over 60,000 men over the course of the next few months. This meant, however, that the Germans were not able to execute a decisive assault on Leningrad, and the siege continued into 1943.
Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
, Adolf Hitler appointed von Manstein commander of the newly created Army Group Don
Army Group Don
Army Group Don was a short-lived German army group during World War II.Army Group Don was created from the headquarters of the Eleventh Army in the southern sector of the Eastern Front on 22 November 1942. The army group only lasted until February 1943 when it was combined with Army Group B and...
(Heeresgruppe Don), consisting of a hastily assembled group of tired men and machines, and ordered him to lead Operation Wintergewitter
Operation Wintergewitter
Operation Winter Storm was a German offensive in World War II, undertaken between 12–23 December 1942, in which the German 4th Panzer-Armee failed to break the encirclement of Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad....
(Winter Storm), the rescue effort by Hermann Hoth
Hermann Hoth
Hermann "Papa" Hoth was an officer in the German military from 1903 to 1945. He attained the rank of Generaloberst during World War II. He fought in France, but is most noted for his later exploits as a panzer commander on the Eastern Front...
's 4th Panzer Army
German Fourth Panzer Army
The 4th Panzer Army was, before being designated a full army, the Panzer Group 4 , a German panzer army that saw action during World War II. Its units played a part in the invasion of France, and then on the Eastern Front.-Early history:The 4th Panzer Group's predecessor was the XVI Corps formed...
and auxiliary Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n troops to relieve the 6th Army
German Sixth Army
The 6th Army was a designation for German field armies which saw action in World War I and World War II. The 6th Army is best known for fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad, during which it became the first entire German field army to be completely destroyed...
of Friedrich Paulus
Friedrich Paulus
Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus was an officer in the German military from 1910 to 1945. He attained the rank of Generalfeldmarschall during World War II, and is best known for having commanded the Sixth Army's assault on Stalingrad during Operation Blue in 1942...
trapped inside Stalingrad. Manstein advised Hitler not to order the 6th Army to break out, stating that he could successfully break through the Soviet lines and relief the besieged 6th Army. After 1945, Manstein was to engage in forgery of documents, and claimed falsely that he told Hitler that the 6th Army must break out. The American historian Gerhard Weinberg
Gerhard Weinberg
Gerhard Ludwig Weinberg is a German-born American diplomatic and military historian noted for his studies in the history of World War II. Weinberg currently is the William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor Emeritus of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has been a member of the...
wrote that "Because of the sensitivity of the Stalingrad question in post-war Germany, Manstein worked as hard to distort the record on this matter as on his massive involvement in the murder of Jews". Wintergewitter, launched on 12 December, achieved some initial success and von Manstein got his three panzer divisions and supporting units of the 57th Panzer Corps (comprising the 23rd Panzer Grenadier Division, and the 6th and 17th Panzer Divisions
German 17th Panzer Division
The 17th Panzer Division was a formation of the German Army in World War II. It was formed on November 1940 from 27th Infantry Division. It took part in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, and in the winter of 1941–42 participated in the abortive German attack...
) within 30 miles of Stalingrad by 20 December. However, the corps was halted at the town of Aksay, and strong Russian forces eventually pushed them back.
On 19 December 1942 von Manstein had ordered Paulus
Friedrich Paulus
Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus was an officer in the German military from 1910 to 1945. He attained the rank of Generalfeldmarschall during World War II, and is best known for having commanded the Sixth Army's assault on Stalingrad during Operation Blue in 1942...
to execute the attack to linkup with the 57th Panzer Corps. Erich von Manstein did not however order the abandonment of Stalingrad, only to be prepared for doing so. Some state that Manstein could have ordered the abandonment of Stalingrad but they disregard that this could not be done without Hitler knowing it. The 6th Army
German Sixth Army
The 6th Army was a designation for German field armies which saw action in World War I and World War II. The 6th Army is best known for fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad, during which it became the first entire German field army to be completely destroyed...
never executed the attack because it considered it did not have enough fuel and ammunition to do so.
Operation Saturn
Operation Saturn
Operation Saturn, revised as Operation Little Saturn, was a Red Army operation on the Eastern Front of World War II that led to battles in the northern Caucasus and Donets Basin regions of the Soviet Union from December 1942 to February 1943....
, a massive Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
offensive in the southernmost part of the front, aimed at capturing Rostov
Rostov-on-Don
-History:The mouth of the Don River has been of great commercial and cultural importance since the ancient times. It was the site of the Greek colony Tanais, of the Genoese fort Tana, and of the Turkish fortress Azak...
and thus cutting off the German Army Group A
Army Group A
Army Group A was the name of a number of German Army Groups during World War II.-Western Front, 1940:During the German invasion of the Low Countries and France Army Group A was under the command of General Gerd von Rundstedt, and was responsible for the break-out through the Ardennes...
, which was still withdrawing from the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
, forced von Manstein to divert his forces to help hard-pressed Army Group A
Army Group A
Army Group A was the name of a number of German Army Groups during World War II.-Western Front, 1940:During the German invasion of the Low Countries and France Army Group A was under the command of General Gerd von Rundstedt, and was responsible for the break-out through the Ardennes...
, in its retreat to Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, thus avoiding the collapse of the entire front. The attack also prevented the 48th Panzer Corps (comprising the 336th Infantry Division, the 3rd Luftwaffe Field Division
German 3rd Luftwaffe Field Division
3.Luftwaffen-Feld-Division was formed in mid 1942 and attached to Heeresgruppe Mitte.It was transferred to the Heer on 1. November 1943. and named 3.Feld-Division.Division was disbanded on 22.January 1944. after suffering heavy losses at Vitebsk.The remnants were absorbed by 4. and 6...
, and the 11th Panzer Division
German 11th Panzer Division
The 11.Panzer Division was a German Panzer division which saw action on the Eastern and Western Fronts during the Second World War. The unit emblem of the 11'th Panzer was a ghost...
), under the command of General Otto von Knobelsdorff
Otto von Knobelsdorff
Heinrich Otto Ernst von Knobelsdorff was a German general who commanded armored Panzer units and served during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
, from joining up with the 57th Panzer Corps as planned. Instead, the 48th Panzer Corps held a line along the River Chir, beating off successive Russian attacks. General Hermann Balck
Hermann Balck
Hermann Balck was a career German army officer who served in both World War I and World War II, rising to the rank of General der Panzertruppe. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds...
used the 11th Panzer Division to counterattack Russian salients. But the Romanian, Italian, and Hungarian armies on the flanks were overwhelmed, and the 48th Panzer Corps was forced to retreat. As a result, the remnants of the 4th Panzer Army retreated, as its northern flank was exposed by the loss of the Don.
Kharkov Operation
By early February, the German forces began to regroup. Von Manstein's Army Group DonArmy Group Don
Army Group Don was a short-lived German army group during World War II.Army Group Don was created from the headquarters of the Eleventh Army in the southern sector of the Eastern Front on 22 November 1942. The army group only lasted until February 1943 when it was combined with Army Group B and...
combined with Army Group B and was made into the new Army Group South
Army Group South
Army Group South was the name of a number of German Army Groups during World War II.- Poland campaign :Germany used two army groups to invade Poland in 1939: Army Group North and Army Group South...
(Heeresgruppe Süd), which was led by von Manstein. On 21 February 1943, he launched a counteroffensive into the overextended Soviet flank. The assault proved a major success; von Manstein's troops advanced rapidly, isolating Soviet forward units and forcing the Red Army to halt most of its offensive operations. By 2 March tank spearheads from Hoth's 4th Panzer Army and Army Detachment Kempf met, cutting off large portions of the Soviet Southwest Front, and by 9 March the Wehrmacht had inflicted a heavy defeat on the Soviets at Krasnograd and Barvenkovo. An estimated 23,000 Soviet soldiers were killed and a further 9,000 were captured. Additionally, 615 Soviet tanks and 354 guns were captured.
Von Manstein then pushed forward, with his effort being spearheaded by Paul Hausser
Paul Hausser
Paul "Papa" Hausser was an officer in the German Army, achieving the high rank of lieutenant-general in the inter-war Reichswehr. After retirement from the regular Army he became the "father" of the Waffen-SS and one of its most eminent leaders...
's 2nd SS Panzer Corps, recapturing Kharkov on 14 March, after bloody street fighting in what is known as the Third Battle of Kharkov
Third Battle of Kharkov
The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of offensive operations on the Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by the German Army Group South against the Red Army, around the city of Kharkov , between 19 February and 15 March 1943...
. In recognition for this accomplishment, von Manstein received the Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross. The 2nd SS Panzer Corps then captured Belgorod
Belgorod
-Twin towns/sister cities:Belgorod is twinned with: Wakefield, England, United Kingdom Herne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia Opole, Poland Vyshhorod, Ukraine Kharkiv, Ukraine-External links:...
on 21 March. Von Manstein proposed a daring action for the summer nicknamed the "backhand blow", which was intended to outflank the Red Army into the Sea of Azov
Sea of Azov
The Sea of Azov , known in Classical Antiquity as Lake Maeotis, is a sea on the south of Eastern Europe. It is linked by the narrow Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south and is bounded on the north by Ukraine mainland, on the east by Russia, and on the west by the Ukraine's Crimean...
at Rostov
Rostov-on-Don
-History:The mouth of the Don River has been of great commercial and cultural importance since the ancient times. It was the site of the Greek colony Tanais, of the Genoese fort Tana, and of the Turkish fortress Azak...
, but Hitler instead chose the more conventional Operation Citadel aimed at crushing the Kursk
Kursk
Kursk is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym Rivers. The area around Kursk was site of a turning point in the Russian-German struggle during World War II and the site of the largest tank battle in history...
salient.
Operation Citadel
During Operation Citadel, von Manstein led the southern pincer, and despite losses, he managed to achieve most of his initial goals, inflicting far more casualties than he sustained. In his memoirs, Marshal Georgy ZhukovGeorgy Zhukov
Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov , was a Russian career officer in the Red Army who, in the course of World War II, played a pivotal role in leading the Red Army through much of Eastern Europe to liberate the Soviet Union and other nations from the Axis Powers' occupation...
, who led the Soviet defense at Kursk, praised von Manstein. But due to the almost complete failure of the northern sector's pincer led by Günther von Kluge
Günther von Kluge
Günther Adolf Ferdinand “Hans” von Kluge was a German military leader. He was born in Posen into a Prussian military family. Kluge rose to the rank of Field Marshal in the Wehrmacht. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
and Walther Model, chronic lack of infantry support and an operational reserve, as well as Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily, Hitler called off the offensive. Von Manstein protested, asserting that the victory was almost at hand as he felt he had achieved local superiority, and that with a little more effort, he could crack the Soviet defenses before they could bring up their reserves. After the failure of Citadel, the Soviets launched a massive counterattack against the exhausted German forces.
A German victory in the sense of annihilating the surrounded Soviet forces required both the completion of the encirclement (that is the linking of the northern and southern German pincers) and holding the encirclement long enough to overcome the encircled Soviet forces. Even if the first had been accomplished it does not follow that the second would automatically follow. The German forces post-Stalingrad were never able to force the Soviets into significant retreats, except for temporary reversals like Kharkov. After halting the German offensive at Kursk, the Soviets had enough strength to launch immediate counterattacks.
Dnieper Campaign
In September 1943, von Manstein withdrew to the west bank of the river Dnieper, inflicting heavy casualties on the pursuing Red ArmyRed Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
. From October 1943 to mid-January 1944, von Manstein stabilized the situation on the Southern Front. However, the Soviets established a salient from Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, and were within reach of the crucial town of Zhitomir. The Germans launched a successful counteroffensive, in which 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
The Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler was Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard. Initially the size of a regiment, the LSSAH eventually grew into a divisional-sized unit...
and 2nd SS Division Das Reich
2nd SS Division Das Reich
The 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich was a Waffen-SS division during World War II. It is considered to be an elite formation amongst the thirty-eight divisions fielded by the Waffen-SS....
, together with 1st
German 1st Panzer Division
The German 1st Panzer Division was an elite armoured division in the German Army during World War II. Its divisional insignia was a white oakleaf emblem.-History:...
, 7th
German 7th Panzer Division
The 7th Panzer Division was a German elite armored formation which participated in the Battle of France. General Erwin Rommel commanded the division, which was nicknamed the "Ghost Division" because of its speed and independent movement, which even the German High Command had difficulty following...
, 19th, and 25th Panzer Divisions and 68th Infantry Division (part of 4th Panzer Army
German Fourth Panzer Army
The 4th Panzer Army was, before being designated a full army, the Panzer Group 4 , a German panzer army that saw action during World War II. Its units played a part in the invasion of France, and then on the Eastern Front.-Early history:The 4th Panzer Group's predecessor was the XVI Corps formed...
), wheeled around the flank of the Russians in front of Zhitomir. Several notable victories were won at Brussilov, Radomyshl, and Meleni, under the guidance of General Hermann Balck
Hermann Balck
Hermann Balck was a career German army officer who served in both World War I and World War II, rising to the rank of General der Panzertruppe. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds...
. Balck and his chief of staff had wanted to attack the base of the salient and go for Kiev, but General Raus
Erhard Raus
Erhard Raus was a Austrian Colonel General during World War II. He commanded the 6th Panzer Division during the early years of the war on the Eastern Front before taking Army and Army Group commands....
favoured a more prudent approach. In late January 1944, von Manstein was forced to retreat further westwards by the Soviet offensive. In mid-February 1944, he disobeyed Hitler's order to "hold his ground at all costs" and ordered 11th and 42nd Corps (consisting of 56,000 men in six divisions) of Army Group South
Army Group South
Army Group South was the name of a number of German Army Groups during World War II.- Poland campaign :Germany used two army groups to invade Poland in 1939: Army Group North and Army Group South...
to break out of the "Korsun Pocket", which occurred on 16-17 February 1944. Eventually, Hitler accepted this action and ordered the breakout after it had already taken place.
Dismissal
Von Manstein continued to argue with Hitler about overall strategy on the Eastern FrontEastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
. Von Manstein advocated an elastic, mobile defence. He was prepared to cede territory, attempting to make the Soviet forces either stretch out too thinly or to make them advance so fast so that their armoured spearheads could be counter-attacked on the flanks with the goal of encircling and destroying them. Hitler ignored von Manstein's advice and continued to insist on static warfare; all positions held by the Germans were to be defended to the last man. Because of these frequent disagreements, von Manstein publicly advocated that Hitler relinquish control over the army and leave the management of the war to professionals, starting with the establishment of the position of commander-in-chief in the East (Oberbefehlshaber Ost). Hitler, however, rejected this idea numerous times, fearing that it would weaken his hold on power in Germany.
This argument also alarmed some of Hitler's closest associates, such as Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
, Joseph Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...
and the SS chief Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
, who were not prepared to give up any of their powers. Himmler started to openly question von Manstein's loyalty and he insinuated to Hitler that von Manstein was an idealist and a defeatist unsuitable to command troops. Von Manstein's frequent arguing, combined with these allegations, resulted in Hitler relieving von Manstein of his command on 31 March 1944. On 2 April 1944, Hitler appointed Walther Model, a firm supporter, as commander of Army Group South as von Manstein's replacement. Nevertheless, von Manstein received the Swords for his Knight's Cross
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
, the third highest German military honour for his military service to the Wehrmacht.
After his dismissal, von Manstein entered an eye clinic in Breslau for cataract
Cataract
A cataract is a clouding that develops in the crystalline lens of the eye or in its envelope, varying in degree from slight to complete opacity and obstructing the passage of light...
surgery. He recuperated near Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
and then retired from military service all together. Although he did not take part in the attempt to kill Hitler
July 20 Plot
On 20 July 1944, an attempt was made to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of the Third Reich, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia. The plot was the culmination of the efforts of several groups in the German Resistance to overthrow the Nazi-led German government...
in July 1944, he had been contacted by Henning von Tresckow
Henning von Tresckow
Generalmajor Herrmann Karl Robert "Henning" von Tresckow was a Major General in the German Wehrmacht who organized German resistance against Adolf Hitler. He attempted to assassinate Hitler in March 1943 and drafted the Valkyrie plan for a coup against the German government...
and others in 1943 about the plot. While von Manstein did agree that change was necessary, he refused to join them as he still considered himself bound by duty. (He rejected the approaches with the statement: "Preussische Feldmarschälle meutern nicht" – "Prussian Field Marshals do not mutiny.") He also feared that a civil war would ensue. Though he did not join the plotters, he did not betray them either. In late January 1945, he collected his family from their homes in Liegnitz and evacuated them to western Germany. He surrendered to British
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
Field Marshal Montgomery and was arrested by British troops on 23 August 1945.
Trial
During the Nuremberg TrialsNuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
in 1946, von Manstein was only called as a witness for the defence. Von Manstein was subsequently interned by the British as a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
in "Special Camp 11" in Bridgend
Bridgend
Bridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of the capital, Cardiff. The river crossed by the original bridge, which gave the town its name, is the River Ogmore but the River Ewenny also passes to the south of the town...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. Later, because of pressure from the Soviets, who wanted him extradited to stand trial in the USSR, the British accepted their indictments and charged him with war crimes, putting him on trial before a British Military Tribunal in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
in August 1949. In part, because of the Soviet demands in the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
environment and respect for his military exploits, many in the British military establishment, such as Field Marshal Montgomery ("Monty") and the military strategist B. H. Liddell Hart, openly expressed sympathy for von Manstein's plight and, along with the likes of Sir Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, donated money for the defence. Churchill saw the trial as yet another effort of the then-ruling Attlee
Clement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
government to appease the Soviets.
In court, von Manstein's defence, led by the prominent lawyer Reginald Thomas Paget, argued that he had been unaware that genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
was taking place in the territory under his control. It was argued that von Manstein did not enforce the Commissar order
Commissar Order
The Commissar Order was a written order given by Adolf Hitler on 6 June 1941, prior to Operation Barbarossa. Its official name was Guidelines for the Treatment of Political Commissars...
, which called for the immediate execution of Red Army Communist Party commissars. According to his testimony at the Nuremberg Trials
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
, he received it, but refused to carry it out. He claimed that his superior at the time, Field Marshal von Leeb
Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb
Wilhelm Josef Franz Ritter von Leeb was a German Field Marshal during World War II. - Youth :...
, tolerated and tacitly approved of his choice, and he also claimed that the order was not carried out in practice. Manstein had perjured himself when he claimed that he did not enforce the “Commissar Order”: documents from 1941 showed that he passed the “Commissar Order” to his subordinates, and that he had suspected “commissars” shot Manstein's lawyer Paget claimed that the only commissars Manstein had shot were in the rear area in the Crimea by police units, likely because of partisan activities.
Manstein issued an order on 20 November 1941: his version of Field Marshal von Reichenau's
Walther von Reichenau
Walter von Reichenau was a German Generalfeldmarschall during World War II.-History:Reichenau was born in Karlsruhe to a Prussian general and joined the German Army in 1903. During World War I he served on the Western Front...
infamous "Severity Order
Severity Order
The Severity Order was the name given to an order promulgated within the German Sixth Army on the Eastern Front during World War II by Field Marshal Walther von Reichenau on 10 October 1941....
" of 10 October 1941, which equated "partisans" with "Jews" and called for their extermination. Following complaints by some of his officers about the massacres being committed by Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen were SS paramilitary death squads that were responsible for mass killings, typically by shooting, of Jews in particular, but also significant numbers of other population groups and political categories...
, Reicheanu issued the "Severity Order" to explain to his men why in his view the massacres were necessary. Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt
Gerd von Rundstedt
Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt was a Generalfeldmarschall of the German Army during World War II. He held some of the highest field commands in all phases of the war....
, the commander of Army Group South and Reicheanu's superior, upon hearing of the "Severity Order" expressed his "complete agreement" with it, and send out a circular to all of his generals suggesting that they issue their own versions of the "Severity Order". Manstein's lawyer Paget claimed that he had a subordinate write a more moderate version of the order and he wrote a part himself in which he recommended lenient treatment of non-Communists in order to secure their cooperation. This did not apply to the Jewish population, whom Manstein equated with Communism, and wanted to see exterminated. The order stated that::
The order also stated: "The food situation at home makes it essential that the troops should as far as possible be fed off the land and that furthermore the largest possible stocks should be placed at the disposal of the homeland. Particularly in enemy cities a large part of the population will have to go hungry." This also was one of the indictments against von Manstein in Hamburg; not only neglect of civilians, but also exploitation of invaded countries for the sole benefit of the "homeland", something considered illegal by the then current laws of war
Laws of war
The law of war is a body of law concerning acceptable justifications to engage in war and the limits to acceptable wartime conduct...
.
The order additionally stated that "severe steps will be taken against arbitrary action and self interest, against savagery and indiscipline, against any violation of the honour of the soldier" and that "respect for religious customs, particularly those of Muslim Tartars, must be demanded." The evidence for this order was first presented by prosecutor Telford Taylor
Telford Taylor
Telford Taylor was an American lawyer best known for his role in the Counsel for the Prosecution at the Nuremberg Trials after World War II, his opposition to Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s, and his outspoken criticism of U.S...
on 10 August 1946, in Nuremberg. Von Manstein acknowledged that he had signed this order of 20 November 1941, but claimed that he did not remember it. The American historians Ronald Smelser and Edward Davies wrote in 2008 that Manstein was a vicious anti-Semitic of the first order who whole-heartily agreed with Hitler’s idea that the war against the Soviet Union was a war to exterminate “Judeo-Bolshevism” and that was simply lying when he claimed he could not remember his version of the “Severity Order”. This order was a major piece of evidence for the prosecution at his Hamburg trial. The court struck the words 'issued an order himself' from the charge.
While Paget got von Manstein acquitted of many of the seventeen charges, he was still found guilty of two charges and accountable for seven others, mainly for employing scorched earth
Scorched earth
A scorched earth policy is a military strategy or operational method which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area...
tactics and for failing to protect the civilian population, and was sentenced on 19 December 1949, to 18 years imprisonment which was near the maximum for the charges that were retained. This caused a massive uproar among von Manstein's supporters and the sentence was subsequently reduced to 12 years. As part of his work championing his client, Paget published a best-selling book in 1951 about Manstein's career and his trial which portrayed Manstein as a honourable soldier fighting heroically despite overwhemling odds on the Eastern Front, who had been convicted of crimes that he did not commit. Paget's book helped to contribute to the growing cult around Manstein's name. However, he was released on 6 May 1953 for medical reasons.
Von Manstein, one of the highest ranking generals in the Wehrmacht, claimed ignorance of what was happening in the concentration camps. In the Nuremberg Trials, he was asked "Did you at that time know anything about conditions in the concentration camps?" to which he replied "No. I heard as little about that as the German people, or possibly even less, because when one was fighting 1,000 kilometres away from Germany, one naturally did not hear about such things. I knew from pre-war days that there were two concentration camps, Oranienburg
Oranienburg
Oranienburg is a town in Brandenburg, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Oberhavel.- Geography :Oranienburg is a town located on the banks of the Havel river, 35 km north of the centre of Berlin.- Division of the town :...
and Dachau
Dachau
Dachau is a town in Upper Bavaria, in the southern part of Germany. It is a major district town—a Große Kreisstadt—of the administrative region of Upper Bavaria, about 20 km north-west of Munich. It is now a popular residential area for people working in Munich with roughly 40,000 inhabitants...
, and an officer who at the invitation of the SS had visited such a camp told me that it was simply a typical collection of criminals, besides some political prisoners who, according to what he had seen, were being treated severely but correctly." However, Manstein ignored the massacres committed in the occupied areas of the Soviet Union by the Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen were SS paramilitary death squads that were responsible for mass killings, typically by shooting, of Jews in particular, but also significant numbers of other population groups and political categories...
who travelled in the wake of the German Army, including Manstein's own 11th Army. That Manstein was well aware of the Einsatzgruppen massacres is proven by a 1941 letter he sent to Otto Ohlendorf
Otto Ohlendorf
Otto Ohlendorf was a German SS-Gruppenführer and head of the Inland-SD , a section of the SD. Ohlendorf was the commanding officer of Einsatzgruppe D, which conducted mass murder in Moldova, south Ukraine, the Crimea, and, during 1942, the north Caucasus...
, where Manstein demands Ohlendorf to hand over the acquired wrist-watches of the killed Jews. Smelser and Davies note that Manstein's letter complaining that the SS were keeping all of the wrist-watches of murdered Jews to themselves was the only time that Manstein ever complained about the actions of the Einsatzgruppen in the entire Second World War.
Senior advisor
Called on by the West German Chancellor Konrad AdenauerKonrad Adenauer
Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer was a German statesman. He was the chancellor of the West Germany from 1949 to 1963. He is widely recognised as a person who led his country from the ruins of World War II to a powerful and prosperous nation that had forged close relations with old enemies France,...
, von Manstein served as his senior defense advisory and chaired a military sub-committee appointed to advise the parliament on military organization and doctrine for the new German Army, the Bundeswehr
Bundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...
and its incorporation into NATO. He later moved with his family to Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
. His war memoirs, Verlorene Siege
Verlorene Siege
Verlorene Siege is the personal narrative of Erich von Manstein, a German Field Marshal during World War II...
(Lost Victories), were published in Germany in 1955, and translated into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
in 1958. In them, he presented the thesis that if only he had been in charge of strategy instead of Hitler, the war on the Eastern Front could have been won. For the most part, Manstein was disparaging of other German generals, whom Manstein portrayed as incompetent. Manstein took all credit for German victories for himself, while blaming Hitler and other generals for every defeat. As for the Red Army, Manstein portrayed the average Russian soldier as brave but badly led. Manstein depicted the entire Soviet officer corps as hopelessly incompetent, and portrayed the war on the Eastern Front as a battle between a German Army that was vastly superior in fighting ability being steadily ground down by an opponent that was superior only in numbers. Smelser and Davies wrote that this aspect of Verlorene Siege was very self-serving as it allowed Manstein to ignore several occasions such as the fall of Kiev in November 1943, where the Stavka
Stavka
Stavka was the term used to refer to a command element of the armed forces from the time of the Kievan Rus′, more formally during the history of Imperial Russia as administrative staff and General Headquarters during late 19th Century Imperial Russian armed forces and those of the Soviet Union...
not only fooled him, but defeated him as well. A noteworthy aspect of Verlorene Siege was Manstein's avoidence of political issues, instead treating the entire war as an operational matter. Manstein refused to express any regret for fighting under a genocidal regime, and nowhere in Verlorene Siege did Manstein issue any sort of moral condemnation of National Socialism. Instead, Hitler was only criticized for faulty strategic decisions. Smelser and Davies wrote that Manstein's criticism of Hitler was extremely self-serving as Manstein made the false claim that he wanted the 6th Army to be pulled out of Stalingrad after it was encircled, only to be overruled by Hitler; and Manstein attacked Hitler for launching Operation Citadel, a plan that Manstein himself had developed and championed. Manstein's lament about Germany's "lost victories" in the Second World War seemed to imply that the world would have been a much better place if Nazi Germany had won the war. Manstein made the entirely false claim that he did not enforce the "Commissar Order", and made no mention of his own considerable role in the Holocaust, such as sending 2,000 of his soldiers to help the SS massacre 11,000 Jews in Simferopol
Simferopol
-Russian Empire and Civil War:The city was renamed Simferopol in 1784 after the annexation of the Crimean Khanate to the Russian Empire by Catherine II of Russia. The name Simferopol is derived from the Greek, Συμφερόπολις , translated as "the city of usefulness." In 1802, Simferopol became the...
in November 1941. Verlorene Siege was much acclaimed and a best-seller when it was published in the 1950s. The favorable portrait Manstein drew of himself in Verlorene Siege continues to influence the popular picture of him to this day. The German historian Volker Berghahn
Volker Berghahn
Volker Rolf Berghahn is a historian of German and modern European history at Columbia University. His research interests have included the fin de siècle period in Europe, the origins of World War I, and German-American relations. He received his M.A. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel...
wrote in 2004 that Manstein's memoirs were "totally unreliable", and if more had been known about Manstein's war crimes in the 1940s, he might had been hanged. Berghahn wrote that by "By the time Christian Streit published his book Keine Kamaden about the mass murder of Red Army prisoners of war at the hands of the Wehrmacht, professional historians firmly accepted what Manstein and his comrades had denied and covered up, i.e., that the Wehrmacht had been deeply involved in the criminal and genocidal policies of the Nazi regime".
Never having been a member of the Nazi Party, he had no trouble in West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
unlike some of the Reichs more notorious Hitler supporters. Because of his influence, for the first few years of the Bundeswehr he was seen as the unofficial chief of staff. Even later, his birthday parties were regularly attended by official delegations of Bundeswehr and NATO top leaders such as General Hans Speidel
Hans Speidel
Hans Speidel: Born in Metzingen, was a German general during World War II and the first German NATO Commander during the Cold War.- 1914–1945 :...
who was the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied ground forces in Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
from 1957 to 1963. This was not the case with other Field Marshals such as Milch
Erhard Milch
Erhard Milch was a German Field Marshal who oversaw the development of the Luftwaffe as part of the re-armament of Germany following World War I, and served as founding Director of Deutsche Luft Hansa...
, Schörner
Ferdinand Schörner
Ferdinand Schörner was a General and later Field Marshal in the German Army during World War II.-Early life:Schörner was born in Munich, Bavaria...
, von Küchler
Georg von Küchler
Georg Karl Friedrich Wilhelm von Küchler was a German Field Marshal during the Second World War. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves...
and others, who were disregarded and forgotten after the war.
Erich von Manstein suffered a stroke and died in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
on the night of 9 June 1973. He was buried with full military honours. His obituary in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
on 13 June 1973, stated that "His influence and effect came from powers of mind and depth of knowledge rather than by generating an electrifying current among the troops or 'putting over' his personality."
External links
- (Fritz) Erich von Manstein / von Lewinski at Achtung Panzer!
- Erich von Manstein: His Life, Character and Operations – A Reappraisal by Jörg Muth at Axis History Factbook
- Chronology.
- Erich von Manstein – ein unpolitischer Soldat? – A critical assessment of von Manstein by Michael Schröders (in German).
- The New York Review of Books: How Wrong Was Churchill? by Noel AnnanNoel AnnanNoel Gilroy Annan, Baron Annan, OBE was a British military intelligence officer, author, and academic. During his military career, he rose to the rank of Colonel and was appointed OBE...
- Kursk Reconsidered: Germany's Lost Victory by George M. Nipe, Jr. – World War II Articles 1998
- The Crimean Campaign – 1942 by Victor Nitu; worldwar2.ro
- The Crimean Campaign at wehrmacht-awards.com
- Hitler's Warriors – The Strategist English edition of a documentary on Manstein; from a 1998 ZDFZDFZweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
series.