Erwin Rommel

Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel, nicknamed the Desert Fox, was a German field marshal who served across three different German militaries: the Imperial German Army, the Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic, and the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany. Born on 15 November 1891 in Heidenheim, in the Kingdom of Württemberg, he was the third of five children. His father had been an artillery lieutenant, and his maternal grandfather headed the local government council. Rommel joined an infantry regiment as an ensign at age 18, studied at the Officer Cadet School in Danzig, and was commissioned as a lieutenant in 1912. While at cadet school, he met his future wife, Lucia Mollin, who was of Italian and Polish descent.

During World War I, Rommel fought in France, Romania, and Italy, earning the Pour le Mérite for his actions on the Italian Front. He was awarded the Iron Cross, Second Class, for engagements in September 1914 and January 1915. His tactics involved penetrating enemy lines with heavy covering fire and rapid flanking movements to achieve surprise. In August 1917, his unit captured the heavily fortified Coșna Hill after weeks of fighting. Later that year, during the Battle of Caporetto, Rommel and 150 men captured 81 guns and 9,000 prisoners over three days. He married Lucia in Danzig in November 1916. After the war, he published Infantry Attacks in 1937, a classic book on military tactics based on his wartime experiences.

In World War II, Rommel commanded the 7th Panzer Division during the 1940 invasion of France. His leadership of German and Italian forces in North Africa earned him the nickname "Desert Fox" and a reputation among British adversaries for chivalry, often described as "war without hate." However, historians have challenged this as a myth, citing crimes against North African Jewish populations, though there is no clear evidence Rommel was involved or aware of them. He later commanded German forces opposing the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944.

After the Nazis took power, Rommel pledged allegiance to the regime. Historians disagree on the specifics of his loyalty, but he remained a supporter of Adolf Hitler, if not the Nazi Party or SS, until near the war's end. In 1944, he was implicated in the 20 July plot to assassinate Hitler. Given a choice between suicide or a trial leading to disgrace and execution, he took a cyanide pill. The regime announced he had died from injuries sustained in a strafing attack on his car in Normandy, and he was given a state funeral.

Rommel became a larger-than-life figure in Allied and Nazi propaganda and postwar culture. Many portray him as an apolitical, brilliant commander and a victim of the regime, though others reject this as the "Rommel myth." His reputation for a clean war was used to support West German rearmament and reconciliation with the UK and US. Several of his former subordinates, including chief of staff Hans Speidel, played key roles in West Germany's integration into NATO. The German Army's largest base, Field Marshal Rommel Barracks in Augustdorf, and a destroyer of the German Navy are named after him. His son, Manfred Rommel, served as the longtime mayor of Stuttgart, and Stuttgart Airport bears his name.