Rommel was the most prominent German officer in history. But is his nickname "Desert Fox" worthy of its name?
Field Marshal Rommel, nicknamed "The Desert Fox", had a long and illustrious military career and was undoubtedly an outstanding and influential military strategist in German history. If this mythical status is completely justified, or whether the person in reality is it difficult to reach the heroic image created for him.
Rommel began his career in the early 20th century, beginning to demonstrate his dynamic command skills during World War I. Even after the armistice, he served Germany through the Weimar government and later the Nazi regime, and even became good friends with Hitler.
Rommel was considered politically unavoidable, but he was still respected by the soldiers around him, even by those he opposed, and was therefore known as the Desert Fox by the Allies in the deserts of North Africa.
Rommel's early service
Young Rommel in the uniform of the First World War
Given the important influence of Prussian militarism on German history and military prestige, it is quite ironic that Rommel did not actually come from Prussia. Erwin Rommel was born in 1891 in the Kingdom of Winttenberg in Germany, to upper-middle-class parents. His father, Owen Rommel the Elder, was a lieutenant in the German artillery unit. Following in his footsteps at the age of 18, Rommel entered the officer academy, graduating two years before the outbreak of World War I.
He saw the battle almost immediately, engaging French soldiers near Verdun in the summer of 1914, before the war had descended into the horrors of trench warfare. Even as a young officer, Rommel seemed to be good at fighting, coupled with fierce attacks to break through enemy lines, a tactic he liked to use frequently throughout his long career. Fortunately, Rommel left France before the battle got bogged down. He was promoted and transferred east to fight the Romanians, where he was reassigned to a newly formed Deng regiment.
Austrian mountain troops during World War I
During the last two years of the war, Rommel and his troops experienced large-scale fighting in Romania. Fierce battles followed the Isonzo River through the mountainous alpine regions of northeastern Italy.
During this time, Rommel earned the reputation of a brave, even somewhat disobedient officer, who took penetration and mobility to the extreme, penetrated deep behind enemy lines, often directly disobeyed orders, outflanked from the flank, tricked the enemy into surrendering.
Despite disobeying orders, Rommel was rarely punished, as the German military often encouraged field officers to show initiative. Considering that he captured about 20,000 Italian soldiers in two battles, and he himself had only a few hundred soldiers, it is difficult to dispute the results. After the war, Rommel was promoted again and received Germany's highest order of honor.
Two world wars and rises
Rommel in 1930
After the armistice and the end of the war in late 1918, Rommel returned to Germany, which was almost in a state of civil war. In the aftermath of the war, including the abdication of the monarch and rising opposition to the war, Germany found itself on the brink of revolution. There were some local uprisings, and most people were dissatisfied with the economic hardship brought about by the war and reparations. Rommel, who remained in the army, was often sent to suppress these rebellions, which he would suppress peacefully and diplomatically.
In 1934, when the Nazi Party took control of German politics and thus the military, Rommel met the party's dictatorship, Adolf Adolf. Hitler. Hitler soon became obsessed with Rommel's fame and appointed him to increasingly important positions, including commanding his own escort battalion.
German soldiers at the parade
For his part, Rommel himself, he, like many others, would be impressed by the charisma of the Nazi leader. Although Rommel was never a member of the Nazi Party and did not share Nazi ideals, it was clear that he was fascinated by the Führer.
Perhaps they both found similarities with each other, since both Rommel and Hitler were outsiders in the political and military sphere under Prussia. Similarly, they seem to have a genuine friendship and interest in engineering. What Rommel thought about Hitler and the Nazi Party is a matter that historians have been arguing about.
However, a common explanation is that although Rommel was very good militarily, he was very naïve in the political sphere and tried to separate or ignore these issues as much as possible. While he will not be friendly to anti-Semitic or other abuses around him or in the chain of command, he will do little to stop or acknowledge the growing trends around him.
At the end of the day, Rommel really didn't seem to follow Nazi dogma, although he couldn't have reached his mythical status without Hitler's personal favoritism.
Become a Desert Fox: Rommel's Rise
German armor during the campaign
With the outbreak of the operation in 1939, Rommel for the first time served as commander of Hitler's personal regiment and accompanied the Fuhrer on his visit to the Polish war, which was often close to the front. During this period, Rommel became interested in the latest branches of the German army.
Armored tank division, this was the first collective use. Despite his record of service, there were only a handful of tank (or panzer) divisions in the German Army at the time, and many senior officers were designated to hold these positions first.
His friendship with Hitler proved to be of great benefit to him here, as nepotism was often the way of dictatorship. With the support of Hitler and some other "outsiders", that is, non-Prussian servicemen, Rommel would be given command of the newly formed 7th Panzer Division.
Although Rommel had always served in infantry units, he preferred a highly mobile form of warfare based on rapid movement, raids, and positioning, which German armored divisions excelled in.
While the term "blitzkrieg" and its origins are controversial, there is no doubt that rapid maneuvering strikes across France were often spearheaded by Rommel, building on the tactics of infiltration he established in World War I.
Rommel enthusiastically adapted to his new position, immediately participating in military exercises and training before the French invasion in 1940. Armor tactics seemed to suit the new division commander, who often fought on the front line with his troops, sometimes even in battle.
In the end, the Battle of France was a great success, and Rommel earned considerable fame. With this quick and decisive victory in France, Rommel silenced his critics at the German High Command and built an impressive reputation for the weaponization of German propaganda.
While Rommel enjoyed impressive success on the battlefield in France, while Germany stalled here for a long time in World War I, in the arid deserts of North Africa, Rommel earned his famous nickname: The Desert Fox.
In June 1940, Italy declared war on the Allies, and soon after, Italy invaded Egypt from occupied Libya. This would be followed by a humiliating defeat on the Italian side, in which their entire invading forces were captured or destroyed, although their numbers were almost five to one, more than twice as many armored vehicles and about fourteen times more artillery as Italians.
To prevent the complete and complete collapse of the region, Rommel was sent to North Africa in early 1941 as commander of the German Afrika Korps. Although technically subordinate to the Italian command, there were few problems as to who was the real commander, as Rommel quickly took the initiative on the battlefield, ignoring his initial orders and simply holding his ground and forcing the Allies to retreat in full.
What would follow would be a series of far-reaching, back-and-forth battles that stretched almost the entire coast of northern Africa and lasted nearly three years. During this period, Rommel earned the nickname "Desert Fox" for his cunning and tactical acumen.
While Hitler did invest enough in North Africa to send a general he loved, there is no doubt that his focus was almost entirely on Russia. With Operation Barbarossa, Axis forces in North Africa found themselves on the back burner, with the vast majority of materiel, armor, and manpower sent to Russia to fight.
The situation is exacerbated by chronic fuel shortages as Libya has not yet found any fuel reserves. In addition, the Mediterranean could not be occupied by the Italians, which meant that Axis shipping was constantly threatened by Allied aircraft and attacks. Faced with the overwhelming superiority of tanks, aircraft and manpower, and in the face of Montgomery's impeccable military acumen, the situation was finally reversed at the Second Battle of El Alamein.
When the situation in North Africa looked increasingly desperate, Hitler recalled Rommel from Africa in 1943. While Rommel's career was far from over, disagreements between the Desert Fox and the Fuhrer began to emerge, leading to growing divisions.
By now, Rommel became a legend not only in Germany, but also among the Allies. The "Desert Fox" is a rare example of a commander respecting both friend and foe, treated as a dedicated and professional soldier around. While Rommel's boldest move in this war was yet to come, the time he spent in North Africa earned him a nickname that will always be remembered.