Rundstedt, Field Marshal (Karl R.) Gerd von

Rundstedt, Field Marshal (Karl R.) Gerd von (1875–1953),distinguished German Army group and theatre commander who was one of Hitler's most loyal generals.

Rundstedt, who came from the cream of the Prussian aristocracy, was commissioned into the infantry in June 1892 and quickly showed much promise. A graduate of the prestigious Kriegsakademie, he served on the staff on both the Eastern and Western Fronts throughout 1914–18, rising to chief of staff of an army corps and being twice recommended for Prussia's highest decoration, the Pour le Mérite. His marked ability ensured his retention in the much diminished post-war German Army and he quickly rose to lt-general by the time Hitler came to power in January 1933. While he constantly disparaged Hitler in private, in public he displayed unquestioning support for him in accordance with the traditional Prussian military code of honour, duty, and loyalty. It was Rundstedt's rigid adherence to this code, his natural modesty and his belief that officers should not become involved in politics, which made him a figurehead among his brother officers. Hitler was quick to exploit his standing and established a unique relationship with Rundstedt in order to ensure the loyalty of the officer corps. Thus Rundstedt survived the purge of March 1938 and, indeed, was promoted to general. By this time he wanted to retire, but was not allowed to do so until the successful conclusion of the Sudetenland crisis in September 1938 (see Munich agreement), during which he commanded the Second Army.

Rundstedt's retirement was to be shortlived. In May 1939 he was appointed to lead a small planning team for the Polish campaign. This eventually became HQ Army Group South, which Rundstedt commanded with great success in September 1939. After a brief spell as C-in-C East, towards the end of that October he was given command of Army Group A, which was to take the leading role in the fall of France the following May. Promoted field marshal in July 1940, Rundstedt was given command of the ground forces for the projected invasion of the UK (see SEALION), an operation in which he had little faith. After its postponement he was made C-in-C West, but in March 1941 was ordered to set up HQ Army Group South at Breslau for BARBAROSSA, the invasion of the USSR. While he viewed this operation with foreboding, Rundstedt made little protest and also passed on Hitler's orders for the extermination of commissars and others (see also Einsatzgruppen) without question. At the start of the German–Soviet war Army Group South attacked into the Ukraine and eventually took Rostov-on-Don, gateway to the Caucasus, on 21 November. Ten days later, Hitler peremptorily dismissed Rundstedt, who had recently suffered a mild heart attack, for withdrawing against orders from Rostov-on-Don in the face of determined Red Army counter-attacks. When Hitler was made aware of the facts, he quickly forgave him and sent him into retirement with a large financial reward, a gesture which embarrassed Rundstedt, who, while unable to refuse it, never personally touched the money.

In March 1942 Rundstedt was again recalled to active duty, this time to replace the ailing Witzleben as C-in-C West. He oversaw the occupation of Vichy France in November 1942 and later formed a close relationship with Marshal Pétain. When Rommel was appointed C-in-C Army Group B, nominally under Rundstedt, at the end of 1943, the two clashed over how best to defeat the expected Allied invasion (see OVERLORD), but made up their differences shortly before it took place. As the situation in Normandy grew more desperate Rundstedt and Rommel increasingly clashed with Hitler over his refusal to countenance any withdrawals. Eventually, on 2 July 1944, Rundstedt was relieved by Kluge, but again his retirement was to be brief. He was ordered by Hitler to preside over the Court of Honour set up in the aftermath of the July 1944 bomb plot (see Schwarze Kapelle), an action for which many Germans, especially those who had hoped that he would provide a lead in overthrowing Hitler, never forgave him. In early September 1944 he was reappointed C-in-C West and was given credit by both sides for his skill in holding the Allied thrusts towards Germany. The Allies saw him as the mastermind of the December 1944Ardennes campaign, but this was mistaken. The plans, to which Rundstedt and Model, the army group commander concerned, strongly objected, had been drawn up by Hitler's High Command (OKW), and Rundstedt had little say in them or their execution. Eventually, having conducted a skilful withdrawal across the Rhine, Rundstedt was dismissed for a third and final time and replaced by Kesselring as a direct result of the seizure of the Remagen bridge by the Americans in March 1945. Captured by the Americans on 1 May 1945, he was later handed over to the British and, after much controversy, was eventually charged with war crimes in Poland, the USSR, and the west. Only ill health saved him from being tried and he was released from captivity in May 1949.

Both Eisenhower and Montgomery regarded Rundstedt as the outstanding German commander of the war, and after it his reputation stood much higher among his former enemies than among his fellow countrymen. While his competence is in no doubt, old age and uncertain health increasingly affected his powers as the war progressed. Never a man to reveal his innermost thoughts, he possessed many fine personal qualities, but his blind observance of the military code in which he had been nurtured proved to be both a strength and also a major weakness, in the end fatal, as it was with so many of his fellow generals.

Charles Messenger

Bibliography

Messenger, C. , The Last Prussian: a Biography of Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt 1875–1953 (London, 1991).