How did Germany manage to find so many capabable war generals during WW2?

Question

I mean since 1918 it was made to pay the war reparations and i wonder where did they got their trainning.

Answer 1

Many of them were WW1 veterans.

Answer 2

They manage to train a lot of High Officers in spite of the interdictions put by the Treaty of Versailles in a disguise way. The General Staff was re baptized with a different name and the French and the English never realized what was going on....After the accession of Hitler to power in 1933 they did not even hide and start a huge re militarization of the nation with a lot of Military Schools reopening a little bit everywhere in the country. Since 1919, the German spirit was focused on one thing and one only : REVENGE for the defeat of 1918. Now I think they have understood that revenge is not always a good goal to pursue.

Answer 3

1. A capable General Staff corp kept intact after WWI even in opposition to the Treaty of Versailles. The General Staff had a long history going back to the Prussian Days in the 1800's. They were a distinguished organization (almost like a unique fraternity) based on merit and expertise, as opposed to other countries.

2. The Germans were the only ones to have felt the impact of an armoured assault during WWI. They used that experience to establish the tank as the main arm of military strategy, as lined out in Guderian's "Achtung Panzer."

3. Rommel, Paul Hausser, Mainstein, Kurt "Panzer" Meyer, Wilhelm Bittrich, von Kleist are some that come to mind. A fool among them was Sepp Deitrich, an SS general, but he was not of the Prussian tradition and apart of the General Staff. He was an idiot...

Answer 4

As said above many were WW1 veterans. However the basis of Nazi military success in the early parts of WW2 is from the Schlieffen Plan. Essentially this plan called from several KEY elements:
1 - Quick defeat of the French through Belgium (successful in WW2)
2 - Quick defeat of Eastern Europe (alsop successful)
3 - the isolation of England.

It wasnt really rocket science - all high ranking officials knew the original plan from WW1 and they followed it. Pity for the Germans that Russia had become so powerful - otherwise we'd all be singing Duestche

Answer 5

First of all the one that was truly a man of stradegy was Rommel, and Hitler assassinated him and some of his best soldiers. The rest was elementary, it is not hard to conquer a city (Paris) with tanks and half tracks filled with soldiers and heavily armed. When France had none of these things, in fact they had no defense at all, neither did Belgium, Austria was with Germany and many of the Austrians were helping in the war design. And it was not hard to hire on people that were experts when you had oodles of money from captured Jews, they gave them their houses and all their belongings as well as the gold from their teeth. That is how Hitler funded his war. He stole everyones stuff, he looted Le' Louvre, for all the priceless Artifacts he wanted, he gave the women of France to his soldiers without a fight or they would die. Just like Japan in Korea, the Philipines, etc., you see when you are a bully it is not hard to pick on the defenseless, you may enjoy a brief moment of pleasure but you lose in the end. And all those Bunker Buddies were hiding in in that Bunker when the Americans came, Boy they were a Brave Bunch ha ha. Do you think General George S. Patton would have hid in a Cellar?
Not.

Answer 6

Read Guderian, Panzer Leader, for a pretty good look at the German military between wars. It's a warts and all look, with an insider's criticisms, and some surprising information. Very interesting reading if you're into the subject. Liddell Hart is a good snapshot of some of the better known generals and their opinions.

Answer 7

Germany had the fortune of inhereiting the doctrine & teachings of the Prussian military. ie, the idea of having military staff for planning & operations came from the Prussians.

Also, they had great thinkers like Count Von Moltke the Elder, Carl von Clausewitz, Bismark among others & those who pushed for reforms within the armed forces were lucky to have found a listening ear in Hitler who supported their ideas.

Answer 8

Whermacht Commanders (German militia of WW2) weren't hunted and tried. It replaced into the NSDAP (Nazi) members and Waffen SS officers for their Crimes against Humanity. The Allies accomplished some jap like PM Tojo for crimes, yet many of the Human right violators observed Bushido and committed Suicide on the tip of the war. The Emporer replaced into allowed in potential through fact he did no longer do something incorrect, he replaced into in basic terms a determine Head after the people remade the government (food plan in jap). -I even have not heard of any German Commanders being hunted anymore, i might think of maximum have been deceased via now.

Answer 9

Most of them came from the old Prussian Officer Corps. But for that matter- is "capabable" really the right term? I mean, after all, they did slaughter over ten million people...

Answer 10

They all had practical experience from WW1 and social class was not a factor in Hitler's army as it was in the British army.

Answer 11

The German Generals were truly intelligent before all along but since the power was in Hitler's hand, what could they do?