Why did German war generals such as Guderian, Rommel etc support Hitler war campaign?

Question

I mean do they really believe that Germany had the right to gain power by war conquests?

Answer 1

Because they loved their Fatherland? They could have hated Hitler as far as we know.....but since they probably loved Germany they wanted to help Germany not necessarily Hitler? As far as I know in the American Civil War Robert E Lee was not thrilled about the formation of CSA but did not want to fight against his home Virginia.

Answer 2

Why shouldn't they have supported conquests? The British conquered the Irish, who certainly didn't appreciate it, and ruled India, and huge chunks of Africa. The French ruled pretty much all of Africa not controlled by the Portuguese and the English. Germany's colonies were stripped and assigned to other colonial powers.

In 1939, colonialism was definitely in vogue, and conquering colonies is what armies did.

Rommel was a great soldier, and he had a huge ego. The Nazis started out as a paramilitary organization, and were considered as nincompoops by the real soldiers. When Hitler did what Rommel considered stupid and likely to result in another humiliating defeat by the Allies, he felt overthrowing him was the best thing to do.

Hitler's worst mistake was declaring war on the Russians before finishing off the English. Every general knew about how this had destroyed Napoleon's army. Invading Russia has never been successful for anyone.

Answer 3

Generals like Heinz Guderian and Erwin Rommel were BOTH professional soldiers who served in the Great War (WW I), and wrote books to further explain tactics on the use of tanks and infantry. BOTH served in the Second World War as commanders of Panzer Armies (multiple tank and infantry divisions). Guderian was born in 1901, Rommel in 1891. It may help to know that Germany became the nation that it did by MILITARY conquest as late as 1870. Of course Prussia had the right to gain power by conquest - that was never questioned!

Answer 4

Most of the generals had been in WWI and seen the defeat and the ecomomic disasters that followed in the 1920s. German ecomeny never recovered from the war, making the depression in 1929 that much worse. Hitler gained power by promising to ignore the 1919 peace treaties and build up Germany to a milataty superpower once again. Not only the milatary but the people in general supported this. The military wanted its chance to get revenge for WWI. Hitler gave them that chance

Answer 5

Seems like they did. Hitler turned the establishment on its head, tossing out both the old politicians, democrats, aristocracy and the intellectual elite. The inmates were running the asylum. For Hitler's lieutenants, it was a power grab... A chance to run the show. All that crap about the 1,000 year Reich had a lot of people believing that it was destiny. Plus, the Germans felt betrayed by the Treaty of Paris after WWI.... Add this to Hitler's paranoid rant in Mein Kampf, and you have a whole nation feeling like they're owed something by the world. A recipe for disaster.

Answer 6

Why shouldn't they have supported conquests? The British conquered the Irish, who somewhat did no longer delight in it, and ruled India, and extensive chunks of Africa. The French ruled especially lots all of Africa no longer controlled via the Portuguese and the English. Germany's colonies have been stripped and assigned to different colonial powers. In 1939, colonialism became truthfully in trend, and conquering colonies is what armies did. Rommel became a brilliant soldier, and he had a brilliant ego. The Nazis all began as a paramilitary business enterprise, and have been considered as nincompoops via the genuine squaddies. whilst Hitler did what Rommel considered stupid and particular to bring about yet another humiliating defeat via the Allies, he felt overthrowing him became the terrific element to do. Hitler's worst mistake became affirming war on the Russians till now ending off the English. each and every commonplace knew approximately how this had destroyed Napoleon's military. Invading Russia has never been useful for anybody.

Answer 7

After WW1, the German military had been demoralized. The German military wanted to restore "honor" to the country. In Hitler, ( who they saw as a short term solution, who would soon be gone), they saw a chance to restore Germany as a European power, a chance for Germany to resume its rightful place among nations. Remember, after the treaty of Versailles, ending WW1, Germany had been humiliated, and its borders realigned. In the beginning, the generals you cited, and others, went along with Hitler. However, when the tide of war began to change, Rommel actually plotted to kill Hitler.

Answer 8

In Hitlers own words "an army does not exist to preserve peace" His generals who wanted to see Germany avenge the defeat of WW1 were probably of the same thinking, but it is worth mentioning Rommel was executed because he helped in the plot to kill Hitler in 1944 when he seen Hitler was leading them to destruction. All countries at one time or another Britian,Russia,China,France gained power through military conquests.