Was Rommel the greatest General in WW2?

Question

ive been researching battles in ww2 and in my opinion some of the battles won by Rommel were very impressive.

If he had the same numbers, tanks and planes in North Africa im sure he would have no doubt defeated the allied forces there.

He was also a decent person, a German soldier not a Nazi Criminal

Answer 1

He seemed like one of the greatest generals. I still am partial to Patton who was, at least in my view, the greatest of the allied generals. Monty had a vastly superior force to Rommel and still barely defeated him.

Answer 2

The Germans lost so many of millions of men on the
eastern front fighting huge battles that the earth may not
see again. I doubt Rommel was Germany's greatest
general. I suspect the most able were fighting on the Eastern
Front and we know Rommel so well because he was the most
able fighting against us. I am happy, however, that the cream
of the German fighting machine was not fighting against us in
Normandy which was part of Rommel's command later in the
war.
Rundstedt was a great strategist. Guderian was a great
tactician with tanks and the breakthrough. Also the Germans
had many masterful withdrawals (breakouts) after being
surrounded that should be textbook scenarious if anybody
would ever actually investigate them.
If you're interested in a story of a German soldier during
WWII, Guy Sajer's Forgotten Soldier might be for you.

Answer 3

This is very subjective but it has to come down to one single thing, who won? When you consider "who is the best" you have to take into account who was standing when it all ended. With Rommel, you have a situation of winning the battle but losing the war. Rommel was a better commander than most, on both sides, and won battles he would have not won without his specific intuitive battle plans. He was able, as any great commander, to see the big picture of the whole battle and use his forces very effectively. Most notable of the Allies, was Patton, who did exactly the same as Rommel and won battles for exactly the same reasons. So, there is not "best" commander as such, but the one who was standing in the end.

Answer 4

Erwin Rommel, the greatest German general and strategist of the Afrika Korps until Hitler screwed up and couldn't deliver fuel and supplies to his troops. Georgy Zhukov and Konstantin Rokossovsky in the Battle of Kursk. This was after Germany's defeat at Stalingrad and proved that when a blitzkrieg peters out and slows, Russian old-style fighting skills prevail. There's a good reason why Russians call WWII "The Great Patriotic War"!

Answer 5

There might have been many generals with their outstanding skills and tactics, but Rommel was the master of all. his defeats at the hands of Montgomery or Patton cannot be ascribed to his failure. Montgomery arrived to Africa at the time when events were turning in the favor of Eight Army while his rival (Rommel) was short of supplies and thus went into defenses. he repulsed Monty's first attack by knocking out 200 allied tanks in 24 hours. when the Axis defenses were breached he (Rommel) was on sick leave and Monty was aware of this great advantage. one should guess if he had the same men and material at his disposal as that of Monty don't you think he could have destroyed all of them in no time?? I am sure he would

Answer 6

Rommel was the desert fox until he started to lose battles. He was Germany's great general however we had a better one....Patton. Even the German's regarded Patton as or number one general. Montgomery gave Rommel a trouncing in North Africa and later on so did Patton. They also defeated Rommel in Sicily.

Answer 7

My pick was Paul Hausser, as commander of the II SS Panzer Corps, he defeated a Red Army 7 times his size at the 3rd Battle of Kharkov (1943)....but yeah, Rommel could've won africa with at least 1 or 2 more armoured divisions....or even the 503 Heavy Tank Battalion with the new Tigers, but they came too little, too late.

Answer 8

Rommel is the best. He lost because the allies had breached the German radio code, so they knew what Rommel did beforehand.
Even then Rommel defeated Monty. He only lost when both US and British armies surrounded him and he was vastly outnumbered.
His supplies were exhausted and most of his tanks couldn't be deployed cuz he dint have fuel.
And especially Monty listened to German radio traffic and launched the attack only after Rommel had left his post on the front line on sick leave.

Answer 9

If he had defeated the Allies in North Africa that would have meant the death of most of the Jews in Palestine. He fought for an evil, like the entire German army in World War II and therefore I can never consider any of them "great". You can't claim they had nothing to do with Nazis, they had all sworn their oath on Hitler.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20060414/ai_n16169122

Oh, and I'm German by the way.

Answer 10

I am going to be diplomatic here and say that Rommel was Germany's best general and Patton was America's best general.