Could Rommel Have Won the War in the East? WW2 - OOTF 036
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- Опубликовано: 27 сен 2024
- It’s time for another exciting episode of Out of the Foxholes! Today Indy tackles questions on food rationing in Norway, German political subversion in the United States, and whether Erwin Rommel would have made a difference on the Eastern Front.
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Are you going to do Vietnam after Korea?
I completely agree with you on GFM Rommel in Russia. I've often said that the war in the East, was a completely different ball of string. He'd have still been his brillent self and I think his talent would have been wasted there.
Logistics? We got logistics coming out of our ears.
We are going to need an update on Justinian's Desk. And where Justinian and Theodora must have had a lot of good times together...
I shall continue to be here supporting this channel even if Indy hosts the Hundred Years War series! 😂👍
the answer isn't just a no, it is a f*ck no. the challenge is way too great, it requires not only the germans to perform well, but you need the soviets to do unbelievably bad for unrealistically too long and the logistical challenges to go away for like the first year of the war.
Not to mention Hitler being the worst micro-managing boss ever and making direct changes to change the direction of whole army groups, just to achieve some impossible objective instead of taking Moscow.
Yes he could. On allied side.
There is a reason Rommel was in Africa and not the East. Because he wasn't reliable enough to fight anywhere deemed too important.
@@Paciat That a dog whistle?
The last 2 parts are something that happened the entire war tho lol
I started watching Indy since WW1 and trough WW2. Advance to Korea... Can't believe... 10years...🎉🇫🇮
Same
I only discovered him about 18 months ago.
+1 :)
hear! hear!
Been watching since 2014
4:32 I'm remembering a Soviet joke from this period:
A woman goes to a shop and asks: "Excuse me, won't you have any fish?"
The vendor replies: "No, this is the butchery. Here we don't have any meat. The fishmonger is on the next building, there's where they don't have any fish!"
The woman answers: "Thank you."
Ah yes, because people famously do not make jokes during hard times as a way to cope, especially Russians, who are famous for their joyous attitudes, unshakeable optimistim and their avoidance of dark humor. (This is sarcasm by the way.)
@Harry-mp8vi What is not so humble is the post-war attitude in russia. The ussr wouldn't have survived without British Merchant marine vessels carrying American food, trucks, tooling and powerplant technology.
@Harry-mp8vi Exactly that attitude. If it weren't for the British and US, there would be no russia.
@@bdj_tvkthe sarcasm was quite lovely.
My grand mother recently passed away, born in 1940 she had memories of the war even in her final years, located in eastern France her family was spared harsh conflicts but still lived through german occupation, she remembers going to school and seeing german panzers and cars on the road, and that even once she was given chocolate from a german soldier.
She lived to see the indochina war, the algeria war from wich her recently married husband, my grandpa, returned with ptsd, and many more wars. I remember as a kid, whenever we spoke about problems at a family dinner she'd finish debates with a "Well at least we all are safe and there is no war". Rest in peace grandma, I'll miss you.
Your grandma sounds very sensible. My condolences on her passing, and I wish you many happy memories.
B.S. story made up
Bless your grandma. ❤
B.S. story
@@ronald-bh5vi to call bullshit on this you must be from a family that never lived through war and its harships. Otherwise you'd know it's not.
Americans of Polish origin visiting Poland were caught up in at least one reprisal massacre by the Germans after they invaded in 1939. It did not make Thomsen's work any easier.
Reprisal for what?... Letting Germany invade?
How to answer the video title in one word : logistics.
Seems about right -TimeGhost Ambassador
The Wermacht was destroyed by the Red Army. full stop. They had lots of lame excuses after the fact and their fanboys still try to revise history. The United States bought into the mythology and still to this day operates under the assumption of Russian inferiority, leading them to the pathetic flailing of NATO we see today.
Exactly.
The Nemesis for the entire war in the East.
Don't forget that Rommel was completely ignorant regarding logistics, which would have been disastrous if he were sent to the Eastern Front. His lack of expertise in managing supply lines and coordinating large-scale operations might have resulted in the risk of getting his forces encircled and ultimately destroyed. He was a competent, bold and daring tactician, as long as he had more capable and wiser commanders like Rundstedt, Kesselring or Kluge to restraint him when necessary.
Not to be too harsh on Rommel's abilities, but he was not an ideal candidate when it came to command anything larger than an army. Therefore, it would be crazy to expect him to successfully command an entire army group on the Eastern Front. Additionally, it is known that Rommel was prone to experiencing moments of depression and emotional impairments, particularly in stressful situations.
As Indy mentioned, there were already several aggressive and capable tank commanders, such as Hoth, Guderian, and even Model, during the initial phase of Operation Barbarossa on the Eastern Front.
@@WorldWarTwoseems about wrong - evil timeghost ambassador.
I mean two things, Rommel can’t create fuel out of nothing and would probably have the same problem as the German army. As for the second thing, Rommel wanted to surrender to the allies to fight the soviets which was something that was not going to happen as the Allies stood heel to heel with the Soviets.
He went to far and ran out of gas in North Africa, he was not a logistical magician and not without faults.
@@kevinconrad6156 he also made several strategic blunders that made the defeat come sooner
The "Heel to heel" idea is post war fantasy, much of the "unity" during the war was fabricated, because many in the west wanted to bleed both the Soviets and the Germans dry.
Monty couldn't lose now that ULTRA and the USA were bankrolling him - but he tried.The Desert Campiagn belongs at least as much to his predecessors and RN/RAF stopping all axis supplies
Maybe he should have agree to Valkryie?
Also, what position are we giving Rommel in the East? A Corps has less impact there than in Africa. And even if he gets an Army command after Moscow, it still doesnt change the conditions, or his habit of overrunning his supply lines.
General Patton often overran his supply lines too; but he never failed at what he was ordered or wanted to do. Of the two, Patton would always be number 1. I think some here are too critical of Rommel's abilities. The war in the East was much more different than in Africa or France.
@@CarlEvans-t6h It is become fashionable to be critical of Rommel. It is just the usual game of see-saw historians play. But, we must also remember that many historians, even military historians, don't actually have a military background. Often times people should look past their conclusions. I have personally found that many things taken as gospel from popular military historians don't actually pass muster when evaluated under a proper military lens. I am both a US Army officer and an historian and frankly, a lot of historians are clueless. The idea that Rommel didn't understand is first and foremost in that category which is astounding considering historians have had access to his papers since the 1950s. Logistics was *foremost* on his mind. Like Patton he pushed the enemy to the extreme and Rommel's and Patton's biggest victories occurred precisely because they had felt the enemy had broke and ran them to ground. The big picture is this: Rommel's refusal to adhere to his logistics resulted in nearly breaking the British in Egypt twice and had the Italians exerted a little more effort, and if OKH had cared a little more, he may well have taken the Suez. As it is, Rommel turned a delaying action expected to last 8 months and instead kept the Allies tied up in Africa for 2+ years rather than attacking Italy or elsewhere in mainland Europe in 1942 (to say nothing of the dislocation caused to British maritime operations for two years occasioned by contested nature of the Middle Med thanks to Axis occupation of half of North African coast).
@@CarlEvans-t6h With or without Ike holding back Devers and transferring his troops / supplies?
Объем перевозок по железной дороге является фиксированной величиной. Сама идея блиц-крига не совместима с длительным временем на улучшение железнодорожного снабжения. Возьмите в качестве примера 1942 год. Вермахт быстро наступает на Кавказ, но снабжение войск ухудшается, потому что нужно чинить железные дороги, мосты, вокзалы, растет необходимость в паровозах и вагонах. Таким образом, блиц-криг возможен на небольшое расстояние, а затем наступит дефицит топлива и боеприпасов.
Роммель бы не смог взять Сталинград, не смог бы преодолеть нехватку поставок. Даже если предположить, что Германия отправила бы в 1942 году больше войск на Кавказ, то снабжать их было бы все равно нечем.
Два талантливых генерала вермахта командовали Курской битвой - Манштейн с юга и Модель с севера. Оба потерпели поражение и отступили - вряд ли они были некомпетентны.
@user-jp5mn3bi2e Patton had massive material and air advantage. That's why he didn't fail.
I've got perhaps the most important question for OOTF - will Indy sit again in THE chair? It is so close, yet it feels to be so distant...
As infinitely away as how much knowledge it carries on its back
Time will tell...
Thanks for watching!
@@WorldWarTwo that undefeated miserable bastard
During Britain's time in war, we invented our own sweet dessert due to rationing: carrot cake.
It is still very popular in the country.
I'm 99% sure carrot cake existed before WW2, but just became popular during the war.
In Brazil we eat carrot cake a lot but with chocolate sauce on top
Popular in the USA as well
Literally Washington served it at his parties
Finland made coffee without coffee concoction hot drink. Some people liked.
Hi Indy! Thanks for answering my question. I sent this question back in Feb 2022 and had forgotten about it so it was a pleasant surprise to have seen it come up during this episode. I did watch the episode regarding the America First Committee, which came out shortly afterwards - it was a great episode! It's a very fascinating subject how Germany was attempting to use America's democracy against itself.
Something something history repeating
Thanks for the great question!
Hell no. He ignored logistics. Ir would have been worse than in the desert.
His greatest victory, Tobruk, was made possible by sheer incompetence by his british counterparts.
By sheer luck, TIK just released his Gazala video
True. As a Brit that was a painful video to watch at times. Excellent as usual though. I think a lot of the myth of Rommel was Propaganda by our side. Much better to be defeated by a wily and "honourable" opponent than admit how bad our leadership, tactics and equipment was.
“I see the enemy!” “No you don’t.” “I see tanks!” “No, repeat no, you don’t.”
Yeah that was painful.
Finally! I thought I was alone. Rommel as their greatest general is a creation of allied media, "The Desert Fox."
Like you say, not many real victories. I also noticed his m.o. is to attack, attack, attack. It's a valid strategy, but not all the time, and he decimated his corp to half its size.
His Italian troops took the brunt of his retreats. German generals thought he was okay, but two grades higher than his competence.
13:00 Had Rommel, then, ever said to Heinz, “Guderian, you magnificent bastard, I read your book”?
I’ll show myself out.
Indy, I think you are spot on with your assessment of whether Rommel would have made a difference on the Eastern Front. He would have had the same difficulties as all the other commanders, and the interference from Hitler. Thanks again for the great channel. Cheers from Texas.
As a Norwegian, I can say that that last image you painted of Rommel feeding on gravlaks and reindeer with a bunch of Norwegian housewives was disturbing.
I mean, gravlaks is literally rotten fish that was buried under ground
Hey Indy,
I’ve been watching your show since the closing days of WWI on the old channel back in 2016. It’s been nice having such a constant in my life, keep up the good work. Everyone at Tim Ghost is amazing and I can’t wait to see what you guys do for Korea.
Cheers
"I'm just curious, did the Soviets have problems with logistics and different railway track gauges when they launched massive counteroffensive against Germany in 1944-45?"
Thank you for giving some information about every day life during ww2. This is an aspect we all tend to ignore as it's not as 'exciting' as actual fighting, military strategies and politics connected to them
The Norwegian story reminds me of a saying I first read in Chesty Pullers sons autobiography. He served as a Marine officer in Vietnam and stepped on a booby trapped howitzer shell. Lost both his legs and about half of each hand. As hes shipping out to Vietnam he had a temporary billet in Miami. As he was leaving one morning he noticed the door to the room next to him, a permanent billet of a Coast Guard officer, had a sign taped to it. It was addressed to his assistant and read... "Wake me up at 10:30 for my surfing lesson."
Puller reflects that, "Both the pig and the chicken must sacrifice for the sake of breakfast... But that doesn't mean their sacrifice is the same."
So it goes with war and even with soldiers. A rear echelon supply officer sacrifices, but not like a front line infantryman. The "horror" of a SS man stooping to help with your groceries and having to make your national dish with fish instead of lamb doesnt count as horror at all when you reflect on what much of the world was going through at that exact moment. Yet for some old woman somewhere its the defining difficulty of her entire life.
Also... 2,000-2,800 calories a day? I'm 6'2 and work out over a hour every day and I can't eat more than 1,800 calories a day and not get fat...
Appreciate all y’all’s great work on all your programs ! Unfortunately for me the only financial assistance I can do , I do do . Watch all commercials all the way through . Thanks to you all !
Always take care of yourself first, thank you!
I know you said not to ask questions here, but I do have one very important question I hope gets answered anyway.
WHY does Indy not just move his chair of infinite knowledge onto the set and sit in it for these episodes? Is the chair really that heavy that you can't move it a few feet to the desk he's currently at? Here he is longing for it while it sits just behind him. Is it really necessary to deprive a man of his access to infinite knowledge, he's answering such important questions?
Hoping for an answer soon (that I likely will not get). Thank you TG team for all your hard work!
TIK History has just done a lengthy analysis of the Battle of Gazala. He makes the point that this epic battle- which is the one upon which Rommel's reputation is built just shows his status as a fairly average German general. The fact that he won in the end merely highlights the abysmal generalship shown by Rommel's British opponents- something Rommel commented upon in his own memoir of the battle. Indeed, it was a truly spectacular failure by the British and Commonwealth generals that allowed Rommel to scrape home to victory. Certainly, this long analysis is well worth watching and the point is made, that after this, the methodical approach by Montgomery, was the logical outcome as at Gazala a completely un-coordinated and almost reckless and ad hoc approach meant that the lack of focus by the British time and again let Rommel off the hook. In future battles would be planned carefully and methodically and maybe this led to a lack of spontaneity but would prevent a repeat of the Gazala disaster.
Indeed, and Montgomery never suffered a defeat.
Outstanding video and presentation.
Much appreciated, thanks for watching!
Just. .no. No general can overcome an incompetent CinC.
Or insufficient logistics.
CinC? -TimeGhost Ambassador
@@WorldWarTwoi believe it stands for Comander in Chief 😂😂😂
@@WorldWarTwoI’m assuming he’s referring to commander in chief as cinc I.e. hitler
@@WorldWarTwo Commander-in-Chief i think
Rommel was a great commander but like model, was better suited for a divisional command because they liked to travel between command posts at the front which was more tactically minded rather than strategic
Impressive analysis of the Rommel question - but not surprising because, in a sense, like Guderian, you guys "wrote the book!" Thanks.
Guderian thought that Rommel couldn't competently command anything more than a corp.
He was right
Take everything Guderian said with a huge pile of salt. That man plagiarized much of his "Book".
Guderian would be more of an authority than most on that. But remember the egos at play in a statement like this.
Guderian got jiggy with the facts after the war of course denying his good standing with adolf.And making sure his version got told of conquest and manuever. Rommel never had advantages in the desert that Heinz had in the early campaigns
Every commander covers his rear in his memoirs. If Rommel had survived to write his we would have to hold our noses to read it.
Agree 💯 about Rommel being hampered by logistics. The interesting question to me would've been what if Rommel had Paulus' command at Stalingrad?
Clicked on the video for the question on Rommel, but it turns out the other questions were just as interesting as this one if not more. Great channel.
Norway. 1:00 I hope everyone has read Snow Treasure. It has been in print since 42.
love the chair of Infinite knowledge and Indi's ties :P lol
Yes! Indie is back hosting the show! Perfect I've always loved his way of presenting and story telling!!
I agree with you 100%. Your own video about the planning of Barbarossa and the Paulus's War Games show that the invasion of the USSR was flawed from conception and a single different field commander wouldn't have made a difference in the outcome. I think it's more likely that in this scenario Rommel might've joined the German Resistance sooner and the British would hold Cyrenaica and maybe move into Tripoli by late 1941.
There was a time where Indy said he does NOT do what ifs… history does NOT occur in a vacuum…
I loved that
It sounds like while the Norwegians were rationing but still using regular food items, the Germans at home were drinking ersatz coffee and baking wood chips into bread. Must've been interesting for the occupying German soldier to notice, if the case.
My lord, a very special generation across the world. Thank you.
“Finest tank commander of the war…” glares in Patton*
Norwegian Housewife, Lucky Lindy and Rommel in one house?
Sounds like a dark remake of "Three's Company".
15.40 and next to Rommel as a Fellow Swabian, Johann Gambelputty ....of Ulm
Full name Johann Gambolputty de von Ausfern- schplenden- schlitter- crasscrenbon- fried- digger- dingle- dangle- dongle- dungle- burstein- von- knacker- thrasher- apple- banger- horowitz- ticolensic- grander- knotty- spelltinkle- grandlich- grumblemeyer- spelterwasser- kurstlich- himbleeisen- bahnwagen- gutenabend- bitte- ein- nürnburger- bratwustle- gerspurten- mitz- weimache- luber- hundsfut- gumberaber- shönedanker- kalbsfleisch- mittler- aucher von Hautkopft of Ulm
I don't think one man could have made much of a difference but I would've loved to see how Rommel performed in the eastern front.
No, il generale Rommel non avrebbe vinto la guerra a East.
The problem wasn't the Generals, it was Hitler himself. No way to win that engagement in the East with Hitler demanding constant attacking, no stopping for winter, not providing resupply, and demanding his troops sacrifice themselves vs retreat and regroup. If Hitler has been 100% hands off, and the Generals running the show had been allowed to fully manage supply lines and winter encampments, there is a possibility it could have been different, or at least somewhat more favorable for Germany. Victory was probably not ever achievable, but Hitler's insane micromanagement made it 1000X more unlikely. Also having to divert troops to Italy and North Africa didn't help either, If Italy had stopped the Allies in Africa, all that fuel would have been a problem for Russia.
To me there is some irony in the Germans second advance towards Stalingrad in the pursuit of oil when Libya has the world's tenth largest known oil reserves. If only they had supported Rommel or rather thank heavens they didn't.
Always great to hear Sparty cracking up off camera. Indy, you still got it. Nice tie, BTW. Regarding Rommel, I agree. There was no shortage of good generals on the Eastern front. The supply problems, the mud and snow, and the major numerical superiority of Stalin's army would have been a challenge for any general. Add to this the partisan efforts behind the lines and the terror tactics used by the SS, not much difference with another general.
Unless one of Rommel's talents was being a walking fuel geyser, I can't see how he'd have made much difference. Even if we assume he was a better general than those already in the east (highly debatable), Germany didn't lose that war because of tactical failures, but strategic and logistical ones.
Much like how Jesus could turn water into wine, Rommel could turn water into fuel /sarcasm
@@einstein951 lol, that really his how some weraboos talk about him.
Logistics is the key to victory
Hearing Astrid cracking up off camera was priceless
A question I’ve wanted an answer to for years. I still think that while Rommel would’ve had supply difficulties in the east, it would’ve been better because unlike North Africa they would not be sunk on ships.
Part of Rommel’s mystique was the fact that he fought against utterly incompetent British generals that made him look good. Even then, he had some issues. Although he probably would have done well in tactical situations on the Eastern Front, his utter disregard for logistics(why let Malta stand when it was sitting astride your main supply line?) would have him no better than an Army commander. The only place he may have helped would have been if he was the commander at Stalingrad.
IIRC Malta did not surrender and how should they take it
Rommel in North Africa had the benefit of a small front of area and areas of manoeuvre which had little to no rain. Indy you are right- the Eastern front had Guderian and Hoth but it also had Von Kleist, Hube, Balck and others who were competent panzer officers. Primitive infrastructure, freezing temperatures, the vastness of space and poor logistics hampered the German army.
it reminds me of ww1 segment and thanks indy and crew
Really interesting ootf as always
Thanks for watching!
Is there a reason why the Chair of Infinite Knowledge is a spectator? Or is it whispering the answers into Indy's psyche?
Cool content indie , love all of this being an ex serviceman in the 70’s to the early eighties ….
Rommel competed against a serious lineup of great Wehrmacht generals: Model, von Mannstein, von Kleist to name but the top 3. Given the set of logistical and political constraints Indie mentions, very difficult to see how Rommel would have done better.
I have studied World War II on the European campaign for years. It is my humble opinion that Rommel was one of the best if not the best German general field marshal. I believe he could’ve done most anything had he been given supplies as requested. Also, there were a few times he was very ill and being treated back in the father land when some battles took place and he was not there.
He needed two things 1. Better Logistics and 2. Keeping Hitler from having any say whatever.
I was really hoping for that photo at the end :D
Rommel was, in many ways, lucky.
Not just as a Commander in the field (though, to be fair, there was a good amount of skill backing up his luck, too), but especially lucky that he was never directly involved with the Eastern Front and that he was implicated in the plot to assassinate Hitler and died under said implication.
Those last two things, more than any other, helped salvage his reputation after the War, I think, whether deserved or not.
What happened to your old patchy Chair of Infinite Knowledge? I remember it from your Great War channel during your OUT OF THE TRENCHES episodes and hope nothing bad happened to it.
But will the Chair of Infinite Knowledge return for Korea? And will Indy resume sitting in it?
Currently reading Maddow's "Prequel : a fight against american fascists", and apparently Germany's interference went way further than buying a couple congressman, funding groups involved in shenanigans up to and including armed insurrection.
I recommend it, real page turner.
US: Rommel would have done as well as any other German commander in the east, he should have been sent there.
Shitler: Over my dead body is Rommel going there!
Us: That's an acceptable trade.
As a ten star admiral general with over 500 hours in HoI4, yes, yes I could. I mean Rommel could.
Rommel's logistics headaches in Africa were not helped by the fact that the British Navy reigned supreme in the Med. The Italian navy still existed, but never sortied in any meaningful way after several defeats. That's why he relied on captured British supplies and trucks to move his supplies. Yes he routinely outran his supply tail, but his logistics were under constant attack. The Luftwaffe didn't even local air superiority, never mind theater-wide supremacy.
In my opinion, he would've been an effective commander at the Corp level and in a local area on the Eastern Front, but eventually would've succumbed to the same logistical nightmares as the other commanders.
Sparty loosing the sh*t is the wholesome level we didn't know we need :D epic
Thanks for watching!
I already thought this would be the answer: It's not like bad military leadership was the cause for the failure of Fall Blau or Kursk, or that all the eastern front Generals were hopeless numpties who Rommel would have outdone to the point of winning.
Considering Rommel's fondness of outrunning his supply lines, he'd get into big trouble in the Eastern Front. Second El Alamein is quite definitive and historical turning point in North Africa due to that. The Germans were in constantly dire supply shortages in the Eastern Front. It only got better for them as the war worsened and they retreated closer to Germany.
Rommel was frequently too optimistic on duration of his operations, and thus was frequently caught short on logistics. This problem would've been even worse in the USSR.
Oh, that was the best ending. Thanks Indy!
This great history of rationing in Europe of course is predominantly oriented towards women who were predominantly homemakers in the 1940’s. I only bring this up because of the kerfluffel recently in the USA about a certain athlete’s views towards women and careers vs homemaking. What a difference 80 years makes.
My grandfather (polish) and my nan (Ukrainian) who have passed away now said a similar story with the groceries. After the German takeover of Poland and the invasion of the USSR, both my nan and pop ironically met after both being sent to a farm in Germany for forced labor.
My nan who was tending a cow, apparently was interrupted by a German official at the farm and they supposedly kicked a bucket of milk at my nan, my nan in her good humour through milk back at the Germans. My grandfather who was the stable master there intervened and pretty much saved my nans life.
Regardless if the events are true or not, it makes for a funny story on how they met, my Nan used to say same thing that she rather die then be shoved around by the Germans.
From Desert Fox to Snow Fox. 🦊😸
As a chef, I have to say that the not almond cake recipe sounds pretty decent.
Might hunt the recipe down and make it.
I think the only thing ronnel might have done is helped to influence the shattering of the whermact at kursk
Like first question. My father, grandmother and grand aunt all lived through the Nazi occupation of Norway.
I understand that every country's situation was different but it is crazy the fact that my great grandma told me that her mother was chasing rats at some point during the occupation of Greece and people in Norway were stressed about what to have with potatoes 🤷 as I said different situations different countries but still they were 2 examples of occupied countries
Rommel could've won the War in the East if he only loaded a previous save file whenever he had a strategic setback. I have learned this tactic in Hearts of Iron 4 - the single most trustworthy source on WW2 strategy.
Where is the food!? I have my ration card right here!
North Africa was a completely different kind of war. It was a soldiers war. The British and the Germans respected each other. The Afrika Korps was not involved in any genocide(to the best of my knowledge), and Rommel was just a member of the German Army. On the Eastern Front, the German Army and the Red Army absolutely HATED each other, and a lot of atrocities were committed on both sides. Maybe I am over-simplifying, but they were different kinds of campaigns.
I think having The Chair behind him had gotten to Indy's head by the close of this one. Imagine, Rommel, a couple Norwegian housewives, and Roosevelt standing proudly, on a boat near a fjord. Oh yeah... 😛🙃
Almond cake sans almonds sounds pretty ingenious actually
Read Stahel's "Barbarossa". The Germans were not going to beat the USSR in any conceivable way. On paper, they conquered a lot of places while moving toward Moscow, BUT eventually 100s of km separated the panzer spearheads and the foot soldiers. Trucks had to drive through that no man's land which was teeming with cutoff Soviet troops and partisans which mauled supply columns. Moreover, half the trucks were captured civilian vehicles which had no spare parts and which fell apart on the rough Soviet roads. Just the dust alone got into the engines, causing rapid wear which skyrocketed fuel and oil consumption until the inevitable fatal breakdown of the engine.
I wonder how long their korean coverage would be since after 1951 the war was more or less static.
0:45 SS-man in Norway? Norwegian waffen SS ski battalion was formed in Finland, what SS units were stationed in Norway?
I suppose if Romel could have summoned fuel, food, soldiers, trucks, tanks, planes and intact roads like some sort of wizard, then he only would have had to contend with insane or incompetent senior officers and leaders, the russian winter, and the Soviet Red army. If he could do all that then the answer is a maybe.
The thing with Rommel I feel is that he was kind of emblematic of WW2 German generals whose attitude was "logistics is for fuckin' nerds" and just focussed on maneuver warfare. That's fine for short wars and wars where someone else with a good degree of competence is handling the logistics, but it really gets you fucked up when a lot of time and distance get thrown into the mix. I suspect if he'd been deployed to the USSR it would have exposed a lot of these weaknesses as a commander even more than the North African campaign did. Basically I feel like Rommel still gets massively over-hyped, quite a lot by the "I'm not a neo-nazi, I just really respect the Wehrmacht" crowd.
Every time I see a reference to Alan Shirer's book, I upvote.
Excellent question, Rick Macarius! Actually, you might want to read a book by Rachel Maddow, "Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism", which is a deep dive into precisely what you want to know.
What if Rommel was in charge of fortifying Iwo Jima and Okinawa?
Born in uk 1949 i had a ration card uptill 1955 sweeties being one of the last to come off the ration I was six then boo hoo.
Yessss I can’t wait for next month and more and more I love u guys so much
Thanks for watching!
The High Command opinion on Rommel was he was an excellent division or army corp leader , but his capabilities faded if given command of an army , not to speak of an army group. Therefore there's no way he could be given command of the Eastern Front.
Rommel's chief of staff von Mellenthin wrote in his book Panzer Battles that Rommel succeeded in North Africa by failing to answer Hitler's micro-management orders, reporting only after he'd ignored Hitler's orders. He'd have had a harder time escaping Hitler's dilettantism that scatter-shotted the Panzers on the Eastern Front. For example, one of the Panzer commanders being order to break off the attack on the Crimea and proceed to the other end of the front at Leningrad. After Hitler had pulled men out of the Leningrad front to go somewhere else.
Patton was the best field commander in WW2.
If Rommel was the main commander during the battle of Stalingrad I think he would have made a much bigger difference vs. Paulus, I doubt he would have made the same mistake of allowing the Soviets to regroup
will you do an episode on th ereturn of the dead from wwii?
I like Rommel, but Hitler would’ve relieved him just as fast as he did any of the others. As soon as Rommel asked to withdraw or redeploy, he would’ve been denied. Plus the Soviets had the Germans outnumbered so badly that no matter which sector Rommel took he’d be overwhelmed, considering all the difficulties you mentioned.
Is this a question you won't answer? It is! That was a lovely and informative episode, thanks.
Thanks for the comment and thanks for watching!