General Walter von Reichenau: biography, achievements and history

General-Field Marshal of fascist Germany Walter von Reichenau (Walter von Reichenau) was one of the few high military ranks of the Wehrmacht who actively supported Nazism. In World War II he was commander of the 6th Army. It was he who with his troops took Paris in 1940, as well as Kiev and Kharkov in 1941.

Biography

Walter Reichenau was born on October 8, 1884 in Karlsruhe (German Empire). His father was a Prussian general. The Reichenau family had noble roots and was rich enough. In the XIX and the first half of the XX century it belonged to one of the largest furniture factories located on the territory of Germany.

In the late 1930s, the family decided to transfer it into the hands of the Nazis, who converted this enterprise into a military one and began to produce various types of equipment there for the needs of the army. When the allies began bombing the city in 1945, the factory near Karlsruhe was completely destroyed, and with it the influence and wealth of the Reichenau family disappeared.

At the age of 18, the young Walter decided that he would make a military career, and joined the army. First he served in the 1 st Prussian Artillery Regiment. Two years later he was promoted to lieutenant, and in 1912 he was promoted to lieutenant-general.

The First World War

Before the outbreak of the war, Walter von Reichenau was a student at the Berlin Military Academy, where all the officers of the General Staff were trained. With the outbreak of hostilities on the Western Front, he had to return to his unit, where he served as adjutant to the regiment commander. A little later he was transferred to the General Staff of the 47th Reserve Division.

The first world Walter von Reichenau finished in the rank of captain, and for his successful service he was awarded the Iron Cross of I and II degrees, the Order of the Hohenzollern House and several other distinctions. After that, he served in the General Staff of the military district stationed in Munster, as well as commander of the machine-gun company. In 1923, already in the rank of major for the first time visited England. Returning from there, he took up another staff post in Berlin, and from the end of 1927 he became commander of one of the Stuttgart communication battalions. Since that moment, two years have not passed since he becomes a lieutenant colonel.

Later Reichenau will again go to England, but this time he will stay there for several months. At the end of 1929, he was recalled back to Berlin and appointed chief of staff, seconded to the communications inspector under the Reichswehr ministry. He held this position until February 1931, until he was assigned to East Prussia. Exactly one year later he receives another promotion and rank of colonel.

A zealous assistant to the Nazis

It must be said that from the very beginning Reichenau was enthusiastic about the ideas of National Socialism. In 1932, his uncle, a big fan of Hitler, introduced his nephew to his idol. He, in turn, recommends the future Fuhrer of his boss, Werner von Blomberg.

A year later, on January 30, Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany. He immediately appoints Blomberg the Minister of War, and Reichenau, who introduced them, to the head of one of the departments under the Reichswehr Ministry, with the appropriation of the next rank of Major-General. Very quickly he turned into a kind of link between the Nazi bosses and the army.

In early 1933, the former commander of the German land forces, Kurt von Hammerstein, resigned. Instead, Hitler proposed the candidacy of Reichenau, but for some reason Hindenburg resolutely rejected her and gave this post to Werner von Fritsch.

"The Night of Long Knives"

So, Walter von Reichenau, a biography, the beginning of a career and all whose activities were closely associated with the Nazis from the very beginning, actively helped the future Führer to seize power in the country. He understood that in the event of the collapse of the Hitlerite party, his own career would be finished forever. Reichenau saw that the stormtrooper squadrons were getting stronger, and the German generals were already preparing to act both against Remus and against Hitler, so he hurried to conclude a deal with Goering and SS chief Himmler. They also did not intend to put up with the ever-increasing power of the SA. After consulting with Hitler, the trio decided that out of the situation there was only one way out: to smash the storm troopers and kill Ernst Rem.

The plan to eliminate the SA was ready as soon as possible. The operation itself was called "The Night of Long Knives". As a result of the so-called purges, about 150 SA leaders were captured and soon shot. It is interesting that the army did not take part in this conflict, as she received a direct order: "Do not interfere!" And here Walter von Reichenau once again performed his usual role as a liaison officer, but now between the SS and the army. In addition, it is reliably known that it was he who was the one who supplied the Nazi militants with weapons.

Promotion

Hitler came to power after the death of President Hindenburg. He immediately abolished this post, and he himself became known as the Reich Chancellor and the Fuhrer of the Third Reich. All the soldiers and officers were urgently brought to a new oath, tex for which Reichenau himself wrote. Prior to this, all the military swore allegiance to the country and the people, and now personally to the Fuhrer. Such a text of the oath was adopted not casually, as it did not allow the German officers to participate in any conspiracy against Hitler himself.

Seeing such zeal, the Fuhrer in the summer of 1935 represents Reichenau to the rank of Major-General and appoints him commander of the 7th Military District. In 1938, his former chief Blomberg was removed from the post of commander-in-chief of the land forces. In this situation, Reichenau did not move his finger to help his old boss, as he himself hoped to take up this post. In the meantime, this post was given to Walter von Brauchitsch, who previously commanded the 4th Army Group.

I must say that it was not like the others, because, unlike them, it was not territorial, but mobile. It was the 4th Army Group that was subordinated to Reichenau. Needless to say, this was a tremendous responsibility: he concentrated all the management of the already created German mobile forces, as well as the formation of new ones. Now the tank divisions, commanded by Guderian and Goth, were directed by him, Reichenau, Walter von. Fascist leaders respected him and put him on a par with him.

Invasion of the territory of the USSR

In one article it is impossible to describe all the victories that were won by the German mobile divisions under the command of Walter von Reichenau at the beginning of the Second World War. However, his last campaign was an attack on the Soviet Union. His army by that time was renamed the 6th and now she was part of the Army Group "South" under the command of Gerd von Rundstedt.

As is known, Reichenau and his troops participated in operations to seize Kiev, Kharkov, Belgorod, and Kursk. In addition, he put his hand to the entourage and the subsequent liquidation of the Soviet troops trapped in the trap. After a disastrous operation near Moscow, Rundstedt was dismissed and replaced by Reichenau, who managed to stop the winter offensive of Soviet troops and stay on occupied positions until the middle of next year.

The death of the Nazi general

In one of the frosty January days in 1942, General Walter von Reichenau, as usual, went on a morning run. A little later, already in the officer's canteen, he started an acute heart attack, as a result of which he lost consciousness. All the efforts of the doctors to bring him to the senses within five days were unsuccessful, therefore on January 17, it was decided to transport the Field Marshal to Leipzig by airplane, tying him to the chair.

On the way, the aircraft got into an accident, and Reichenau, among other things, also received a serious craniocerebral injury. However, in the evening he was still taken to the Leipzig airfield, but it turned out that the 57-year-old Nazi general was already dead.

Historical portrait

What kind of person was Reichenau Walter von? "Military opponents of Russia" is a book by Boris Frolov, where he tried to recreate the historical portraits of the most famous Western commanders who fought against our Motherland in due time. According to him, it was an energetic, determined, cold-blooded and cruel man. His independent character and his own opinion on many strategic issues often irritated Hitler.

His unjustified brutality, shown against the citizens of the Soviet Union, left a black mark on his reputation. His horrible treatment of prisoners of war and civilians, as well as the zealous zeal with which he carried out Hitler's order "On commissars" speak for themselves. Only for six months of finding his troops on the territory of the USSR, about 1 million Soviet citizens perished on their hands. Such military leaders as Reichenau and the like, fully embody the most dangerous and inhuman regime, which is fascism.