Walther Heinrich Alfred Hermann von Brauchitsch (4 October 1881 – 18 October 1948) was a German field marshal and the Commander-in-Chief (Oberbefehlshaber) of the German Army during World War II. Born into an aristocratic military family, he entered army service in 1901. During World War I, he served with distinction on the corps-level and division-level staff on the Western Front.

After the 1933 Nazi seizure of power, Brauchitsch was put in charge of Wehrkreis I, the East Prussian military district. He borrowed immense sums of money from Adolf Hitler and became dependent on his financial help. Brauchitsch served as Commander-in-Chief of the German Army from February 1938 to December 1941. He played a key role in the Battle of France and oversaw the German invasions of Yugoslavia and Greece. For his part in the Battle of France, he became one of twelve generals promoted to field marshal.

After suffering a heart attack in November 1941 and being blamed by Hitler for the failure of Operation Typhoon, the Wehrmacht's attack on Moscow, Brauchitsch was dismissed as Commander-in-Chief. He spent the rest of the war in enforced retirement.

After the war, Brauchitsch was arrested on charges of war crimes, but he died of pneumonia in 1948 before he could be prosecuted.

Early life

Brauchitsch was born in Berlin on 4 October 1881 as the sixth child of Bernhard Eduard von Brauchitsch, a cavalry general, and his wife, Charlotte Bertha von Gordon. The Brauchitsch family had a long tradition of military service, and like his forefathers, Brauchitsch was raised in the tradition of the Prussian officer corps. His family moved in the leading social circles of Berlin's high society, and his family name and father's military rank put him on equal footing with any officer or official.[3] In his teens, Brauchitsch was interested in politics, and was fascinated by art. To help him pursue these interests, his father enrolled him at Französisches Gymnasium Berlin rather than a military academy.

In 1895 Brauchitsch joined the military academy in Potsdam. He later transferred to the Hauptkadettenanstalt Groß Lichterfelde, where in his final year he belonged to the top class for gifted students and was chosen, like his brother Adolf five years before, as a page by Empress Augusta Victoria. During his time serving the empress at court, he learned manners and bearing that were noted for the rest of his life.

Upon graduation in 1900 he received his commission as a lieutenant in an infantry regiment. A medical condition made him unfit for service in the infantry, so he was transferred to an artillery regiment. He was put in charge of training recruits in riding and driving. He then joined the General Staff office in Berlin, where he was promoted to first lieutenant in 1909.

Brauchitsch ordered his army and commanders to cease criticism of racist Nazi policies, as harsh measures were needed for the "forthcoming battle of destiny of the German people". When Germany turned East and invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, he again played a key part, making modifications to the original plan. Like his friend and colleague, Wilhelm Keitel, Brauchitsch did not protest when Hitler gave the German army the same instructions as the SS on whom to kill in the occupied territory, but he later issued a series of decrees that ordered that Commissars were to be shot only if their anti-German sentiments were "especially recognizable".

As the Battle of Moscow got under way, his health was starting to fail. Even so, he continued his work, as he was determined to take Moscow before the start of winter. The army's failure to take Moscow earned Hitler's enmity, and things worsened for him, as he suffered a heart attack in November. He was also informed that he had a malignant cardiac disease, most likely incurable.

In the aftermath of the failure at Moscow, Brauchitsch was dismissed as Commander-in-Chief of the German Army on 19 December and was transferred to the Führerreserve (officers reserve), where he remained without assignment until the end of the war; he never saw Hitler again. He spent the last three years of the war living in the Brdy mountains southwest of Prague. One of his few public comments after retirement was a statement condemning the 20 July plot against Hitler for which he denounced several former colleagues. Later, he excused himself to Halder, claiming he had been forced to do so to save a relative's life.

Nuremberg trials

In August 1945, Brauchitsch was arrested at his estate and imprisoned by the British at Camp 198 in South Wales. He was charged at Nuremberg with war crimes related to his command of Operation Barbarossa. However, he died, aged 67, on 18 October 1948 of bronchial pneumonia in a British-controlled military hospital in Hamburg before facing trial for conspiracy and crimes against humanity.

Personal life

In 1910, Brauchitsch married his first wife, Elizabeth von Karstedt, a wealthy heiress to 300,000 acres (1,200 km2) in Brandenburg. The couple had a daughter and two sons, including Bernd von Brauchitsch, who later served in the Luftwaffe during World War II as Hermann Göring's adjutant. They were divorced in 1938 after 28 years of marriage, as Brauchitsch had developed another romantic interest.

In 1925, Brauchitsch met Charlotte Rueffer, the daughter of a Silesian judge. He wanted a divorce, but his wife refused. Rueffer later married a bank director named Schmidt, who drowned in his bath during a visit to Berlin. When Brauchitsch returned from East Prussia in 1937, the pair resumed their affair. They married immediately after Brauchitsch had divorced Karstedt.

Brauchitsch was the uncle of Manfred von Brauchitsch, a 1930s Mercedes-Benz "Silver Arrow" Grand Prix driver, and also Hans Bernd von Haeften and Werner von Haeften, who were members of the German resistance against Hitler.

Assessment

Historian Helmut Krausnick characterizes Brauchitsch as "an outstanding professional who lived up to the traditions of his profession, but especially lacked the strength of personality to deal with Hitler". Historian Ian Kershaw describes him less sympathetically as a "spineless individual, who was frightened by Hitler. He was no person to lead any type of front or revolt."

Awards

• Iron Cross (1914) 2nd Class (13 September 1914) & 1st Class (1 October 1915)
• Württemberg Friedrich Order with Swords (7 May 1915)
• Knight's Cross of the House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords (15 May 1917)
• Saxe-Meiningen Honour Cross for War Merit (2 January 1918)
• Service Award for 25 service years (17 April 1920)
• The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (18 December 1934)
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award 1st Class (2 October 1936)
• Order of Merit of the Kingdom of Hungary 1st Class (20 August 1938)
• Star of the German Red Cross Decoration (5 September 1938)
• Grand Cross of the Royal Italian Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (3 January 1939)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (10 March 1939)
• Golden Party Badge (20 April 1939).
• Order of the Yugoslav Crown 1st Class (1 June 1939)
• Sudetenland Medal with Clasp (7 June 1939)
• Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (30 September 1939) & 1st Class (30 September 1939)
• Knights Cross of the Iron Cross (30 September 1939) as Colonel General and Commander-in-Chief of the Army
• Spanish Military Merit Cross 1st Class (1939)
• Grand Cross of the Royal Bulgarian Order of St Alexander with Swords (15 May 1941)
• Grand Cross of the Royal Hungarian Order of Merit with Swords (31 May 1941)
• Grand Cross of the Romanian Order of Michael the Brave (11 October 1941)
• Slovak War Victory Cross 1st Class (20 October 1941)
• Grand Cross of the Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty (19 July 1942)
• Japanese Order of the Rising Sun 1st Class (26 September 1942)

Dates of rank

• Leutnant (Second Lieutenant) – 22 March 1900
• Oberleutnant (First Lieutenant) – 18 October 1909
• Hauptmann (Captain) – 18 December 1913
• Major (Major) – 15 July 1918
• Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) – 1 June 1923
• Oberst (Colonel) – 1 April 1928
• Generalmajor (Major General) – 1 October 1931
• Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) – 1 October 1933
• General der Artillerie (General of Artillery) –1 October 1935
• Generaloberst (Colonel General) – 4 February 1938
• Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) – 19 July 1940