Hitler: Military Commander

Nor were the generals opposed to one of the Nazi Party's central policies, that the Versailles Treaty which ended the Great War was unfair and needed revising. The treaty had put severe constraints on the German military and many senior officers wanted to shake these off.

During the Nazi rise to power, the army officer corps were not wholly hostile to Hitler and his part

When Hitler became Führer in 1933 he automatically became the head of the German armed forces. At that time the high command of the armed forces was a complex organisation of planners, staff officers and field commanders organised into a series of structures and chains of command supported by a feeling of solidarity among the officer corps. There was space for group decision making, discussion and even dissent, although once a decision had been made the command structure was such that it could be carried out quickly and efficiently. Hitler was to change everything. He wanted absolute power over the military. The way in which he achieved this was ultimately to drive some officers to resign, others to question their duties and some to attempt the murder of the Führer.

Hitler was in reality a better politician than military commander.

could inspire devotion in the hardest of men and stir thoughts of victory in those facing abject defeat. More than once it was Hitler's blind refusal to accept defeat that held the German army together. But then it was that same refusal to accept the inevitable that caused him to take Germany down to ultimate destruction.

there can be no doubting Hitler's gifts. His grasp of strategy was, almost to the end, superb. He could correctly identify the essential objectives for his attacks and, very often the best way to secure them. Even during his last days in Berlin, Hitler could foresee that the continent of Europe would soon be split between capitalist west and communist east, and that Germany would eventually rise again to hold the balance between the two.

There are many attributes which are essential in a military commander. Napoleon, for instance, thought that luck was the most important asset in a general. Hitler had plenty of luck, but other qualities essential to a commander were entirely lacki

Whatever qualities Hitler had for good or for bad, he had them in abundance: for Hitler there was rarely a middle way or a reason to compromise. That is what brought him his successes and what caused his downfall.

Hitler led his superb armed forces to total and crushing defeat.

a military man Hitler won victories that many professionals considered impossible to achieve. He formulated plans that were bold to the point of rashness.