Sunday, June 24, 2007

Did the Brilliant but Egotistical, Panzer General, Guderian Cost Germany World War 2?

Question No. 4: Did General Guderian, the Brilliant Panzer General, Cause Germany to Lose World War 2 Because of His Egotism?

Answer: In late 1941, Guderian, the seemingly invincible German Panzer general, set off a series of events on the Russian front that some experts say cost the Germans World War 2.

Guderian, who never lost a battle, reported indrectly to General Halder, a far less brilliant but solid general. Their forces were moving to attack Moscow in late 1941. Guderian's Panzer divisions were to play a key role in the attack. But Guderian had had enough of the plodding General Halder. Guderian, Hitler's favorite general at the time, went straight to Hitler and talked him into letting him .take his powerful Panzer divisions on a lengthy diversion to the south away from Moscow and away from General Halder's other forces. Halder fumed (Guderian claimed Halder had a breakdown) but there was nothing Halder could do - Guderian was Hitler's pet.

Guderian's Panzer divisions wiped out about a million Russians and put entire Russian armies out of commission during the southern expedition.

But Moscow remained in Russian hands as winter approached.

When Guderian returned to the Moscow attack (with tracks virtually worn off his tanks according to some observers), the attack was out of phase and faltered. Winter caught the Germans in the open before Moscow, and the ensuing Russian counterattack in the frigid weather caused many German solders to be slaughtered when Hitler compounded his errors by refusing to allow the German armies to retreat to a safe defense line.

Early in 1942, Hitler summoned Guderian to his headquarters and relieved him of his command. Guderian was never allowed to return to effective combat duty for the remainder of the war. Germany's best "tactical" general had bitten the dust.

Had Moscow been captured, the Germans could have wintered in the city and, likely, would have forced the Russians from the war in 1942. Without Russia, the Allies would probably have been forced to settle for a draw with Germany.

Can a person be too brilliant?

(As you might suspect, Guderian, in post-war interviews told a somewhat different story of the incident. But the preponderance of evidence appears to be against him.)