Everything about Maximilian Von Weichs totally explained
Maximilian Maria Joseph Karl Gabriel Lamoral Reichsfreiherr von Weichs zu Glon (
12 November 1881 –
27 June 1954) was a
German Generalfeldmarschall during
World War II.
Early Life and Career
Weichs was born into a noble family at
Dessau in
Anhalt, a son of an Army colonel. He entered the
Bavarian Cavalry in 1901 and fought with them in
World War I. From 1915 until 1918 he served with the General Staff of the 3rd Bavarian Army Corps. After the war he remained in the newly created
Reichswehr where he worked at a number of General Staff positions and later served as an instructor. In October 1937 he became the commander of the 13th Army Corps, that later served in the 1938 German occupation of the
Sudetenland.
World War II
For the
German invasion of Poland beginning
World War II in 1939, Weichs was appointed head of his own Army Corps "Weichs". After the Polish surrender, and in preparation for the
invasion of France, he was made Commander-in-Chief of the
2nd Army, a part of Rundstedt’s
Army Group A in the West. For his successes in the French campaign he was awarded the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and promoted to colonel-general. Leading his corps, Weichs later took part in the
Balkans Campaign, and in preparation for
Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, he was assigned to lead the 2nd Army as a part of
Fedor von Bock’s
Army Group Centre. He led the 2nd Army in 1941 through the
Battle of Kiev, the
Battle of Smolensk, and then on to
Vyazma and
Bryansk.
In 1942, for
Fall Blau, Weichs was assigned to lead the newly created
Army Group B. Army Group B was composed of
Hans von Salmuth's
2nd Army,
Hermann Hoth’s
4th Panzer Army, and
Friedrich Paulus'
6th Army. In addition to the German armies, Army Group B included the
2nd Hungarian Army,
8th Italian Army, the
Third and the Fourth Romanian Army. The
6th Army was assigned to take the city of
Stalingrad and cover approximately 800 km of front.
Stalingrad
Weichs warned about his lines being stretched too thinly, but
Adolf Hitler ignored his warnings. Weichs' fears materialized when
Operation Uranus smashed the
Romanian armies on his flanks, cutting off the 6th Army inside Stalingrad. Suggesting retreat, Weichs fell out of Hitler’s favor. Consequently, parts of Army Group B were taken away from Weichs' command and incorporated into a new Army Group Don, led by
Erich von Manstein. Later in February the remaining part merged with the Don Group into a newly reinstated Army Group South, also led by Manstein. Weichs was put in leader reserve.
Weichs was promoted to
Generalfeldmarschall on
1 February 1943. As the German situation was starting to become more dire, in August 1943 Weichs was appointed Commander of Army Group F in the
Balkans defending against possible Allied invasion in what was seen as Germany’s weak underbelly and fighting off local
partisan groups that were gaining strength. In late 1944, he oversaw the German retreat from Greece and most of Yugoslavia.
As
Nazi Germany fell apart, Weichs was finally retired on
March 25,
1945, and was arrested by American troops in May. During the
Nuremberg Trials, Weichs was implicated in
war crimes committed while suppressing the partisans, however, he was removed from the
Hostages Trial due to medical reasons without having been judged or sentenced.
Weichs died at
Burg Rösberg near
Bonn.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Maximilian Von Weichs'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://maximilian_von_weichs.totallyexplained.com">Maximilian von Weichs Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
