Werner von Fritsch
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Werner Freiherr von Fritsch (4 August 1880 in Benrath - 22 September 1939 Praga near Warsaw) was a prominent Wehrmacht officer, member of the German High Command, and the first German general to die in the Second World War.
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[edit] Army career through World War I
von Fritsch entered the army at the age of 18, and won the attention of the General Staff with his superior military qualities. In 1901, at the age of 21, he transferred to the Kriegsakademie. As a first lieutenant in 1911, he was appointed to the General Staff. Between 1914 and 1918, during World War I, he gradually increased in importance and received, among other awards, the Pour le Mérite.
[edit] The Interwar period
After the war, von Fritsch served in the Reichswehr. He was promoted to lieutenant-general in 1932. After the Nazis came to power in 1933, von Fritsch was appalled by their lawlessness and suppression of civil liberties, but did not openly criticise them. He was worried, however, that Hitler would cause a war with the USSR, as he had supported the Weimar liaison with them.
In 1934, von Fritsch was promoted to the army High Command, the OKH, and made Commander-in-Chief the next year. He, alongside Werner von Blomberg, set about rearming Germany. von Fritsch was among the officers present at the Hossbach Conference in 1937 where Hitler made his aggressive intentions known, but was dismayed by this, as he knew the army was not ready.
[edit] The Blomberg-Fritsch Affair
Himmler and Hermann Göring, inspired by the resignation of Werner von Blomberg, accused the unmarried von Fritsch, who had never been a womaniser and had preferred to concentrate on his army career, of engaging in homosexual activity. He was forced to resign on 4 February 1938, and was replaced by Walther von Brauchitsch, whom von Fritsch himself recommended for the post. Also, Hitler took advantage of the situation by replacing several generals and ministers with people even more loyal to him, taking control of the Wehrmacht. Soon, it became known that the charges were false, and an honour court of officers examined the Blomberg-Fritsch Affair, although it was presided over by Göring himself. The successful Anschluss of March 12 silenced all critics of Hitler, Göring and Himmler. Fritsch was acquitted on March 18, but the damage to his name had been done.
[edit] World War II
Just before the outbreak of World War II, von Fritsch was recalled, and chose to personally inspect the front lines during the Invasion of Poland, a very unusual activity for someone of his rank. On 22 September 1939, in Praga during the Siege of Warsaw (1939), a stone chipped by gunfire tore an artery in his leg. William Shirer in his book Berlin Diary, writes that though von Fritsch suffered from a serious wound, it was not mortal. His adjutant attempted to stop the bleeding and carry him to the rear, but von Fritsch took off his monocle, looked at him and stated: "Ach, don't bother!". He bled to death in one minute.
As von Fritsch was the first German general to be killed in combat in World War II, the event was closely examined. It is believed that he deliberately sought death. von Fritsch received a ceremonial state funeral four days later in Berlin.
[edit] Notes
Note regarding personal names: Freiherr is a title, translated as Baron, not a first or middle name. The female forms are Freifrau and Freiin.
[edit] References
- Wheeler-Bennett, Sir John The Nemesis of Power : The German Army in Politics 1918-1945 Palgrave Macmillan, London, 1953, 1964, 2005.
- Read, Anthony The Devil's Disciples: The Lives and Times of Hitler's Inner Circle Pimlico, London, 2003, 2004.
- Barnett, Correlli, Ed. Hitler's Generals Grove Weidenfeld, New York, NY, 1989.
