Erich von Manstein

Erich von Manstein (November 24, 1887 - June 12, 1973) was a General, and later a Field Marshal (Generalfeldmarschall), in the German Armed Forces (Wehrmacht) during World War II. Though he never questioned Hitler's final authority as commander-in-chief of the German army, he was famous for repeatedly standing up to Hitler on various issues, often with the rest of the General Staff watching. Although this would have normally lead to his swift removal, Manstein was one of a very few generals who had repeatedly proved themselves in Hitler's eyes. Eventually even Hitler had enough of him, and he was dismissed in 1944.

Early life and career

Manstein was born Erich von Lewinski in Berlin, the tenth child of Prussian aristocrat, artillery general Eduard von Lewinski (1829-1906) and Helene von Sperling (1847-1910). Hedwig von Sperling (1852-1925), a younger sister of Erich's mother Helene (1847-1906), was married with Lieutenant General Georg von Manstein (1844-1913). The couple was not able to have their own children, so it was decided that the unborn child would be adopted by his childless uncle and aunt.

Not only were Erich von Manstein's "fathers" Prussian Generals, two of his grandfathers had also been Prussian Generals (one of them leading a corps in the Franco-Prussian War 1870/71). So his military career in the Prussian army was assured from birth. He attended the lycée in Straßburg (1894-1899), a city that had returned to the German Empire for nearly 50 years after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870/71. He then spent six years in the cadet corps (1900-1906) in Plön and Groß-Lichterfelde. Manstein joined the 3rd Footguards in March 1906 as an ensign. He was promoted to lieutenant in January 1907. In October 1913 he entered the War Academy.

During World War I he served both on the German Western Front (Belgium/France 1916: Attack on Verdun, 1917/18: Champagne ) and the Eastern Front ( 1915: North Poland, 1915/16: Serbia, 1917: Estonia ). In Poland he was wounded severely in November 1914 and returned to duty in 1915, promoted to Captain and remained as staff officer until the end of the war in 1918. In 1918, he volunteered for the staff position in Frontier Defence Force in Breslau (Wroclaw) and served there until 1919.

He then took part in the process of creating the Reichswehr. He was promoted to Company commander in 1920, and Corps Commander in 1922. In 1927 he was promoted again to Major, and started serving with the General Staff, visiting other countries to learn about their military. In 1933 the Nazi party rose to power in Germany, and von Manstein was promoted to Colonel in 1935, was posted to the General Staff. Considered to be uncooperative by Hitler, he was later sent to Silesia as commander of the 18th Division.

World War II

During the Operation Fall Weiss, the German invasion of Poland, he served as chief of staff to the Army Group South under Gerd von Rundstedt. He was first to strike into Warsaw's suburbs, and when the remainder of the Polish army moved east he closed off the encirclement and was the main force in the total destruction of the encirclement. This was considered his first mark of genius.

In 1940 Manstein worked with Blumentritt and von Tresckow to develop the plan to invade France. He suggested that the tank troops should decisively attack through the wooded hills of the Ardennes, where no one would expect them, seize bridges on the Meuse River before striking eastwards, thus outflanking the Maginot Line and cutting off strong French and Allied Armies in the Belgium and Flanders from the French mainland.

OKW originally rejected the proposal, but Hitler, looking for a innovative new methods of waging war, approved of a modified version, Fall Gelb, that later became known as the Manstein Plan. Manstein was then sent back to Silesia and did not take part in the operation until the final stages when he served under Günther von Kluge. The plan was so successful that Manstein was awarded the Knight's Cross for planning it and made into a General.

In February 1941, Manstein was appointed commander of the 56th Panzer Corps. He was involved in Operation Barbarossa where he served under General Erich Hoepner. Attacking on 22nd June 1941, Manstein advanced more than 100 miles in only two days and was able to seize the important bridges at Dvinsk. The following month he captured Demyansk and Torzhok.

Manstein was appointed commander of Eleventh Army in September 1941, and was given the task of conquering the Crimea. The Red Army defended Sevastopol and this important Black Sea naval base was not taken until late June 1942. Promoted to Field Marshal on July 1, Manstein was sent to the Leningrad front and assigned to lead the Operation Northern Lights. This led to a series of bitter battles where Manstein's inferior forces managed to outmaneuver superior Soviet forces, and the loss of over 60,000 men over the next few months.

In November 1942, during the Battle of Stalingrad, Adolf Hitler appointed Manstein the commander of the Army Group Don (Heeresgruppe Don) and ordered him to rescue the Sixth Army of Friedrich Paulus that was encircled inside the city. Placed in charge of a hastily assembled group of tired men and machines, he got his three panzer divisions to within 35 miles of the city, at this point Manstein pleaded that the 6th Army attempt a break out, but Hitler refused to issue such an order, and ordered the 6th Army to stay in the besieged city. A massive Red Army attack at another point on the line forced Manstein to divert his forces to help hard-pressed Army Group A in its retreat from the Caucasus to the Ukraine, thus avoiding the complete collapse of the entire front.

Manstein regrouped and the following year inflicted a heavy defeat on the Soviets at Krasnograd. An estimated 23,000 Soviet soldiers were killed and a further 9,000 were captured. Manstein now went on to recapture Kharkov and Belgorod with 2nd SS Panzer Corps. In recognition for this action, he received the Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross in March 1943. Manstein then proposed a daring action for the summer to outflank the Red Army into the Sea of Azov at Rostov, but Hitler instead chose to back the more conventional Operation Citadel aimed at crushing the Kursk salient.

During the Citadel Manstein led the southern pincer, and despite losses he managed to complete most of his initial goals, inflicting far more casualties on the Soviet defending force that his attacking force sustained. But due the almost complete failure of the northern pincer, chronic lack of infantry support, as well as the Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Italy, Hitler decided to call off the offensive. Manstein protested, asserting that the victory was almost at hand. After the failure of Citadel the Soviets launched a massive counterattack on the exhausted German forces.

In September he withdrew to the west bank of the Dnieper River, while inflicting heavy casualties on the Red Army. From October to mid January of 1944, von Manstein "stabilized" the situation but in late January was forced to retreat further westwards by the Soviet offensive. In mid-February of 1944, von Manstein disobeyed Hitler's order and ordered 11th and 42nd Corps (consisting of 56,000 men in six divisions) of Army Group South (Heeresegruppe Süd) to break out from the "Korsun Pocket", which occurred on February 16/17th. Eventually, Hitler accepted this action and ordered the breakout after it already took place.

Generalfeldmarschall von Manstein discussing the eastern front situation with Hitler on September 15, 1943 at Wolf's Lair in East Prussia. Also present are von Manstein's Chief of Staff Generalleutnant Busse, Generalfeldmarschall von von Kleist, Generalobersts Zeitzler and Ruoff, as well as General der Panzertruppe Kempf

Manstein continued to argue with Hitler about overall strategy and in March 1944 he was relieved of his command. On 2 April 1944 Colonel-General (later Field Marshal) Walther Model replaced him as commander of Southern Army Group. Nevertheless Manstein received the Swords for his Knight's Cross, the highest German military honour. After his dismissal he entered an eye clinic in Breslau, recuperated near Dresden, and then retired. Although he did not take part in the attempt to kill Hitler in July 1944, he was aware of it. In late January of 1945 he collected his family from their homes in Liegnitz and evacuated them to western Germany.

Post War

After the war Manstein was charged with war crimes. In court Manstein argued that he was unaware that genocide was taking place in territory under his control. However, evidence was produced that Manstein had accepted and signed the Commissar order that had stated "the Jewish Bolshevik system be wiped out once and for all and should never be again be allowed to invade our European Lebensraum", but Manstein did not allow the order to be passed on without adding his supplement which stated: "severe steps will be taken against arbitrary action and self-interest, against savagery and indiscipline, against any violation of the honor of the soldier". Manstein stated in his memoirs that, with the approval of his commanding general, he verbally directed his subordinates not to carry out the order.

Manstein was found guilty and he was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment. However, citing medical reasons he was set free on 6th May 1953.

Called on by the West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, he chaired a military sub-committee appointed to advise the parliament on military organization and doctrine for the new German Army, the Bundeswehr, he later moved with his family to Bavaria. His war memoirs, Verlorene Siege (Lost Victories) (ISBN 3763752536), were published in Germany in 1955, and translated into English in 1958. Erich von Manstein died in June 1973.

Reference

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