birth_date: 1901-12-13 00:00:00
avg_rating: 4.12
name: Erich von Manstein
about: Erich von Manstein served the German military as a lifelong professional soldier. He became one of the most prominent commanders of Germany's World War II armed forces (Wehrmacht). During World War II he attained the rank of Field Marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) and was held in high esteem by his fellow officers as one of the Wehrmacht's best military minds.He was the initiator and one of the planners of the Ardennes-offensive alternative in the invasion of France in 1940. He received acclaim from the German leadership for the victorious battles of Perekop Isthmus, Kerch, Sevastopol and Kharkov. He commanded the failed relief effort at Stalingrad and the Cherkassy pocket evacuation. He was dismissed from service by Adolf Hitler in March 1944 Erich von Manstein served the German military as a lifelong professional soldier. He became one of the most prominent commanders of Germany's World War II armed forces (Wehrmacht). During World War II he attained the rank of Field Marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) and was held in high esteem by his fellow officers as one of the Wehrmacht's best military minds.He was the initiator and one of the planners of the Ardennes-offensive alternative in the invasion of France in 1940. He received acclaim from the German leadership for the victorious battles of Perekop Isthmus, Kerch, Sevastopol and Kharkov. He commanded the failed relief effort at Stalingrad and the Cherkassy pocket evacuation. He was dismissed from service by Adolf Hitler in March 1944, due to his frequent clashes with Hitler over military strategy.In 1949 he was tried in Hamburg for war crimes and was convicted of "Neglecting to protect civilian lives" and using scorched earth tactics which denied vital food supplies to the local population. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison, later reduced to 12 but he only served 4 years before being released. Although claiming ignorance of the Holocaust, von Manstein nevertheless had shown disregard for the plight the of Jews, equating them with partisans and advocating harsh measures against both. After release from a British prison in 1953, he became a military advisor to the West German Government.Excerpted from Wikipedia. ...more
death_date: 1973-06-09 00:00:00