Manfred Rommel

**Manfred Rommel** (b. 24th of December 1928) is a Imperian Politician and a prominent member of the Imperiumist Party of The Imperium. He is the son of legendary military leader and politician , Erwin Rommel. Unlike his father, Manfred Rommel did not enter a long military career and instead pursued a political career.

Rommel rose through the Imperium as a Politician and in 1956 became the Mayor of Stuttgart after the end of the Nazi Insurrections. He was a very successful mayor and served up until 1978. From then onwards, he began a campaign as a leading Imperiumist Official and he was appointed Imperial Financial Minister in 1978. As Josef Behrmann took a more senior role in the Party in 1991, Rommel began moving up as well to become Party Secretary. It was here where he formed his ideas of Reformed Imperiumism and is the main advocate of the ideology. He is a primary contender to Behrmann's leadership but the Reformists and Germanic Imperiumists are in a de-facto truce against the Radicals and Traditionalists.

## Biography

### Early Life

Rommel was born in Stuttgart to Erwin Rommel , who at the time was serving as a Military Officer in Post-Great War Germany. Rommel considered a career in the Waffen-SS after the formation of the German Reich in 1932 but his father ,now a colonel in Hitler's Bodyguard opposed this and Rommel didn't pursue a military career.

As the Imperiumist Takeover was in full swing and his father's treachery was revealed, Rommel was apprehended in Stuttgart by Gestapo Officers in February 1940 as the SS took control of Stuttgart. He would then be liberated by soldiers of the 2nd Imperial Guard Division in November 1941 during the Battle of Stuttgart, the opening battle of the Nazi Insurrections. The SS didn't execute Rommel as they believed they could gain favourable terms.

### Early Political Career

After his liberation from Stuttgart, Rommel would go and study Law and Finances up until 1956 where he would be recommended as Mayor of Stuttgart by his father and was then appointed by The Emperor. For the first 5 Years as Mayor, he was mainly focusing on rebuilding the city which had suffered through 13 Years of War. Stuttgart had seen heavy fighting throughout the war and the Grand Imperial Offensive at the end of the conflict had done catastrophic damages to Stuttgart. He was very successful at this and Stuttgart became a major financial city in Imperia.

He would continue to govern the now prosperous Stuttgart where it would become the second greatest city in Imperia, second to Imperia City. He would begin championing his reformist ideas and his way of Imperiumism proved to be efficient, partially inspired by the Imperiumist/Conservative mindset of his father. He would attend his Father's Funeral in Imperia City and it was here where he met with the Emperor who asked him to become the Imperial Financial Minister following the retirement of the Minister at the time ,Albert Speer. He accepted and was then appointed in 1978.

### A Leading Imperiumist

Rommel represented the Second Generation of Imperiumists, those who were children in the days of old but saw the rise of Imperiumism. As such, he was fiercely loyal to the Emperor but recognised the Imperium was in need of a change. He claimed that this was evident in the failure in the Imperial African War and Rommel suggested the idea that these territories were rebelling because they were being too oppressed and that they needed more autonomy in order to keep them in the fold. He wanted to slowly withdraw from Africa and install loyal native governments as he saw this as the best way to achieve cohesion.

Rommel also clashed with Imperial Army General , Josef Behrmann, who he saw as a radical but was willing to cooperate with Behrmann as he saw that Behrmann's Germanic Imperiumism which was forming around the time had some reformist ideals. Rommel disagreed with Behrmann's Tactics ,and although not a military leader himself, stated they were too careless and not thought through. Rommel would be supportive of the decision to withdraw from The Gulf War and Behrmann's Germanics and Rommel's Reformists would form an unofficial alliance but the two sides still frequently clashed.

With the Emperor's Death, Rommel began making moves to secure support in the Imperium. He decided it was best to do this through siding with the New Emperor Behrmann and continued as Finance Minister. Rommel opposed the ideas of Eberhard Zorn and even the Traditionalists , claiming they are outdated. Rommel would clash with Behrmann in the Great Collapse as Rommel tried to rescue the failing Imperial Economy but Behrmann continued to claim Executive control, resulting in more economic hardships.

The Rommel-Behrmann coalition became very fragile and barely held on. In 1999, Rommel began to distance himself from the Germanics in order to cement his ideology as it's own and to contest Behrmann, but for the time being , Rommel must cooperate with the Germanics in order for his plan to succeed.