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Heinz Guderian

German general · Germany · Lived 1888 to 1954 · aged 65

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He wrote the playbook for blitzkrieg and led the panzer thrust through the Ardennes that broke France in 1940. After the war, his bestselling memoir rewrote his own record - historians spent decades unpicking the myth of the armored genius who claimed no knowledge of atrocity.

Historical FiguresWriter / AuthorLiteratureGermanyEurope20th Century

A life in dates

1954Died14 May 19541952“It has been deduced from Hitler's great power over the masses that the Germans are an unusually suggestible race.”In their wordsPanzer Leader (1952), Ch. 13 : Leading Personalities of the Third Reich, p. 432

1941“We have severely underestimated the Russians, the extent of the country and the treachery of the climate. This is the revenge of reality.”In their words9 November 1941Letter to his wife (9 November 1941) on the German failures in Operation Barbarossa and the battles of the Eastern Front, quoted in Images

1938Anschluss MedalAward1937“Actions speak louder than words. In the days to come the Goddess of Victory will bestow her laurels only on those who prepared to act with daring.”In their wordsAchtung-Panzer! : The Development of Armoured Forces, Their Tactics and Operational Potential (1937)

“The moral and intellectual condition of a nation may certainly prove of decisive importance on its own account, but all due attention must also be paid to material considerations.”In their wordsAchtung-Panzer! : The Development of Armoured Forces, Their Tactics and Operational Potential (1937)

1888Born17 June 1888

Also in Deutsch

Photos 12

Guderian (left) in Sweden, 1929Guderian (left) in Sweden, 1929Guderian helped develop panzer divisions and the blitzkrieg approachGuderian helped develop panzer divisions and the blitzkrieg approachGuderian (far left) eats with other generals at a dinner table in the Sudetenland, 3 October 1938Guderian (far left) eats with other generals at a dinner table in the Sudetenland, 3 October 1938Guderian (middle) with Mauritz von Wiktorin (left) and Soviet Kombrig Semyon Krivoshein at the German-Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk after the invasion of Poland, 1939Guderian (middle) with Mauritz von Wiktorin (left) and Soviet Kombrig Semyon Krivoshein at the German-Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk after the invasion of Poland, 1939Guderian (standing) with an Enigma machine in a half-track being used as a mobile command center during the Battle of France, 1940Guderian (standing) with an Enigma machine in a half-track being used as a mobile command center during the Battle of France, 1940Generals Guderian and Hermann Hoth, 21 June 1941Generals Guderian and Hermann Hoth, 21 June 1941Guderian inspecting a panzer regiment during Operation Barbarossa, August 1941Guderian inspecting a panzer regiment during Operation Barbarossa, August 1941

In their own words 10

,
Heinz Guderian
,
10 statements, newest first

  1. It has been deduced from Hitler's great power over the masses that the Germans are an unusually suggestible race.

    1952, Panzer Leader (1952), Ch. 13 : Leading Personalities of the Third Reich, p. 432, Own words

  2. We have severely underestimated the Russians, the extent of the country and the treachery of the climate. This is the revenge of reality.

    Nov 9, 1941, Letter to his wife (9 November 1941) on the German failures in Operation Barbarossa and the battles of the Eastern Front, quoted in Images, Own words

  3. Actions speak louder than words. In the days to come the Goddess of Victory will bestow her laurels only on those who prepared to act with daring.

    1937, Achtung-Panzer! : The Development of Armoured Forces, Their Tactics and Operational Potential (1937), Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards

Anschluss Medal1938
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
Clasp to the Iron Cross
Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918
Sudetenland Medal
Wehrmacht Long Service Award
Order of the Saxe-Ernestine
Order of St. Sava

Family

Heinz Guderian

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About this person

Guderian rose through the German military after World War I as an evangelist for tank warfare, becoming Inspector of Motorized Troops in 1936. He commanded armored units in the invasions of Poland and France - at Sedan his panzers overwhelmed Allied defenses and opened the route west. During Operation Barbarossa he led the 2nd Panzer Army toward Moscow; when the offensive stalled he clashed with Hitler and was dismissed. Recalled in 1943 as Inspector General of Armoured Troops, he rebuilt panzer forces as Germany's war economy collapsed. After the July 1944 plot against Hitler, Guderian joined the "Court of Honour" that expelled officers for trial and execution, and became the Führer's advisor on the Eastern Front - his units carried out the Commissar Order and reprisals after the Warsaw Uprising. Captured in May 1945, he was released without charge in 1948 and published a memoir that became a bestseller by erasing inconvenient truths: he cast himself as sole architect of the panzer force and denied war crimes committed under his command, myths that historians have spent decades dismantling.

Country
Germany
Type
Other
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1888 to 1954 · aged 65

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