Pros And Cons Of Rommel

Rommel would even go so far as to turn off his radio in order to avoid orders to halt his advance, infuriating the German High Command, particularly the Chief of the General Staff Franz Halder. However, these generals were not able to discipline Rommel due to his successes in the field, and the protection he received from Hitler.
The Afrika Korps and the Early War in North Africa: Impressed by Rommel’s performance in France, Hitler appointed him to the command of Germany’s forces in North Africa, with orders to bolster their Italian allies in the region - as they had recently suffered a series of devastating defeats - and to hold the line. Unbeknownst to Rommel, the British had recently re-deployed forces from North Africa to Greece, greatly weakening their position in the theatre. Upon his arrival in February 1941, and with much of his force still in transit, he quickly went on the

Rommel enjoyed being in the spotlight, and even went so far as to employ Karl Hanke, a senior propaganda official, to ensure that his image was crafted in the way he wanted. Rommel was well aware of the benefits of having a “mythos” surrounding a general, and recognized the key to creating such an image. In his diary, he wrote that “the men tend to feel no kind of contact with a commander who … is sitting somewhere in headquarters. What they want is what might be termed a physical contact with him,… the personal example of the general works wonders, especially if he has had the wit to create some sort of legend around himself.” Or, in other words, the image of a general in the front tank leading the charge against the enemy, or smiling while interacting with his men, can conjure up a great deal of loyalty and enthusiasm towards his command. Thus, upon reading Rommel’s own words, the abundance of pictures of him and his Afrika Korps are to be evaluated in a substantially different