Rommel also had to overcome fighting in North Africa. All the other generals had the advantage of fighting in Europe. What Rommel Did in North Africa was absolutely amazing. The fact that he did as well as he did with what he had was brilliant. He fought a war against a numerically superior enemy with less than a third of the supplies his army needed to be successful.

Originally Posted by lundin

He fought a war against a numerically superior enemy with less than a third of the supplies his army needed to be successful.

Sounds EXACTLY like Europe actually. Drasticly outnumbered on the Ostfront, the commanders who fought there pulled off miracle after miracle after miracle. Eventually they driven back agaist vastly superior numers. Basically, comparable to North Africa but on a giant, giant scale. Also, the stakes of the Ostfront were much greater.

Originally Posted by lundin

Rommel also had to overcome fighting in North Africa. All the other generals had the advantage of fighting in Europe. What Rommel Did in North Africa was absolutely amazing. The fact that he did as well as he did with what he had was brilliant. He fought a war against a numerically superior enemy with less than a third of the supplies his army needed to be successful.

What advantage was there to be fighting in Europe?

I've no quibble with Rommel not being rated as a very good panzer commander because he was. It's just that he's not that good, not in the calibre of Guderian or Manstein. If you compare all their achievements together Rommel comes up well short IMO.

Might as well throw on top of that the 3 Greatest Russian Generals in history: General Mud, General Distance and General Winter. The Germans faced a Red Army that ALWAYS had a gigantic numerical advantage in tanks, and we're talking about some significantly higher quality tanks than the USA and UK ever had in North Africa. Germany played exceptionally well against a stacked deck vs Russia. There is a long list of other commanders who were exceptional on the Eastern Front.

All things considered, Europe definitely WAS NOT the "easier" front to fight on.

Yes, but Rommels supplies had to be transported across the ocean, and britian had cracked the code and new when and where his supplies would be coming from. also, russia wasnt the superpower it was at the end of the war in 1941. the numbers where much more even at the beginning of the campaign in russia. i dont disagree with the arguements of miracle after miracle in the east. i agree totally. it was almost a numerical impossibility for the wermacht to fight as long as it did. Rommel just needs to be given his due is all

Originally Posted by lundin

Yes, but Rommels supplies had to be transported across the ocean, and britian had cracked the code and new when and where his supplies would be coming from. also, russia wasnt the superpower it was at the end of the war in 1941. the numbers where much more even at the beginning of the campaign in russia. i dont disagree with the arguements of miracle after miracle in the east. i agree totally. it was almost a numerical impossibility for the wermacht to fight as long as it did. Rommel just needs to be given his due is all

Actually the problem is that Rommel gets TOO much dues, to the point where a lot of people think he was the best German commander of WW2, when he wasn't. That's the problem.

Yes but Rommel pulled a lot more miracle victories then the other German commanders.Also he was one of the few that could beat Monty.

Basically a good man, but only an average officer, who was admired by his men.

A product of the Junkerschule.

Originally Posted by Josh678

Yes but Rommel pulled a lot more miracle victories then the other German commanders.

Based upon what? Actually, the entire list of elite German commanders pulled off MANY miraculous victories. Can you provide examples for comparison? Rommel had a lot of successes on the tiny semi-irrelevant part of the War. Manstein and Guderian were pulling off miracle after miracle on the Eastern Front, but they were doing it on a MUCH MUCH larger scale. Can someone provide a listing of "miracle victories" to make a comparison?

Also he was one of the few that could beat Monty.

The reality was that no German commander was going to do well against Montgomery for one simple fact: He had more troops, more aircraft, more artillery, more manpower. A LOT MORE. But Rommel is most certainly not the only commander capable of achieving what he did.

What Erwin Romell was: He was the primary commander that the West fought, so he's the one that the West is aware of.

Erwin Rommel, while a good field and operational commander benifits from the Western World permanent blind spot: We think that the war was won or lost in Africa, France and Italy. Most people think that the USA and the UK played a very large role in the war on Germany. Unfortunately, this assumption is false. The war was won or lost 99% on the bloody battlefield of the USSR and Eastern Europe. Even France only remained relevant for as long as it took Germany to knock them out of the war in 1940. The UK was only a minor thorn in the side of Germany from Dunkirk to D-day. Without victory by the USSR, victory as we remember it, would not have happened.

Why does this blind spot exist? Partly, I think it is because there is great room for inaccuracies in the accounts of the Eastern Front. Both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union are notorious for rewriting history however they saw fit. Partly it is because the Cold War began immediately after World War II, so it was in the Western Allies best interests to not emphasize the enormous role that the USSR played in defeating Germany. Afterall, the USSR grabbed up enough of Europe as it was. Diplomats of that day must've figured, "Why create excuses for them to take anything more?"

Look at this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties
Should be obvious to anyone where most of the action was.

Soviet Union 1941-45
Served: 34,476,700
Killed: 8,668,400
Wounded: 14,685,593
POW: 4,059,000
25.1%

GermanyArmy
Served: 13,600,000
Killed: 4,202,000
30.9%

British Commonwealth
Served 11,115,000
Killed: 580,000
Wounded: 475,000
POW: 318,000
5.2%

United States[59]Army
Served 11,260,000
Killed: 318,274
Wounded: 565,861
2.8%

I can confirm your take on the perception of Rommel by the west. Post WW11, here in Britain, he became something of a hero. A somewhat romantic figure, an honourable opponent amongst a band of villains. Strange really; others were un-noticed.