Branch: Heer
Born: 2 September 1878 in Stargard Szczecinski, Poland.
Died: 4 March 1946 in, Nuremberg, Germany.
Ranks:
Generalfeldmarschall 20 April
1936
Generaloberst 31 August 1933
General der Infanterie 30 January
1933
Generalleutnant 1 October 1929
Generalmajor 1 April 1928
Oberst 1 April 1925
Oberstleutnant 20 December 1920
Major 22 March 1916
Hauptmann 20 March 1911
Oberleutnant 18 May 1907
Leutnant 13 March 1897
Decorations:
Pour le Mérite
Iron Cross
Commands:
Other: Personnel
Articles:
Werner Eduard Fritz von Blomberg was a German Generalfeldmarschall,
Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces
until January 1938. Born in Stargard, Pomerania, Prussia (present-day
Stargard Szczecinski, West Pomeranian Voivodeship), Werner
von Blomberg joined the army at a young age and attended the
Prussian Military Academy in 1904. In April 1904,Werner von
Blomberg married Charlotte Hellmich.
After graduating in 1907, Werner von Blomberg entered the
General Staff in 1908. Serving with distinction on the Western
Front during World War I, Werner von Blomberg was awarded
the Pour le Mérite.
In 1920, Werner von Blomberg was appointed Chief of Staff
of the Döberitz Brigade, and in 1921 was made Chief
of Staff of the Stuttgart Army Area. In 1925, Werner von
Blomberg was made Chief of Army Training by General
Hans
von Seeckt. By 1927, Werner von Blomberg was a major-general
and Chief of the Troop Office. In 1928, Werner von Blomberg
visited the Soviet Union, whereWerner von Blomberg was much impressed by
the high status of the Red Army, and left a convinced believer
in the value of dictatorship as the prerequisite for military
power.
After arguing with the powerful General Kurt von Schleicher
in 1929, however, Werner von Blomberg was removed from his
post and made military commander of East Prussia. During
his time as commander of Wehrkreis I, the military district
which comprised East Prussia, Werner von Blomberg fell under
the influence of a Nazi-sympathizing Lutheran chaplain,
Ludwig Müller, who introduced Werner von Blomberg to
National Socialism.
Werner von Blomberg cared little for National Socialist doctrines
per se, his support for the Nazis being motivated by his belief
that only a dictatorship could make Germany a great military
power, and that the Nazis were the best party to create a
dictatorship for Germany. In 1931, Werner von Blomberg visited
the U.S., whereWerner von Blomberg openly proclaimed his belief
in the certainty and the benefits of a National Socialist
government for Germany. Werner von Blomberg's first wife Charlotte
died on 11 May, 1932, leaving him with two sons and three
daughters.
In 1932, Werner von Blomberg served as part of the German
delegation to the World Disarmament Conference in Geneva,
where during his time as the German chief military delegate,
Werner von Blomberg not only continued his pro-National Socialist
remarks to the press, but used his status of chief military
delegate to communicate his views to
Paul
von Hindenburg, whose position as President made him Supreme
Commander in Chief.
In late January 1933, Werner von Blomberg was recalled
from the World Disarmament Conference to return to Berlin
by President
Paul
von Hindenburg, who did so without informing the Chancellor,
General von Schleicher or the Army Commander, General Kurt
von Hammerstein. Upon learning of this, Schleicher guessed
correctly that the order to recall Werner von Blomberg to
Berlin meant his government was doomed.
When Werner von Blomberg arrived at the railroad station
in Berlin,Werner von Blomberg was met at by Major von Kuntzen ordering him
to report at once to the Defence Ministry on behalf of General
von Hammerstein, and by Major Oskar von Hindenburg ordering
him to report at once to the Presidential palace.Over Kuntzen's
protests, Werner von Blomberg chose to go with
Paul
von Hindenburg to meet his father, who swore him in
as Defence Minister.
In 1933, Werner von Blomberg rose to national prominence
whenWerner von Blomberg was appointed Minister of Defense in
Adolf
Hitler's government. Werner von Blomberg became one
of
Adolf Hitler's
most devoted followers, and worked feverishly to expand
the size and power of the army.
In 1933 Werner von Blomberg was made a colonel general
for his services. In February 1934, acting on his own initiative,
Werner von Blomberg had all of the Jews serving in the Reichswehr
given an automatic and immediate dishonorable discharge.
In this way, 74 Jewish soldiers lost their jobs for no other
reason than there were Jewish.
The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service
had excluded those Jews who were World War I veterans, so
Werner von Blomberg's discharge order was his way getting
arould the law. In 1935, Werner von Blomberg worked hard
to ensure that the Wehrmacht complied with Nuremberg Laws
by preventing so-called Mischling from serving.
Werner von Blomberg had a reputation as something of a
lackey to
Adolf
Hitler. As such,Werner von Blomberg was nicknamed Rubber Lion
by some of his critics in the army who were less than enthusiastic
about
Adolf
Hitler. One of the few notable exceptions was during
the run-up to the Night of the Long Knives in 1934. In early
June, Reichspräsident
Paul
von Hindenburg decided that unless
Adolf
Hitler did something to end the growing political tension
in Germany,Werner von Blomberg would declare martial law and turn over control
of the government to the army. Werner von Blomberg, who
had been known to oppose the growing power of the SA, was
chosen to inform
Adolf
Hitler of this decision on the President's behalf.
In the same year, after
Paul
von Hindenburg's death,Werner von Blomberg personally ordered all soldiers
in the army to pledge the Reichswehreid (oath of allegiance)
not to Volk and Fatherland, but to the new Führer
Adolf
Hitler, which is thought to have limited later opposition
to
Adolf Hitler.
In 1935, the Ministry of Defense was renamed the Ministry
of War Werner von Blomberg also took the title of Commander-in-Chief
of the Armed Forces. In 1936, the loyal Werner von Blomberg
was the first Generalfeldmarschall appointed by
Adolf
Hitler.
Unfortunately for Werner von Blomberg, his position as
the ranking officer of the Third Reich alienated
Hermann
Göring and
Heinrich
Himmler, who conspired to oust him from power.
Hermann
Göring, in particular, had ambitions of becoming
Commander-in-Chief himself.
On 5 November 1937, the conference between the Reich's
top military-foreign policy leadership and
Adolf
Hitler recorded in the so-called Hossbach Memorandum
occurred. At the conference,
Adolf
Hitler stated that it was the time for war, or, more
accurately, wars, as what
Adolf
Hitler envisioned were a series of localized wars in
Central and Eastern Europe in the near future.
Adolf
Hitler argued that because these wars were necessary
to provide Germany with Lebensraum, autarky and the arms
race with France and Britain made it imperative to act before
the Western powers developed an insurmountable lead in the
arms race.
Of those invited to the conference, objections arose from
the Foreign Minister
Konstantin
von Neurath, Werner von Blomberg and the Army Commander
in Chief, General
Werner
von Fritsch that any German aggression in Eastern Europe
was bound to trigger a war with France because of the French
alliance system in Eastern Europe, the so-called cordon
sanitaire, and if a Franco-German war broke out, then Britain
was almost certain to intervene rather than risk the prospect
of France's defeat. Moreover, it was objected that
Adolf
Hitler's assumption that Britain and France would just
ignore the projected wars because they had started their
re-armament later than Germany was flawed
Accordingly,
Werner
von Fritsch, Werner von Blomberg and
Konstantin
von Neurath advised
Adolf
Hitler to wait until Germany had more time to re-arm
before pursuing a high-risk strategy of localized wars that
was likely to trigger a general war before Germany was ready
(none of those present at the conference had any moral objections
to
Adolf Hitler's
strategy, with which they were in basic agreement only
the question of timing divided them). After the Hossbach
Memorandum meeting of November 1937, Werner von Blomberg
was one of the few who criticised
Adolf
Hitler's plans to go to war no later than 1942, much
to
Adolf Hitler's
displeasure.
Hermann
Göring and
Heinrich
Himmler struck in January 1938, when on 12 JanuaryWerner
von Blomberg, then 59, married Erna Gruhn (sometimes referred
to as Eva or Margarete), a 26-year-old
typist and secretary. A police officer discovered that Gruhn
in 1932 had posed for pornographic photos (taken by a Jew
with whom she was living at the time) and reported this
to the Gestapo and
Hermann
Göring (who had served as best man to Werner von
Blomberg at the wedding).
It has long been claimed that Frau von Werner von Blomberg
had a criminal record for prostitution, but this is false
Hermann
Göring chose to misrepresent Frau Werner von Blomberg's
criminal record as being for prostitution as a way of smearing
her husband.
Hermann
Göring then informed
Adolf
Hitler (who had also been a witness at the wedding),
and
Adolf Hitler
ordered Werner von Blomberg to annul the marriage in order
to avoid a scandal and to preserve the integrity of the
army. Werner von Blomberg refused to annul the marriage,
and consequently resigned all of his posts on 27 January
1938 when
Hermann
Göring threatened to make his wife's past public
knowledge.
A few days later,
Hermann
Göring and
Heinrich
Himmler accused Commander-in-Chief of the Army
Werner
von Fritsch of being a homosexual.
Adolf
Hitler used these opportunities for major reorganization
of the Wehrmacht.
Werner
von Fritsch was later acquitted together the events
became known as the Werner von Blomberg-Fritsch Affair.
Werner von Blomberg and his wife were subsequently exiled
for a year to the isle of Capri. Spending World War II in
obscurity, Werner von Blomberg was captured by the Allies
in 1945, after which timeWerner von Blomberg gave evidence at the Nuremberg
Trials. While in detention at Nuremberg, Werner von Blomberg
died of cancer on 14 March, 1946, and was buried without
ceremony in an unmarked grave. Later, his remains were cremated
and interred in his residence in Bad Wiessee.
His daughter Dorothea became engaged to Leutnant Karl-Heinz
Keitel General
Wilhelm
Keitel's eldest son in January 1938. They were married
in May the same year.
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