Rommel was already some kind of a myth in his lifetime after his successes in the war in North Africa brought him fame and acknowledgements far beyond the boundaries of Germany. It was as much the importance attributed to him by his enemies that eventually created the Rommel myth. There was one simple explanation why the British forces in North Africa, who in early 1941 seemed on the point of winning the campaign, faced another year and a half of war in that theatre, often with some serious setbacks and the threat of defeat: Rommel. He was the key to everything, at least for the average soldier as well as for the audience at home, and only one thing mattered: to defeat him. A perfect example of how popular a figure Rommel was, even amongst his enemies, is illustrated by the fact that he was the only German general to be portrayed, as a main character, in a feature film entitled Five Graves to Cairo released in 1943 by the director Billy Wilder for Paramount. Erich von Stroheim's characterization of the 'Desert Fox,' a much more popular sobriquet amongst the British than the Germans, may have been far from the reality, but it certainly contributed to give rise to Rommel's myth.
Throughout 1943 and 1944, Rommel was no longer the centre of attention for audiences in enemy countries for the very simple reason that he had been defeated and ultimate victory for the Allies seemed not only certain, but close at hand. When, less than seven months after his death, the war in Europe was over and Hitler's Third Reich defeated, Rommel was more a shadow of the past than the myth he once had been. However, it took only a few years before the myth would start a life anew, largely due to the circumstances surrounding Rommel's death.
To p ut the story in its context, one ought to remember a very simple fact: in 1945 Germany was a defeated country, in a much poorer condition than in 1918. This time she and her armed forces were not just facing defeat, but were also blamed for the Nazi wars of aggression and for the war crimes that had been committed. From this point of view Rommel was the perfect general; he had been some kind of a hero not only for the Germans, but for Germany's enemies as well. He had never fought in the gruesome cauldron of the Eastern Front, in the ideological war between Nazism and Communism. Rather he always fought against the Western Allies, better still he fought in the only theatre of war - North Africa - where, either because of environmental conditions or of the lack of any ideology, nothing was experienced that could be remotely compared to the brutal conditions of warfare on the Eastern Front. Last but not least, Rommel was portrayed effectively as one of those who opposed Hitler and who died because of their involvement in the 20 July plot.
As early as September 1945 Rommel's family pointed out how the death of the Generalfeldmarschall had not been a consequence of the wounds inflicted by the air attack of 17 July 1944 in Normandy. A couple of years later it was Rommel's chief of staff in Normandy, General Hans Speidel (himself involved in the July plot), who set himself the task of making Rommel a 'national hero of the German people'. Such a task would lead to the publication in late 1949 of Speidel's memoirs entitled Invasion 1944. Ein Beitrag zu Rommel und des Reiches Schicksal (A Contribution on Rommel and the Destiny of the Reich) which portrayed him not only as a military leader but also, much more importantly, as one of the leading personalities of the German resistance against Hitler. The purpose of all this was clearly to show how the German Army had been made up not only of fanatical soldiers ready to fight for their Fuhrer in the wars of aggression and extermination, but also of men whose hands were clean of any misdemeanour. Some of them, including leading personalities like Rommel, would eventually choose to fight the Nazi regime. Speidel would later become commander-in-chief of the new German Army, the Bundeswehr, in much the same way as Admiral Friedrich Ruge (Rommel's naval liaison in Normandy) became commander-in-chief of the new navy.
However, a large part of the Rommel myth was created with the help of his former enemies. It is unsurprising that Rommel's first biography was written in English by a Briton, Desmond Young, whose Rommel was first published in London in 1950, and many others have followed over the years. (It is worth noting Rommel is one of the very few German generals, certainly the most popular one, whose biographies have been written in English.) In 1951 a new feature film by Henry Hathaway was released by 20th Century Fox, based on Young's biography, The Desert Fox starring James Mason, who portrayed Rommel in a much more sympathetic way than he had been shown eight years previously. Rommel was seen as loyal soldier with outstanding military and humane qualities, and a firm adversary of Hitler's politics. On a more professional basis, the British military theoretician and historian Basil Liddell Hart would largely contribute not only to Rommel's own myth but, following the example of Speidel, also to use it for the
A cheerful Rommel, sporting the freshly awarded oak leaves and swords to his Knight's Cross, is driven inside Hitler's headquarters at Rastenburg in spring 1942. (NARA)
Restoration of the moral authority of the German officers corps. Liddell Hart's book The Other Side of the Hill: Germany's Generals, their Rise and Fall (first published in 1948), as well as the introductory notes he wrote for the English edition of The Rommel Papers (first published in 1953), and the memoirs of Guderian and Manstein too, drew a neat distinction between the political goals of Hitler's Third Reich and the professional war-making German generals that still survives more or less intact. Given this start
Rommel's myth developed a life of its own, which bore little resemblance to the wartime one and even to the one created on purpose shortly after the war
Ended. Biographies and books dealing with the war in North Africa, all too often with the name of Rommel in their titles, had (and still have) large commercial success. Amongst these must be included the first attempt to re-assess Rommel's myth, his life and his military skills. David Irving's
Biography Rommel: The Trail of the Fox, published in 1977, posed Major questions about Rommel's character, his achievements as a military commander and the extent of his actual involvement in the anti-Hitler plot. None of this lessened his myth, rather it contributed to keeping it alive.
Yet, not even Rommel's myth would survive the greatest enemy of all: the passing of time. Following the downfall of the Soviet Union and of the Communist regimes in Eastern Europe, many of the political needs that gave rise to Rommel's post-war myth failed all of a sudden. Politicians and historians stepped back to the mood prevailing in the immediate aftermath of World War II. Nazism started to be seen as pure evil, and the German military as close associates sharing its crimes and guilt. Following the same pattern, Rommel's myth started to be denuded and honours granted to him were now seen as an embarrassing encumbrance. In 1961 a plaque in his honour was unveiled in the former officers' mess at Goslar, and the inspector general of the German Army greeted Rommel as 'the most magnificent soldier' and 'a role model for young soldiers.' Forty years later, in 2001, the plaque was removed with a very simple explanation: Rommel was associated with a criminal regime and as such represented it, therefore honouring him was to honour that regime. One may wonder what Rommel would have thought of all this? His myth has proved to be an enduring one and, in one way or another, he still is the focus of public attention. This is probably what Rommel might have wanted after all. Times and fashions will pass and change, but one can be sure that his name will always recur.
World History
