Maximilian von Weichs

Maximilian Maria Joseph Karl Gabriel Lamoral Reichsfreiherr von Weichs zu Glon (12 November 1881 - 27 September 1954) was a German Generalfeldmarschall and a military leader in World War II. Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... November 12 is the 316th day of the year (317th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 49 days remaining. ... 1881 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 95 days remaining. ... 1954 was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Generalfeldmarschall (General Field Marshal, usually translated simply as Field Marshal, and sometimes written only as Feldmarschall) was a rank in the armies of several German states and also of the Holy Roman Empire and Austrian Empire which could be granted to active officers only in wartime. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that engulfed much of the globe...

He was born into a noble family at Dessau, a son of an Army colonel. He entered the Bavarian Cavalry in 1901 and with them came into the World War I, from 1915 until 1918 he served with the General Staff of the 3rd Bavarian Army Corps. After the war he remained in the newly created Reichswehr where he worked at a number of General Staff positions and later served as an instructor. In October 1937, he became the commander of the 13th Army Corps, that later served in the 1938 German occupation of Sudetenland, for the German invasion of Poland he was appointed head of his own Army Corps "Weichs". Map of Germany showing Dessau Dessau is a town in Germany on the junction of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the Bundesland (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. ... World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... 1915 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1918 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Sudetenland (-German; Czech: Sudety) was the name used from 1938–45 for the region inhabited mostly by Sudeten Germans (German: Sudetendeutsche, Czech: Sudetští Němci) in the various places of Bohemia, Moravia, and parts of Silesia. ... Polish Defence War of 1939 Conflict World War II Date 1 September - 6 October 1939 Place Poland Result Decisive German and Soviet victory The Polish September Campaign (alternatively refered to as the German plan Fall Weiss) refers to the conquest of Poland by the armies of Nazi Germany and the...

After the Polish surrender, and in preparation for the invasion of France, he was made Commander in Chief of the 2nd Army, a part of Rundstedt’s Army Group A in the West. For his successes in the French campaign he was awarded the Knight's Cross and promoted into a Colonel General. Leading his corps, Weichs later took part in the Balkans Campaign, and in preparation for Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, he was assigned to lead the 2nd Army as a part of Fedor von Bock’s Army Group Centre which he led in 1941 through the Battle of Kiev and the Battle of Smolensk and then on to Vyazma and Bryansk. In World War II, Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, executed 10 May 1940 which ended the Phony War. ... The German Second Army (German: ) was a World War II field army. ... Army Group A was the name of a German Army Group during World War II. During the German invasion of the Low Countries and France Army Group A was the southern attacking Army Group. ... The Iron Cross (German: Eisernes Kreuz) is a military decoration of Germany which was established by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and first awarded on 10 March 1813. ... The Balkans Campaign was the Italian and German invasion of the Yugoslavia and Greece during the Second World War. ... Original German plan Operation Barbarossa (Unternehmen Barbarossa) was the German codename for Nazi Germanys invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that commenced on June 22, 1941. ... Generalfeldmarschall Fedor von Bock Fedor von Bock (December 3, 1880 - May 4, 1945) was a German field marshal during World War II. He was born in Küstrin, Germany. ... Army Group Centre (Heeresgruppe Mitte in German) was one of three German army formations assigned to the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, code-named Operation Barbarossa. ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Battle of Kiev was a huge encirclement battle in the Ukraine during World War II. It lasted from mid August - 19 September 1941 as part of Operation Barbarossa. ... The eastern front at the time of the Battle of Smolensk. ... Vyazma (Вязьма in Russian) is a city in the Smolensk Oblast in Russia, located on the Vyazma River. ... Bryansk (Брянск) is a city in Russia, 379 km South-West from Moscow. ...

In 1942, for Fall Blau, Weichs was assigned to lead the newly created Army Group B, composed of the 2nd Army, Hermann Hoth’s 4th Panzer Army, the 2nd Hungarian and the 8th Italian armies and also the 6th Army under Friedrich Paulus, assigned to take the city of Stalingrad and cover approximately 800 kilometers of front. Fall Blau (Case Blue in German) was the German code name for two WWII studies in future combat. ... General Hermann Hoth Hermann Hoth (12 April 1885 - 26 January 1971) was a general of the Third Reich during World War II, notable for victories in France and on the Eastern Front, and later, after serving six years in prison for war crimes, as a writer on military history. ... Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus (September 23, 1890, Breitenau –February 1, 1957, Dresden) was a German general, later promoted to field marshal, during World War II. Paulus was the son of a schoolteacher. ... Stalingrad is the former name of two cities: Volgograd, Russia Karviná-Nové Město, near Ostrava, Czech Republic Other uses: The Battle of Stalingrad (a major turning-point of World War II and arguably the bloodiest battle in human history) Stalingrad (German film set during the above battle) Stalingrad (metro station...

Weichs warned about his lines being stretched too thinly, but Hitler ignored this, and Weich’s fears materialized when the successful Soviet Operation Uranus, smashed the Italian, Hungarian and Romanian armies on flanks, cutting off the 6th Army inside Stalingrad. Suggesting retreats, Weichs fell out of Hitler’s favor. Consequently, parts of Army Group B were taken away from Weichs command and incorporated into a new Army Group Don, led by Erich von Manstein, later in February the remaining part merged with the Don Group into a newly reinstated Army Group South, also led by Manstein. Weichs was put in leader reserve. The eastern front at the time of Operation Uranus. ... Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein Erich von Manstein (November 24, 1887–June 10, 1973) was a lifelong professional soldier who rose to become one of the most prominent commanders of Nazi Germanys Armed Forces (Wehrmacht) during World War II; he attained the rank of Field Marshal (Generalfeldmarschall), although he was...

As the German situation was starting to become more dire, in August of 1943 Weichs was appointed the commander of the Army Group F in the Balkans defending from possible Allied invasion in what was seen as Germany’s weak underbelly and fighting off local partisan groups that were gaining strength. In late 1944, he oversaw the German retreat from Greece and most of Yugoslavia. The Balkans is the historic and geographic name used to describe southeastern Europe (see the Definitions and boundaries section below). ... Partisan may refer to: A member of a lightly-equipped irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation. ...

As the Nazi Germany fell apart, Weichs was finally retired on March 25, 1945 and was arrested by American troops in May. During the Nuremberg Trials, Weichs was found implicated in the war crimes committed while suppressing the partisans, however, he was removed from the Hostages Trial due to medical reasons without having been judged or sentenced. March 25 is the 84th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (85th in leap years). ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Nuremberg Trials is the general name for two sets of trials of Nazis involved in World War II and the Holocaust. ... A war crime is a punishable offense, under international (criminal) law, for violations of the law of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ... Wilhelm List is handed the indictment in the Hostages Trial. ...

He died at Burg Rösberg near Bonn. Bonn is a city in Germany (Population (2004 est): 313,605 ; the 19th largest city in Germany), in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, located about 20 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine. ...

Notes

• Note regarding personal names: Reichsfreiherr is a title, usually translated Baron-of-the-Empire, not a first or middle name. The title is not to mean a certain rank, but to indicate the time of creation during the old German Reich before 1803.

1803 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

External link

• Biography (in German)