Manstein: great general but an ordinary man

I have finished Mungo Melvin's excellent and thorough biography of Field Marshal Eric von Manstein and I am now pondering whether to award myself the Knights Grand Cross for my stamina in marching halfway across Russia and then marching back again, or just the good, old British army's Long Service and Good-ish Conduct Medal.  Yes, it has been a hard, long flog but definitely well worth it.

Melvin, in the title to his book, calls Manstein "Hitler's Greatest General"  and it would take more than the opinion of an ex-Corporal like me to argue against it.  And anyway, ex-Corporals don't come out of this book too well!  As it happens, I didn't really need Melvin's book to convince me of his claim because I had already picked up enough in general reading to realise that Manstein was a brilliant general.  None of the other German generals, not even (or perhaps, especially) the over-hyped Rommel, came near Manstein's tremendous expertise in the handling of not just armies but groups of armies.  This is mainly, but not entirely, a military history and Melvin, an ex-general himself, makes the task of following the various manouvres relatively easy although the uninitiated would do well to brush up on the very useful chart below the first map which explains the military symbols which differentiate the hierarchy of army formations from Army Group down to Brigade via Army, Corps and Division.  This will make the maps easier to understand - and talking of the maps, let me sing a chorus in praise of the publisher of the paper-back edition, Phoenix, for going to the expense of printing all the necessary maps - in colour! - and putting them all in one place so that they can be easily found.  I have lost count of the number of military histories whose maps are utterly useless!

I will not rehearse all the details of Manstein's various campaigns, apart from anything else, Melvin tells it much better than I can.  But what I do wish to dwell upon is Manstein the man, and it is in this area that Melvin's book is superb.  He takes a long, hard, cool look at his subject and hands down a very fair assessment.  Manstein was a cultivated, Christian gentleman, far removed from the bull-necked Nazis who feature in the cartoons of the time.  But, he was also a Prussian officer, born and raised in the ethos of all that being a Prussian officer entails including a profound sense of patriotic duty and obedience!  Until 1918, that unquestioning obedience was offered to the King of Prussia who eventually became the Emperor of Germany.  Whatever private doubts the officer class entertained about Hitler as being, so to speak, 'not quite a gentleman', these had to be quashed after they were forced to take a Christian oath of loyalty to the new head of state.  A man like Manstein would not, could not, easily break such a profound oath sworn over a bible.

In weighing and admiring Manstein's obvious genius as a commander, Melvin never lets his detachment be subverted.  He accuses Manstein, along with virtually the entire German officer corps, of a lack of strategic, as opposed to operational, insight which allowed him to follow Hitler into a war with Russia which was never going to be winnable.  This strategic blind spot, a characteristic shared by most of the Anglo/American high command (with the exception of Alan Brooke and, eventually, Marshall) was exacerbated by excessive hubris, and this hubris was itself inflamed by the easy, early and stunning victories of the Werhmacht in Poland and Western Europe.  What could go wrong?  Well, eventually Manstein found out, but surpisingly late in the day.  According to Melvin, the German high command perpetually under-estimated the ability of the Russians to recover and, above all, to learn from their mistakes.  Not the least of German military weaknesses lay in their constant failures in the field of Intelligence at all levels, and that surprised me.

The book goes on to cover Manstein's eventual arrest and charge as a war criminal responsible for the crimes against humanity that were carried out by the SS who, whilst not under his direct command, nevertheless operated in his area of responsibility.  Again, Melvin weighs the pros and cons, including Manstein's own very carefully worked out defence, and cooly decides that Manstein has much to answer for. 

Two things occurred to me whilst reading this book which the author does not dwell upon.  First, Manstein had an example before him of how a brave and clear-thinking Christian officer and gentleman should have behaved with a malignant creature like Hitler in charge, and that was Gen. Ludwig Beck, Chief of the German General Staff in the late '30s and Manstein's direct superior.  Beck began by falling for Hitler's promises but as time went on he saw through the pretence and sickened by Hitler's attitudes he resigned.  Later he, he joined the conspiracy against Hitler and upon its failure he commited suicide.

The second thing that occurred to me was how, in one respect at least, this 'septic Isle', as I call it rather rudely, has developed some immensely wise and prudent political structures.  Thus, our military swear allegience to the monarch, and the monarch ('Gawd bless 'er!') has virtually no political power at all.  Thus, should some Hitlerite poltroon arise in this country our military need have no moral problems in seeing him off.  (Even as I write that I can sense several of you reaching for your keyboards to hurl the name of Tony Blair at me - don't bother, there is absolutely no comparison).

Anyway, I recommend this book very highly.  Not just a tale of soldierly 'derring-do' but also an accurate portrayal of a great man with great flaw lines running through him.  Did I mention the word 'Shakespearean'?  No, I would never stoop to such a cliché, you know me!

Manstein: Hitler's Great General by Hugo Melvin and it's on Kindle for only £7.99.

 

Comments

[A K Haart]

It's worth pointing out that on the Kindle the maps will not be in colour and may not show the detail of printed maps. It's a weakness of the Kindle and although I'm a Kindle fan, it does have its limitations.
The paperback may be a better buy.

[David Duff]

A comment from 'Son of Duff':

For a rip-roaring, yarn-telling, corker of a rendition of the whole Ostfront saga you can't beat Dan Carlin's hardcore history series: -

Ghosts of the Ostfront

He charges now, but 4x $1-99 will be well spent, I assure you.

I enjoy the way Carlin sculpts the shape of his theory of the history under inspection's "form" as he goes, so that the ensuing facts are true to form, giving you a real feel for, and comprehension of, the chronological motion. (I'm not qualified to say if his theories are right or wrong, but, well, it's the way you tell 'em, and he tells 'em well).

He's great at selecting poignant moments from history to reinforce the bigger formula. In the series "Death Throes of the Republic", his description of the Romans' first encounter with the new tribes called the Teutons and Cimbri means I will never look a Jerry in the eye again without thinking of them bollock naked snowboarding down the Alps on their battle shields in front of Rome's freezing centurions prior to battle to spook them, or chaining themselves together so that none could escape if the battle turned against them, and their womenvolk killing their husbands, children and themselves when the battle was lost and their warrior spouses fled past them waiting to the rear in the battle wagon.

As Churchill said, "The further back you look, the further forward you can see".

And in "Ghosts from the Ostfront", the Russian general wandering around the smouldering ruins of Berlin on the day after the Jerries surrendered, who muttered: "And the flame was extinguished from whence it came".

After listening to Carlin, and looking at Europe today, there's just a hint of a whiff of cordite in the air.

SoD

[David Duff]

Thanks for the tip, AK. I am deliberately putting off buying an e-book system until enough people tell me of all the little snags. Quite apart from the looming pile of proper books still awaiting my attention!

[dearieme]

My father told me that he'd always assumed that the Germans he was fighting were merely young men conscripted to serve their country: there was no sense in hating them. Then he saw Belsen and "paradoxically", as he said, if commanded to he would have advanced 10 miles a day and killed every German he met.

[David Duff]

Alas, DM, all too human. I, too, visited Belsen back in the '60s. It defied belief. Nobody could talk, there were simply no words. What it was like when your Dad was there is beyond imagination.

[Andra]

But there are tears, David. There are tears.

[Sverige]

Paul Rusesabagina, the inspiration for the Oscar nominated film, Hotel Rwanda, is not an ordinary man but an extraordinary one.