Where does he rank all time among generals? Would you put him in your top 20...

Where does he rank all time among generals? Would you put him in your top 20? Does he even merit inclusion in the discussion, or is he overrated?

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I'm not sure where I'd rate him myself, but definitely not top 20.
Here's an interesting, lengthy discussion with various perspectives:
forum.axishistory.com//viewtopic.php?t=113911
Might be worth your while to browse through.

He's certainly not in the top 20. He was a decent tactician, but he had a tendency to overextend and micromanage.

Rommel more like Romemelel hahahah

kinda think the reason most idolize him is because of his political views and his scant involvement in the Hitler assassination plot, not because of any actually valid tactical reason. he did kinda lose North Africa to the allies

>his political views
Rommel was Hitler's lackey in every sense and practically a card-carrying Nazi.

He was one of the first to truly grasp maneuver warfare, but he wasn't the only one. He was poorly suited to being a theater commander.

It wasn't so much that he "lost North Africa" as that he squandered massive amounts of resources that could have been better used elsewhere (Eastern Front) by launching unsustainable offensive operations against the British with no clear objective.

Given the benefits at the time of being a literal rather than practical card-carrying Nazi, the fact that he was only the latter at least suggests that he wasn't entirely on board with their program. Anyway Rommel was never much of a political general, who cares.

He turned a hopeless situation with the Italians into a lengthy campaign that threatened cairo and the suez canal, with a single panzer division. He did the best he possibly could have with what was given to him. No US or British general could have done the same.

>Anyway Rommel was never much of a political general, who cares.
The person who claimed that Rommel's appeal is due to his political views? Are you a random meme post generator because you don't sound like a rational human who made a post after reading the thread.

>He turned a hopeless situation with the Italians into a lengthy campaign that threatened cairo and the suez canal, with a single panzer division.
He had 4 panzer divisions and 10+ infantry divisions at his disposal.

>with no clear objective
Sinai and the Iraqi oilfields

>with a single panzer division
lets not get too crazy here


anyway OP I'm a huge Rommel fan, but the world is a big place and human civilization is very old, so I don't think he makes top 20

Yeah but most of his troops were shitty underequipped Italians and light vehicles. He was so strapped for firepower that he had to modify his anti-aircraft guns to shoot at vehicles.

I'm neither a Rommelboo nor a wehraboo, but you gotta give credit where credit's due.

>he had to modify his anti-aircraft guns to shoot at vehicles

yeah they're called Flak 88's and the were renowned for doing exactly that, he didnt invent that shit

He was up against a skeletal British force that had been stripped of most of its fighting power when Churchill decided saving Greece was more important than crushing the Italians in Libya. When the Brits were reinforced Rommel was pushed back.

If the Brits had a skeletal force I dont know what you would call the Germans. They were never not outnumbered or outsupplied

>what you would call the Germans.
*Axis, and you would call them a force with many times the manpower and supplies. Then the Brits reinforced and Axis got their shit kicked in.

im 90% sure the british always outnumbered the axis

Well, you know, except for battles like Sonnenblume or the start of the 1942 push.

lol youre right, not that user, but its lietally the same gun as the tiger 1

*impedes your advancement*

I didn't say that he invented it, I said he was so strapped for firepower that he had to use his anti-aircraft guns as makeshift anti-tank guns.

Top 20 in WWII, not in history

8,8cm Flak is a dual purpose gun. They were not "makeshift" anti-tank guns they were supposed to be used for AT.

Not that user, but using flak guns as anti-tank guns was part of German doctrine and was something that was part and parcel of their tactics ever since the Spanish Civil War. Either the 36 or the 37 variant had a lighter, more traversible carriage so it could be switched from anti-air to anti-ground capacity quickly.

Rommel was shit and so are his admirers

Slapping around retarded bongs really doesn't put Rommel into any special status, although the bongs tried mightily to put him there to explain away their failures.