Wilhelm Keitel

Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel (September 22, 1882 – October 16, 1946) was a German Field Marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) and a senior military leader during World War II.

OKW and World War II

In 1937, Keitel received a promotion to General, and in the following year, in the wake of the Blomberg-Fritsch Affair and the replacement of the Reichswehrministerium (Reich Defense Ministry) with the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, a.k.a. OKW (Supreme Command of the Armed Forces), he assumed the position of Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces. Accordingly, in 1940 he became a "Generalfeldmarschall" (Field Marshal).

Related Topics:
Blomberg-Fritsch Affair - Reichswehrministerium - Oberkommando der Wehrmacht - OKW - Generalfeldmarschall

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During World War II, Keitel proved a weak and cautious commander: he advised Hitler against invading France and opposed Operation Barbarossa. Both times he backed down in the face of Hitler and tendered his resignation: the Führer refused to accept it. In 1942 he again stood up to Hitler over Field Marshal Siegmund List. Keitel's defence of List was his last act of defiance to Hitler, for after that he never again challenged one of Hitler's orders and was referred to by his colleagues as Lakaitel ("Lackey-tel"). He signed numerous orders of dubious legality under the laws of war, the most infamous of which being the notorious Commissar order, and unquestionably allowed Himmler a free hand with his racial controls and ensuing terror in captured Russian territory. Another was the order to have any of the French pilots fighting for the fighter regiment in and on behalf of the USSR to be executed instead of their being treated as prisoners of war. Keitel was also instrumental in foiling the attempted coup of the July 20 Plot in 1944, whose objectives were the assassination of Hitler and the replacement of the current upper hierarchy in the Army, and sat on the following Army Court of Honour that handed many officers, including Field Marshal von Witzleben, over to Roland Freisler's notorious People's Court.

Related Topics:
Hitler - France - Operation Barbarossa - Führer - Siegmund List - Commissar order - Himmler - Russia - USSR - Coup - July 20 Plot - Hitler - Court of Honour - Von Witzleben - Roland Freisler - People's Court

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