Erwin von Witzleben: Encyclopedia II - Erwin von Witzleben - Between the Wars

Erwin von Witzleben - Between the Wars

In the Reichswehr, von Witzleben was taken on as a Company Chief. In 1923, he found himself on the Fourth Division staff in Dresden as a major. In 1928, he became Battalion Commander in Infantry Regiment No. 6 and retained that position as lieutenant-colonel the following year. After being promoted to full colonel in 1931, he took over as head of the Infantry Regiment No. 8 in Frankfurt an der Oder. Early in 1933 came a transfer to the post of Infantry Leader VI in Hanover.

In the Wehrmacht, von Witzleben was promoted to major-general on 1 February 1934 and moved to Potsdam as the new commander of the Third Infantry Division. He succeeded General Werner von Fritsch as Commander of Defence District III (Berlin). In this position, he became lieutenant-general and in September 1935, he became Commander-General of III Army Corps in Berlin. In 1936, he received his promotion to General of the Infantry.

Even as early as 1934, von Witzleben had taken up a position against the Nazi régime when he and Erich von Manstein, Wilhelm Leeb and Gerd von Rundstedt demanded an inquiry into Kurt von Schleicher's and Ferdinand von Bredow's deaths after the Night of the Long Knives, after criticizing which, von Witzleben was forced into early retirement. He also criticized Adolf Hitler's persecution of General Werner von Fritsch, which contributed to his fall from grace. His "retirement", however, did not last, as Hitler would later need von Witzleben upon the outbreak of war.

By 1938, von Witzleben belonged to the group of plotters around Colonel General Ludwig Beck, Generals Erich Hoepner and Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel, and Defence Chief Wilhelm Canaris. These men planned to overthrow Hitler in a military coup d'état, which seemed feasible at the time of the Sudeten Crisis in 1938. Von Witzleben's command, through the key Berlin Defence District, was to play a decisive rôle in the plan. However, Hitler's success in the Munich Agreement thwarted the conspirators' plans, and they were not put into operation.

Von Witzleben was likewise involved in Colonel General Kurt Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord's 1939 conspiracy plans. Von Hammerstein-Equord planned to seize Hitler forthrightly, in a kind of frontal assault. It was to be von Witzleben's job to shut down Party Headquarters, but this plan also fell through.

Meanwhile, in November 1938, von Witzleben was posted as Commander-in-chief of Army Group 2 to Frankfurt an der Oder.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Between the Wars", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki