Guderian biography. Heinz Wilhelm Guderian. Heinz Wilhelm Guderian

Participation in wars: First World War. The Second World War
Participation in battles:

(Heinz Wilhelm Guderian) Colonel General of the German Army (1940), military theorist. Along with Fuller and de Gaulle, he was considered the founder of motorized warfare.

Heinz Guderian went down in military history as one of the greatest commanders of the armored forces of World War II. He was born on June 17, 1888 in the small town of Kulm (Chelmno) on the Vistula River. His father was an officer in the Prussian army, the first military man in the family. The family was not rich, and in 1894 his father sent Heinz to an inexpensive school in the city of Colmar in Alsace, where the boy could get a decent education. In 1901-1903, Heinz studied at cadet corps for younger age, and then in the cadet corps for seniors in Gross-Lichtefels near Berlin. After completing his studies, on February 28, 1907, he began serving as a non-commissioned officer in the 10th Hanoverian Jaeger Battalion.

Having soon received the rank of lieutenant of the German army, Heinz Guderian was transferred to a battalion stationed in the city of Goslar. Then, in 1912, he served in a company of radio operators in the city of Koblenz, where he appreciated the advantages of radio communications and even made several suggestions for improving the material part of the battalion. Guderian's technical literacy contributed to the direction young officer to study at the Reichswehr Military Academy in Berlin, where he studied until the outbreak of the First World War.

On August 2, 1914, Guderian was appointed to the post of head of the radio station, first in the 5th Cavalry Division on the Western Front, where he again proved himself to be an excellent technical specialist. Then he was transferred to the headquarters of the 4th Army in Flanders, where he served until April 1915.

Guderian owed his successful career advancement to his own outstanding organizational and technical abilities. In October 1914 he was promoted to chief lieutenant, and two years later to captain. Guderian was always in the most dangerous sectors of the front. In October 1917, he was appointed representative of the General Staff to Army Group C.

The war was coming to an end, and the command of the Reichswehr, already realizing that defeat could not be avoided, sought to save the most talented officers from senseless death at the front. Among others Guderian in January 1918 he was sent to the courses of the General Staff in Sedan. It was at this time that Guderian became interested in the capabilities of the armored forces and began to study the works of the English military theorist John Fuller, who dealt with this problem. On February 28, 1918, he was appointed to the General Staff of the Reichswehr. Less than a year later, in October 1918, Guderian was transferred to the headquarters of the German military representation in Italy to the post of chief of operations.

After the defeat of Germany in World War I thousands German officers were forced to leave the army under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, many units were simply disbanded, and who knows what the fate of Guderian would have been if there had not been a revolution in Germany. The real threat of the collapse of the country and complete chaos forced the surviving leaders of the Reichswehr to think about forming auxiliary units from the most talented and loyal to the German idea to fight the communists, since the regular army under the terms of the Versailles Treaty was not supposed to exceed 100,000 people. In November 1918, Guderian was recalled from Italy and was assigned to the Prussian War Ministry in Berlin, and a few days later to the Vostok Main Directorate of the Border Troops.

In March 1920, Guderian participated in the elimination of unrest in the city of Haldesheim and in the Ruhr region, in March - May he took part in restoring order in the central part of Germany in Dessau and Bitterfeld, and in the autumn of 1920 - in the Friedrichsfeld zone near Wesel.

From the beginning of the 1920s, a large group of the best officers of the Reichswehr began the development of a new military doctrine and a new structure of the armed forces that best met the requirements of the time. And not the last role in this group was played by Captain Guderian. Possessing vast experience and excellent abilities, he was able to assess in time the potential of the then-nascent armored forces. The tanks of that time were bulky and heavy, sedentary and poorly armed vehicles, unable to independently solve any serious combat missions. However, many of the military in Germany at that time opposed the creation of armored units. Some of the opponents of this referred to the high cost of innovations, the other did not understand the capabilities of this new kind of troops.

January 16, 1922 Guderian, who had long been interested in the technical means of the ground forces, was sent to Munich in the 7th Bavarian automobile battalion. How successfully he led this unit is evidenced by the fact that already three months later, on April 1, 1922, he was transferred to the automobile troops department of the Reichswehr Ministry (Ministry of Defense). It was in the ministry that he began to put into practice, as it seemed then, an incredible idea - to create a combat vehicle that would have the speed of a car, but possess the armor and firepower of the guns of the ground forces. At that time, the technological level did not allow the creation of such a machine, but the ideas for using tanks, and later armored personnel carriers, developed by Guderian, were later implemented by the German industry.

In October 1924, Guderian was assigned to the headquarters of the 2nd division in the city of Stettin. Being in the combat unit, Guderian was able to test his ideas in practice on the samples of armored vehicles that were then available and create a holistic theory of tank combat. On February 1, 1927, he was promoted to major, and on October 1, 1927, he was again transferred to the military transport department of the troops of the Reichswehr ministry. Although under the Treaty of Versailles Germany was forbidden to have tanks, the head of the land forces von Seeckt foresaw that over time tanks would grow into a special branch of the military, standing on a par with infantry, cavalry and artillery.

In post-war Europe, there were two states that were severely disadvantaged by the Versailles system - Germany and Russia. Already in April 1922, these countries signed an agreement on friendship and cooperation. In August, a temporary agreement was concluded on cooperation between the Reichswehr and the Red Army.

In 1926, an agreement was signed on the creation of a secret tank school "Kama" near Kazan. In total, during the existence of the school, 30 German officers were trained in it, including X Einz Guderian.

With the advent of Hitler, who was shown training operations using tanks, great times began for Guderian and the armored forces. The leadership of the Reich paid great attention to the development newest genera troops, and Guderian's ideas found active support. In April 1933 he was promoted to the rank of colonel. From July 1934, he received permission to create the first tank battalion in Germany and was appointed chief of staff of the directorate of the created armored forces. In October 1935, Guderian became commander of the 2nd tank division in Würzburg, and on August 1, 1936 he was promoted to the rank of major general. Guderian managed to convince Hitler that the high mobility of the armored forces made it possible to strike unexpected blows, using the advantage of surprise. Hitler, on the other hand, began to rebuild industry, which had not previously been able to mass-produce tanks, in relation to new military purposes.

In the same year, Guderian published his first book "Attention, tanks!". In it, he put forward the concept of the possibility of breaking through the enemy defenses with the help of armored forces and entering the rear in order to disable command posts, supply bases and reserve units. According to his theory, the key to "blitzkrieg" is the mobility and rapid advance of tanks, capable of continuing the offensive even in difficult terrain.

The approaching war forced the leadership of Germany to remember all the talented combat commanders and military theorists who were within the Reich. On February 4, 1938, Guderian was appointed commander of the 16th Army Corps and promoted to lieutenant general. His first combat operation since the Nazis came to power was to participate in the Anschluss of Austria. Although most Guderian and failed to make war in Austria, but the rapid advance of its units into the interior of the country made an impression on the leaders of the Reich. And during the occupation of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, Guderian's units were already assigned a leading role. The actions of the tank units made such an impression on the Fuhrer that on November 20, 1938, Guderian was appointed commander of the armored forces of the Wehrmacht, and he was awarded the rank of general of the tank forces.

However, in the course of these two campaigns, it turned out that the tank troops under the command of Guderian often broke away from the infantry. This was due to the fact that the mechanized units had a higher speed of movement than the infantry, and Guderian wanted to make full use of this property. On the other hand, the enemy, who managed to understand the situation and deliver a decisive counterattack, could well surround the German units that had broken through.

By 1939 Guderian there were already five panzer divisions ready for battle, and several more were in various stages of preparation. He met the Second World War as commander of the 19th Army Corps. Having received the order, on September 1, 1939, at the head of his troops, he crossed the border of Poland. In four days, he managed to break through the Polish defense line and by September 16 finally break the enemy's resistance. Parts of Guderian, acting as risky as before, met with no serious resistance.

The problem of the Polish army, which could not withstand the attacks of Guderian's units, was that the Polish high command misjudged the capabilities of the Wehrmacht. No one expected that the German units would attack the Polish fortifications in the forehead, using shock tank units with the support of the SS infantry divisions. Such tactics of the Germans led to significant losses, but allowed them to quickly advance and cut through the enemy's defenses.

Hitler, who was deeply impressed by the quick victory, awarded Guderian the Knight's Cross and increased funding for tank building.

Before the beginning French campaign Guderian tried in vain to convince his superiors to allow him to strike through the Ardennes with access to the banks of the Meuse, breaking through the French front in the most vulnerable place. Rundstedt and Kleist did not allow this bold operation, and Guderian decided to act at his own peril and risk. Having overcome the Ardennes, Guderian's tanks ended up under Sedan two and a half days later. Then he turned west. By the end of the next day, Guderian's tankers broke through the enemy's last defensive position and opened their way to the English Channel. Under the blows of Guderian and Hoth, the French army fell apart, unable to put up any stubborn and effective resistance.

As a result of these two victories on June 1, 1940 Heinz Guderian first became commander of the Guderian tank group, and on July 19, 1940 he was awarded the rank of colonel general.

Already from Polish campaign Guderian could learn some lessons - after all, it was there that his units began to suffer heavy losses, which was somewhat smoothed out by the quick end of hostilities. However, the general did not do this, and when developing a plan for an attack on the USSR, the top military leadership of the Reich used and enshrined in the Fuhrer's directives the tactics of conducting combat with armored forces, which had proven itself in Poland and France.

November 18, 1940 Guderian was appointed commander of the 2nd Panzer Group. In this position, he met the beginning of the war with the USSR. His tank group, along with other tank units of the Reich, again acted in the old way: the powerful armored fists of the Wehrmacht managed to break through the defenses of the Red Army in many places from the first blow and began to move deep into the territory the USSR at a speed of 50-60 kilometers per day. However, the encircled units of the Red Army offered fierce resistance, pinning down large forces of the German infantry, as a result of which the German tank units, already in the Smolensk region, were forced to conduct fighting without serious infantry support from the rear, which did not allow the creation of dense battle formations when encircling the enemy.

Quickly orienting themselves in the changed situation, the surviving tank units of the Red Army began to inflict accurate counterattacks on Guderian's wedges, inflicting significant losses on him. In addition, Hitler often transferred armored units from one sector of the front to another, sometimes for many hundreds of kilometers, which exhausted the personnel and made it impossible to replace damaged equipment. In autumn 1941 the group Guderian, advancing on Moscow, was, for tactical reasons, within a few days under its own power transferred to Kyiv, and after a while, and again under its own power, back to the Moscow direction. As a result, having received the order to advance on Moscow, Guderian was forced to ask the Fuhrer to postpone the offensive, since his units needed rest and replenishment and had practically lost their combat effectiveness. The tank units, like the entire army as a whole, were significantly separated from their bases, and the winter that began showed the complete unpreparedness of the German army for it.

The German command was forced to postpone the offensive, which gave the Soviet troops the opportunity to gain a foothold, and then launch a counterattack on German divisions. Defeat near Moscow ruined Guderian's career - Hitler was enraged by the huge losses and retreat. On December 26, 1941, Guderian was removed from his post and transferred to the reserve of the High Command of the Ground Forces.

In 1943 Guderian received the post of Inspector General of the Armored Forces. He immediately increased the production of tanks and improved the training of tank crews. But all this could no longer save Germany from defeat in the war. Guderian was able to somehow rehabilitate himself in the eyes of the Fuhrer only after the unsuccessful attempt on Hitler in 1944 and the disclosure of the generals' conspiracy. Faithful to the Fuhrer, Guderian became a member of the military court of honor that expelled the conspirators from the army before the Gestapo took them in. On July 21, 1944, he was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Ground Forces, while also remaining Inspector General of the Armored Forces. However, due to failures at the front, Guderian again fell out of favor: in March 1945, he was removed from all posts and sent on vacation.

Guderian left for Tyrol, and on May 10, 1945, he was taken prisoner by the Americans. Guderian, along with other senior officers who ended up in the western zone of occupation, was involved by the Allies in describing the preparation and conduct of Wehrmacht operations. Although Guderian was detained as a war criminal, no formal charges were brought against him, and he was released very quickly.

He invented the German armored forces, demonstrated an efficiency that, besides him, could only boast of Erwin Rommel, and, nevertheless, he received his last promotion in rank in 1940, becoming Colonel General

The news broadcast by the BBC radio station had the effect of an exploding bomb. On the third Sunday of July 1941, the German service of British radio reported the death of Eastern Front Colonel General Heinz Guderian. The source of this message was Radio Moscow. The news was quickly refuted and labeled as a false rumor, and yet: the 2nd Panzer Group, dubbed "Guderian's Panzer Group", found itself in the area of ​​a powerful Soviet counter-offensive. Contrary to the habit of their commander, all five panzer divisions and two SS assault brigades located west of Smolensk were practically inactive.

Because it was known that Heinz Guderian preferred to control his troops from forward positions, many Germans believed the BBC radio report. One could easily imagine that the fearless and popular Colonel-General this time went in vain directly to the front line.

On Monday, July 21, 1941, Joseph Goebbels (Joseph Goebbels) had the opportunity to state during the daily dictation of his diary: "The rumors spread by the Moscow radio station about the death of Colonel General Guderian, thank God, were not confirmed." However, the Minister of Propaganda did not publicly refute it - he did not want his information policy to look like a reaction to the broadcasts of enemy radio stations.

Eight years for a false rumor

Therefore, two days later, the BBC radio station again transmitted this fake message. Reinhard Kutz, a precision mechanic from Berlin's Tempelhof district, heard the news and sent a note to his friend Hans-Werner Scharwenka: "It appears that General Guderian is dead." What Kutz didn't know, however, was that Scharwenka's radio operator, who recently celebrated his 21st birthday, had been arrested a few days earlier for "acting to undermine defense power." Including for this false report, Kutz was sentenced to prison for a period of eight years; Sharvenka received a year in prison.

© Deutsches Bundesarchiv Tiger tank on the Eastern Front, 1943

It is highly probable that Heinz Guderian knew nothing about these convicts; this was just one case out of more than half a million military proceedings. However, this general was probably very well aware of the risks associated with his principle of "forward control" (Fuehrung von vorne). Nevertheless, he used it in practice and considered himself a role model in this sense.

Unlike many professional officers of the same year of birth in 1888, Heinz Guderian did not hold any command positions in the army during the First World War. As an interested in technology and a capable soldier, in 1912/1913 he was trained under the program of a telegraph officer and supervised the work of the communications department on the Western Front, first of the cavalry division, and then of the whole army. After that, he was transferred to the intelligence department, and then brought to work in the General Staff.

Showed interest in technical innovation

After the defeat of Germany in 1918, Guderian first served in one of the volunteer corps in the Baltics, and then was recruited into the Reichswehr. There he again showed interest in important innovations, namely motorized vehicles. From here there was only one small step to the armored forces.

Of course, according to Article 171 of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was strictly forbidden to develop, manufacture and import "armored vehicles, tanks or other similar devices serving military purposes." Therefore, Guderian himself only in 1929 was able to drive a tank for the first time - ironically, it was a German model of the last months of the World War, sold to the Swedes. Unlike the generals of the Reichswehr, whose representatives planned to use the new kind weapons - tanks - only to support the infantry, Guderian saw this as completely different, new opportunities: he wanted to create independent armored units, like once cavalry units, which could serve as a shock wedge on the battlefield. To test various options for tactics, he forced soldiers from motorized infantry units subordinate to him to conduct exercises using cars, tractors and similar vehicles. Sometimes the cars were protected by "armor" made of wood. Here lies the essence of the spreading legend about the German "cardboard tanks" that allegedly launched their last offensive in the early days of World War II against the Polish cavalry.

It is quite natural that in 1935 Guderian was allowed to create the first tank division in the German military history, which was officially called the 2nd Panzer Division. The 1st Panzer Division at the same time was created on the basis of the former cavalry division.

The talent to show off

Guderian was endowed in no small degree with self-confidence and a talent for flaunting himself. Therefore, it is not surprising that he set out his beliefs regarding the use of tanks in a future war in two books at once. Rather, his work entitled "Armored Forces and Their Interaction with Other Arms" (Die Panzertruppen und ihr Zusammenwirken mit den anderen Waffen), published in 1937, was designed for military specialists. For a wider audience, Guderian wrote the book "Attention, Tanks!", which appeared in the same year. (Achtung-Panzer!), which was extensively translated into English language. It contains, among other things, the following wise saying: "The engine of a tank is the same weapon as its gun."

Since 1938, Guderian became a general of armored forces, a corps commander, and also "head of fast units." During Polish campaign he received the nickname "Fast Heinz", during the hostilities in France, his breakthroughs were decisive for the outcome of hostilities: he became one of the most popular officers, "marshal forward" of the Third Reich.

Like Erwin Rommel, who was three years younger, Guderian commanded his troops from the front lines and thereby put himself at great risk. However, unlike Hitler's beloved general, he did not rely on such completely out of tradition maneuvers, as Rommel did with his "Ghost Division".

wayward general

On the contrary, Guderian was deeply influenced by what he learned while studying at the Main Cadet School, located in the Berlin district of Berlin-Lichterfeld. When Hitler verbally attacked the generals of the Wehrmacht in late 1939, Guderian wanted, along with Erich von Manstein, to induce a formal protest from other high-ranking officers.

However, half a generation older, Colonel General Gerd von Rundstedt and Colonel General Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb, refused to take part. In the end, Guderian personally informed the dictator that he considered the reproaches made insulting and offensive. To everyone's surprise, Hitler did not aggravate the conflict.

When, after the victory over France, the Wehrmacht was swept by a powerful wave of promotions, Guderian was awarded the rank of colonel general. However, he was no longer destined to receive a higher rank; he never became a field marshal.

Break with Hitler

During the first six months of the eastern campaign, Guderian achieved great successes in the western part with his elevated 2nd Panzer Army. Soviet Union, primarily during battles with the formation of "cauldrons". However, in December he had a break with the dictator. Guderian announced that he would defy Hitler's categorical order to "hold on" at all costs (Haltebefehl).

From the Kargopol barracks to the tank institute
A neat metal fence along the Orenburg highway, a checkpoint with the inevitable military vehicles on pedestals, a stadium. Behind him are the old, they are already nine or a hundred years old, educational buildings. Before us is the Kazan branch of the Chelyabinsk Tank Institute. The language refuses to pronounce the wild phrase "tank institute", and therefore we will call it educational institution as the Kazanians used to call it: the Kazan Tank School.
In 1910, a new mobilization plan was adopted in Russia. In accordance with it, extensive barracks construction was launched and the schedule of troops was radically revised (as the scheme of their deployment was called). The 5th Kargopol Dragoon Regiment, according to this plan, was supposed to be

Stationed in Kazan, but there were no premises for him. Therefore, the barracks of the regiment, which later received the name Kargopolsky, were built at a feverish pace: it was not yet ready general plan barracks, and 26 buildings have already been erected. It was the Kargopol barracks that was destined to become the place where many famous military leaders studied. Nazi Germany. This place is also connected with the name of the most famous German tanker - General Heinz Guderian ... But everything is in order.

Pariahs of Europe - thoughts of revenge

After World War I, Germany and Soviet Russia became, in the words of the British Prime Minister of that time, Lloyd George, "pariahs of Europe" and were in international isolation. German politicians, limited by the Versailles Treaty, almost immediately began to think about revenge. But for this, a strong, well-trained army and perfect weapons were needed, which Germany was strictly forbidden to have. And so, after lengthy negotiations in 1923, the German War Ministry created in Moscow its executive body, Center Moscow, which was headed by famous pilot Colonel Hermann von der Lit-Thomsen. On October 2, 1926, this outstanding man, who died in Berlin in 1942, signed an agreement on the non-German side to organize a joint tank school in Kazan. On the Soviet side, the agreement was signed by the head of the intelligence department of the Headquarters of the Red Army, Ya.K. Berzin.
The school was to be located in the former Kargopol barracks. At her disposal were transferred not only the buildings there, but also the training field, the shooting range, the training ground and the communication routes between them.

The contract was concluded for three years, and at the end of its validity, tanks,
stocks of property, weapons and inventory were to be returned to the Germans. The Germans took upon themselves the organization of the school, the repair, reconstruction and equipment of the premises, and it must be said that the costs of all this turned out to be considerable. It was assumed that the tank school would start operating in July 1927, but construction dragged on for a year and a half, absorbing from one and a half to two million marks.

"Big tractors" on the Orenburg tract
On August 1, 1928, they were officially formed Technical courses"Osoaviahima" - this was the name-cover of the Soviet-German school. But Russia would not be Russia if everything was done on time: practical classes at the school began only in the first half of 1929. At first, at four-month courses, he was trained permanent staff, and then the first group of cadets, which included ten Soviet tankers. German tanks, delivered to Kazan, were referred to in the documents as "large tractors" - "Grosstraktoren". It is known for sure that there were "tractors" in Kazan three types: Daimler-Benz designed by Dr. Porsche, Rheinmetall-Borsig and Krupp's "tractor". The study of drawings, familiarity with the materiel of combat vehicles and test results allowed our engineers to use German experience. In the Soviet tanks T-24, T-26, T-35 and BT, elements of German structures were used: suspension, welded hulls, internal crew accommodation, strobe lights and observation domes, periscope sights, coaxial machine guns, electrical equipment of medium tank turrets, and also technical specifications for design and construction.

"Kazan school": from Norway to Africa
Only recently the author of these lines managed to get acquainted with foreign sources complete list German cadets of the Kazan school. In total, 28 German cadets were trained in Kazan in three training streams, four of them had the rank of captain, the rest were senior lieutenants. Captains Kühn, Brunn and von Köppen led the streams. Some of the cadets of the Kazan school have reached significant career heights.
For example, Captain Viktor Linnarts, who studied in Kazan in the first training course in 1929-1930, ended the war in Italy with the rank lieutenant general and as commander of the 26th Panzer Division Johann
Haarde, a cadet of the second stream, also became a lieutenant general and commanded the 25th Panzer Division in Norway.
Major General Richard Koll in the 44th fought as part of the 48th Corps near Berdichev, under his command was the 1st Panzer Division. In Kazan, Koll was a senior lieutenant and studied in the second stream.
The commander of the 8th Tank Regiment, Colonel Teege, participated in the famous battle of El Alamein in North Africa.
The 5th Panzer Division of Colonel and then Lieutenant General Nedtwig fought with the Red Army as part of the 46th Army Corps near Spassk-Demyansk, and in 1943 he managed to fight near Orel.
The commander of the self-propelled guns unit of the 3rd SS Panzer Division "Dead Head" Walter Gert was awarded the Knight's Cross, the commander of the 17th Panzer Division Theodor Kretschmer rose to the rank of general - his tanks ironed Poland at the end of the war.

Future General
But the most famous of the German tankers who visited the military camp on the Orenburg Highway was the 44-year-old Heinz Guderian. He was not at all

Hence the perception of time is different. The measurement of time is based on the choice of a certain pendulum and a counter of complete oscillations. The choice is the standard ... "> time as a general, as Rovel Kashapov, an employee of the KGB of the Republic of Tatarstan, writes about this in the Independent Military Review. In February 1931, the chief of staff of the Reichswehr automobile troops was awarded the rank of lieutenant colonel, and he will become a general only four years later, when he leads the 2nd Panzer Division, formed by him near Wurzburg.In the meantime, he is inspecting a secret tank school in Kazan.
The son of a Kaiser officer and the father of the future general of the Bundeswehr, Lieutenant Colonel Guderian does not consider it necessary to hide his attitude towards the Bolshevik government: he was especially struck by the blatant mismanagement. Independence of judgment was characteristic of Guderian in the future, sometimes this character trait led to the fact that General Guderian could not fulfill the order of his superior, and often he got away with it. Even the Fuhrer was not an icon for him. Although Guderian was an exemplary Nazi general, he blamed the defeat of the German troops on the Fuhrer.

From Hannover to Kazan

By the time he arrived in Kazan, Guderian had a solid track record. After graduating from the cadet corps, he entered in February 1907 in the 10th Hanover Jaeger Battalion, commanded by his father. The following year, Heinz Wilhelm Guderian is promoted to senior lieutenant, and in 1914 he ends military academy. His several-year romance with Marguerite Gerne ends in marriage. In August 1914, their son Heinz Günther, the future general of the Bundeswehr, was born.
The end of the First World War finds Guderian at the headquarters of the German military representation in the occupied part of Italy. Then - service on the eastern border, participation in the suppression of the communist coup, command of the Jaeger battalion in Goslar. In January 1922, Guderian was transferred to the 7th Bavarian automobile battalion, and this transfer would be an important milestone in the commander's biography: thirteen years would pass and the former autobattalion commander would form a tank division. By that time, Guderian will have

Years of grueling, menial, but rewarding work: from automotive parts, he not only created tank units and formations, but also worked out the tactics of their actions, wrote the appropriate instructions and instructions.
Any military man with even a little experience in developing guidelines for the troops will understand the magnitude of what Guderian did. It must be said that the experiments and innovations of an inquisitive and energetic officer were by no means always welcomed by the authorities. It happened that Guderian was forbidden to conduct exercises using the techniques he developed. But he also had like-minded people, among them his colleague and direct boss Oswald Lutz. (By the way, at one time O. Lutz was the head of the Kazan tank school from the German side.) Lutz attracted Guderian to the formation of tank units. Guderian's assistant in this serious matter was Ludwig Ritter von Radlmayer - the name of this officer is also associated with a school on the Orenburg tract.

1936-1945: ten years as a general
Guderian's further career develops rapidly. In 1936-1937, on the orders of O. Lutz, he wrote the book "Attention! Tanks!" ("Achtung! Panzer!") and becomes known as the theoretician of tank warfare. In 1938, General Guderian takes command of the 16th Army Corps (it included all German armored forces). During the occupation of the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia, Guderian's corps was entrusted with the task of reaching the demarcation line. At the first stage, the Fuhrer himself was at the headquarters of the corps. The actions of Guderian's tanks (by this time he commanded the 19th Army Corps of a three-divisional structure) played a big role in the defeat of the Polish troops in the September 1939 campaign. The following year, the retreating French troops are pursued by a group with the meaningful name "Guderian".

At first, Guderian's successes on the Eastern Front were brilliant. The Guderian tank group became part of the Army Group Center and consisted of three tank corps. One of the tank divisions of this group, the 12th, was commanded by Josef Harpe - General Guderian knew him from Kazan. Time will pass, and J. Khar-pe will become the commander of the army, and at the very end of the war - of the army group, even Guderian himself will not reach such heights. July 10-12, 1941 Guderian crosses the Dnieper, five days later A. Hitler awards him the Knight's Cross with oak branches. A few days later, Guderian's divisions repulsed the counteroffensive of the Soviet formations near Yelnya. However, near Moscow, Fortune betrayed the lucky tanker, and he was enrolled in the reserve of the main command of the ground forces, where he remained until March 1943, when he was appointed inspector general of the armored forces.
In July 1944, Guderian headed the headquarters of the ground forces, but he did not win special laurels in this post. In his memoirs, he will blame Hitler for everything, but the above should be remembered - Guderian was an exemplary Nazi. This was especially evident when he became one of the leaders in the prosecution of anti-Nazi officers after the failure of the anti-Hitler conspiracy in July 1944.
March 28 was the last date in the list of Guderian's movements in the service - on this day he was removed from the post of chief of staff of the ground forces. A little over forty days later, he was arrested by the Americans, but soon released. And on May 15, 1954, in the Bavarian town of Schwangau, 66-year-old Heinz Wilhelm Guderian died. Who knows, maybe dusty Kazan, the Kargopol barracks and the long-forgotten clang of German caterpillars at the training ground behind the Orenburg tract flashed through the minds of the old tanker.

Kazan as part of the Reich Commissariat "Moscow"
The Germans were in Kazan for three years. Russians in Wünsdorf - almost half a century Now imagine for a moment that Guderian and other Nazi commanders would have achieved their goals and German troops in accordance with the plan, "Barbarossa" would indeed have reached the Astrakhan-Arkhangelsk line in December 1941. What would happen to Kazan then?
We find the answer to this question in the papers of the Imperial Ministry for the Eastern Occupied Territories, created on the basis of Hitler's decree of July 17, 1941 "On Civil Administration in the Occupied Eastern Regions." According to these papers, the territory of the USSR was divided into five Reichskommissariats. Kazan was part of the Reichskommissariat "Moscow", which included the territory of Central Russia to the Urals. The Reichskommissariat was divided into eight general commissariats, among them was the Kazan general commissariat. The prudent Germans not only appointed a Reichskommissar (he was Z. Kashe), but also formed the apparatus of the Reichskommissariat "Moscow". And it is quite possible that the Germans would again appear in the Kargopol barracks, but not as guests, but as hosts.
But history is very often prone to irony. It was in Wünsdorf - a city inextricably linked with the birth and development of the German armored forces - that the headquarters of the group of Soviet troops in Germany was located. And for forty-five years Russian boots trampled German soil. From myself I will add: well deserved. (Heinrich KLEPATSKY)

Heinz Guderian wrote the words in the title of this essay in the Preface to his memoirs A Soldier’s Memoirs and continued: “In order to prepare from our youth people honest and capable of defending their country with weapons in their hands, we willingly performed our duties.” Of all the chiefs of the General Staff of the ground forces who changed during the reign of Hitler, Heinz Guderian was the most talented. Moreover, even if he had not taken this post, he was still among the first, if not ten, then twenty of the most successful "Hitler's generals." He managed to take part in the creation of German tank forces, in the defeat of France, in battles on the Soviet-German front. One can only regret that this undoubtedly talented person ended up in the service of the Nazis.

Second generation soldier

The memoirs of Heinz Guderian also contain biographical information about him. Nevertheless, in the preface, we decided to dwell briefly on his life, even if this would, to some extent, duplicate the memoirs. A brief and compact outline of Guderian's life will help readers to more easily navigate all the intricacies of his life.

Heinz Wilhelm Guderian (Guderian) was born on June 17, 1888 in the small West Prussian town of Kulm, located south of Danzig. His father - at that time a 30-year-old chief lieutenant - served in the 2nd (Pomeranian) Jaeger Prince Bismarck battalion. Heinz was the first-born, two and a half years later - on October 2, 1890 - another son appeared in the family, who was named after his father Friedrich (but was always called abbreviated - Fritz).

After graduating from the cadet corps in February 1907, Heinz successfully passed final exam and, having received a certificate of secondary education, on February 28, with the rank of fenrich, he arrived to serve in the 10th Hanoverian Jaeger Battalion, stationed in the Lorraine city of Biche. The choice of the place of service was quite in the tradition of the German army, where they always paid great attention to the formation of officer dynasties: the fact is that the 10th Jaeger battalion at that time was commanded by Heinz's father, who had already been promoted to lieutenant colonel by that time.

Having passed the "course of a young fighter", Heinz was sent on April 10, 1907 to study at military school in Metz, where he received the necessary officer rank preparation. On December 14, 1907, he returned to the battalion and on January 27, 1908 received lieutenant's shoulder straps. On October 1, 1909, the 10th battalion was transferred to Goslar. From June 28 to July 28, 1910, he was trained in the 10th Hanoverian sapper battalion (Hannoversches Pionier-Bataillon Nr.10) in Minden, and on October 1, 1912 he was transferred to the 3rd telegraph battalion (Telegraphen) stationed in Koblenz -Bataillon Nr.3). Here Guderian had the opportunity to study radio business and appreciate the advantages provided by good communications - later he would insist that in the German tank forces communications would be on high level and all tanks without exception would be equipped with radios. This gave the German tank units a great advantage, for example, over the Soviet tank formations, where radio stations were only on command tanks.

October 1, 1913 was for Heinz Guderian one of the most anniversaries his life: on this day he received a message about enrolling him in the number of students at the Berlin Military Academy.

However, Guderian never managed to get a full-fledged education as an officer of the General Staff. The course of the Military Academy was designed for three years, and Heinz managed to study less than one. On August 1, 1914, a general mobilization was announced in Germany, and the Ambassador of His Majesty the German Kaiser in St. Petersburg, Count Friedrich Pourtales, presented the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chamberlain Sergei Sazonov, with a note declaring war on Germany Russian Empire. The First World War began. All military educational institutions urgently conducted an accelerated release of specialists. However, a year of study was clearly not enough to be assigned to the "Resident of the Gods" - the German General Staff - and Lieutenant Heinz Guderian was simply sent to the active army, to the branch of the army in which he served before entering the academy. On August 2, 1914, Guderian took over the 3rd heavy radio station of the 5th Cavalry Division, Lieutenant General Baron Manfred von Richthofen. The division was sent to the West as part of the 3rd Army of Colonel-General Baron Max von Gausen. Guderian fought the first battles of the World War on the Meuse, and in September 1914, during the Battle of Marne, he proved to be an excellent commander and received his first military award - the Iron Cross 2nd class.

Already on October 4, he received a more responsible appointment - the head of the 4th heavy radio station at the headquarters of the 4th Army operating in Flanders. The army, led by Colonel General Duke Albrecht of Württemberg, fought on the Fox - at Ypres and on the Yser. In October, the army took part in the bloody battle on the Yser, crossed this river and defeated the French. November 8, 1914 Heinz Guderian was promoted to lieutenant. The memory of the service under the banner of the Duke of Württemberg remained with Guderian and in the reward: he was awarded the Knight's Cross 2nd class of the Royal Württemberg Friedrich Order with swords.

A new offensive on Ypres began at the end of April 1915, and although it had, at the cost of heavy losses, local success, it was not possible to achieve the originally set task - to capture the Yser Canal up to and including Ypres. The command noted a capable officer and on May 17, 1915, he was transferred to the post of auxiliary officer of the secret communications service under the command of the 4th Army. In this post, Guderian was able to gain experience as an intelligence officer, moreover, directly related to working with technical means. Already on December 18, 1915, he was promoted to captain - such a quick career for a chief officer was generally not typical for the German army, even taking into account military operations.

Guderian spent 1916 at army headquarters. First, on January 27, 1916, he was assigned (and a little later officially transferred) to the headquarters of the 5th Army, where on February 9 he took a position similar to the one he had in the 4th Army. On July 18, 1916, he was again returned to the headquarters of the 4th Army, this time as a communications officer. Although Guderian did not receive the usual training of a General Staff officer, the command decided to "move" a promising officer: there was a war and it was necessary to make up for losses in the General Staff, as well as fill vacancies in the newly formed formations. In this regard, the generals had to turn a blind eye to the fact that the officers had the appropriate diploma and nominate the most trained specialists for staff positions. Captain Guderian also fell into the number of such "wartime general staff officers". April 3, 1917. he was appointed 2nd officer of the General Staff to the headquarters of the 4th Infantry Division. The 2nd officer of the General Staff (according to the staffing table lb) headed the Quartermaster Department of the headquarters and was responsible for providing the division, as well as for prisoners of war, maintaining order in the rear area of ​​​​the division, and so on. Thus, Heinz actually began the service of an officer of the General Staff, but not yet being officially assigned to this military department - this will happen later, only on February 27, 1918, after completing a number of formalities.

It so happened that in 1917 Guderian had to change a significant number of duty stations - he was constantly transferred from one headquarters to another. First, on April 27, he was assigned to the Quartermaster Department of the Headquarters of the 1st Army, where he took the post of supply officer. Then in May he became a quartermaster (that is, the 2nd officer of the General Staff) at the headquarters of the 52nd reserve division, with which he took part in the battles on the Aisne River. The following month, he headed the Quartermaster Department of the headquarters of the Guards Corps, and in July he became the head of intelligence (or, according to the staff list, the 3rd officer of the General Staff - 1s) at the headquarters of the X Reserve Corps. However, already on August 11, he was transferred to the headquarters of the 4th Infantry Division, and in September he was appointed commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 14th Infantry Regiment. This was the only command position that Guderian held in wartime, so we can say that he almost completely had no experience in performing the duties of a commander during hostilities. Which, however, did not prevent Guderian from becoming one of the best tank commanders of the Wehrmacht later - the talent of the commander in him was, so to speak, from God.

Date of death Affiliation Type of army Years of service Rank commanded Battles/wars Awards and prizes Retired

memoirist

One of the pioneers of motorized methods of warfare, the founder of tank building in Germany and the tank arm in the world. had nicknames Schneller Heinz- "Fast Heinz", Heinz Brausewind- Heinz Hurricane.

Biography

Young years

Born in the town of Kulm near the Vistula River, south of Danzig. At that time, the area belonged to Prussia. Now it is the town of Chełmno in Poland. His father was the first career officer in the Guderian family, which subsequently affected the choice of a military career by Heinz. In 1890, Guderian's brother Fritz was born, together with whom, after a short schooling, on April 1, 1901, they were admitted to the junior cadet corps. On April 1, 1903, Heinz was transferred to the senior cadet corps near Berlin. In February 1907, he passed the matriculation exams.

Carier start

After studying in the cadet corps, he began military service in February 1907, Fenrich (candidate for officer) in the 10th Hanover Jaeger Battalion, which at that time was commanded by his father. In 1907 he completed a six-month course at a military school and on January 27, 1908 he was promoted to lieutenant. In 1912-1913. served in the 3rd telegraph battalion. From October 1913 until the outbreak of the First World War, he studied at the military academy in Berlin.

World War I

After the outbreak of war on August 3, 1914, he was appointed head of the 3rd heavy radio station of the 5th Cavalry Division (on September 17, 1914 he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class). On October 4, 1914, he was the head of the 14th heavy radio station of the 4th Army.

From May 17, 1915 to January 27, 1916, he was an auxiliary officer in the cipher service of the 4th Army command. On January 27, 1916, he was transferred to the cipher service of the command of the 5th Army. Since July 18, 1916, a communications officer at the headquarters of the 4th Army. November 8, 1916 was awarded the Iron Cross 1st class.

Since April 3, 1917, the head of the quartermaster department (Ib) of the headquarters of the 4th Infantry Division. Since April 27, 1917, the quartermaster officer of the headquarters of the 1st Army. Since May 1917, the head of the commissary department of the headquarters of the 52nd reserve division. Since June 1917, the quartermaster of the headquarters of the Guards Corps, since July 1917, the head of intelligence (Ic) of the headquarters of the X Reserve Corps. August 11, 1917 transferred to the headquarters of the 4th Infantry Division.

In September-October 1917, he was commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 14th Infantry Regiment. From October 24, 1917 to February 27, 1918, he was the head of the operational department of the headquarters of the army group "C". February 27, 1918 transferred to the General Staff. Since May 23, 1918, the quartermaster of the headquarters of the XXXVIII reserve corps. From September 20 to November 8, 1918, he was the head of the operational department of the headquarters of the representative of the German command in the occupied Italian territories.

In addition to the Iron Crosses, he was awarded the Knight's Cross 2nd Class of the Royal Friedrich Order of Württemberg with swords and the Austrian Military Merit Medal with swords.

Between World Wars

After World War I, Captain Guderian continued to serve in the Reichswehr. From May 30 to August 24, 1919 he served at the headquarters of the Iron Division in Latvia.

From January 16, 1920, commander of the 3rd company of the 10th Jaeger battalion, from May 16, 1920, company commander of the 20th Infantry Regiment. Since September 8, 1920 the commander of the 3rd battalion of the 17th infantry regiment. January 16, 1922 transferred to the 7th motor transport battalion in Munich.

From April 1, 1922 he served in the 6th inspection (road transport) of the Military Ministry. Since October 1, 1924, he was an instructor at the non-commissioned officer school of the 2nd Infantry Division in Stettin. On October 1, 1927, he was transferred to the Military Directorate of the War Ministry, from October 1, 1928, an instructor in tactics at the motor transport instructor headquarters in Berlin.

Since February 1, 1930, the commander of the 3rd motor transport battalion. Since October 1, 1931, the chief of staff of the inspector of motor transport troops. In the summer of 1932, he came to the USSR with an inspection at the Kama tank school near Kazan, together with his boss, General Lutz. Guderian himself never studied in Kazan.

From July 1, 1934, the chief of staff of the motorized troops, from September 27, 1935 - the tank troops. From September 27, 1935, commander of the 2nd Panzer Division, stationed in Würzburg.

On February 4, 1938 he was appointed commander of tank troops. On April 1, 1938, the command was transformed into the headquarters of the XVI Motorized Corps, with Guderian appointed commander. Since November 24, 1938, the commander of the mobile troops. On August 26, 1939, commander of the XIX Army Corps.

The Second World War

As a result of the French campaign, Guderian was promoted to colonel general on July 19, 1940.

Invasion of the USSR

The 2nd Panzer Group, as part of Army Group Center, began the eastern campaign by covering Brest from the north and south. In the battles against the Red Army, the blitzkrieg tactics had phenomenal success. Acting by breaking through and enveloping tank wedges, the German troops were rapidly moving forward: Minsk fell on June 28, July 16 (according to the Soviet version - July 28) - Smolensk was taken. The Western Front of the Red Army was defeated. July 17, 1941 Guderian receives the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves.

At this point, Hitler decided to change overall plan campaign, and instead of continuing the rapid offensive on Moscow, he gave the order to deploy Guderian's tanks to the south - to Kyiv (another impact force group "Center", 3rd Panzer Army of Gotha, was transferred to the group "North" for an attack on Leningrad). On September 15, units of the 2nd Panzer Group linked up east of Kyiv with the 1st Panzer Army of Army Group South under Kleist. As a result, the entire Southwestern Front of the Red Army ended up in the Kiev Cauldron. More than 640 thousand Soviet soldiers and officers were captured alone.

At the same time, due to the withdrawal of shock tank units from the Moscow direction, the pace of the attack on the capital of the USSR was lost, which later became one of the reasons for the disruption of the operation "Barbarossa" as a whole. After the start of the offensive on Moscow, the 2nd Panzer Group occupied Oryol (October 3) and Mtsensk (October 11). However, Tula failed to take.

Later, due to disagreements with the appointed commander of Army Group Center, Field Marshal von Kluge, who constantly tried to oppose the advancement of Guderian's career, and due to the removal of his tanks from a dangerous position against orders, Guderian was removed from command.

On December 26, 1941, Guderian was sent to the reserve of the High Command, on January 16, 1942 he was assigned to the replenishment department of the headquarters of the 3rd Army Corps (in Berlin).

February 28, 1943 (after Stalingrad) Guderian was appointed chief inspector of the armored forces, responsible for the modernization of armored units. He quickly developed a good relationship with Albert Speer, the minister of armaments and supplies, and through mutual efforts they dramatically increased the number of tanks produced. Many changes were made to the design of the tanks personally by Guderian, who often visited factories, shooting ranges and testing grounds with inspections. After the failed assassination attempt on Hitler in July 1944, Guderian also became Chief of the General Staff of the Ground Forces. March 28, 1945, after another dispute with Hitler, caused by the latter's interference in the management of tank combat units, Guderian was removed from his post and sent on vacation.

After the war

Guderian was taken prisoner by American forces on 10 May 1945 in Tyrol. He was taken to Nuremberg, but appeared at the tribunal only as a witness. Soviet side wanted to charge him with war crimes, but the allies did not agree with this. One of the accusations was the execution of captured Red Army soldiers captured by advanced motorized units during deep defense breakthroughs in 1941. Guderian's direct orders for executions were not found, but the accusation was motivated by the fact that he could not have been unaware of them and, accordingly, did not interfere. Guderian did not deny his knowledge of such cases and explained them as the revenge of the soldiers for the executions of German tankers that happened in the Red Army - they were confused with