Walther von Brauchitsch
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Search complete. 8 mentions across 4 episodes found for "Walther von Brauchitsch".
Oct 21, 2026
Al MurrayHOST
It's everyone else's fault.
Al MurrayHOST
Bock is absolutely livid and approaches von Brauchitsch, who's the commander in chief of the army at this stage still, um, about having Guderian sacked.
Al MurrayHOST
Uh, and von Brauchitsch thinks this is a bad idea because Guderian is very popular with his men and, you know, he's a, he's a hero figure.
Al MurrayHOST
But Hitler is unimpressed and issues direct orders on the 5th of September for Lämelson's Panzers to return to the west bank, which actually is, is, is the right decision.
Al MurrayHOST
But, you know, I mean, what the heck? What is, what is he thinking?
James HollandHOST
Very different reception, but it's the principle, isn't it, is, is go, go to, go to the s- the central point.
Al MurrayHOST
He hasn't given in to, to, to what they regard as, uh, uh, Brauchitsch and Halder regard as military logic.
Al MurrayHOST
It's the strategic logic of going to Moscow.
Al MurrayHOST
And so there's th- there, basically, there's this colossal tension at the heart of the German decision-making.
James HollandHOST
By the way.
Al MurrayHOST
Yeah, but that, I think, you, you, you...
Al MurrayHOST
I mean, he must be so d- it must have been so difficult being the likes of Brauchitsch and Halder, 'cause you know that what he's going to do is, at some point, is pull the r- rug from under you, change his mind.
Al MurrayHOST
You then invest in the change of mind, and then he changes his mind again.
Wesley LivesayHOST
In Hitler's view, North Africa was an unnecessary distraction, but one that, by December 1940, probably could not be avoided.
Wesley LivesayHOST
Here is a quote from Rommel's Desert War by Martin Kitchen that neatly summarizes Hitler's views on this subject, as he would tell Field Marshal Brauchitsch, the head of the German army, in early January 1941.
Wesley LivesayHOST
Quote, Hitler professed to Brauchitsch that he was not in the least bit interested in operations in North Africa.
Wesley LivesayHOST
Italy's defeat in this theater would not, in his view, alter its vulnerability to attack by air.
Wesley LivesayHOST
The situation in French North Africa would remain unchanged, but he was very concerned about the psychological effect on Italy.
Elmer DavisSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
We must not be impatient, Mr. Chamberlain added, if results are not immediately apparent, which suggests that the Allied plans still provide chiefly for a war of economic attrition while the armies remain on the defensive.
Elmer DavisSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
As for the Germans, Colonel General Walter von Brauchitsch, their commander-in-chief in the field, appeared in the Tsar region today on the Western Front, having announced that the Polish army is annihilated and the operations against Poland are concluded.
Elmer DavisSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Evidently, they are not quite concluded, since the last reports the heroic defense of Warsaw was still going on.
Elmer DavisSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
But certainly most of the fighting in Poland is over, and the Germans have announced that they are already transferring troops to the Western Front.