German Goth is a German military leader who became famous thanks to French victories and battles on the Eastern Front. He was born in 1885 under Neuruppin. As soon as he was 19, he went headlong into military affairs. The achievements of Hermann Goth are amazing: it took him only a year to get a lieutenant rank.
In World War I, he distinguished himself due to his courage and knowledge, which led to the continuation of his Reichswehr career.
Biography
With the seizure of power by Hitler, Goth, the German general of the old, strict school, advanced up the career ladder even faster. Already in 1934, Hitler's decree granted him the rank of major general. Two years later - the rank of lieutenant general. Since 1938, he becomes the tank commander of an entire corps. In 1939, his units became part of Army Group South von Reichenau.
Already tank general Goth took part in the seizure of Poland, breaking through the positions of the Poles and encircling the groups of their armies “Prussians” and “Krakow”. After that, he set off to the north, entering the Polish capital. During the celebration of the capture of Poland for his qualities, he was awarded the Knight's Cross.
French campaign
General Goth, along with his corps, went to the western borders to participate in the conquest of France as part of the "A" group. It was to this group of armies that the main task was entrusted - to break through the border defense of Belgium. General German Goth was behind the fourth field army. This grouping was commanded by von Kluge. In May 1940, the division of Gotha crushed the cavalry of the Belgians and the ranks of the Ardennes, going to the banks of the river Meuse. Having struck together with Kleist’s division for the French army in the south of the Somme, he breaks through their defense. This freed the hands of the rest of the German units. Despite the fact that the French actively resisted, already in early June, Goth pursued them.
Then the 10th French army capitulated. He pursued the rest of the retreating all the way to Brittany. General Goth divided his group in half, directing the first part to Rommel's tank division, and the second to Brest. After the capture of the Loire and Rouen by the end of June, he was awarded the rank of Colonel General.
Prussian campaign
In the spring of 1941, the troops of Gotha moved to East Prussia. They became part of the Center group, called the third tank group. Under the leadership of Goth were four tank and three motorized units. His technique was perfect by the standards of the time. The soldiers were hardened, they went through an excellent school of war during the capture of France. All their tactics, including the famous wedges, were worked out.
The beginning of the campaign against the USSR
Tank operations of General Goth and went through the territory of the Soviet Union. His main goal at the beginning of this campaign was to invade the territory of the state, destroying the forces of the enemy near Bialystok, and move to Vitebsk.
He crossed the borders of the USSR on June 22 in 1941, striking the Suvalka ledge. He quickly captures bridges across the Neman River, rushing further to the heart of the country. Due to the fact that General Goth takes the enemy troops by surprise, it is possible to defeat the enemy especially quickly. After just a couple of days, the capture of Minsk took place, where he converged with the Guderian corps.
Tank corps met especially fierce resistance of the Soviet troops, so when moving to Vitebsk, his army suffered losses.
The capture of Smolensk
Soon, Goth's tank units became part of the 4th Panzer Army. Guenther von Kluge commanded this group of forces. After a call to the leadership of Gotu was assigned a combat mission: a breakthrough of the defense of Smolensk. This would ensure freedom of movement of the entire fourth army to Nevel.
Having taken Vitebsk together with the fourth tank unit, General Goth bypassed Smolensk in a northerly direction. But in July, in the area of ​​Great Onions, the Red Army prepared a counterattack against tanks. Then the German military leaders ordered to go around the Great Bow region, passing from the west and taking Toropets. There, Soviet troops were broken. By July 15, Smolensk was captured. In the area of ​​Yelny and Dorogobuzh, German units were united even though Soviet troops stubbornly resisted this. Thanks to the successful association, Smolensk was completely surrounded.
After this victory, the Knight's Cross of Goth was supplemented by oak leaves. When trying to capture the city, he commanded infantry troops, restraining the enemy, trying to break through the encirclement. Then Goth was able to make time to equip his army and allow him to rest.
Moscow campaign
By the end of July, Goth with his tanks joined the group "North". He was to capture the Valdai Upland, covering the troops on the flanks. The prospects for the army of Gotha to capture Moscow after passing all the way along the Volga were already outlined.
Nevertheless, General Goth, by order, went to the northern front, going to Leningrad, exchanging places with the forces of Reingard. None of the military leaders understood the reasons for such a replacement. Perplexity among the military leaders over the controversial orders of the Hitler’s rate grew.
He is carrying out an order to gather Red Army groups in Vyazma into a ring. With stubborn resistance of the Soviet fighters, he connects with other tank groups - the tenth and seventh. Thanks to this, five groups of the Red Army were surrounded, the road to Moscow was open. Army groups “Center” started off there.
The period after Moscow
Goth is a Wehrmacht general who did not actually participate in the battles for Moscow. He held a position with Vyazma and Kalinin. He and his group became part of the South formation. He launched an attack on Voroshilovgrad together with the first tank unit of von Kleist.
In January 1942, Goth's troops were attacked by fighters of the 37th Army of the Red Army. This led to the German retreat to the North Donets. However, the tanks of General von Mackensen came to the rescue, so the attackers were stopped. As a result of this struggle, a ledge appeared on the front of the South formation, convenient for the Soviet troops. They could at any time begin to advance in order to liberate Kharkov and Kiev. All the German forces were thrown to repel the Red Army counterattack, the ledge was eliminated, and the formation of the South itself was divided in half.
Voronezh
In 1942, the June offensive of the Goth units began. The main goal of them was to capture Voronezh. The Bryansk front of the Soviet army at that time carried out constant counterattacks. However, Goth inflicted a complete defeat on Golikov’s troops and entered Voronezh. Tank operations of the General Wehrmacht Goth went down in history. He was a talented commander, knew how to make the right decisions. In this operation, the Gotha tanks covered 200 km in just ten days. This was a real success for the German troops. The victory was ensured by the strict implementation of orders, brilliantly organized reconnaissance, well-coordinated work of all troops. At the same time, Goth was constantly present at the front line to make decisions as quickly as possible.
The next goal after Voronezh was Rostov, taken on July 3. One of the German commanders, von Kleist, later said that if Goth attacked Stalingrad instead of Rostov, he would have been taken in the summer of 1942.
Stalingrad
Only after the capture of Rostov, the lost group of Goth, meeting with heavy resistance, broke through to Stalingrad. There was a large concentration of Soviet forces to stop the movement of the enemy armies. German troops managed to break through the Red Army ring in September 1942.
However, during the subsequent counterattack of the Red Army, the Germans were driven out of Stalingrad. The situation was difficult for German. However, the skilled actions of Goth did not allow to form a hole between the formations "A", "Don" and the sixth field army. While Soviet forces were thrown into their division.
However, at that time, the sixth army of the Germans was defeated, actually dying from cold and hunger. In this regard, Goth participated in the "Winter Thunderstorm", an operation to rescue her. In its course, it was necessary to break through and destroy the Soviet troops of the internal front in the south and west of the city. The task was assigned to the forces of Herman.
However, the Red Army destroyed the sixth army of Paulus. Goth, while trying to save the 6th Army, was stopped by Malinovsky, the Soviet commander. After that, Goth was recalled from his positions and sent to defend Rostov.
1943 year
During the crucial stage of the struggle against the USSR, Goth constantly participated in battles with units of the Red Army, leaving and taking up positions again. This year was marked by the battle of Kursk. It was an operation in which the best forces of the Germans were pulled together. They were all distributed in a small area of ​​about 40 km and opposed the front of Vatutin, who commanded the Voronezh Front. Goth’s troops were reinforced by Ferdinand’s self-propelled guns. They were able to break through the Soviet T-34.
In January of that year, troops under German command counterattacked against Soviet troops after the German units were reinforced by the Tigers, which consisted of three battalions. They managed to take Kharkov again, and the plans were to destroy the Kursk ledge. However, subsequently, German commanders were forced to forget about such plans, since the leadership of the Center group announced the impossibility of their participation in such large-scale hostilities.
From the first moment of the battle, the German troops wedged into the positions of the Soviet troops for a dozen kilometers. Anticipating the decision of Goth to force Berezova, on the eve of his offensive, the Red Army transferred its forces to the banks of this river. They met the Germans with a furious attack, shooting fighters. Then Gotu was assisted by German aviation forces. Having lost a significant part of their forces, the forces of Goth managed to organize their crossing and move on, breaking through the following positions of the enemy. Having reached the last line of defense of the Soviet command, Goth pulled all the tanks into one striking force. However, only two of the three German groups broke through the defenses, reaching the village of Prokhorovka.
German units lost 300 tanks - about half of the available vehicles. After losing all his strength in battle, Goth was not able to reverse the balance of power that had arisen. In those days, he lost the most massive tank battle in the entire Second World War.
Effects
By July 15, the weakened Goth had finished his advance, withdrawing the units to their starting position. Then the Red Army launched the operation "Commander Rumyantsev", during which the Germans were driven out. Having wedged themselves in German’s troops, they opened the way for their troops to Kharkov, for which German forces entered the battle. However, they lost and were forced to leave the city.
Nevertheless, General Goth continued to receive awards. He was handed swords to the Knight's Cross. The tank units were ordered to retreat to the Dnieper. Near Kiev, Goth took up defense. The Red Army began to attack the city in October. The remnants of the once powerful army fought off the troops of the Ukrainian front, but could not do anything. The city was surrendered to the Soviet command.
Subsequent fate
Subsequently, Goth shared the fate of most of the commanders of the losing side. Hitler, he was deprived of his post. Goth was fired and replaced by Routh. However, in 1945, feeling the need for more strength, Hitler appointed Goth as commander in charge of the defense of the Ore Mountains. This was not long before the complete defeat of Germany; soon the general surrendered to the Americans and was captured.
Nuremberg trials
Goth, a German general, like many of his colleagues, ended up in the dock at the Nuremberg trials. Like all those involved in this case in 1948, he pleaded not guilty to the last. The court made a different decision. Some of the defendants in this case committed suicide, some turned out to be acquitted, and the third category received sentences of imprisonment. As a war criminal, he received fifteen years in prison. General Wehrmacht Goth spent much less in jails. He was released by 1954.
Already at large, he wrote many memoirs. The biography of German General Goth was of great value to history, so his memoirs were published and translated into many languages. He analyzed the activities of the German command, the operations carried out. His best book, Tank Operations, contains invaluable information about the terrible war in which the Soviet Union won.
Goth died in January 1971 in Saxony, in a small settlement.
Having received many awards for his life, before his death he was deprived of them all, as well as all sorts of honors.