Conclusion

Summary

In Nazi Germany advancing to the highest ranks of the army was not simply a mark of professional achievement; it brought personal enrichment (through Hitler’s private payments) as well as public celebrity. No other arm of the Wehrmacht provided a better springboard for such advancement than the dynamic Panzertruppe. As we have seen, such career inducements were not immaterial factors in motivating the generals and, to no small extent, served to pervert their priorities and conduct as military men. Professional duties and service to the army clashed with the yearning for individual recognition and reward. The same pressures also shaped their reporting of events, with problems typically leveraged to denounce others in the high command, while serious issues presented by the Red Army, the Eastern climate or the poor infrastructure were ignored or underappreciated. Hitler, as the ultimate patron, was typically spared criticism and, when the occasion presented itself, the culture of embracing ‘can-do’ personalities, over pessimists and naysayers, prefaced what information was provided and how it was presented. Hence, when Guderian visited Hitler in August 1941, ostensibly to challenge the dictator’s decision to attack into Ukraine, he instead disavowed his previous commitments to the other generals and abruptly adopted Hitler’s view.