Rommel Before Hitler - WW1 Stormtrooper
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- Опубліковано 11 лип 2021
- During the Battle of Caporetto in late 1917 during World War I, a young German officer by the name of Erwin Rommel led an elite team of around 100 Stormtroopers that captured around 9,000 Italian troops. The maneuver would become one of the most impressive feats in military history.
After a stalemate of almost three years, the Austro-Hungarian forces, reinforced by the German Army, were finally able to break into the Italian front and force them to retreat during a month-long battle near the town of Kobarid, Slovenia.
The German Army had sent units of elite frontline soldiers known as Sturmstruppen, or Stormtroopers, to get the job done. Some of these forces were trained as alpinists and belonged to the Royal Württemberg mountain battalion. They were tasked with flanking the Italians to disorient them from an upcoming full-scale frontal assault.
During a carefully planned siege at the beginning of the battle, Rommel and a small unit surrounded the enemy and forced thousands of men to surrender using deceptive maneuvers.
The feat was so unexpected that Rommel unknowingly helped pioneer a new form of infiltration tactic which would be later described as Blitzkrieg without tanks.
- As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Docs sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect. I do my best to keep it as visually accurate as possible. All content on Dark Docs is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas. -
![Ghost Division - Rommel's 7th Panzer Division - Sabaton History 073 [Official]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/uGd1h6pchzM/mqdefault.jpg)
![Ghost Division – Rommel's 7th Panzer Division – Sabaton History 073 [Official]](/img/tr.png)
He was the desert Fox ...but before that he was a Mountain lion ....
Clever as a fox and fought like a tiger, and was lion- hearted
@@robertdipaola3447 too bad he didn't kill Hitler then
@@markzimmerman7279 there's pretty compelling evidence he wanted to, not the least of which he was forced to commit suicide in order to save his wife and son.
@@mandalortemaan7510 I'm kinda a geek on ww2. I appreciate the input. I implore you to seek the 2008 evidence. He absolutely wanted Hitler gone. .......
After all, his best option was suicide.
Yeah,it sucks to get old😡
Lets just take a second and appreciate this, "Rommel and "a small unit" (100 men) surrounded the enemy (9000 men)" LOL.
What he was just that badass 🤷🏼♂️ niine!!! 😆😂🤣
@@brodyberry6253 Patton wasn't afraid of him
@@markzimmerman7279 ...haha!!
He was unstoppable
(9000 Italians)
Rommel was using his famous flanking maneuvers in WW1 with troops instead of tanks.
Rommel and his use of tanks may be famous but the infantry and artillery were always the center of it....tanks just have a better propaganda value
@@scrappydoo7887 yep, he put a high emphasis on arty firepower in North Africa. Especially with those multipurpose 88.
Prussian and then German military doctrine put flanking maneuver as their core tactics since the era of Frederick the Great.
It's crazy how this footage is more clear than the US government's on UFOs 😂
Triangular Bokeh
Stop ✋ German Propoganda 😉😁🤣😂
@Xi Zhou too bad y’all have frequently collapsing buildings, bridges, roads, exploding gas lines,etc. Toxic air and other issues especially with food and water.
Obviously don’t understand the difference in filmography, not to mention speed. 😱
Or a banks camra
I read his book while I served in the military. A lot of what he developed is still used today.
The desert fox was one of the best to wage war, too bad he was fighting for the wrong side
@@cachanillaSMG What if it wasn't the wrong side?
@@teru797 Very controversial bro. He was definitely on the wrong side.
@@teru797 lmao okay
@@chrastianhiggar7612 And?? At least he still respected POW’s he once said to a group of some today you are my prisoners tommorrow i may be yours he was a great soldier either way wrong side or not
When the desert fox gets out of his foxhole to attack you know you are in trouble
Unless you are a desert RAT ! The Rats made the Fox run. Cheers Anzac's.
@@That_Freedom_Guy ...It was a lot more of supplies, not the "rats".
@@That_Freedom_Guy at the battle of ghazala he was outnumbered 3 to 1 especially in number of tanks and yet he did a super successful wide flanking menouver and the british couldn,t mount a successful big force attack instead they fought with isolated battalions and the german 21st and 15 feared divisions and italian artillery destroyed 80 out of 90 british tanks in a single day without a single loss and then they made it to Tobruk and captured it in a single day capturing 33k prisonners and tons of supplies , because of british neglect of it's defense and strong DAK reinforcements and good Luftwaffe air support he made the british Run all the way back to Al alamein my friend until huge support from the Americans and shortage of trucks fuel, men , made Rommel lose
we can look back today. Would you like to face him on equal conditions and recources in 1941 or 1914? I pass on that. He knew his porfession.
@@immos7109 Rommel in 1941 is way More Skillful and Deadly tactician than in 1914 because he had learned the Blitzkrieg and the ideas of fast lightning attacks and mechanised warfare plus to the development that happened in Infantry tactics and Special Stormtrooper tactics after during 1918 and after WW1 so if i was his. Enemy im pretty sure that i would want to face him in 1914
I've read Rommel's book, it seems like he got thrown into almost every theatre in the war. Very good read.
Threw himself *
huge thankyou for this documentary on Rommels early days as a young officer.
I love the irony of "The Desert Fox" having had such a big part of his background as an alpine soldier.
He maybe went to the desert because he was sick of the snow 😅
His book "Infantry attacks" is a very nice read where he gives suggestions based on his front experiences.
Patton read the book to prepare himself to take on the Desert Fox and used it to beat him in the African campaign.
@@jamescooper269 ...Did Patton ever write anything? Did Montgomery read Patton? Haha!
In Monty's own words: I'll attack like a rabid rabbit" ....his inability to understand fluid agresive tactics as opposed to slogging head on casualty costly attack, plus his ego; about equal to "Georgie's" , puts him down in my opinion.
@@jamescooper269 ..."inability to understand fluid agresive tactics...".---Haha! It was Monty who defeated Rommel at the decisive Alamein battle. Ignoring this doesn't "help" you. LoLZ. Supplies and the RAF did the rest.
@Dave Hope ....Exactly. It was Monty who had the decisive victory. And the moment North Africa became a war of attrition, that's the moment the Axis lost... That's the story of the entire WW2, actually.
The Italians were doomed when the Germans captured their pasta.
"Momma Mia!!! Here we a'go!!!" -Mario Mario upon hearing that Germany had overrun Italy's defenses.
Pasta la vista BABY
@@martind6838 😆😆😆
😂😂😂
But atleast 'Football's coming to Rome'.
I love how in world war I they had brutal battles between guys wearing Pickelhelm and guys wearing wide brimmed hats covered in Long feathers riding bicycles.
This man😂
Love the assesment
How you find all this footage is beyond me
Also the majority of this footage it just completely random battles/ soldier movements. Not actually from the story 90% of the time at least for ww1 and majority of ww2 except major movements and planes. So essentially just examples of what it may have looked like.
National archives
@@auklon3372 agreed
Wikipedia ,some times word for word !
stories are everywhere,...... belief is the Enemy of Knowing
To anyone who might be interested “The storm of steel” by Ernst Jünger is an amazing book.
Thank you for the recommendation!
Agreed! Great read. Captures a very unique perspective of the war, not often is the German trench experience represented well in our media.
@@carsons8336 Yes especially the original unedited version.
Danke. :)
I agree!!! I've read it 3 times!
Rommel's book is a really good read on his part of the war, filled with tactical tips and tricks to employ - he was at that time already a fantastic commander. Worth reading is also the memoirs of Hans von Luck who served as the commander of the 7th Panzer Division's recon batalion in France and later in North Africa, again under Rommel. Both books are incredibly well worth reading.
His book " Infantry attacks " is a very good one to read. The way he uses Hemingway technique in describing the hardships is exellent.
To this day, well to my day, the United States Army still instructs it's Cavalry and Armored on Rommel's tactics... Just because they were on the other side does not mean they were not formidable tacticians and leaders.
No commander or soldier would achieve the glorious feat set by Erwin rommel damn he was a born warrior respect to the legendary desert fox
The whole Italian army surrendered in ww11
@@markzimmerman7279 .."ww11"?
LoLz
The Allies were fortunate that Rommel wasn't more effectively utilized during WWII, as I believe if his advise was better adhered to by the Nazis, (as well not been implicated in the plot to assassinate Hitler,) the Allies would have had a much more difficult time getting into mainland Europe.
If it weren’t for Rommel, it would have been much easier for the allies at Normandy. When hitler put him in charge of Normandy he saw that the defenses were weak and ordered that they be built up in case of an invasion.
The Western Allies landing in Normandy in 1944 was the best thing to ever happen to Nazi Germany, which lost the war instantly after the failure of operation Case Blue in 1942 which after Germany never attempted a major offensive and was on the retreat ever since. Best case scenario for German soldiers was surrendering to the west, if the Soviet Union captured the entire Europe which they would've without the western front opening, Germany would've been completely fucked.
Lol what? Rommel sucked. If he was on the Eastern front, he'd have been the first German General to have been encircled.
Had he been on post at d day he would have rolled the panzer unit over and pushed it back in the sea… but it was his wife’s birthday 😉
@@rabidgator6473 and if the high command followed Rommel's belief that Normandy was the likely invasion point,and to fight the allies at the beach instead of inland as von Runstat suggested, ww2 might have been stalemated or most definitely prolonged
Rommel had one of the best books on infantry and tank tactics. His strategic philosophy was read by the best generals and among them George S. Patton and Montgomery.
Rommel was an honorable and brilliant warrior, regardless of which side he was on.
It's also worth mentioning that he attempted to assassinate Hitler when he realized that he was under the command of a madman.
When his plot was uncovered, Hitler ordered him to drink poison.
Rommel complied to save his family.
RIP, General Rommel.
It was never confirmed if Rommel was in on the plot or not, and he denied it to the moment he died.
Due to not having proof Hitler gave Rommel two options;
Suicide, Be claimed as dying in combat, buried as a hero and his family spared the possibily of being charged with treason.
Or risk fighting it and him and his entire family being killed, which likely would have happened as a few higher ups in the attempt to kill Hitler named Rommel, though many others denied it.
I always dug this cat
I read somewhere that he was approached by the officers on the hope he would join them but he refused. However Hitler was mad when he find out Rommel knew about their plans to kill him but decided to keep it to himself.
Hitler rounded up a lot of people accusing them of being in the plot without any proof as paranoid dictators typically do and Rommel being in that list is not a surprise as their relations were troublesome since Rommel stood up to Hitler more often than other officers
@@John.McMillan I was of the understanding that he actually was, if you can, please share your information/sources with me that his involvement was unconfirmed. I’m not trying to be a dick. I’m genuinely interested to know what you know that we don’t.
All I really know about Rommel is what he said about the anzacs after having to attempt to go against them. Very respectful seeming bloke
Rommel for offensives but MODEL for being a defensive magician
My great-grandfather was in this battle. He was a soldier in Rommels unit. He told horrible things when he returned to Württemberg. Never again.
This is one of my favorite channels on UA-cam. The videos are very professionally presented. Please keep up the great work
As far as I see it he was a fantastic man stuck in a bad spot. Complete gentleman to both friend and foe alike and was killed by the county he gave everything for because he didn't agree with what the high command was doing
Not even that realy, pepole wanted to push to become the leader in a coop and he told em no and did as if he diden’t know to save te good men from getting killed,
But it leaked because some one got caught and told he would become the leader of germany and then rommel got arrested for treason.
He chose to commit cuicide to save his family so they would not be punished and it got coverd up for pepole.
And so stil died a hero (due to wounds)”.
He wase to nice and that got him killed.
If he had told it to himler he would have survived the war and posibly have led the new german army.
He would have been the ownly general with enough weight to move the whole german army to surrender to the us afther hitlers death and the ownly one respecteble enough to furfill churchils possible demands without letting germany suffer to mutch.
Possibly even getting germany reaarmed quicker.
With that soldier could get pardoned for service as rommel had difrent vieuws and no one in germany would disrespect him.
Man his life is a rabbithole.
Even Paton called him a genius and I believe is book is part of a required course at West point.
Desertfox! He was the most respected German general even to the allied forces in WW2. Not only he lead his own men as if they were his own and he also treated his captured enemy soldiers with dignity and with respect. Rest in peace General Rommel.
You are sounding more and more like a pro! Keep up the great work!
Thanks for teaching me something I didn’t know, love WW2 documentaries and your channel is awesome!
He did well in the desert for an alpine boy!
Not forest, nor mountain, nor desert shalt hinder The Fox.... nor Mediterranean Sea. Damn, this guy could get through anything.... except Hitler's paranoia.
@@skyden24195 Yep, he did do a lot of running around when things got hot, mainly retreating on his own!
@@bonumdalek7107 no doubt. Too often you can't count on the dumb-asses in charge to save those under your command.
thumbs up - just for the mega title "Erwin Rommel the WW1 Stormtrooper" - before even watching
"The Death Star plans are not in the main computer." -Lt Erwin Rommel 😉🧐
You found some great clips and pictures to use! Very interesting history!
@7:45 they captured tons of pasta from the italians. That's gotta hurt. Such a low blow. Probably ended the Italian resistance right there.
🤣
Keto hadn’t been invented yet.
This is my favorite general of all time and I had no idea any of this about him thank you so much I am watching it like two more times thank you so much again for the second time
What a man among men who has to this day been remembered To this day. By friend and foe. Rommel you are a legendary intense massive personality of German soldier spirit and never say die adutude. 🇩🇪
Absolutely love all your channels
Rommel the greatest general..he fought on all kind of terrians..
On Desert,on snowy mountains and plains and forest..this is unique .
As always, excellent video. Cheers!
Wow...i did not know this...from an Alpine command to the Desert Fox...one extreme to the other....What A Man..!
I read his "Infantry Attacks". Such a dry book, truly written by a professor of mathematics. It is frustrating that my favorite general was also on the wrong side of the war. Brilliant man.
I love how culture and geography affects what armies carry. For instance: Japanese Troops surrender and Americans acquire rice. Italians surrender and the Germans acquire meat and pasta lol.
Yes... and you get their women. To cook it for you.
thats common sense.
@@nomercyinc6783 so Americans had steak and hamburgers in Ardennes during the battle of the buldge?
Italians lost a mountain and also a ton of pasta.
Its funny. Laugh a lil. Its good for you.
The US troops surrender in VietNam and the Viet Con got food, money, tanks, artillery, jeeps, airports, etc, Yes, very funny !!!!!!!
@@JarethGarza spam.
I really enjoyed this doc but what i really wanted to say is i watched some of your earlier work and liked the subject matter but as we say in the music world you hadn't found your " voice " yet . At that time your style was faster and i guess harsher would how i would describe it. I think now you've found " the pocket " and it's so much smoother and relaxed sounding.
another EPIC SOUNDTRACK!!!! well done 👏
“Blitzkreig with no tanks”
I've read "Infantry Attacks." What I remember most is while the battalion troops were resting & being fed Rommel would be out front reconnoitring the enemy positions planning his next attack. Rommel would've never been a "chateau general."
Extremely interesting and well done! Thank you!
The capture of the 9,000 troops & breaking of the Italian line got Rommel awarded his Germany's highest award for valor during WWI, the Pour le' Merite. During WWII Rommel took enjoyment from the discomfort his Italian allies got from the award. Rommel wasn't shy about telling them how he earned it.
But in the end they lost that war too.
At 5:00 the guy was like “hey put it in so we can fire”
lol....good catch
Great video love this channel
A great man, with a impressive love for his country, sadly serving under a lunatic in ww2.
Their were alot of good people who served under that loon, and when i say good im not referring to those who were just "following orders" with the exception of those who forced a line of red devils thorough a mine field while walking behind them to avoid stepping on the obvious.
@@Candiedbacon75 Yep just becouse you have a bad government and serve in the military doesn't mean youvare bad a lot just fought for thair Familys and Country by the logic of the people that say they fought for the government all US and British troops also just fought for the government not the people and Country
Rommel as a stormtrooper commander captures 9000 men. Rommel as a general captured the nation.
Excellent as always!
Romel is one of the best tactical general ever
Great video footage. Would have liked to see some maps as I find it difficult to visualize the battle otherwise. Thanks.
Fun fact, 13 days later at Longorone, Rommel once again captured an entire Italian division with only a company strength unit.
Some studio NEEDS to make a movie about his life.
Hi love yourm videos
It's really unfortunate that Rommel was born into the losing side of both world wars which just so happens to have committed some of the worst atrocities in human history. Rommel and Dörnitz. Those two men were talented and honourable military leaders, who had no choice but to serve the wrong people at the wrong time. Had they been born into, let's say, America, I'm sure they would have been regarded as highly as the likes of Patton Eisenhower and Halsey.
He didn’t have to stay on the wrong side.
ua-cam.com/video/GwqLJyvoI4c/v-deo.html
Viel fiend viel ehr
But let’s not joke ourselves. Patten respected the ever loving shit out of Rommel.
If he hadn't then his spot in history would of ended up in obscurity. The opportunity he was given/created was unmatched if you compare it with any other military at that time. Germany had something to prove the whole war, the allies didn't until D-Day.
@@DislikeThisCommentNow Depends on who you consider “The Allies.” Let’s not forget that Germany and Russia had a treaty signed, and the Russian invasion of Finland coincided with the German invasion of Poland.
Another perfectly done video 👍👏
The violin intro was lovely.
Nice history, I would want to further studies in world wars in further studies.
Correction Rommel was not a General but a Field Marshal the highest officer rank in the German army during ww2.
This is a good video and I like your voice for narration. However, it can be hard to follow the events as you describe them without a map. Maybe in your future videos use some maps to show the progress of the battles.
Outstanding footage, but a few maps would've done wonders.
Interesting! Thank you!
7:40 "2 thousand tons of pasta and coffee" wowe
Do a video about the Folgore brigade in North Africa please
I´d like to see the story of admiral Yi Sun-sin, great story, went up completely in this one.
Please continue ^_^
From fighting on icy frozen summits to war in the dirty dry desert, yeah, that makes sense to me.
He was the General of Generals.
Indeed, Rommel was no ordinary man!
Hans: General Rommel, what does our scouts say about the Italian troops?
Rommel: they're over 9000!
Its more like, "They are only 9000"
Dark Docs should do more videos about the us military in WW1
What is the classical music in the background? Great docs...
Good one!
That's similar to what Alvin York managed to achieve, with respect to out-sized results.
A video about the AVRO ARROW would be interesting.
O.75 playback speed is the only way to truly enjoy DarkDocs..its like the commentator did the thorozine shuffle up to the mic
love the music you used in this video. what is it?
Any chance of doing a profile of Dr. Charles Myers and the mental health of soldiers from WW1?
Thank you Dark Doc's for more great info on a great Soldier. Rommel truly was a remarkable Man and a brilliant military statagist, what he did in France in 1940, and then in North Africa we're all brilliant. IT was said when they made him Field Marshal, that he would of preferred the troops and supplies that he needed for the Africa Korp rather than the honor of the Rank bestowed on him by Hitler himself. When he chose his death by poison! He did it too save not only the prestige and Honor of the German Army, but also the reputation of his family's Name.
After the Bomb plot failed Hitler and the Nazis wanted too totally discredit and disgrace all those who had been involved. Thanks again Dark Doc's. Wyo, Robert, 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇨🇦🇺🇸🇨🇦🇺🇸🙌🙌😎😎👍👍
I've read Infantry Attacks. It's a great book!
When you describe places or fronts/ battle skirmish lines you should show where they are on a map. Especially with lesser known fronts of wars
I also think it's amazing that the just walked up the alps in a woll jacket and a simple rucksack
Gore-Tex wasn't invented yet. And stark naked would have been to cold *. . .*
its acually quite warm in the alps
even when walking through the snow in some places
I should laugh, but they captured “pasta” from the Italians
it's said the italian lines were al dente
The real victory was the pasta they took along the way
@@richardcranium5839 I’m gonna need a sauce.
@@richardcranium5839 it was probably made from sawdust
What about sauce and parmasean?
I see army surplus from other countries and America has belts pouches clothing and the others have soup backpacks butter dishes and cheese graters. Nuff said.
The narration is better when played at 3/4 speed.
I have visited the ww1 cemetery at Ukanc near Bohinj in Slovenia 🇸🇮 high in the Krn Mountain range
It’s hard to imagine fighting in such an inhospitable place, there was 3 foot of snow when i was there and it was March!
There are still bodies from WW1 to be found up there:
*www.kpbs.org/news/2014/jan/30/frozen-corpses-wwi-soldiers-glaciers-melt-italy/*
Put the Speed to 75%, so the old footage runs half way correct.
Didn't realize they were such big Star Wars fans.
Rommel is well respected even by the allies, such a great general
An amazing military man
I heard you like panic at the disco. You should check out trapped at the isonzo
Fascinating. My parents came from the Isonzo river region. I knew about the fighting but not that it was Rommel
Brilliant tactician and soldier. if only WW2 hadn't happened.
Richard, the Izonso front was the second most deadly front in WW1, after the Somme.
@@johnkern1878 My father was Alpine Artillery, Mountain Division Julia after WW2, so he had all of the Division's history.
I know there was fierce fighting in the Alps between the Italians and Austria's Iron Korps. I didn't know the scale. I know my father's family home was destroyed by the fighting.
It may interest you to know that from 1948-1952, the first Cold War skirmishes were happening over the Isonzo, as Tito wanted to annex Trieste for Yugoslavia.. My Father's division was trained first under Italy but later armed by the USA when Eisenhower became C in C of NATO. They were equipped with nuclear tipped Honest John missiles and gigantic US 15cm mountain guns. Tito eventually and wisely decided that the task was too difficult and demobilised.
I like your slower narrating better 👍
The GOAT
fun fact: "Blitzkrieg" was not only never used by the german military, the use of the phrase was opposed. even hitler called it "dumb"
I love this general
You mean anither Rommel from WW2
Yap is he the same guy
Erwin Rommel in the second world war he commanded "the ghost division" the 7th Panzer Division, that one knows where they are, making swift moves against French troops that they thought were surrounded... he uses the same tactics as he wrote in that book...
Brilliant soldier