Why was Field Marshall Irving Rommel such a great military leader?

The factors below helped Rommel become a great military leader and helped him become Germany's youngest Field Marshal at age 50.

#1 - He believed in leading his troops from the front lines.

#2 - His usage of blitzkrieg tactics proved highly successful. His infantry, armor and artillery would penetrate enemy lines quickly, and then keep on advancing to prevent the stunned enemy from regrouping and reacting with counter attacks. The constant motion of the German forces he led kept the enemy off-balance.

#3 - He often used a combination of improvised tactics and deception that would outsmart his enemies.

#4 - He never participated in any war crimes.

#5 - He not only was well respected by his fellow Germans, but also by his enemy.

/

Because he was put in a position where his talents allowed him to be superficially successful.

Rommel was a superb divisional commander (one of the very best of the war, on any side) and a very good corps commander. However, Rommel, while undoubtedly gifted in tactical command, had a weakness in managing his logistics and in operating independently - Rommel did not appreciate the insanely difficult logistical situation he was operating under in Africa, and his offensives, while pushing the British back, could never have succeeded in the end, because Rommel's divisions did not have the support they needed (fuel, ammunition, spare parts, water). Rommel would also ignore orders if it suited him, which has the potential to get him into trouble (particularly if his commander had a better sense of logistics than Rommel did - Manstein or Model, perhaps). Finally, Rommel's style of leading from the front ran the risk of getting himself killed or captured (as the early British commander in Africa, Richard O'Conner, discovered when he was captured by an Italian patrol).

I would consider Rommel to be similar to the American general Patton - very good when he didn't have to worry about supplying his forces, but no longer so brilliant when commanding an army or army group, and totally unsuited for the general staff. Both would have been among the best corps commanders in the world, and were perfectly good as army commanders.

Horatio,Caspian 8 and Magic Man gave you all his excellent qualities and I will only add that because he supported the replacement of the Fuhrer he was going to be arrested by the SS when he was at home,but because of his status and the respect that the German Government had for Field Marshall Erwin Rommel,they gave him the opportunity to take his own life.

He was a career officer not a politician like many German officers'

He was a student of Military Tactics going back to cavalry offensive before Christ. He was able to translate these moves (the favorites of Alexander the Great) like the single and double envelopments into tank warfare.

At an emotional level he was always going forward with speed until he was stopped in Egypt by lack of logistical supplies. He realized that it was difficult to mount a counter offensive while backing up.

This item is full of rough language, but it provides lots of good information on what made

Rommel so successful.

www.badassoftheweek.com/rommel.html

The man was a tactical genius, he did not tolerate failures or weaknesses, he conditioned his men to win.

1. the name is Erwin.

2. He was a winner.

He wasn't that great. There were dozens of other German officers that would have done at least as well under the same circumstances. He knew the value of good PR though.