Hubbry Logo
search
logo
2147528

Wilhelm List

logo
Community Hub0 Subscribers
Write something...
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
See all
Wilhelm List

Siegmund Wilhelm Walther List (14 May 1880 – 17 August 1971) was a German Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) of the Wehrmacht during World War II.

List was a professional soldier in the Bavarian Army and served as a staff officer on the Western Front during World War I. List was a leading military training official of the Reichswehr in the interwar period. List commanded the 14th Army of the Wehrmacht in the invasion of Poland in 1939 and the 12th Army in the invasion of France in 1940 for which he was promoted to Field Marshal. List successfully commanded the 12th Army in the Balkans Campaign including the invasion of Yugoslavia and invasion of Greece in April 1941, overseeing anti-partisan operations until his resignation that October. List was appointed commander of Army Group A on the Eastern Front in July 1942, responsible for the main thrust towards the Caucasus during Case Blue. List's military and political disagreements with Adolf Hitler led to him being removed of his command and forced into retirement in September 1942.

List was tried in the Hostages Trial where he was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity for mass killings of civilians in Yugoslavia and sentenced to life imprisonment. List was released early in 1952 for poor health and died in 1971.

Siegmund Wilhelm Walther List was born on 14 May 1880 in Oberkirchberg, Württemberg, the son of physician Walter List. List graduated from the Luitpold-Gymnasium in Munich and joined the Bavarian Army in 1898, and had entered the Bavarian General Staff by 1913.

List served in World War I at the front as a staff officer of infantry regiments, where one of his subordinates was then-Corporal Adolf Hitler. List served in the II Royal Bavarian Corps until the winter of 1915, when he fell seriously ill and had to undergo an operation. After recovering he was assigned to Army Detachment C until 1917 when he was transferred to the 8th Bavarian Reserve Division.

For his services during the war, he was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross, the Knight's Cross of the House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords, the Military Merit Order of Bavaria IV Class with Swords and Crown, the Knight's Cross of the Friedrich Order and the Wound Badge in Black. He was awarded the Military Merit Cross III Class with War Decoration from Austria-Hungary and the Knight's Cross of the Order of Military Merit from Bulgaria.

List remained in the Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic after the war, and served as a member of Freikorps Epp led by Colonel Franz Ritter von Epp that helped overthrow the Bavarian Soviet Republic in 1919. He became commander of 3rd (Jäger) Battalion of the 19th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment in Kempten in 1922, and would primarily spend the next decade in military training for the Reichswehr. He was assigned to the 7th Division in Munich in 1924 and served as chief of staff officer training for Military District VII. List was called to the Ministry of the Reichswehr in 1926 where he was made director of military education and later commander of Dresden Infantry School. By 1932, he was promoted to Generalleutnant.

On 1 October 1933, List was appointed commander of Wehrkreis IV (Dresden) and commander of the 4th Division in Dresden. Two years later, on 1 October 1935, he was appointed General of the Infantry and was now Commanding General of the IV Army Corps. In February 1938, List took over the position of Commander-in-Chief of Army Group Command 2 in Kassel. On 1 April 1938, after the Anschluss, List was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Army Group Command 5 in Vienna, with the task of integrating the Austrian Federal Army into the Wehrmacht. On 1 April 1939, he was promoted to generaloberst.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.