There were many generals and marshals in World War II, and most of them left their marks in the military with outstanding results. Of course, some are known for their incompetence. However, few people are as controversial as Hermann Goering in Germany. Most of the time, Hermann Goering is criticized as a fool. It seems that the defeat of the Luftwaffe is just like Hermann. · Goering related. But can an incompetent person really become a marshal and serve as Germany's national aviation minister? Today we will analyze Herman Goering to see if he is a genius or a fool?
1. Goering during the First World War
In the First World War, Hermann Goering was active on the battlefield as a pilot. is different from people's impression of him, staying in the image of a big fat man. At that time, as a pilot, Goring must have enough appearance. In the Luftwaffe at that time, Hermann Goering had the reputation of "Iron Man Hermann", which was obtained because his ability and fighting spirit were recognized by others.
At that time, he attracted attention as an ace pilot, and his photos became a strong player in the German market at that time. and was awarded the Medal of Merit by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918. It is the famous Blue Marx Medal.
Generally speaking, this kind of medal will be awarded to the ace pilot who shot down 25 enemy planes. Goring only shot down 18 enemy planes at this time. It is not enough to get such a medal. of. But because Goring is considered a very good soldier, he was awarded this medal in this special case. After receiving the medal, Goering was also promoted to the captain of the German No. 1 Fighter Wing known as the "Richthofen Unit".
This The first alliance captain of the alliance is the "Red Baron" Baron Manfred von Richthofen, who can serve as such a legendary fighter alliance Commander, Herman Goering's ability is clearly recognized. At that time, as an outsider, Goring was obviously very difficult to command such an alliance with many trump cards.
However, Herman Goring himself has shown good leadership at this time. He does not pursue his own shot down numbers, but concentrates on joining forces with other trump cards. Shoot down the enemy plane. In this way, Goering soon won the trust of the entire league and soon gained the same prestige as the late Baron Richthofen. However, the tense situation quickly put the alliance into trouble. As the last resistance to the Allied Powers, Goering led the alliance to fly the plane and destroy all the planes when landing, as a way to preserve the honor of the alliance. Generally speaking, pilots have a special feeling for their own aircraft, and it is obviously not easy to issue this order.
From these we can see that Goering during the First World War was not a fool, on the contrary, he was a very good Air Force pilot. When commanding an alliance that he has never contacted before, he can quickly gain the respect of the alliance and quickly unite everyone in the alliance, which is very important for a commander. As a pilot, he has excellent air combat skills, has a good air combat awareness, and can identify situations. From this we can see that he is by no means a fool at this period, after all, a fool cannot do so much. So how did he perform during World War II?
Second, the Goering during World War II
At this time Goering was already the leader of the Luftwaffe, the Minister of the German National Aviation Department, the rank was Marshal of the Luftwaffe, and he was promoted to Marshal of the State. . In the reorganization of the Luftwaffe, Herman Goring played a very important role. Although his body has become fat, his brain is still easy to use. Goring is very good at digging talents, for example, he selected from the army such as Albert Kesselin, Hans-Elites such as Jurgen Stumpf and Walter Weaver also cultivate new blood by recruiting civilian pilots, such as Erhard Mirch, and he also found his old comrade Ernst · Udet. These officers from all over the world will become the backbone of the Luftwaffe in the future. It can be said that without Goering's eclectic talents, the reorganization of the Luftwaffe will be much slower.
Of course, as far as the actual reorganization of the Air Force is concerned, Goring is not very involved. After all, Goering himself has not been in contact with aviation business for a long time, so more often, he, the air force commander, is responsible for asking for funds from above. Whenever there is a budget dispute with the above, the Air Force Chief of Staff Weaver will send the document to Goering, and Goering himself will go to Hitler with the document.
In terms of general results, Goring can often bring back more budget than planned. Between January 1933 and August 1939, Germany spent a total of 64 billion marks on armaments, of which 40% was used in the air force, accounting for a very high proportion. Based on the above reasons, Goering was loved by subordinates and staff officers in the early days of the establishment of the Air Force, because Goering was always able to secure enough funds for the Air Force.
But after this, Goering's performance was a bit bad. For example, in the strategic air force, the successor of the Luftwaffe Chief of Staff Weaver's accidental death, Albert · Catherine opposed this, thinking that the Luftwaffe with insufficient resources could not afford it, and planned to completely abandon the strategic air force and strategic bomber projects. At that time, Milch and Kesselin had the same ideas, and the Air Force Bomber Director Kurt Fuckbeer and the Air Staff Director of Operations Paul Dyckman asked Goering to decide in order to preserve the bombers.
Milch said to Goring: "You have two choices, do you want to produce 1,000 four-shot bombers or thousands of twin-engine bombers?" Goering didn't think much about it, he said "The head of state will only ask me how many bombers there are in total, but not what kind of them. This sentence can prove that Goering is completely ignorant of the potential of strategic bombers, and is only calculated according to the number. Of course this is also similar to Hitler The requirement to quickly establish a large-scale air force is related, so Goering also focuses on quantity rather than quality.
Goering’s sentence sentenced the German strategic bomber project to death and is ready to go. The prototype of the Ulashan bomber under test was also turned into scrap metal. Germany also did not develop a real strategic bomber during World War II. Generally speaking, it is generally believed that this is proof of Goering's incompetence. From some From the analysis of the data, Goring’s main points of air force construction are still limited to his experience as a fighter pilot during World War I. In many areas such as supply, logistics, strategy, aircraft performance, technology and engineering, it can be said to be almost complete. Ignorance, and these areas happen to be the core areas necessary to build an air force. So can we just think that Goering himself is indeed an incompetent?
3. Goring really Is it incompetent?
Obviously, this view is not correct. Indeed, Goering himself has made merits in the construction of the air force, and his knowledge of the air force field has been stagnant and nepotism. The follow-up development of the Luftwaffe also brought a bad influence to . But it is undeniable that the early construction of the Luftwaffe was completed by Goering. If there is no Goering’s appeal and the friendly relationship with Hitler, then It is difficult for the Luftwaffe to win such a huge amount of funds. At this point, , we cannot say that he is incompetent. After all, as the commander of the air force, it is also a contribution to get enough funds.
Then if you look at it this way, Goring himself is not a mediocre. But why is he judged as an unsightly fool? The answer is simple, because Goring has too much power and his extensiveness Participated in many activities in Germany. Indeed, Goering is capable, he is a German countryThe Minister of Aviation, and the commander-in-chief of the Air Force, also served as the Minister of Economy in Germany. He also established the "Research Bureau", the most efficient and successful intelligence agency in the early 1930s, and the famous Gestapo (National Secret Police, which was later recognized by the Party). The Guard takes over). But in turn, his status and overly extensive activities have determined that he has to take responsibility for his subordinates and boss Hitler in many matters.
For example, Dunkirk is usually considered to be Goring's fault. It was his arrogance and grabbing power that caused the British to escape. However, it should be pointed out that at that time, the British Expeditionary Forces were almost all gathered in Dunkirk, and they were all fully staffed. The Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force also did their best. So at this time, Dunkirk's air defense firepower is so powerful, you can imagine. At this time Hitler himself had ordered the army to stop marching, the reason was nothing more than fear of severe losses. After all, his tank is not as powerful as the naval gun.
And Hitler himself had no intention of destroying the British Expeditionary Force. He himself was fashionable and wanted to make peace. German Deputy Führer Hess flew to Britain to negotiate peace with Britain. Then the so-called use of air force to destroy the British Expeditionary Force is intellectually impossible. If you think about it this way, the so-called Goering's claim of robbing power is probably the same as Hess' insanity, and it is Hitler's external explanation.
As for the bombing of the British capital, London, this is essentially a face-saving project, but not for his face, but for Hitler's face-because the British bombed Germany at night , So Hitler decided to fight back. At that time, for this order, the German Air Force Chief of Staff Hans Jeshunnek supported and began to mobilize flight school instructors to participate in the bombing. Goring once asked Jeshunnek: "If the British Air Force concentrated on bombing Berlin, do you think we will surrender? If we will not surrender, how do you think the British will surrender?" Jeshunnek It can only mean: "The British are very weak and do not have the same will to fight like us." Obviously, Goering was suspicious that the bombing of London could force the British to surrender. He himself had found Hitler to oppose the bombing of London. . However, Hitler refused to follow Goering's advice, so the Luftwaffe suffered huge losses during the British Air War. Of course, because Goering is the air marshal, he must be the one who is responsible.
Conclusion
Of course, we cannot ignore that Goering himself is lacking in ability. He made a good start for the Luftwaffe, but he did not do well afterwards. follow up. And because of his desire for power, the German Navy has always been lack of long-range aircraft, while ignoring new technologies, one-sided blindly following the experience of World War I, and underestimating radar and other technologies so that the Air Force suffered losses. But objectively speaking, Goering himself is not a mediocre person in terms of ability, at most just a mediocre military chief. He is a very contradictory person, you can find the shining points in him, and you will also find his stupidity. But perhaps Goering is a smart person, but he has used his talents where he shouldn't be-he has become a supporter of fascism, and this has made all his shining points become stain.
References: "Gering: Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe"
"The History of the Second World War"
"Germany and the Second World War"
