Hermann Hoth (12 April 1885 – 25 January 1971) was a German army commander, war criminal, and author. He served as a high-ranking panzer commander in the Wehrmacht during World War II, playing a prominent role in the Battle of France and on the Eastern Front. Contemporaries and later historians consider Hoth one of the most talented armoured warfare commanders of the war. He was a strong believer in Nazism, and units under his command committed several war crimes including the murder of prisoners of war and civilians.
Born in Prussia, Hoth embarked on a career as a military officer early in his youth. After graduating from the Royal Prussian Military Academy, he slowly rose in the ranks of the Imperial German Army. Hoth mainly served in various staff positions in World War I, and after the conflict's conclusion continued to do so in the armed forces of the newly formed Weimar Republic. Following Hitler's seizure of control in Germany, Hoth began to rapidly rise in the ranks and became known as a proponent of motorization in the Wehrmacht.
When World War II broke out, Hoth successfully led the XV Army Corps during the German invasions of Poland and France. He commanded the 3rd Panzer Group during Operation Barbarossa in 1941, a position in which he assisted in the destruction of several Soviet armies. From October 1941, Hoth headed the 17th Army, a period during which he advocated for a war of annihilation against the Soviet Union, the merciless destruction of partisans, and the murder of Jews. In the Wehrmacht's 1942 summer offensive, Hoth led the 4th Panzer Army and took part in the Battle of Stalingrad. When the German 6th Army was encircled at Stalingrad in November 1942, Hoth's army group made an unsuccessful relief attempt. Afterwards, Hoth was involved in the Third Battle of Kharkov as well as the Battle of Kursk, while increasingly suffering from near-burnout. He led the German defense in eastern Ukraine during the Battle of the Dnieper, but was sacked by Adolf Hitler due to the surprise Soviet reconquest of Kiev in November 1943. For the rest of the war, he was mostly relegated to powerless positions.
After the war, Hoth was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the High Command Trial, mainly regarding his implementation of the criminal Commissar Order and the mistreatment of POWs as well as civilians. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but released on parole in 1954. Hoth subsequently became an author, writing about armoured warfare, the development of West Germany's military, and in support of the myth of the clean Wehrmacht.
Early life Early career Born on 14 April 1885 in Neuruppin, Hoth grew up in Demmin which like Neuruppin was located in Prussia. His parents were Hermann Hoth, a Prussian staff officer surgeon, and Margarethe Hoth (née Hübener). He attended the Gymnasium in Demmin from 1894 to 1896, followed by the Cadet Corps at Potsdam, and the (Royal Prussian Military Academy) from 1900 to 1904. During his preparation and training to become an officer, Hoth developed what he later recognised was a strong authority bias, something that he did never entirely discard even after the conclusion of his education. The educators at the Cadet Corps also instilled monarchism and the rejection of social democracy in Hoth. He was commissioned as a in the Prussian Army in 1903, but his rise in the ranks was slow. He attended the Prussian Staff College from 1910 to 1913, where he learned Russian, and was appointed in 1912 and in 1914. At this point, he was working at the German General Staff. His first son, Hans Joachim, was born in 1913.
Hoth spent almost all of World War I as a staff officer on higher headquarters and only four weeks on the front line. As a result of his skill in Russian, he was assigned to the 8th Army on the Eastern Front in August 1914. In this role, he witnessed the 1914 Russian invasion of East Prussia. This campaign left a deep impact on Hoth, as he saw the Russians waging war with what he regarded as "bestial cruelty". He served under Paul von Hindenburg during this period, including during the Battle of Tannenberg, and came to greatly admire his superior. In June 1916, he was moved to the Western Front. During the war, Hoth held positions at the German General Staff, various armies, and units, including the (air arm of the Imperial German Army). He was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross during the war, along with several other decorations.Reichswehrministerium (Ed.): Rangliste des Deutschen Reichsheeres. E.S. Mittler & Sohn, Berlin: 1930, p. 116.
When Germany surrendered in 1918 amid growing internal turmoil, Hoth felt more loyalty to Hindenburg than the newly formed democratic government in Berlin. In the German Revolution of 1918–1919, Hoth served as a officer and helped to put down left-wing uprisings at Halle. This period hardened his hatred for any form of Communism. Hoth also believed that the failure of the right-wing Kapp Putsch proved that the military had to prevent its misuse in politics. He also married Lola Schubering in 1918. Hoth's second son, Hermann, was born in 1923.
He remained in the (the armed forces of the Weimar Republic) in the interwar period, serving at the organization department of the General Staff. He was promoted to Major in 1924. Three years later, Hoth was sent to the Soviet Union as part of secret military cooperation missions. In 1929, he was promoted to .
Initial service under the Nazi regime In the 1920s, Hoth had little interest in the Nazi Party, and even regarded its activities as disruptive for the Reichswehr. His views changed with the 1930 German federal election when the Nazi Party became the second-strongest political force. Hoth started to view Hitler's nationalist ambitions with approval, and admired the Nazis' attention to workers which he viewed as unusual for a right-wing party. He was among the officers who were most favorably disposed toward Hitler's seizure of control, regarding it as a chance to improve the military. Like several other Reichswehr officers such as Heinz Guderian and Georg-Hans Reinhardt, Hoth hoped that a Nazi-led government would allow him to push through his ideas in regards to greater motorization and armoured warfare. In the aftermath of the takeover, however, Hoth (by then promoted to Oberst) clashed with Nazi Party officials when he criticised the murder of Communists and Social Democrats in Braunschweig, resulting in his transfer to Lübeck.
According to his own account, Hoth studied the ideology of the Nazi Party in some depth over the next years; historian Johannes Hürter regarded this as quite unusual for higher-ranking German officers, most of whom believed that they could remain apolitical. Hoth generally approved of the aims and achievements of the Nazi Party, although he expressed some disquiet about the elimination of German Jews. In the end, however, he believed the fate of Jews to be less important than the elimination of Communism in Germany and the restoration of what he saw as Germany's status as an equal in world affairs. In October 1932, he was appointed head of the 17th Infantry Regiment, and transferred to command the 6th Infantry Regiment in August 1933. He was promoted to Generalmajor in 1934. Following the reorganization of the German military into the Wehrmacht in 1935, Hoth was appointed to command the 18th Infantry Division. He was regarded as one of the most modern Wehrmacht officers at the time, advocating motorization and other modernization. He was promoted to Generalleutnant in 1936, followed by General der Infanterie two years later. In 1938, he led the 18th Infantry Division during the occupation of Sudetenland.
World War II Invasions of Poland and France Hoth was given command of the XV Motorised Corps in 1938, leading it in the invasion of Poland the following year. At the time, this corps included two "light" divisions which were mixed formations of tanks, infantry, and artillery. Convinced of Hitler's capability as leader, Hoth believed the new war served a higher purpose and would decide the fate of the German people. Under Hoth's command, the XV Motorised Corps initially encountered only light resistance and quickly advanced. By 4 September 1939, Hoth's corps had routed three Polish divisions belonging to Operational Group Kielce and broke through towards the important industrial center of Kielce. Afterwards, Hoth's XV Motorised Corps "relentlessly hound[ed] Szylling's Army Kraków to extinction". Historian Robert Forczyk described Hoth as a "hard-charging" commander during the invasion of Poland, and he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his military achievements during this campaign. Hoth believed that the XV Motorised Corps, including its "light" divisions, had "exceeded high expectations" during the invasion of Poland. Despite this, his corps' light divisions were transformed into panzer divisions for the following Western campaign, possibly due to suffering "unnecessarily high losses".
Hoth continued to lead the XV Army Corps during the invasion of France from May 1940. The initial German advance of Generaloberst Günther von Kluge's 4th Army through the Ardennes was spearheaded by General der Panzertruppe Guderian's XIX Motorised Corps on the left and Hoth's corps on the right. Hoth's corps consisted of the 5th and 7th Panzer Divisions, the latter commanded by Generalmajor Erwin Rommel. After moving through the Ardennes, Hoth was tasked with capturing crossings of the Meuse near Dinant. His forces quickly secured two bridgeheads across the river on 12/13 May, exploiting the disorganization and overextension of the local French Army units. Initially confined to the bridgeheads due to the resistance organized by the 102nd Fortress Division, the XV Motorised Corps broke through and was pushing into the French 9th Army's left flank by 14/15 May. French counter-attacks near Maubeuge on 18 May temporarily threatened Hoth's advance, but ultimately failed to stop the XV Motorised Corps, allowing it to capture Cambrai. Amid continuing Allied counter-attacks Hoth subsequently moved toward Arras which the Germans captured on 21 May. In the Battle of Dunkirk, Hoth's corps broke through the British Expeditionary Force's defensive line at La Bassée Canal on 27 May, thus assisting in encircling the French 1st Army under René Prioux at Lille.
On 6–7 June, Hoth's divisions achieved a major breakthrough at Airaines and then Forges-les-Eaux, effectively splitting the French 10th Army into two parts. After capturing Airaines, soldiers of the XV Corps murdered French prisoners of war, mainly black colonial soldiers such as Charles N'Tchoréré. The German units, including XV Motorised Corps, exploited the breakthrough to occupy Rouen and encircle a large Allied force at Saint-Valery-en-Caux, capturing about 10,000 British soldiers. Afterwards, Hoth's corps broke through Allied defensive lines at the Seine. He then split his forces in order to capture important locations in Brittany and Normandy, before advancing south to La Rochelle. His successes in France made Hoth one of the Wehrmacht's most popular generals. He was promoted to Generaloberst in July 1940, as part of an "orgy of promotions" by Hitler.
Operation Barbarossa Leading the 3rd Panzer Group