Hans Speidel

• 1. Imperial Service And Interwar Years

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  Hans Speidel joined the German Army in 1914 at the outbreak of the First World War. He quickly rose to become a second lieutenant and served as a company commander during the Battle of the Somme. The fighting on that front claimed many lives, yet Speidel survived to see the war end. After the conflict concluded, he remained within the German Army structure known as the Reichswehr. This period allowed him time for academic study alongside his military duties. He pursued history and economics at various universities throughout the interwar years. In 1926, he earned his Ph.D. degree in history magna cum laude. His early career combined field command with scholarly rigor. This dual focus shaped his future approach to strategy and policy.

• 2. World War II Staff Duties

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  Speidel took part in the invasion of France of 1940 and became Chief of Staff of the military commander there by August. During this time, reports reached Berlin regarding mass executions of Jewish and Communist hostages. These reprisals targeted partisan activities by the French Resistance. Although Speidel never issued orders for these killings himself, he sent detailed reports on them to the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht in Berlin. At one point, he attempted to justify the measures by claiming they targeted Jewish communists behind attacks on the Wehrmacht. In 1942, he was sent to the Eastern Front where he served as Chief of Staff of the 5th Army Corps. By 1943, he held the same role for the 8th Army and received a promotion to general. In April 1944, Speidel was appointed Chief of Staff to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. When Rommel was wounded later that year, Speidel continued serving under Günther von Kluge.

• 3. Resistance And The July Plot

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  Speidel disagreed with the Nazis' racial policies despite agreeing with their goal of restoring Germany's global power status. He participated in the 20th of July Plot to kill Hitler and was tasked with recruiting Rommel for the conspiracy. This recruitment began cautiously before Rommel suffered injuries from a British strafing attack on the 17th of July 1944. Speidel became Rommel's confidant through chance events involving family disputes over wedding seating arrangements. Following the failed assassination attempt, the Gestapo arrested him on the 7th of September 1944. During interrogation, he mentioned Rommel's name, though this provided no new information to interrogators who already knew his involvement. Speidel spent seven months jailed by the Gestapo before slipping away as Allied forces approached. He went into hiding for three weeks until French troops entered the area on the 29th of April 1945. Other prisoners escaped with him to Urnau near Lake Constance district. He remained one of the few participants in the plot to survive the war.

• 4. Architect Of West German Rearmament

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  In 1950, Speidel authored the Himmerod memorandum which addressed rearmament issues for the Federal Republic of Germany. As an important military adviser to Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, he played a key role in creating the Bundeswehr. By 1955, he held the rank of lieutenant-general and later became a four-star general alongside Adolf Heusinger. This made him the first officer promoted to full General in West Germany. His work involved overseeing the smooth integration of the Bundeswehr into NATO. In 1951, he joined the predecessor of the Federal Ministry of Defence. From 1951 to 1954, he served as the West German chief delegate to conferences establishing the European Defence Community. Documents released by the Bundesnachrichtendienst in 2014 suggest he may have been part of the Schnez-Truppe, a secret illegal army established from 1949. Veterans of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS created this group to repel potential attacks by Soviet forces or East German police units.

• 5. NATO Integration And Command

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  Speidel was appointed Supreme Commander of Allied NATO ground forces in Central Europe in April 1957. He held this command until his retirement in September 1963. His headquarters were located at the Palace of Fontainebleau in Paris. During his tenure, he negotiated West Germany's entry into NATO and worked on international defence cooperation agreements. These efforts helped establish West Germany as a key player in Cold War security structures. The negotiations required balancing national sovereignty with collective defence commitments. Speidel's experience from earlier conflicts informed his strategic decisions during these talks. His leadership ensured that newly formed German military units integrated effectively with existing NATO frameworks. This period marked a transition from occupation to partnership for former enemies turned allies.

• 6. Historian And Public Intellectual

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  After the war, Speidel served as professor of modern history at Tübingen University. In 1950, he published his book Invasion 1944: Rommel and the Normandy Campaign before joining the new German Army. His academic background allowed him to write several books analyzing World War II strategy. In 1960, he took legal action against an East German film studio that portrayed him falsely regarding historical events. He successfully claimed damages for libel after the court ruled in his favor. In 1964, he became President of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. This organization serves as the German government's main think tank in international relations. Speidel received the Grand Cross with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1963. He died in 1984 at Bad Honnef, North Rhine-Westphalia, aged 87. A German Army military base named General Dr Speidel Barracks in Bruchsal honored him in 1997.