The Mius-Front was a heavily fortified German Nazi defensive line along the Mius River in the Donbas region of the Soviet Union and Ukraine during World War II .
85-666: It was created by the Germans in October 1941, under direction of General Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist . By the summer of 1943, the Mius-Front consisted of three defense lines with a total depth of 40–50 kilometres (25–31 mi). The main line of defense started off at Taganrog Bay on the coast of the Sea of Azov , to the east of the city Taganrog , then ran along the Mius River , which gave its name to
170-726: A double river crossing at the Meuse (at Sedan) and Ardennes canal (to the west of Sedan). Moreover, the blow would strike at the dividing line between the French Ninth Army and the French Second Army . Guderian saw things differently, and pointed out that a thrust along the lines of Kleist's plan would put the flank of the advance within range of the fortress artillery at Charleville-Mézières , some 25 kilometres (16 mi) northwest of Sedan. The shift of operations further north would also disperse concentration (or Schwerpunkt ) and disrupt
255-569: A few civilians were honored: Pierre Louis Maupertuis (1747), Francesco Algarotti (1747) and Voltaire (1750). In January 1810, during the Napoleonic wars, King Frederick William III decreed that the award could be presented only to serving military officers. In March 1813, the King added an additional distinction, a spray of gilt oak leaves attached above the cross. Award of the oak leaves originally indicated extraordinary achievement in battle, and
340-666: A massive offensive along the Dnieper river . By October 1943, the 17th Army , a part of Army Group A, was forced to retreat from the Kuban bridgehead across the Kerch Strait to Crimea. Erwin Jaenecke , commander of the 17th Army, declared that he refused to take the responsibility for another Stalingrad, and proposed to execute a command to evacuate, which Army Group A had issued on the 26th and Hitler had canceled. Kleist countered with an order to hold
425-720: A motorised corps in the Invasion of Poland . He then became the commander of Panzer Group Kleist (later 1st Panzer Army ), the first operational formation of several Panzer corps in the Wehrmacht during the Battle of France , the Battle of Belgium , the Invasion of Yugoslavia and Operation Barbarossa , the invasion of the Soviet Union. During the Battle of France, units under Kleist's command included Heinz Guderian 's armoured corps and spearheaded
510-569: A pivotal role in the Invasion of Belgium , France and the Low Countries . On 10 May, it spearheaded the German breakthrough in the Ardennes. As it advanced through southern Belgium, Kleist and Guderian clashed over where the main point of effort should fall. Kleist, Guderian's immediate superior, pressed for the main point to come at Flize , further west than Sedan. Kleist argued that the blow would avoid
595-682: A result of this, the Nazis focused on the killing of Ashkenazi Jews in Nalchik, between 600 and 1,000 of whom were murdered between November and December 1942 in his area of command. The majority of the Mountain Jews however, survived when Nalchik was liberated by Soviet troops on January 4, 1943. Between 1941 and 1944, thousands of Jews were massacred in Bessarabia, mostly by Romanian forces. Although in early 1944, Bessarabia and its capital Kishinev ( Chișinău )
680-467: A significant departing honor when he was authorized to wear the uniform of the 8th Cavalry Regiment. According to Kleist, he withdrew from the army because he spoke out too loudly in favor of Christianity and the church, which clashed with Nazi ideology. To secure his retirement, he acquired a property near Breslau. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Kleist was recalled to active duty and led
765-539: A third of all awards in World War I went to generals and admirals. Senior officer awards tended to be more for outstanding leadership in combat than for individual acts of bravery. Junior officers (army captains and lieutenants and their navy equivalents) accounted for only about a fourth of all awards. Several famous U-boat commanders, including Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière ( U-35 ), Walther Schwieger ( U-20 ) Otto Hersing ( U-21 ) and Otto Weddigen , received
850-455: Is an example of a decoration often conferred for accomplishment in many fields, including the arts and sciences. Belgium awards either its Order of Leopold or Order of the Crown for outstanding accomplishments in the arts and sciences, and may award its Civil Decoration for lesser accomplishments in these fields. Only a small number of persons have received both the military and civil classes of
935-482: Is not a state order. The revived civil order of the Pour le Mérite is awarded for achievements in the arts and sciences. Active membership is limited to 40 German citizens, ten each in the fields of humanities, natural science, and medicine and the arts. Honorary membership can be conferred on foreigners, again to the limit of 40. When a vacancy occurs, the remaining members select a new inductee. Among famous recipients of
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#17328523444501020-491: The Pour le Mérite . The Pour le Mérite became extinct as a result of Kaiser Wilhelm II 's abdication as king of Prussia and German Emperor on 9 November 1918. This marked the end of the Prussian monarchy and it was never awarded thereafter; however the honour continued to be recognized for, and worn by, previous recipients. In 1842, King Frederick William IV of Prussia , appointed Alexander von Humboldt Chancellor of
1105-494: The Pour le Mérite . However, unlike the military class of the order, the class of the order for achievements in the arts and sciences did not come to an end. The members re-established their order as an autonomous organization, with revised rules and processes for nomination. The awarding of new memberships resumed in 1923. Recipients included Albert Einstein (1923), Käthe Kollwitz (1929) and Ernst Barlach (1933). During
1190-703: The Blue Max ( German : Blauer Max ), is an order of merit established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia . The Pour le Mérite was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle , the Order of the Red Eagle and the House Order of Hohenzollern , among the highest orders of merit in the Kingdom of Prussia . The order of merit
1275-788: The " blitzkrieg " attack through the Ardennes forest, outflanking the Maginot Line . His panzer divisions eventually pushed deep into France, resulting in Allied defeat. He then commanded the 1st Panzer Army as it drove deep into Ukraine and the Caucasus during Operation Barbarossa. Kleist was appointed commander-in-chief of Army Group A during the last days of Case Blue , the 1942 German summer offensive in southern Russia. His disagreements with Hitler over strategic decisions led to his dismissal in March 1944 after
1360-822: The Battle of Tannenberg . From 1915 to 1918 he served as a staff officer of the Guards Cavalry Division on the Western Front . After the First World War ended, Kleist joined the Freikorps and participated in the Latvian and Estonian Wars of Independence as a member of the Iron Division . In June 1919, he led an attack group during the Battle of Cēsis . Kleist joined the Reichswehr in 1920. From 1924 to 1928, he
1445-876: The German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union to die in Russian captivity. Kleist was buried at the Prince Vladimir cemetery near the prison walls. In October 1955, after German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer 's visit to Moscow, the Soviet Union repatriated the remaining 14,000 German prisoners of war convicted of war crimes. Kleist's body was exhumed, dressed in a field marshal's uniform and sent home to Germany. Kleist had two sons, Johannes Jürgen Christoph Ewald and Hugo Edmund Christoph Heinrich. Pour le M%C3%A9rite The Pour le Mérite ( German: [puːɐ̯ lə meˈʁiːt] ; French: [puʁ lə me.ʁit] , lit. ' For Merit ' ), also informally known as
1530-732: The Gestapo implicated and arrested Kleist due to the involvement of his cousin Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin in the Oster conspiracy . Kleist avoided trial and was later released. Historian Samuel W. Mitcham writes that Kleist had tried to "win over" the local population of the Caucasus and Ukraine. In September 1942, Kleist remarked: "these vast spaces depress me. And these vast hordes of people! We’re lost if we don’t win them over." He appointed two former military attachés to Moscow to his staff, Ernst August Köstring and Oskar von Niedermayer , who advised Kleist on
1615-491: The Krasnodar territory alone, German forces, including units under the command of Kleist, killed more than 61,000 Soviet citizens, destroyed more than 63,000 industrial and economic buildings, looted from collective farms, stole hundreds of thousands of livestock, burned dozens of villages and destroyed many schools, hospitals and children's institutions. Kleist was sentenced to 25 years in a correctional labour camp . In 1952,
1700-596: The Lviv pogroms . However, according to him, he did not believe rumors of atrocities committed by German forces on the Eastern Front, as he was reassured that they were just rumors or that "non-Germans had done these beastly things". He claimed that in January 1943, after he heard that Jews were to be murdered in his territory, he called for SS police chief Gerret Korsemann and told him that he "would not tolerate any actions against
1785-597: The Military Collegium of the Supreme Court recognized Kleist as a particularly dangerous criminal and demanded strict isolation of him from society. Kleist's verdict was changed from a correctional labour camp term, to a prison term, and he was then sent to Vladimir Central Prison . On 13 November 1954, Kleist died of heart failure in Vladimir Central Prison. He was the most senior-ranking soldier among
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#17328523444501870-581: The Mius River and launched an offensive against the Southern Front at Rostov. On 19 November 1941, the 1st Panzer Army reached Rostov and the following day, they seized bridges over the river Don. Three days after reaching Rostov, the 1st Panzer Army had captured the city . However, on 27 November, the Southern Front, as part of the Rostov Strategic Offensive Operation, counter-attacked the 1st Panzer Army's over-extended spearhead from
1955-512: The Nuremberg trials . In September 1946, he was extradited to Yugoslavia , where he was tried and sentenced to 15 years in prison for war crimes. He also testified in Yugoslavia that Operation Retribution , the 1941 bombing of Belgrade, "had a primarily political-terrorist character and had nothing to do with the war. That air bombing was a matter of Hitler’s vanity, and his personal revenge." Kleist
2040-586: The "Breslau Army", which was later reorganized into the VIII. Army Corps . In 1935, he was given command of the newly formed military district VIII responsible for Silesia while simultaneously serving as the commanding general of the VIII. Army Corps. On 1 August 1936, he was promoted to General of the Cavalry. Kleist was a member of the Order of Saint John , an ancient Protestant religious order. In 1935, Prince Oskar of Prussia ,
2125-515: The Caucasus. Kleist later said after the war: The capture of Stalingrad was subsidiary to the main aim. It was only of importance as a convenient place, in the bottleneck between Don and the Volga, where we could block an attack on our flank by Russian forces coming from the east. At the start, Stalingrad was no more than a name on the map to us. Kleist also said that he tried to persuade Hitler against using Romanian, Hungarian and Italian troops to cover
2210-453: The Crimea no matter how the battle went. Kleist, who personally opposed Hitler on the question of holding the Crimea, called Jaenecke on the 28th and said to him: "As a soldier I have often had to struggle with myself in similar situations. You will not save a single man. What is to come will come one way or another. This attitude only undermines the confidence of the troops..." In November 1943,
2295-552: The German defeat in right-bank Ukraine . Following the war, Kleist was extradited to the Soviet Union where he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for war crimes ; he died in prison. Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist was born in Braunfels into the House of Kleist , an old Pomeranian noble family with a long history of military service. There had been two previous Prussian field marshals, numerous generals and Pour le Mérite recipients in
2380-582: The German award, the design of the modern Austrian award is unlike that of its imperial predecessor. France has the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for significant contributions to the arts and literature. In Poland the Gloria Artis Medal has been established for the same purpose. Other countries also may recognise accomplishments in the arts and sciences, but with more general orders also awarded for accomplishments in other fields. France 's Légion d'honneur
2465-557: The German resistance, although there is no direct evidence of his participation in the conspiracy against Hitler. Khavkin opines that Kleist was not a Nazi, but a servant of a criminal regime and became involved in war crimes as a result. Kleist was arrested in late April 1945 in Mitterfels by the American 26th Infantry Division , and handed over to the British Army . Kleist testified in
2550-525: The Iron Cross . In April 1941, Panzer Group Kleist was renamed to 1st Panzer Group, and spearheaded the invasion of Yugoslavia . Deployed against central Yugoslavia ( Serbia ), units of the 1st Panzer Group were the first to enter Belgrade. In June 1941, with the launching of Operation Barbarossa , Kleist led the 1st Panzer Group as part of Army Group South – tasked with the capture of Moldavia and Ukraine – and saw success in
2635-554: The Jews", and that Korsemann subsequently denied he had any orders to do so. He further claimed that he had only heard of the atrocities committed in Auschwitz after the war, although he was aware of the Oranienburg and Dachau concentration camps, where some of his friends and relatives were interned for political reasons. After his forced retirement, Kleist was in contact with generals of
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2720-705: The King of Prussia, the President of Germany acted as head of the order. After the Second World War , the civil class was re-established in 1952. This version of the Pour le Mérite is still active today. The Pour le Mérite is still an order into which a person is admitted into membership, like the United Kingdom's Order of the British Empire , and is not simply a medal or state decoration . The Pour le Mérite
2805-675: The Order of Merit with powers to recommend candidates to this new civil class of the Order Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts ( Orden Pour le Mérite für Wissenschaften und Künste ), with the three sections: humanities , natural science and fine arts . When a vacancy occurred the Academy of Arts and Sciences nominated three candidates, one of whom the king appointed. In November 1918 the Kingdom of Prussia came to an end, and with it that state's sponsorship of
2890-586: The Order's Grand Master, made him a Knight of Justice of the Order. After the war, Kleist claimed that being forced to listen to the proclamation of the antisemitic Nuremberg Laws was a "great humiliation" of his life. On February 5, 1938, during the Blomberg–Fritsch affair when Hitler purged the army of staff who were unsympathetic to the Nazi regime, Kleist was forced to retire from service for his monarchist attitudes. Despite his forced retirement, Kleist received
2975-511: The Red Army. However, the campaign had been costly, leaving the German forces with just half the tanks they had had three months earlier. Kleist was very favorably impressed by the Red Army. He remarked after the war: "The men were first-rate fighters from the start, and we owed our success simply to superior training. They became first-rate soldiers with experience. They fought most toughly, had amazing endurance, and could carry on without most of
3060-519: The Soviet 6th and 12th armies to the southeast of Uman city (in present-day Cherkasy Oblast ). During the First Battle of Kiev of August–September 1941, 1st Panzer Group's northward turn from central Ukraine in conjunction with 2nd Panzer Group 's southward advance from Smolensk led to the encirclement and destruction of the entire Soviet Southwestern Front east of Kiev, inflicting over 600,000 losses on
3145-589: The Soviets eventually cut off the land-based connection of 17th Army through the Perekop Isthmus . By December 1943, the Soviets had conquered the west bank of the Dnieper, and Kleist's Army Group A was forced to retreat to southwest Ukraine. In December 1943, the Soviets launched the Dnieper-Carpathian Offensive against Erich von Manstein 's re-constituted Army Group South , intending to capture all of
3230-399: The Soviets launched counter-offensives Operation Uranus (November 1942), which encircled the German 6th Army in Stalingrad, and Operation Little Saturn (December 1942 to February 1943). Little Saturn aimed to cut off Army Group A in the Caucasus, however, the limited scope of the Soviet offensive gave Kleist enough time to withdraw his Army Group A in the direction of the Kuban , abandoning
3315-434: The Ukrainian and Moldavian territories under the Axis forces. As part of the initial phase of the offensive, the Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front to the south launched the Nikopol–Krivoi Rog Offensive against Kleist's Army Group A. Proceeding slowly at first, the front eventually destroyed the salient projecting around Kryvyi Rih and Nikopol , costing the Germans the important mining operations there as well as nearly encircling
3400-433: The XXII Motorised Corps in the Invasion of Poland . Kurt Zeitzler , the future Chief of the Army General Staff , served as his Chief of Staff. His corps broke through the southern wing of the Polish army. According to Kleist, during the campaign, he successfully utilized cavalry tactics with his motorized units. Kleist's units also encountered friendly Soviet units invading Poland from the east; his first impression of them
3485-414: The advancing German armies' long exposed flank. However, Hitler did not listen. Hitler told Kleist that these troops "would only be used to hold the flank along the Don river from Voronezh to its southerly bend, and beyond Stalingrad to the Caspian," which, according to Hitler, were the "easiest sectors to hold." On 1 February 1943, Kleist was promoted to Field Marshal . In July 1943, the Red Army launched
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3570-551: The arts and sciences. The sovereign of the Commonwealth realms confers the Order of Merit and Order of the Companions of Honour . The Republic of Austria confers the Austrian Decoration of Honour for Science and the Arts , founded in 1955. Like the Order Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts, this was in a sense a revival of an earlier imperial award, in this case the Austro-Hungarian Decoration of Honour for Art and Science ( Österreichisch-Ungarisches Ehrenzeichen für Kunst und Wissenschaft ), which existed from 1887 to 1918. Unlike
3655-503: The award continued to increase during the war; by early 1917, it generally required destroying 16–20 enemy airplanes, and by war's end the approximate figure was 30. However, other aviation recipients included zeppelin commanders, bomber and observation aircrews, and at least one balloon observer . Recipients of the "Blue Max", a nickname of the order, were required to wear the award whenever in uniform. Although many of its famous recipients were junior officers, especially pilots, more than
3740-611: The award was established. This grade of the award was given to those who, through their actions, caused the retreat or destruction of an army. There were only five recipients of the Grand Cross of the Pour le Mérite : King Wilhelm I in 1866, Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia (later Emperor Frederick III ) and Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia in 1873, Tsar Alexander II of Russia in 1878, and Helmuth Graf von Moltke in 1879. The Pour le Mérite gained international fame during World War I . Although it could be awarded to any military officer, its most famous recipients were
3825-410: The cavalry school at Hanover from 1908 to 1909, he was promoted to oberleutnant in 1910 and was sent to the prestigious War Academy in Berlin, to undergo general staff training. On 22 March 1914 he was promoted to captain and joined the 1st Life Hussars Regiment ( Leib-Husaren-Regiment No. 1 ). During the First World War, Kleist served on the Eastern Front and commanded a cavalry squadron at
3910-804: The civil class of the Pour le Mérite in the first group of awards in 1842 were Alexander von Humboldt , Carl Friedrich Gauss , Jakob Grimm , Felix Mendelssohn , Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling and August Wilhelm Schlegel . Foreign recipients in the "class of 1842" included François-René de Chateaubriand , Michael Faraday and Franz Liszt . Later recipients included Theodor Mommsen (1868), Charles Darwin (1868), Thomas Carlyle (1874), William Thomson, Lord Kelvin (1884), Joseph Lister (1885) Johannes Brahms (1887), Giuseppe Verdi (1887), Hubert von Herkomer (1899), Camille Saint-Saëns (1901), John Singer Sargent (1908), Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1910), Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1911), Sir William Ramsay (1911), and Max Planck (1915). New members of
3995-875: The creation of the 1st Cossack Cavalry Division . He also commanded the 162nd Infantry Division , which drew from Ostlegion recruits. According to Mitcham and Boris Khavkin, a professor of history at the Russian State University for the Humanities , Kleist's more "humane" policies led to clashes with Fritz Sauckel , General Plenipotentiary for Labour Deployment (head of slave labor importation for Nazi Germany), and Erich Koch , Reichskommissar of Ukraine. Mitcham writes that Kleist once ordered subordinates to make sure that 'voluntary' labor recruitment programs in his area were actually voluntary, which enraged Sauckel and Koch. Kleist also once summoned SS, Gestapo and 'Police' officials to his headquarters and told them that he would not allow "excesses" in his zone of command. According to Khavkin, on December 6, 1942, Kleist abolished
4080-451: The era of National Socialism in Germany (1933–45), the order was re-absorbed into the state honours system, and the list of its members was reviewed and revised according to the policies of the new government. A number of Jews and other perceived dissidents or "enemies" of the state were deprived of their awards by the Nazi regime. They included Einstein (who resigned his membership in the order in 1933, and refused invitations to renew it after
4165-528: The evidence brought against him were partly political and that, although the Germans committed terrible war crimes in Yugoslavia, his personal guilt could not be proven. In 1949, he was extradited to the Soviet Union , where he was charged with war crimes. Kleist was one of the three German field marshals captured by Soviet forces, the other two being Ferdinand Schörner and Friedrich Paulus . The Soviet prosecutors presented evidence that Kleist carried out and issued criminal orders . The verdict stated that in
4250-473: The family. He was the son of Geheimer Studienrat Christof Hugo Albrecht August von Kleist (1848-1886), a high-ranking civil servant, and his wife, Elisabeth Gley (b. 1856). At the age of 18, Kleist joined the Prussian field artillery regiment, "General Feldzeugmeister" No. 3 on 9 March 1900 as a fahnenjunker . He was commissioned as a leutnant on 18 August 1901. He became a battalion adjutant in 1904 and regimental adjutant in 1907. After attending
4335-425: The few lower ranking recipients of the oak leaves were mainly general staff officers responsible for planning a victorious battle or campaign). In early 1918, it was proposed to award the oak leaves to Germany's top flying ace , Manfred von Richthofen , but he was deemed ineligible under a strict reading of the regulations (he had already received his Pour le Mérite without oak leaves in January 1917 ). Instead of
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#17328523444504420-538: The first day of the attack. On 19 May, the German 6th Army led by General Friedrich Paulus launched an offensive north of the bridgehead, encircling the Soviet 6th Army and 57th Army . After six days of encirclement, both armies were destroyed. By 28 May Kleist and Paulus' armies had captured 240,000 prisoners and destroyed or captured over 1250 Soviet tanks and 2000 artillery pieces. The summer of 1942 saw Army Group South subdivided into Army Group A and B . Army Group A, which included Kleist's 1st Panzer Army, had
4505-403: The initial phase of the invasion, advancing deep into Ukraine. The 1st Panzer Group broke through the Stalin Line , then defeated the five mechanized corps of the Soviet 5th Army and 6th Army in the Battle of Brody (23 to 30 June 1941). In July 1941, during the Battle of Uman , the 1st Panzer Group broke through the Soviet Southern Front 's lines, leading to the encirclement and annihilation of
4590-449: The intense planning of the German tactical units, who had been in training for the Sedan attack and an advance north-west, for months. He also felt that a regrouping period in front of Sedan would delay the assault for 24 hours and allow the French to bring up reinforcements. Kleist agreed that such a delay was unacceptable, so he agreed to Guderian's plan. Panzer Group Kleist overwhelmed the French defenses at Sedan, advanced west and reached
4675-400: The line. The depth of the line of fortifications reached up to 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) in places. The defense area included some 800 Russian and Ukrainian settlements located within the line's long zone. In order to build the fortification, rails from local mines, and wood taken from local homes and building was used. The Germans used local forced labor to build the positions. The line
4760-437: The long distances from Axis sources of supply eventually reduced the Axis offensive to local advances only, and prevented Army Group A from capturing their ultimate objectives. On 22 November 1942, Kleist replaced Field Marshal Wilhelm List as commander of Army Group A near the end of Case Blue. Hitler ordered him to hold position and to resume the offensive should the Axis forces take Stalingrad . This possibility ended after
4845-401: The mandatory wearing of the Star of David in the Nalchik Ghetto. When he was told to destroy the Mountain Jews , Kleist asked for a reexamination of them by the Office of Racial Policy . Under Kleist's supervision, the Mountain Jews of Nalchik established a council which succeeded in convincing the Germans that they were not Jewish, but part of the indigenous population of the Caucasus. As
4930-429: The military award was a blue-enameled Maltese Cross with golden eagles between the arms (which is based on the symbol of the Johanniter Order ) and the Prussian royal cypher and the words Pour le Mérite ("For Merit" in French ) written in gold letters on the body of the cross. The ribbon was black with edge stripes of silver-white. The order consisted of only one class, both civil and military, until 1810. Only
5015-453: The north, forcing them to pull out of Rostov. By 2 December 1941, the Soviet forces had retaken Rostov and forced the 1st Panzer Army to withdraw back to the Mius River, near Taganrog . This marked the first major German withdrawal of the war. On 18 February 1942, Kleist was awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross. In 1942, Kleist was given an estate worth 567,000 Reichsmarks by the Nazi regime. A Silesian estate already owned by Kleist
5100-407: The oak leaves Prussia awarded von Richthofen a slightly less prestigious honor, the Order of the Red Eagle , 3rd Class with Crown and Swords. This was still a high honour, as the 3rd Class was normally awarded to colonels and lieutenant colonels, and von Richthofen's award was one of only two of the 3rd Class with Crown and Swords during World War I. In 1866, a special military Grand Cross class of
5185-593: The order. Besides Prussia, several other states of the former German Empire also conferred similar awards for the arts and sciences. These included the Kingdom of Bavaria 's Maximilian Order for Art and Science ( Maximiliansorden für Kunst und Wissenschaft ), the Duchy of Anhalt 's Order of Merit for Science and Art ( Verdienstorden für Wissenschaft und Kunst ), and the Principality of Lippe 's Lippe Rose Order for Art and Science ( Lippische Rose, Orden für Kunst und Wissenschaft ). A number of other countries have founded similar high civic honours for accomplishments in
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#17328523444505270-483: The pilots of the German Army Air Service ( Luftstreitkräfte ), whose exploits were celebrated in wartime propaganda . In aerial warfare, a fighter pilot was initially entitled to the award upon downing eight enemy aircraft. Aces Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke were the first airmen to receive the award, on 12 January 1916. It was awarded to Germany's highest-scoring ace, Manfred von Richthofen , in January 1917. The number of aerial victories necessary to receive
5355-504: The recipient, unless renounced or revoked. New awards of the military class ceased with the end of the Prussian monarchy in November 1918. German author Ernst Jünger , who died in 1998, was the last living recipient of the military class award. A civil class for merits in sciences, humanities, and arts was established in 1842 by King Frederick William IV . The civil class was revived as an independent organization in 1923 ( Pour le Mérite für Wissenschaften und Künste ). Instead of
5440-560: The reformed German 6th Army . On 11 March, Kleist declared that Army Group A would retreat into Bessarabia "in spite of the Führer and in spite of Antonescu ." By the end of March 1944, the German Dnieper line was broken and the Soviets had recovered most of right-bank Ukraine . This defeat, along with other Soviet offensive, resulted in heavy German casualties. German losses, while less than Soviet losses, were much more difficult to sustain, as there were no further reserves of men and materiel to draw on. Kleist had disagreed with Hitler over
5525-1252: The revised order in 1923 included Albert Einstein (1923), Gerhart Hauptmann (1923), Richard Strauss (1924), Wilhelm Furtwängler (1929), and Käthe Kollwitz (1929). Among those inducted in 1952 were Otto Heinrich Warburg , Otto Hahn , Paul Hindemith , and Emil Nolde . Later recipients include Arthur Compton (1954), Hermann Hesse (1954), Albert Schweitzer (1954), Thomas Mann (1955), Oskar Kokoschka (1955), Carl Orff (1956), Erwin Schrödinger (1956), Thornton Wilder (1956), Werner Heisenberg (1957), Lise Meitner (1957), Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1957), Felix Bloch (1959), Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker (1961), Karl Jaspers (1964), Otto Klemperer (1967), Carl Zuckmayer (1967), Henry Moore (1972), Karl Popper (1980), Carlos Kleiber (1990), Witold Lutosławski (1993), Rudolf Mößbauer (1996), Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard (1997), Umberto Eco (1998), Hans Magnus Enzensberger (1999), Wim Wenders (2005), James J. Sheehan (2006), and Svante Pääbo (2008). More recent recipients were Gidon Kremer (2016), Emmanuelle Charpentier (2017), Heinz Holliger (2018), Sir Christopher Clark (2019), and Herta Müller (2021). As of 2021 , 14 Nobel Prize laureates were member of
5610-417: The sea, forming a huge pocket containing several Belgian, British, and French armies. Kleist said of his role in the French campaign after the war: Without being unduly modest I can assert that I was the most active army commander in France and that I shortened the French campaign by many months by my panzer actions. Kleist was promoted to Generaloberst on 19 July 1940 and received the Knight's Cross of
5695-400: The summer of 1943, the Mius-Front consisted of three defense lines. The Soviets finally succeeded penetrating the line in August 1943 during the Donbas Strategic Offensive , when troops of the Soviet Southern Front broke through it near the village of Kuybyshevo in Rostov Oblast . Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist (8 August 1881 – 13 November 1954)
5780-405: The task of leading the Axis thrust into the Caucasus in the execution of Case Blue , the German offensive which aimed to capture the important oilfields of Grozny and Baku . The 1st Panzer Army was to spearhead the attack. Army Group A advanced deep into Southern Russia, capturing Rostov-on-Don , the oil city of Maykop , Krasnodar and the Kuban region. However, heavy Soviet resistance and
5865-428: The things other armies regarded as necessities. The Staff were quick to learn from their early defeats, and soon became highly efficient." On Soviet technical innovation and arms, he noted: "Their equipment was very good even in 1941, especially the tanks. Their artillery was excellent, and also most of the infantry weapons – their rifles ( SVT-40 ) were more modern than ours, and had a more rapid rate of fire. Their T-34
5950-549: The treatment of non-Russian ethnic minorities. Neidermeyer had also been a professor of geopolitics at the University of Berlin. Partly as a result of Kleist's policies, around 800,000 Soviet citizens were recruited as collaborators in the fight against the Soviet Union. These men included minorities such as Azerbaijanis , Uzbeks , Georgians , and Cossacks , many of whom would serve in Ostlegionen and Russian Liberation Army units. Kleist employed these recruits in Cossack cavalry regiments under his command, which would lead to
6035-418: The two attacking Soviet 9th and 18th armies at Melitopol ( Zaporizhzhia Oblast ); by 11 October, both Soviet armies had been destroyed and the 1st Panzer Army had taken the Donbas. The 1st Panzer Army then attacked east along the shore of the Sea of Azov toward Rostov near the mouth of the Don river, the last barrier before the Caucasus . On 17 November 1941, the German forces forced their way across
6120-662: The war), Kollwitz, and Barlach. Such actions were later repudiated by both the order and the postwar German government. In 1952, the order was re-established again in West Germany with assistance of Federal President Theodor Heuss , – now as an independent organization with state recognition and the President of the German Federal Republic as Protector of the Order. However, unlike the somewhat similar Bundesverdienstkreuz (Federal Cross of Merit), also established by Heuss, it
6205-420: The withdrawal of Army Group A during the offensive. He had demanded permission to pull back his forces to more defensible positions, however, Hitler ordered his armies to stand where they were. Hitler blamed his generals for the overall strategic success of Soviet armies, and on 30 March 1944, Kleist was dismissed and replaced by Ferdinand Schörner . After the 20 July plot to assassinate Hitler failed (1944),
6290-516: Was a German Generalfeldmarschall ( Field Marshal ) of the Wehrmacht during World War II . Born into the Prussian noble family von Kleist , Kleist entered the Prussian Army in 1900 and commanded a cavalry squadron during World War I . Kleist joined the Reichswehr of inter-war Germany before being discharged in 1938. Recalled to active duty at the beginning of World War II , Kleist commanded
6375-502: Was an area occupied by some units under his command, he claimed that he thought the Romanian forces had committed such massacres alone. After his capture by the Americans, Kleist admitted to psychologist Leon Goldensohn that in the winter of 1941 to 1942 he was aware of rumors that Jews were being deported in order to be assembled somewhere, he was also aware of antisemitic actions such as
6460-655: Was assigned as a tactics instructor at the Hannover Cavalry School. In 1928, he served as the chief of staff of the 2nd Cavalry Division in Breslau , then from 1929 to 1931, he held the same position in the 3rd Division in Berlin. Kleist was promoted to Colonel in 1931 and was given command of the 9th (Prussian) Infantry Regiment in Potsdam. At the beginning of 1932, he was given command of the 2nd Cavalry Division. In October 1932, he
6545-462: Was defended by pillboxes and bunkers, machine gun nests, and mobile artillery positions. The line also contained mine fields, trenches, tank traps, and barbed wire. The depth of the minefields zone was at least 200 metres (660 ft), and backed up by 20–30 pillboxes or bunkers per square kilometre (52–78/sq mi). Soviet troops twice tried to break through this line, first from December 1941 to July 1942, and then from February to August 1943. By
6630-518: Was extended by 100-hectares; this particular extension concerned a confiscated Jewish-owned tract that was being divided up. This was a part of Hitler's policy of buying the loyalty of his senior commanders. During the Second Battle of Kharkov on 17 May 1942 as part of Operation Fredericus, Kleist's 1st Panzer Army attacked the Barvenkovo bridgehead from the south, advancing up to ten kilometres in
6715-481: Was founded in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia . It was named in French, which was the leading international language and the favoured language at Frederick's court. The French name was retained, despite the rising tide of nationalism and increasing hostility between the French and Germans during the 19th century, and indeed many of its recipients were honoured for acts performed in wars against France. The insignia of
6800-463: Was positive. He particularly noted their surprising extent of motorization, good behavior and advanced military technique. In May 1940, Panzer Group Kleist was formed, the first operational formation of several Panzer corps in the Wehrmacht. Zeitzler continued to serve as Kleist's Chief of Staff. Panzer Group Kleist, consisting of XIV Corps under Wietersheim , XLI Panzer Corps under Reinhardt , and XIX Panzer Corps under Heinz Guderian , played
6885-510: Was promoted to Major General. Kleist was a monarchist , and did not heavily involve himself in the politics of the Weimar Republic . He openly favored the restoration of the House of Hohenzollern . After the Nazis seized power, the Reichswehr was united with the newly formed Wehrmacht . On 1 December 1933, he was promoted to lieutenant general. In October 1934, he was given command of
6970-524: Was the finest in the world." After operations at Kiev concluded, Kleist's 1st Panzer Army advanced east to capture the important industrial Donbas region. On 26 September 1941, the Battle of the Sea of Azov began as the Southern Front launched an attack on the northern shores of the Sea of Azov against the German 11th Army advancing into the Crimea. On 1 October, the 1st Panzer Army swept south and encircled
7055-530: Was the highest ranking Wehrmacht commander to stand trial in Yugoslavia; the second-highest ranking commander was Generaloberst Alexander Löhr , who commanded German forces in Southeastern Europe and Operation Retribution. In 1947, Löhr was sentenced to death and executed for war crimes along with several other more junior Wehrmacht officers in Belgrade. The historian Khavkin opines that Kleist's trial and
7140-404: Was the highest royal Prussian order of bravery for officers of all ranks. The Pour le Mérite was awarded strictly as a recognition of extraordinary personal achievement, rather than as a general marker of social status or a courtesy-honour, although certain restrictions of social class and military rank were applied. The order was secular, and membership endured for the remaining lifetime of
7225-402: Was usually reserved for high-ranking officers. The original regulations called for the capture or successful defence of a fortification, or victory in a battle. By World War I , the oak leaves often indicated a second or higher award of the Pour le Mérite , though in most cases the recipients were still high-ranking officers (usually distinguished field commanders fitting the criteria above;
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