Kleist meaning

1. Early Life and Military Career
2. World War II and the Invasion of France
3. Invasion of the Soviet Union
4. Advance to the Caucasus
5. The Battle of Rostov
6. The Retreat from the Caucasus
7. The Battle of Kharkov and the Advance on the Caucasus
8. The End of the War
9. Trial and Imprisonment

Early Life and Military Career

Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist was a German field marshal during World War II. He was born on August 8, 1881, into an aristocratic Prussian family. After receiving a military education, Kleist began his service as a cavalry lieutenant in World War I. He participated in the Battle of Tannenberg and continued to serve in the cavalry after the war.

From 1932 to 1935, Kleist commanded a cavalry division in the Wehrmacht. However, due to disagreements with the Nazi leadership, he was forced into retirement in February 1938. He was recalled to service in August 1939 and commanded the XXII Panzer Corps during the invasion of Poland.

World War II and the Invasion of France

During the French campaign, Kleist led the "Panzer Group Kleist," which comprised five of the ten panzer divisions available to Germany. This made him the commander of the first panzer army in history.

Under Erich von Manstein's plan, Kleist's group broke through the French front at the Meuse River and pushed the Anglo-French forces to the sea at Dunkirk. Only Hitler's order to halt the advance prevented a complete rout and allowed the British to evacuate their forces via the English Channel.

Invasion of the Soviet Union

In April 1941, Kleist's group was deployed against Yugoslavia and Greece. During the initial phase of the invasion of the Soviet Union, the 1st Panzer Group was part of the "Army Group South."

In the first weeks of the invasion, Kleist's group advanced north of Lvov towards Rovno. On July 10, Zhitomir, located 150 kilometers from Kyiv, fell. Turning south, Kleist linked up with the 17th Army, encircling a large group of troops from the Red Army's Southwestern and Southern Fronts in the Uman region.

In mid-August 1941, Kleist's group captured the Dnieper River crossing near Dnepropetrovsk, threatening the Donbas region. Around the same time, units of the 17th Army crossed the Dnieper at Kremenchug. On September 10, Kleist assumed command of the Kremenchug bridgehead.

The following day, German panzer units launched an offensive from the bridgehead, breaking through the defenses of the Soviet 38th Army and advancing north towards Romny. This surprise breakthrough caught Soviet command off guard. Within the first 12 hours, Kleist's tanks covered 70 kilometers and linked up with units of the 2nd Panzer Group under Heinz Guderian near Romny, 200 kilometers east of Kyiv. This action led to the largest encirclement of the war: five Soviet armies trapped in a pocket near Kyiv. The battle concluded on September 26, with over 600,000 Red Army soldiers and officers taken prisoner.

Advance to the Caucasus

After the capture of Kyiv, Kleist's group (now renamed the 1st Panzer Army) advanced towards Rostov, the primary target of its 1941 campaign. After forcing Soviet forces at the Dnieper to retreat to Zaporozhye, Kleist's army moved east and then south, outflanking Soviet troops that had been holding up Erich von Manstein's 11th Army at Melitopol. On October 5, Kleist's units reached the Sea of Azov at Berdyansk, encircling the 18th Army of the Southern Front at Chernihovka. The battle ended on October 10, with the Red Army suffering heavy losses, including the death of its commander, Lieutenant-General A.K. Smirnov.

Kleist's army continued eastward along the Azov Sea coast: Taganrog fell on October 17, and on October 28, the Germans reached the Mius River, the last water barrier before Rostov. However, the onset of autumnal mud and depleted fuel supplies forced Kleist to halt his advance.

The Battle of Rostov

The commander of Army Group South, Gerd von Rundstedt, believed that the offensive should not continue into the Russian winter, but Hitler insisted, and on November 17, Kleist's panzers moved on Rostov. After a week of fighting, the defenses were broken, and on the night of November 20, the 1st SS Division entered the city.

Rostov, with a population of half a million, was not only a strategically important city but also a gateway to the Kuban, the Caucasus oil fields, and further into Transcaucasia and Iran. As such, it was expected that the Red Army would attempt to retake the city. Kleist's army's left flank was dangerously exposed, but no assistance from the command followed. Additionally, due to early frosts on the Don, the river froze earlier than usual, and on November 25, Soviet forces under Semyon Timoshenko attacked from the south, advancing across the ice. After fierce fighting, German troops abandoned the city on November 28.

The Retreat from the Caucasus

Rundstedt requested Hitler's permission to withdraw his troops to the natural defensive line of the Mius River for the winter, but permission was denied. Nevertheless, Rundstedt ordered a retreat. On that same day, Hitler removed him from his position and appointed Walter von Reichenau as the new commander. However, upon arriving, Reichenau confirmed the order to retreat. Rostov remained under Soviet control until July 1942.

The Battle of Kharkov and the Advance on the Caucasus

In May 1942, the 1st Panzer Army participated in repelling the Soviet offensive near Kharkov (Operation Fredericus).

After the fall of Kharkov, the 1st Panzer Army was incorporated into the newly formed Army Group A under Wilhelm List. Kleist's army provided cover for the northern flank of the 17th Army during its advance on Rostov. The city was captured on July 24. Army Group A crossed the Don and continued into the Caucasus.

The End of the War

On September 9, Hitler removed List from his position and personally assumed command of Army Group A. However, after failing to make significant progress, he transferred command to Kleist on November 21. Kleist thus commanded both the 1st Panzer Army and the 17th Army.

In late November 1942, Soviet troops completed the encirclement of the 6th Army at Stalingrad, placing Kleist's group in a precarious position. The main forces of Army Group A were located in the foothills of the Northern Caucasus. As a result, the Red Army units stationed near Stalingrad were much closer to Rostov-on-Don, through which the group's only connection to the rest of the Eastern Front ran. It was imperative to withdraw from the Caucasus, but Hitler did not give the order until December 27.

To illustrate the complexity of the task, at the start of the retreat, the forward units of the 1st Panzer Army were located on the Terek River, 600 kilometers from Rostov. On January 20, 1943, Red Army units approached Rostov from the south to within 50 kilometers, but were halted by reserves of Erich von Manstein's 4th Panzer Army. The fierce fighting on the outskirts of Rostov continued for three weeks. Manstein's units eventually managed to hold back the Red Army's advance, allowing the 1st Panzer Army to cross the Don and avoid encirclement.

Trial and Imprisonment

Kleist became a field marshal on February 1, 1943. Following the July 20, 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler, Kleist was arrested by the Gestapo on suspicion of having knowledge of the conspiracy and failing to report it. He was later released. On April 25, 1945, Kleist was arrested by American forces and taken to London, where he testified as a witness at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg. In September 1946, he was transferred to Yugoslavia and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor by a Yugoslav court in August 1948. In March 1949, he was handed over to the Soviet Union.

Kleist was imprisoned in Moscow and later in the Vladimir Prison. On February 21, 1952, he was sentenced to 25 years in a labor camp by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union. According to the official account, he died in the camp on August 13, 1954, from heart failure.