Generalfeldmarschall

Generalfeldmarschall (; ; abbreviated to Feldmarschall) was a rank in the armies of several German states and the Holy Roman Empire ("Reichsgeneralfeldmarschall"); in the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, the rank "Feldmarschall" was used. The rank was the equivalent to "Großadmiral" () in the "Kaiserliche Marine" and "Kriegsmarine", a five-star rank, comparable to OF-10 in today's NATO naval forces.
Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary.
The rank existed in the Austrian Empire as "Kaiserlicher Feldmarschall" ("imperial field marshal") and in Austria-Hungary as "Kaiserlicher und königlicher Feldmarschall" - "Császári és királyi tárbornagy" ("imperial and royal field marshal"). Both were based on prior usage during the Holy Roman Empire. The Emperor-King held the rank "ex officio", other officers were promoted as required. Between 1914 and 1918, ten men attained this rank, of whom four were members of the reigning Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty.
Germany.
Electorate (1356–1806) and Kingdom of Saxony (1806–1918).
The rank of Field Marshall was first used in the northern German State of Saxony within the Holy Roman Empire in 1631. It was then used nine further times in that century and seven times in the 18th century. It was used twice in the 19th century by the Kingdom of Saxony after it became part of the German Empire in 1871.
Kingdom of Prussia and German Empire.
In the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army and later in the "Wehrmacht", the rank of "Generalfeldmarschall" had several privileges, such as elevation to nobility, equal protocol rank with cabinet ministers, the right of reporting directly to the monarch, and a constant escort.
In 1854, the rank of colonel general () was created in order to promote William, Prince of Prussia (the later William I, German Emperor) to senior rank without breaking the rule that only wartime field commanders could receive the rank of field marshal for a victory in a decisive battle or the capture of a fortification or major town. The equivalent of "colonel-general" in the German Navy was the rank of "Generaladmiral" ("general admiral" or "admiral-general").
In 1870 Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia and Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm—who had commanded armies during the Franco-Prussian War—became the first Prussian princes appointed as field marshals.
The exalted nature of the rank was underscored during World War I, when only five German officers (excluding honorary promotions to members of royal families and foreign officers) were designated "Generalfeldmarschall": Paul von Hindenburg, August von Mackensen, Karl von Bülow, Hermann von Eichhorn, and Remus von Woyrsch. Only a single naval officer, Henning von Holtzendorff, was designated Grand Admiral. Not even such well-known German commanders as Erich Ludendorff, Erich von Falkenhayn, or Reinhard Scheer received marshal's batons or Grand Admiral rank.
Nazi Germany.
Before World War II, Adolf Hitler promoted War Minister Werner von Blomberg (20 April 1936) and Aviation Minister Hermann Göring (4 February 1938) to the rank of "Generalfeldmarschall". In the "Wehrmacht" of Nazi Germany during World War II, the rank of "Generalfeldmarschall" remained the highest military rank until July 1940, when Hermann Göring was promoted to the newly created higher rank of "Reichsmarschall". The equivalent of a "Generalfeldmarschall" in the navy was "Großadmiral" ("grand admiral").
Unlike Kaiser Wilhelm II, Hitler distributed the rank more widely, promoting 25 "Heer" and "Luftwaffe" officers in total and two "Kriegsmarine" Grand Admirals. (Another promotion, that of Austrian General Eduard von Böhm-Ermolli, was honorary.) Four weeks after the "Heer" and "Luftwaffe" had won the Battle of France, Hitler promoted twelve generals to the rank of field marshal on 19 July 1940: Walther von Brauchitsch, Wilhelm Keitel, Gerd von Rundstedt, Fedor von Bock, Wilhelm von Leeb, Wilhelm List, Günther von Kluge, Erwin von Witzleben and Walter von Reichenau ("Heer"); and Albert Kesselring, Erhard Milch and Hugo Sperrle ("Luftwaffe").
In 1942, three other men were promoted—"Wüstenfuchs" (desert fox) Erwin Rommel (22 June) for the siege of Tobruk, Erich von Manstein (30 June) for the Siege of Sevastopol and Georg von Küchler (30 June) for his success as "Oberbefehlshaber der Heeresgruppe Nord" ("commander-in-chief of Army Group North").
Hitler promoted Friedrich Paulus, commander of the 6th Army at Stalingrad—to the rank of field marshal via field radio on 30 January 1943, a day before his army's inevitable surrender in order to encourage him to continue to fight until death or commit suicide. In the promotion Hitler noted that no German or, before that, Prussian field marshal had ever been captured alive. Paulus surrendered the following day anyway, claiming "Ich habe nicht die Absicht, mich für diesen bayerischen Gefreiten zu erschießen" ("I have no intention of shooting myself for this Bavarian corporal"). A disappointed Hitler commented, "That's the last field marshal I make in this war!" But in fact, he appointed seven more, three on the very day after Paulus surrendered, Ernst Busch, Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist and Maximilian von Weichs (All members of the Heer) and later that same month Hitler promoted Luftwaffe General Wolfram von Richthofen to the rank for his service in the Crimean campaign and the later part of the Battle of Stalingrad.
From 1944 to 1945 three more men would reach this rank. In early 1944 Walter Model, one of Hitlers most loyal generals was promoted to the rank, he was also the last German field marshal to receive a ceremonial marshals baton. Ferdinand Schörner, another loyal officer was promoted on 5 April 1945 when he was made Commander in chief of the German army. 20 days after that and just five days before his own suicide, Adolf Hitler made Luftwaffe General Robert Ritter von Greim a field marshal and Commander in chief of the German Air Force after Göring had fallen out of Hitlers favour, making Greim the last German field marshal in history.
"Generalfeldmarschall" was the highest regular general officer rank in the German" Wehrmacht", comparable to NATO rank codes OF10, and to the five-star rank in anglophone armed forces. It was equivalent to "Großadmiral" of the German "Kriegsmarine".
Financially the rank of Generalfeldmarschall in Nazi Germany was very rewarding as, apart from a yearly salary, Hitler introduced a tax free fringe benefits for generals in the range of ℛℳ 2,000 to 4,000 per month in 1940. He also bestowed generous presents on his highest officers, with Leeb receiving ℛℳ 250,000 for his 65th birthday from Hitler.
Promotion to the rank did not guarantee Hitler's ongoing favor, however. As the tide of the war turned, Hitler took out his frustrations on his top commanders, relieving most of the "Generalfeldmarschalls" of duty before the war's conclusion. Bock, Brauchitsch, Leeb, and List were all relieved of their posts in 1942 for perceived failures during Operation Barbarossa and took no further active part in the war. Kleist, Manstein and Sperrle were similarly retired in 1944 and Rundstedt and Weichs in March 1945. Grand Admiral Erich Raeder was retired in January 1943 following a fierce argument with Hitler over the future of the German surface fleet. Model, one of Hitler's most successful commanders, had nevertheless lost the Fuhrer's confidence by war's end and committed suicide to avoid capture and likely trial as a war criminal. Milch was relieved after conspiring unsuccessfully to have Göring removed from command of the Luftwaffe, and even Göring himself was stripped of his offices and expelled from the Nazi Party in Hitler's last days. Schörner ignominiously abandoned his command to save himself in the war's last days. Kluge, Witzleben and Rommel were either executed or forced to commit suicide for their real or imagined roles in the 20 July plot against Hitler. By war's end, only Keitel, Kesselring, Greim and Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz were still in positions of military responsibility.
East Germany.
The National People's Army of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik or DDR (German Democratic Republic, i.e. East Germany) created the rank of Marshal of the German Democratic Republic on 25 March 1982. A general could be appointed to this rank by the State Council ("Staatsrat"; the head-of-state council of the GDR) during wartime or for exceptional military achievement; no one ever held the rank, however.
Modern Germany.
The ranks of "Generalfeldmarschall", "Generaloberst", "Großadmiral" and "Generaladmiral" no longer exist in the new German (until 1990 West German) Armed Forces, the Bundeswehr, which were created in 1956. Currently, the highest military grades in the Bundeswehr are general and admiral.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Bundeswehr is in peacetime, according to Article 65a of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (constitution), the civilian Federal Minister of Defence, who holds supreme command authority over all soldiers. In wartime, during the State of Defence, that supreme command authority is transferred to the "Federal Chancellor". The Inspector General of the Bundeswehr is the military chief of defence and heads the "Armed Forces Command Staff" ().