Hitler’s Panzer Generals – A Public Lecture by David Stahel

The German panzer generals of the Second World War have been the subject of great historical interest.

Much has been written about their campaigns and military decision making, however we know much less about the men themselves – their private thoughts, personal relationships, and ability to cope with the pressures of command.

This presentation is based on four of Germany’s leading panzer commanders in 1941 and draws upon their private wartime correspondence to reconstruct who were the German panzer commanders behind the scenes? What motivated them and what accounted for (or undermined) their success?

The research is based on David’s recent book: Hitler’s Panzer Generals: Guderian, Hoepner, Reinhardt, and Schmidt Unguarded (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023).

About the Speaker
David Stahel is an Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales in Canberra and teaches for the Australia Defence Force Academy. He is the author of numerous books about German operations on the Eastern Front during the Second World War, but has also written about the Wehrmacht’s wartime criminality, the German army as a social institution and the politics of the German alliance system.

Lecture Time & Venue
Saturday, 5 April 2025, 10:30AM-11:30AM, Auditorium, Anzac Memorial Hyde Park, corner Elizabeth and Liverpool Streets, Sydney CBD. Admission is free of charge but a donation would be appreciated. For further information call 0419 698 783 or email: president@militaryhistorynsw.com.au.