Walther Heinrich Alfred Hermann von Brauchitsch was a German Generalfeldmarschall and Commander-in-Chief (Oberbefehlshaber) of the German Army during the first two years of World War II. Born into an aristocratic military family, he entered army service in 1901. During World War I, he served with distinction on the corps-level and division-level staff on the Western Front.
Brauchitsch in 1939
Hauptkadettenanstalt Groß Lichterfelde, the military academy Brauchitsch attended
Brauchitsch with Hitler in Warsaw, October 1939
The German Army was the land forces component of the Wehrmacht, the regular armed forces of Nazi Germany, from 1935 until it effectively ceased to exist in 1945 and then was formally dissolved in August 1946. During World War II, a total of about 13.6 million soldiers served in the German Army. Army personnel were made up of volunteers and conscripts.
Adolf Hitler with Wilhelm Keitel, Friedrich Paulus, and Walther von Brauchitsch, October 1941
German soldiers in Greece, April 1941
Soldiers of the Großdeutschland Division during Operation Barbarossa, 1941
"Above All Stands the German Infantry" — Nazi propaganda poster