Early Life
Erwin Rommel was born on November, 15, 1891 in Heidehem, German Empire. Erwin was the third of five siblings. He originally wanted to be an engineer but his dad wanted him to joins the army so he did. He started studying in the Officer Cadet school in 1910 and graduated in 1911. His mother was Helene von Luz and his dad was Erwin Rommel.
Career
Erwin was promoted to General Major on August 23, 1939, shortly before the invasion of Poland. During the invasion of Poland he was in charge of protecting Hitler. He wanted to become the commander of a panzer division but was turned down by the army's personnel office. He was later made the commander of the 7th Panzer Division by Hitler.
AFRICA
On February 6, 1941 Rommel was made the commander of the Afrika Koprs. The Afrika Korps consisted of the 15th Panzer Division and the 21st Panzer Division. A few days after this he was promoted to Lieutenant General. Rommel was supposed to defend the front line at Sirte and wait for the 15th Panzer Division to arrive. Rommel decided to disobey his orders and advance anyway, his staff tried to slow him down but Hitler encouraged him to advance. The British had intel on Rommel's orders to defend until the 15th Panzer Division arrived so they did not expect an attack. After only one day of fighting on March 31, the Germans captured Mersa El Brega from the British.
Tanks
Rommel had command of some Panzer Divisions, Rommel ha very good tactics when it came to using tanks in battle. Rommel liked to surprise his enemies and make them uncertain of what he would do in battle. Rommel was often very aggressive and would not wait to attack. This was because he believed that if the enemies weren't allowed to regroup and were cut off from each other he would win the battle.
Death
On July 17, 1944 Rommel was returning to his headquarters after visiting the headquarters of the I SS Panzer Corps. While on the way back a plane strafed his car causing it to crash. Rommel had major head injuries after being thrown from the car. The crash did not kill him though, Rommel knew the German defenses would inevitably fail. He told Hitler but Hitler did not care and told him to focus on military operations. The 20 July plot was a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler. Rommel is believed to have told the people in charge of the plot that Hitler needs to be killed because it is Germany's only way out. When Hitler found out he gave Rommel three options he could choose to defend himself personally to Hitler in Berlin face the People's Court, or choose a quiet suicide. If he choose suicide his family would not face punishment for his crime. Rommel died on October 14, 1944, he died from swallowing a cyanide pill. He was given a state funeral and his official cause of death was he died from injuries when his car was strafed.