"Today the war against England and France, which the Führer had previously assured us we would not have to confront until 1944 and which he believed he could avoid up until the very last minute, began .Īs far as the Kriegsmarine is concerned, it is obvious that it is not remotely ready for the titanic struggle against England. He wrote in the Seekriegsleitung war diary on 3 September 1939: When Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, Raeder was shocked and shattered by the outbreak of a general war that for the Kriegsmarine was at least five years too early. This article covers Raeder's activities during World War II.īeginning of the war: Raeder's political-naval plan Erich Raeder offers a National Socialist salute in 1939 in Berlin. Raeder is also well known for dismissing Reinhard Heydrich from the Reichsmarine in April 1931 for "conduct unbecoming to an officer and a gentleman". Raeder was sentenced to life in prison at the Nuremberg Trials but was released early because of failing health. He resigned in 1943 and was replaced by Karl Dönitz. Raeder led the Kriegsmarine ( German: War Navy) for the first half of the war. Raeder attained the highest possible naval rank, Großadmiral (Grand Admiral), in 1939 and thus became the first person to hold that rank since Henning von Holtzendorff. Erich Johann Albert Raeder (24 April 1876 – 6 November 1960) was a naval leader in Germany who played a major role in the naval history of World War II.
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