Career
In 1900 he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards and soon afterward was transferred to the artillery. In 1912 he was assigned to the general staff, on which he served throughout World War I. Brauchitsch was discharged after the armistice, but when the German army was reorganized in 1919, in accordance with the requirements of the Peace Treaty, he was commissioned a major. In 1922 he was appointed head of the artillery section in the Ministry of Defense and in 1930 he was made a colonel and placed in charge of military training. He became a major general and chief of the artillery in 1931. Brauchitsch was placed in command of the East Prussia military area in 1933. Because of his admiration for the man and approval of his aims, Brauchitsch had little difficulty gaining the confidence of Adolf Hitler. In 1937 he was placed in charge of the Leipzig military area. n February 1938 Hitler appointed him commander in chief of the German army and a member of the secret council that advised on foreign policy. Brauchitsch personally led his troops in the occupation of Austria in 1938, and later in the occupation of the Sudetenland and the rest of Czechoslovakia. When Hitler decided to invade Poland in September 1939, Brauchitsch occupied the country in 19 days; France and the Low Countries were overrun in the spring of 1940. After these victories Brauchitsch was made a field marshal, July 19, 1940; in 1941 he conducted operations in the Balkans, and later led his troops in the invasion of the Soviet Union. Because of his failure to take Moscow, he was allowed to resign to make way for Hitler, who assumed personal command, Dec. 20, 1941. Brauchitsch was arrested by Allied troops after the invasion of Germany.