Background
Werner von Blomberg was born on 2 September 1878 in Stargard (Present Germany).
Werner von Blomberg was born on 2 September 1878 in Stargard (Present Germany).
Werner von Blomberg joined the army in 1897 and attended the Prussian Military Academy in 1904.
von Blomberg joined the Reichswehr in 1919, after various staff appointments during World War 1. From 1927 to 1929 when he served as head of the Truppenamt (conscription office) at the War Office, von Blomberg frequently visited Soviet Russia and almost became a Bolshevik, during the honeymoon period of collaboration between the Reichswehr and the Red Army. In 1929 von Blomberg was given command of Defence District I in East Prussia and it was in this capacity that he first met Hitler in 1931. who made a great impression on the intelligent, though easily influenced officer. Von Blomberg was head of the German delegation at the Disarmament Conference in Geneva and then on 1 January 1933 he was appointed Minister of Defence and promoted to General of Infantry.
In May 1935 he was made Commander-in-Chief of the new Wehrmacht and closely collaborated with Party leaders in planning the military reoccuption of the Rhineland. As a reward for his loyalty, Hitler appointed him the first General Field Marshal of the Wehrmacht in 1936. The steel-helmeted, aristocratic figure of von Blomberg seemed a guarantee of continuity to the conservative classes, though many of his fellow generals considered him too compliant towards the Nazis.
Von Blomberg’s downfall came about through a scandal engineered by Goering, who coveted his position, and Himmler who was trying to promote the interests of his armed SS formations. The scandal arose through von Blomberg’s marriage with Eva Gruhn.
Von Blomberg and his wife were ordered to spend a year in exile, leaving for Capri after the Field Marshal's official resignation on 4 February 1938. The fall of von Blomberg, and that of von Fritsch shortly afterwards, allowed Hitler to end any possibility that the armed forces might act independently or even oppose the Nazi régime. Hitler himself took over the office of Defence Minister and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
Von Blomberg played a crucial role in Hitler's consolidation of power, during the Rohm putsch and after the death of President von Hindenburg. On 29 June 1934 in an article in the Völkische Beobachter he had assured Hitler of the loyalty of the army, and soon after applauded the crushing of the SA, declaring that ‘the Wehrmacht, as the sole armed force of the entire nation, while remaining apart from the conflicts of internal politics, will express its gratitude by its devotion and fidelity'. As War Minister, von Blomberg endorsed Hitler's succession to President Hindenburg, swearing the oath of allegiance to the Führer and imposing it on his fellow officers, thereby confirming Hitler's control over the army.
Physical Characteristics: He was a tall, impressive-looking, professional soldier from an officers' family.
Bloomberg was a widower at the time with grown-up children. On 12 January 1938 he got married to Eva Gruhn, a pretty, young working-girl who turned out to have been a prostitute with a criminal record who had posed for obscene photographs. Both Hitler and Goering had attended the discreet wedding ceremony as witnesses.
Almost immediately, ugly rumours began to circulate as to the lady’s past and the dossier compiled by the Berlin Chief of Police, von Helldorf, was sent on to Goering, who, together with Himmler, exploited the case to bring down their antagonist.