Background
Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb was born in Landsberg, Bavaria, on 5 September 1939, to an old military family.
Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb was born in Landsberg, Bavaria, on 5 September 1939, to an old military family.
He joined the Bavarian Army in 1895 and served in China during the Boxer Rebellion. Between 1907 and 1913, he attended the Bavarian War Academy and served on the General Staff. At the outbreak of World War I, Leeb rejoined the Bavarian Army.
A career officer, he entered the Imperial army as a cadet in 1895 and served in various staff appointments during World War I. A member of the Freikorps in 1919, von Leeb made his subsequent career in the Reichswehr and was promoted in 1929 to Major General. From 1930 to 1933 he commanded Military District VII. In 1934 he was promoted to General of Artillery and was assigned as Commander-in-Chief to Army Group II.
Dismissed in January 1938 von Leeb was recalled to duty at the time of the Czech crisis, commanding an army into the Sudetenland. Promoted to General in 1939, he was appointed Commander of Army Group C, opposing the French on the Rhine and along the Maginot Line. He privately disapproved of the proposed German army offensive against neutral Belgium, which he believed would turn the world against Germany, and was sceptical of the prospects of victory in the West. Nevertheless, he took an active part in the western campaign and, after the fall of France, was promoted by Hitler to General Field Marshal.
On 22 June 1941 von Leeb was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Army Group North based in East Prussia which was to move up through the Baltic States towards Leningrad. Von Leeb's infantry and armoured divisions were initially successful in their drive north, but as the winter approached he advised a retreat from the Leningrad area, which led Hitler to relieve him of his post on 18 January 1942.
Leeb was tried by the United States military tribunal in Nuremberg in the High Command Trial. Leeb's defence attorney Hans Laternser acted as the de-facto lead defence counsel, often representing other parties in matters of procedure. He defended the overall "decency" of the German officer corps who, in Laternser's interpretation, had displayed respect for the laws of war.
Field Marshal von Leeb took no further active part in the war. He died in Hohenschwangau, Bavaria, on 29 April 1956.