Editing Erwin Rommel (section)

== Between the wars ==
Rommel remained with the 124th Regiment until October 1920.{{sfn|Butler|2015|p=99}}{{sfn|Hoffman|2004|p=15}} The regiment was involved in quelling riots and civil disturbances that were occurring throughout Germany at this time.{{sfn|Butler|2015|p=100}} Wherever possible, Rommel avoided the use of force in these confrontations.{{sfn|Fraser|1993|p=86}} In 1919, he was briefly sent to Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance, where he restored order by "sheer force of personality" in the 32nd Internal Security Company, which was composed of rebellious and pro-communist sailors.{{sfn|Pimlott|1994|p=31}} He decided against storming the nearby city of [[Lindau]], which had been taken by revolutionary communists.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Schweizer|first1=Karl|title='Nach Absetzung der Dynastie zur freien Republik erklärt' Aus den Tagen der Novemberrevolution 1918 und der Räterepublik 1919 in Lindau/Bodensee|page=7|url=http://www.edition-inseltor-lindau.de/novemberrevolution1918.pdf|access-date=13 August 2016|archive-date=1 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201205326/http://www.edition-inseltor-lindau.de/novemberrevolution1918.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Instead, Rommel negotiated with the city council and managed to return it to the legitimate government through diplomatic means.{{sfn|Scheck|2010}}{{sfn|Reuth|2005|p=18}} This was followed by his defence of [[Schwäbisch Gmünd]], again bloodless.{{sfn|Remy|2002|p=100}} He was then posted to the Ruhr, where a Red Army was responsible for fomenting unrest. Historian {{interlanguage link|vertical-align=sup|Raffael Scheck|de}} praises Rommel as a coolheaded and moderate mind, exceptional amid the many takeovers of revolutionary cities by regular and irregular units and the associated massive violence.{{sfn|Scheck|2010}}

According to Reuth, this period gave Rommel the indelible impression that "Everyone in this Republic was fighting each other", along with the direct experience of people who attempted to convert Germany into a socialist republic on Soviet lines. There are similarities with Hitler's experiences: like Rommel, Hitler had known the solidarity of trench warfare and then had participated in the Reichswehr's suppression of the First and Second [[Bavarian Soviet Republic]]s. The need for national unity thus became a decisive legacy of the first World War.{{sfn|Reuth|2005|p=18}} Brighton notes that while both believed in the [[Stab-in-the-back myth]], Rommel was able to succeed using peaceful methods because he saw the problem as related to economic problems and empty stomachs, rather than to Judeo-Bolshevism – which right-wing soldiers such as Hitler blamed for the chaos in Germany.{{sfn|Brighton|2008|pp=46–47}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1987-0313-503, Goslar, Hitler schreitet Ehrenkompanie ab.jpg|thumb|Rommel and [[Adolf Hitler]] in Goslar, 1934]]

On 1 October 1920, Rommel was appointed to a company command with the 13th Infantry Regiment in Stuttgart, a post he held for the next nine years.{{sfn|Butler|2015|p=99}} He was then assigned to an instruction position at the [[Dresden]] Infantry School from 1929 to 1933; during this time, in April 1932, he was promoted to major.{{sfn|Hoffman|2004|p=15}} While at Dresden, he wrote a manual on infantry training, published in 1934. In October 1933, he was promoted to ''[[Oberstleutnant]]'' (lieutenant colonel) and given his next command, the 3rd ''[[Jäger (infantry)|Jäger]]'' Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, stationed at [[Goslar]].{{sfn|Fraser|1993|p=100}} Here he first met Hitler, who inspected his troops on 30 September 1934.{{sfn|Lewin|1998|p=9}}

In September 1935, Rommel was moved to the War Academy in Potsdam as an instructor, serving for the next three years.{{sfn|Fraser|1993|p=117}} His book ''[[Infanterie greift an]]'' (''Infantry Attacks''), a description of his wartime experiences along with his analysis, was published in 1937. It became a best-seller, which, according to Scheck, later "enormously influenced" many armies of the world.{{sfn|Scheck|2010}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Grossman |first=David A. |year=1993 |chapter=Maneuver Warfare in the Light Infantry – The Rommel Model |editor-last=Hooker |editor-first=Richard D. |title=Maneuver Warfare |location=Novato, CA |publisher=Presidio |pages=316–335 }} [https://www.scribd.com/document/30313896/The-Rommel-Models-Impact-on-Maneuver-Warfare Online version] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201205319/https://www.scribd.com/document/30313896/The-Rommel-Models-Impact-on-Maneuver-Warfare |date=1 December 2021 }} in Scribd.</ref> [[Adolf Hitler]] was one of many people who owned a copy.{{sfn|Butler|2015|pp=133–134}}

Hearing of Rommel's reputation as an outstanding military instructor, in February 1937 Hitler assigned him as the War Ministry liaison officer to the [[Hitler Youth]] in charge of military training. Here Rommel clashed with [[Baldur von Schirach]], the Hitler Youth leader, over the training that the boys should receive.{{sfn|Showalter|2006|p=123}} Trying to fulfil a mission assigned to him by the Ministry of War,{{sfn|Remy|2002|p=37}} Rommel had twice proposed a plan that would have effectively subordinated Hitler Youth to the army, removing it from NSDAP control. That went against Schirach's express wishes. Schirach appealed directly to Hitler; consequently, Rommel was quietly removed from the project in 1938.{{sfn|Searle|2014|pp=19–21}} He had been promoted to ''[[Oberst]]'' (colonel), on 1 August 1937, and in 1938, following the ''[[Anschluss]]'', he was appointed commandant of the [[Theresian Military Academy]] at [[Wiener Neustadt]].{{sfn|Butler|2015|p=137}}

In October 1938, Hitler specially requested that Rommel be seconded to command the ''[[Führerbegleitbrigade|Führerbegleitbatallion]]'' (his escort battalion).{{sfn|Butler|2015|p=142}} This unit accompanied Hitler whenever he travelled outside of Germany.{{sfn|Lewin|1998|p=9}} During this period, Rommel indulged his interest in engineering and mechanics by learning about the inner workings and maintenance of internal combustion engines and heavy machine guns.{{sfn|Butler|2015|pp=100, 103}} He memorised [[logarithm tables]] in his spare time, and enjoyed skiing and other outdoor sports.{{sfn|Fraser|1993|p=99}} Ian F. Beckett writes that by 1938, Rommel drifted towards uncritical acceptance of the Nazi regime, quoting Rommel's letter to his wife in which he stated "The German Wehrmacht is the sword of the new German world view", as a reaction to a speech by Hitler.{{sfn|Beckett|2013|p=22}}

During his visit to Switzerland in 1938, Rommel reported that Swiss soldiers who he met showed "remarkable understanding of our Jewish problem".<ref>"The Battle of Alamein: Turning Point, World War II", p. 57 John Bierman, Colin Smith – 2002 {{ISBN?}}</ref> American writer and Rommel biographer [[Daniel Allen Butler]] comments that he did share the view (popular in Germany and many European countries during that time) that as a people, the Jews were loyal to themselves rather than the nations in which they lived. Despite this fact, other pieces of evidence show that he considered the [[Nazi racial theories|Nazi racial ideologies]] to be rubbish.{{sfn|Butler|2015|p=138}} Historian Alaric Searle comments that Rommel knew the official stand of the regime, but in this case, the phrase was ambiguous and there is no evidence after or before this event that he ever sympathised with the [[antisemitism]] of the Nazi movement.{{sfn|Searle|2014|p=23}} Rommel's son [[Manfred Rommel]] stated in the documentary ''The Real Rommel'', released in 2001 by [[Channel 4]], that his father would "look the other way" when faced with anti-Jewish violence on the streets. But, according to the documentary, Rommel requested proof of "Aryan descent" from the Italian boyfriend of his illegitimate daughter Gertrud.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090131143921/http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/R/real_lives/rommel.html] ''The Real Rommel'', by Channel 4. archived on Archive.org 1 July 2020</ref><ref>[https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060035818] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202190406/https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060035818|date=2 December 2021}} The Real Rommel – Interview Tapes. Imperial War Museums.</ref><!-- Please provide the archive.org link, at least. I mean the link to the documentary or the script of the documentary itself, not the backup link of the article on the documentary, because in this case, the most important part is no doubt his descendants' accounts --> According to Remy, during the time Rommel was posted in Goslar, he repeatedly clashed with the SA whose members terrorised the Jews and dissident Goslar citizens. After the [[Night of the Long Knives|Röhm Purge]], he mistakenly believed that the worst was over, although restrictions on Jewish businesses were still being imposed and agitation against their community continued. According to Remy, Manfred Rommel recounts that his father knew about and privately disagreed with the government's antisemitism, but by this time, he had not actively campaigned on behalf of the Jews.{{sfn|Remy|2002|pp=32–35}} However, [[Uri Avnery]] notes that even when Rommel was a low-ranking officer, he protected the Jews who lived in his district.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Avnery |first1=Uri |title=In Pursuit of the Desert Fox |url=https://www.haaretz.com/life/books/1.4915694 |work=Haaretz |year=2003 |archive-date=2 December 2021 |access-date=13 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202191911/https://www.haaretz.com/life/books/1.4915694 |url-status=live }}</ref> Manfred Rommel tells the ''[[Stuttgarter Nachrichten]]'' that their family lived in isolated military lands but knew about the discrimination against the Jews which was occurring on the outside. They could not foresee the enormity of the impending atrocities, about which they only knew much later.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Schunder |first1=Josef |title=Erinnerung Manfred Rommel – Sein Vermächtnis bleibt |url=https://www.schwarzwaelder-bote.de/inhalt.erinnerung-manfred-rommel-sein-vermaechtnis-bleibt.510127cc-52ab-4d47-ab2c-5232b82f534a.html |agency=Schwarzwälder Bote Mediengruppe |year=2013 |archive-date=2 December 2021 |access-date=13 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202191911/https://www.schwarzwaelder-bote.de/inhalt.erinnerung-manfred-rommel-sein-vermaechtnis-bleibt.510127cc-52ab-4d47-ab2c-5232b82f534a.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

At one point, Rommel wrote to his wife that Hitler had a "magnetic, maybe hypnotic, strength" that had its origin in Hitler's belief that he "was called upon by God", and Hitler sometimes "spoke from the depth of his being [...] like a [[prophet]]".{{sfn|Reuth|2005|pp=36, 37}}