Blomberg, Werner Von

Born Sept. 2, 1878, in Stargard; died March 14, 1946, in Nuremberg. Field marshal of the fascist German Army (from 1936).

Blomberg participated in World War I as an officer of the General Staff, thereafter in the Reichswehr. From 1927 to 1929 he was chief of the Military Administration (that is, the disguised General Staff) and then commanded the troops of the First Military District (East Prussia). In January 1933 he became minister of the Reichswehr; in 1935, minister of war; and in May 1935, commander in chief of the armed forces. He controlled the creation of the fascist German Wehrmacht. He belonged to a group of generals who were apprehensive about Hitler’s overly adventurous course of action, and he was forced into retirement in February 1938. After the defeat of fascist Germany, he was brought to trial at the International Tribunal in Nuremberg. He died in prison during the investigation