Editing Hermann Hoth (section)

{{short description|German army commander and war criminal during World War II}}
{{good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
| nickname      = "Papa"{{sfn|Kirchubel|2007|p=16}}<br>"Giftzwerg"{{sfn|Stein|2007|p=316}}
| name          = Hermann Hoth
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1885|4|12|df=y}}
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1971|1|25|1885|4|12|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Neuruppin]], [[Province of Brandenburg]], [[Kingdom of Prussia]], [[German Empire]]
| death_place   = [[Goslar]], [[West Germany]]
| image         = Hermann Hoth, defendant in High Command Trial.jpg
| image_size    = 
| caption       = Hermann Hoth during the [[High Command Trial]], in 1947
| allegiance    = {{plainlist| 
* [[German Empire]]
* [[Weimar Republic]]
* [[Nazi Germany]]
}}
| serviceyears  = 1903–1945
| rank          = ''[[Generaloberst]]'' 
| commands      = {{plainlist |
* [[18th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|18th Infantry Division]]
* [[XV Army Corps (Wehrmacht)|XV Motorised Corps]]
* [[3rd Panzer Group]]
* [[17th Army (Wehrmacht)|17th Army]]
* [[4th Panzer Army]]
}}
| battles       = {{tree list}}
* [[World War I]]
* [[World War II]]
** [[Invasion of Poland]] 
** [[Battle of France]] 
** [[Operation Barbarossa]] 
** [[Case Blue]] 
** [[Battle of Stalingrad]] 
** [[Third Battle of Kharkov]] 
** [[Battle of Kursk]]
** [[Battle of Voronezh (1942)]]
** [[Battle of Kiev (1943)]]
{{tree list/end}}
| awards        = [[House Order of Hohenzollern|Knight's Cross of the House Order of Hohenzollern]] with Swords<br />[[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords]]
| signature     = Papa Hoth Unterschrift.jpg
| module        = '''Criminal conviction'''{{Infobox criminal
  |child       = yes
  |conviction = [[War crimes]]<br>[[Crimes against humanity]]
| trial = High Command Trial
| conviction_penalty = 15 years imprisonment
| conviction_status = 
| victims = [[German mistreatment of Soviet prisoners of war|Soviet prisoners of war]]<br> [[Generalplan Ost|Soviet civilians (Jews and Slavs)]]
|imprisoned =
}}
}}
'''Hermann Hoth''' (12 April 1885 – 25 January 1971) was a German army [[commander]], [[war criminal]], and author. He served as a high-ranking [[panzer]] commander in the [[Wehrmacht]] during [[World War II]], playing a prominent role in the [[Battle of France]] and on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]]. Contemporaries and later historians consider Hoth one of the most talented [[armoured warfare]] commanders of the war. He was a strong believer in [[Nazism]], and units under his command committed several war crimes including the murder of [[Prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] and civilians.

Born in [[Prussia]], Hoth embarked on a career as a military officer early in his youth. After graduating from the [[Preußische Hauptkadettenanstalt|Royal Prussian Military Academy]], he slowly rose in the ranks of the [[Imperial German Army]]. Hoth mainly served in various staff positions in [[World War I]], and after the conflict's conclusion continued to do so in the [[Reichswehr|armed forces]] of the newly formed [[Weimar Republic]]. Following [[Adolf Hitler's rise to power#Seizure of control (1931–1933)|Hitler's seizure of control]] in Germany, Hoth began to rapidly rise in the ranks and became known as a proponent of motorization in the Wehrmacht.

When World War II broke out, Hoth successfully led the [[XV Army Corps (Wehrmacht)|XV Army Corps]] during the German invasions [[Invasion of Poland|of Poland]] and France. He commanded the [[3rd Panzer Group]] during [[Operation Barbarossa]] in 1941, a position in which he assisted in the destruction of several [[Red Army|Soviet armies]]. From October 1941, Hoth headed the [[17th Army (Wehrmacht)|17th Army]], a period during which he advocated for a war of annihilation against the Soviet Union, the merciless destruction of [[Soviet partisans|partisans]], and the murder of [[Jews]]. In the Wehrmacht's [[Operation Blue|1942 summer offensive]], Hoth led the [[4th Panzer Army]] and took part in the [[Battle of Stalingrad]]. When the [[Operation Uranus|German 6th Army was encircled]] at Stalingrad in November 1942, Hoth's [[army group]] made an unsuccessful [[Operation Winter Storm|relief attempt]]. Afterwards, Hoth was involved in the [[Third Battle of Kharkov]] as well as the [[Battle of Kursk]], while increasingly suffering from near-[[Occupational burnout|burnout]]. He led the German defense in eastern Ukraine during the [[Battle of the Dnieper]], but was sacked by [[Adolf Hitler]] due to the surprise [[Battle of Kiev (1943)|Soviet reconquest of Kiev]] in November 1943. For the rest of the war, he was mostly relegated to powerless positions.

After the war, Hoth was convicted of [[war crimes]] and [[crimes against humanity]] in the [[High Command Trial]], mainly regarding his implementation of the criminal [[Commissar Order]] and the [[German mistreatment of Soviet prisoners of war|mistreatment of POWs]] as well as civilians. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but released on parole in 1954. Hoth subsequently became an author, writing about armoured warfare, the development of [[West Germany]]'s [[Bundeswehr|military]], and in support of the [[myth of the clean Wehrmacht]].