An operational architect of Nazi Germany's war
On 30 June 1940 he wrote, “The final German victory over England is now only a question of time.”
Alfred Jodl was a career officer who served throughout the Second World War as chief of the Operations Staff of Germany's Armed Forces High Command, translating Nazi political decisions into military directives. In 1940 he judged final victory over Britain to be only a matter of time, while the OKW examined pressure and invasion options and coordinated the associated operational preparations and orders. He signed or circulated the Commissar and Commando Orders and bore responsibility for forced evacuation and the destruction of homes in occupied territory. Convicted on all four counts at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, he was hanged in 1946.
Career Timeline
- 1910Entered military service in the 4th Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment
- 1914–1918Artillery officer on the Western Front in World War I
- 1932–1935Served in the Army Operations Department
- 1935–1939Chief of the National Defense Section in the OKW
- 1939–1945Chief of the OKW Operations Staff
- 1944Promoted to Generaloberst
- 1945Defendant at Nuremberg and signatory of Germany's surrender instrument
- 1946Hanged at Nuremberg