Karl Dönitz
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| Karl Dönitz | |
 Großadmiral Karl Dönitz, Admiral and Reichspräsident of Nazi Germany. |
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| In office 30 April 1945 – 23 May 1945 |
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| Preceded by | Adolf Hitler Führer und Reichskanzler |
| Succeeded by | Allied military occupation 1945-1949 Theodor Heuss (FRG) Wilhelm Pieck (GDR) |
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| Born | September 16 1891 Berlin |
| Died | December 24 1980 (aged 89) Aumühle, near Hamburg |
| Nationality | German |
| Political party | None |
- The title of this article contains the character ö. Where it is unavailable or not wanted, the name may be written as Karl Doenitz.
Karl Dönitz (pronounced [ˈdøːnɪts] 
(info • help)) (September 16, 1891 – December 24, 1980) was a German naval leader. He commanded the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) during the second half of World War II. Dönitz was also President of Germany for 23 days after Adolf Hitler's suicide. For his role in World War II, Dönitz was referred to as "der Löwe" (the Lion).[1]
Dönitz was born in the Berlin. He entered the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) in 1911. During World War I, he served on surface ships. Later he was transferred to submarines (U-boats). He remained in the navy after the war and rose through the ranks of the German Navy of the Weimar Republic (Reichsmarine) and the German Navy of the Third Reich (Kriegsmarine). He became a Großadmiral. He served as Commander of Submarines (Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote, B.d.U.). Later, he became Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy (Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine). He got this position, even though he never joined the Nazi Party. Under his command, the U-boat fleet fought the Battle of the Atlantic. He also served as Reichspräsident for 23 days after Adolf Hitler's suicide. He ended the war as a prisoner-of-war of the British.
After the war Dönitz was charged and convicted of "crimes against peace" and "war crimes" at the Nuremberg Trials. He served ten years in prison. He ordered the unrestricted submarine warfare which was done by Germany in the North Atlantic. With this, he caused Germany to be in breach of the Second London Naval Treaty of 1936. At his trial, evidence was show that the Allies had acted similarly. For this reason, this breach of international law had no impact on his sentence.[2][3] After his release from prison, Dönitz moved to Aumühle, a small village near Hamburg. During his later years, he wrote two autobiographies. In them, he covered different periods in his life. He died of a heart attack on Christmas Eve, 1980.
[change] References
- ↑ Time Magazine. The Lion is out. Retrieved November, 2007
- ↑ Judgement: Dönitz the Avalon Project at the Yale Law School.
- ↑ In addition, Dönitz in Ten Years & Twenty Days and Edward P. Von der Porten in The German Navy in World War Two argue that by being armed and reporting the position of submarines to Royal Navy forces, British merchantmen placed themselves beyond the protection of international law.
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.svg/22px-Flag_of_Germany_(2-3).svg.png){kind=small} Weimar Republic (1919–1933) |
Friedrich Ebert · Kanzler Hans Luther(acting) · Judge Walter Simons (acting) · Paul von Hindenburg |
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 Nazi Germany (1933–1945) |
Paul von Hindenburg · Adolf Hitler (as Führer and Reichskanzler) · Karl Dönitz | |
 Germany (since 1949) |
Bundesratspräsident Karl Arnold (acting) · Theodor Heuss1 · Heinrich Lubke · Gustav Heinemann · Walter Scheel · Karl Carstens · Richard von Weizsäcker2 · Roman Herzog · Johannes Rau · Horst Köhler | |
| 1 President at the time of unification with the Saar 2 President at the time of unification with East Germany | ||
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Bormann · Dönitz · Frank · Frick · Fritzsche · Funk · Göring · Hess · Jodl · Kaltenbrunner · Keitel · v.Neurath · v.Papen · Raeder · v.Ribbentrop · Rosenberg · Sauckel · Schacht · v.Schirach · Seyß-Inquart · Speer · Streicher |
