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This article iswritten inBritish English, which has its own spelling conventions (colour,travelled,centre,defence,artefact,analyse) and some terms may be different or absent from othervarieties of English. According to therelevant style guide, this should not be changed withoutbroad consensus.

	Erwin Rommel was one of theHistory good articles, but it has been removed from the list. There are suggestions below for improving the article to meet thegood article criteria. Once these issues have been addressed, the article can berenominated. Editors may also seek areassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake.
Article milestones Date Process Result March 6, 2006 Good article nominee Listed November 22, 2006 Good article reassessment Delisted June 12, 2011 Good article nominee Not listed Facts from this article were featured on Wikipedia'sMain Page in the"On this day..." column onOctober 14, 2014, andOctober 14, 2019. Current status:Delisted good article

Text and/or other creative content fromthis version ofRommel myth was copied or moved intoErwin Rommel withthis edit. The former page'shistory now serves toprovide attribution for that content in the latter page, and it must not be deleted as long as the latter page exists.

Section sizes Section size forErwin Rommel (50 sections) Section name Byte count Prose size (words) Header Total Header Total (Top) 8,121 8,121 533 533 Early life and career 1,510 1,510 202 202 World War I 4,173 4,173 510 510 Interwar period 10,330 10,330 999 999 World War II 19 67,888 0 7,316 Poland 1939 1,512 1,512 184 184 France 1940 20 9,490 0 828 Promotion to armoured division commander 1,971 1,971 218 218 Invasion of the Netherlands, Belgium and France 2,943 2,943 343 343 Drive for the Channel 4,556 4,556 267 267 North Africa 1941–1943 1,298 26,313 102 3,271 First Axis offensive 2,649 2,649 349 349 Siege of Tobruk 5,609 5,609 697 697 Battle of Gazala and capture of Tobruk 4,796 4,796 567 567 El Alamein 21 8,750 0 1,130 First Battle of El Alamein 3,008 3,008 361 361 Battle of Alam El Halfa 2,059 2,059 280 280 Second Battle of El Alamein 3,662 3,662 489 489 End of Africa campaign 3,211 3,211 426 426 Italy 1943 2,010 2,010 253 253 Atlantic Wall 1944 14,337 14,337 1,384 1,384 Plot against Hitler 14,207 14,207 1,396 1,396 Death 7,731 7,731 654 654 Style as military commander 9,717 51,956 811 3,948 Relationship with Italian forces 5,948 5,948 503 503 Views on the conduct of war 36 36,291 0 2,634 Combat 6,091 6,091 466 466 Attitude toward colonial troops 8,529 8,529 655 655 Politics 2,130 2,130 181 181 Civilians 19,505 19,505 1,332 1,332 Reputation as a military commander 15,603 15,603 1,181 1,181 Debate about atrocities 28 18,242 0 1,420 Executions of prisoners in France 4,405 4,405 349 349 Treatment of Jews and other civilians in North Africa 10,739 10,739 775 775 Alleged treasure and spoils 3,070 3,070 296 296 In Nazi and Allied propaganda 5,011 15,947 356 1,486 Successes in North Africa 3,700 3,700 442 442 Military reverses 3,305 3,305 434 434 Rommel's views on propaganda 3,931 3,931 254 254 Relationship with Nazism 18,007 18,007 1,452 1,452 Rommel myth 3,685 3,685 512 512 Family life 1,869 1,869 253 253 Awards 2,181 2,181 0 0 Commemoration 10,340 10,340 617 617 Portrayals 746 746 0 0 Notes 31 31 0 0 References 16 24,717 0 0 Citations 29 29 0 0 Bibliography 24,672 24,672 0 0 External links 3,493 3,493 0 0 Total 266,570 266,570 21,083 21,083

At over 22k words of readable prose, this article is too long to read comfortably. It would be beneficial to condense and/or migrate content to subarticles to make this one more readable.Nikkimaria (talk)19:32, 28 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, it seems that this article ought to be split. I recommend that a sub-page be created for "Rommel in WWII" then a shortened version can be left on the main page.Semaurer01 (talk)21:17, 24 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I believe that There should not be an article for Rommel in World War two. There should however be one on Rommel's career during WWI.Tankishguy (talk)23:23, 21 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It seems to me that we do not have enough information about Rommel in WWI to merit its own article. If you have more information that you wish to add, then creating such an article seems to be the best way to do it, but this will not solve our length problem. Do you have a strong reason to oppose the creation of a Rommel in WWII page? if so, please explain. Also, just creating a page about Rommel in WWI cannot come close to fixing the length problems so if that is what you propose. then we need to find more things to omit or move.Semaurer01 (talk)12:01, 11 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Meh, fair, how about making a "Rommel in the world wars" article to fit as a compromise?Tankishguy :)(: (talk)10:39, 24 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

That seems like a great idea.Semaurer01 (talk)15:17, 20 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Should I get to work on it?Tankishguy :)(: (talk)15:42, 20 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, it seems you know a lot more about the topic than I so you should start the project.Semaurer01 (talk)16:03, 20 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I feel like this needs to have further discussion before we actually split it. Could you create the discussion, due to the fact that I do not know how to?Tankishguy :)(: (talk)16:50, 20 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

UseWP:splitTankishguy :)(: (talk)16:51, 20 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

NvmTankishguy :)(: (talk)16:52, 20 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Neither do I. We will both have to do some reading for this.Semaurer01 (talk)17:18, 20 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Just whatever you do, try and backup or preserve the text and sources the article currently has.MoreDarkAges (talk)06:37, 21 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The current image showing a younger Rommel is clearly AI edited/upscaled. The original picture has sharper detail in the cap badge and epaulettes. The strap across the brim of his hat should be a finely braided rope not the mess that AI has come up with. His left eye is also lacking a wrinkle above the eyelid, and overall rougher skintone.The image for much of this pages history has been of him at the peak of his career. I think it would be best to revert to it as it is also a greater indicator of who he was.50.92.17.67 (talk)04:38, 19 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The lede should mention his war crimes in France, such as the executions of Resistance members and his use of slave labour to build the Atlantic Wall.2A00:23C5:C419:D301:3082:82DC:98D4:F8E3 (talk)12:44, 27 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

No. Insignificant stuff. Executing non-uniform-wearing spies and saboteurs is standard fare in wartime. The slave labour was organized by others.Binksternet (talk)17:24, 27 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I'd prefer to stick to claims of interest, such as those in the novel about the Rommel myth and similar sources.MoreDarkAges (talk)06:39, 21 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I propose that the sections About his activity in World War one and World War two in Europe Should be split into a different Article namedErwin Rommel in the World Wars To mitigate size.Tankishguy :)(: (talk)17:00, 20 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think that would be useful in terms of being a logical separation perWP:SPINOUT. He was a soldier and these are his only wars, and so therefore completely central to his biography. The better option would be to condense the detail across the board, but in particular in the WWII section, which already has an excessive detail tag. Most of the subsections on campaigns and battles in that section could be condensed into one paragraph focussed not on the campaign or battle but his influence on it, allowing the campaign or battle article to tell the full story. The Atlantic Wall subsection is unnecessarily huge, for example.Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me)03:54, 21 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. In addition, I think all of the sections starting with "Death" are prime candidates for serious condensing and trimming. This article definitely needs to be reduced by more than 7,000 words, probably more. Some assessors would want it reduced by an additional 6,000 words or so, at least to qualify for a restored GA assessment. I may not agree with the need to reduce it by all of the second number of words, although the more words, the more likely the article assessment would need to remain at B.Donner60 (talk)04:26, 21 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Everything about a person that happens after they are dead could be a separate article. We could call it "legacy" or some such.MoreDarkAges (talk)06:40, 21 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Concur. Rommel was relatively low rank in World War I, and it's questionable how notable he would be if he hadn't both promoted himself and been successful in Word War II. Also agree that the sections after (and including) "Death" are far too sprawling. Removing the things that created his notability (his military record in both wars, especially Word War II) seems counterintuitive to me. Peacemaker67's suggestions seem sensible.Intothatdarkness13:50, 21 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

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