Fedor von Bock

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Fedor von Bock (December 3, 1880 May 4, 1945) was an officer in the German military from 1898 to 1945, attaining the rank of Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) during World War II. As a leader who lectured his soldiers about the honor of dying for the German Fatherland, he was nicknamed "Der Sterber" (literally, "The Dier"). Bock served as the commander of Army Group North during the Invasion of Poland in 1939, commander of Army Group B during the Invasion of France in 1940, and later as the commander of Army Group Center during the attack on the Soviet Union in 1941; his final command was that of Army Group South in 1942. Bock is best known for commanding Operation Typhoon, the ultimately failed attempt to capture Moscow during the winter of 1941. The Wehrmacht offensive was slowed by stiff Soviet resistance around Mozhaisk, and also by the Rasputitsa, the season of rain and mud in Russia. The soft dirt roads in Russia quickly turnedinto quagmires, and as a result the pace of the German advance slowed to a crawl.