Misplaced Pages

#628371

130-632: On 29 August 1916, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg and General Erich Ludendorff were appointed as heads of Oberste Heeresleitung (OHL, German General Staff ) of the German army, after the sacking of General Erich von Falkenhayn , who had commanded the armies of Germany since September 1914. The new commanders, who became known as the Third OHL, had spent two years in command of Oberbefehlshaber der gesamten Deutschen Streitkräfte im Osten ( Ober Ost , Supreme Commander of All German Forces in

260-487: A Gesetz über den vaterländischen Hilfsdienst ( Hilfsdienstgesetz Auxiliary Services Law) which from November 1916, made all Germans from 16 to 50 years old subject to compulsory service. The new programme was intended to treble artillery and machine-gun output and double munitions and trench mortar production. Expansion of the German Army and output of war materials caused increased competition for manpower by

390-573: A General of the Infantry (lieutenant-general; the German equivalent to four-star rank was Colonel-General). The annual maneuvers taught him how to maneuver a large force; in 1908 he defeated a corps commanded by the Kaiser. Schlieffen recommended him as Chief of the General Staff in 1909, but he lost out to Helmuth von Moltke . He retired in 1911 "to make way for younger men". He had been in

520-583: A double creeping barrage led the infantry into the shattered first German lines, where the attackers stopped to repel counterattacks. With repeated nibbles by mid-December 1916 the French retook all the ground the Germans had paid for so dearly. Nivelle was given command of the French Army. Hindenburg's day at OHL began at 09:00 when he and Ludendorff discussed the reports—usually quickly agreeing on what

650-527: A fierce and obstinate conflict on the Somme, which lasted five months, the enemy pressed us back to a depth of about six miles on a stretch of nearly twenty-five miles" Thirteen new divisions were created by reducing the number of men in infantry battalions, and divisions now had an artillery commander. Every regiment on the western front created an assault unit of stormtroopers selected from their fittest and most aggressive men. Lieutenant General Ernst von Höppner

780-460: A fight is kept up against all agitators, croakers and weaklings". Meanwhile, to mitigate the risk of being attacked before their buildup was complete, Germany's new military leadership waged unrestricted submarine warfare on allied shipping, which they claimed would defeat the British in six months. Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg and his allies expressed opposition to this policy, not wanting to bring

910-900: A flank on the Tigris River. The Western Front ran southward from Belgium until near Laon , where it turned east to pass Verdun before again turning south to end at the Swiss Border. The remaining German enclaves in Africa were beyond his reach; an attempt to resupply them by dirigible failed. The Central Powers were surrounded and outnumbered. By the second quarter of 1917, Hindenburg and Ludendorff were able to assemble 680,000 more men in 53 new divisions and provide them with an adequate supply of new light machine guns . Field guns were increased from 5,300 to 6,700 and heavies from 3,700 to 4,340. They tried to foster fighting spirit by "patriotic instruction" with lectures and films to "ensure that

1040-465: A fresh one. The Chief of Staff of the new Heeresgruppe Deutscher Kronprinz (Army Group German Crown Prince) reported that conditions at Verdun were little better and that the recruit depots behind the army group front could supply only 50–60 percent of the casualty replacements needed. From July to August the Westheer had fired the equivalent of 587 trainloads of field gun ammunition, against

1170-630: A key role in the Nazi seizure of power in 1933 when he appointed Adolf Hitler as chancellor of Germany . Hindenburg was born to a family of minor Prussian nobility in Posen . Upon completing his education as a cadet, he enlisted in the Third Regiment of Foot Guards as a second lieutenant. He saw combat during the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars. In 1873, he was admitted to

1300-654: A letter to the Emperor dated 12 July 1917, Ludendorff threatened to resign, and Hindenburg joined in the ultimatum. The Kaiser declined to accept. By then the majority parties in the Reichstag saw Bethmann Hollweg as an unacceptable negotiator for peace because he had been chancellor too long and was too weak in his dealings with the Supreme Army Command. The crisis was resolved when Bethmann Hollweg voluntarily resigned. Ludendorff and Bauer wanted to replace both

1430-755: A major. In the summer, they visited his grandfather at the Hindenburg estate of Neudeck in East Prussia . At age 11, Paul entered the Cadet Corps School at Wahlstatt (now Legnickie Pole , Poland). At 16, he was transferred to the School in Berlin, and, at 18, he served as a page to the widow of King Frederick William IV of Prussia . Graduates entering the army were presented to King William I, who asked for their father's name and rank. He became

SECTION 10

#1732773276629

1560-534: A new army group under Prince Leopold of Bavaria and transferred Ludendorff to a new joint German and Austro-Hungarian Southern Army. Hindenburg and Ludendorff reacted by threatening to resign thereby resulting in Ludendorff's reinstatement under Hindenburg's command. Following his return, Ludendorff provided Hindenburg with a depressing evaluation of their allies' army, which already had lost many of their professional officers and had been driven out of much of

1690-479: A railway expert, as the head. The new body was intended to by-pass the War Ministry as well as create the structure of a command economy, with a militaristic organisation intended to facilitate management and a subordinate level of six departments organised along bureaucratic lines. Hindenburg and Ludendorff demanded domestic changes to complement their changes of strategy. German workers were to be subjected to

1820-494: A second lieutenant in the Third Regiment of Foot Guards. When the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 broke out, Hindenburg wrote to his parents: 'I rejoice in this bright-coloured future. For the soldier war is the normal state of things[…]If I fall, it is the most honorable and beautiful death.' During the decisive Battle of Königgrätz , he was briefly knocked unconscious by a bullet that pierced his helmet and creased

1950-457: A son-in-law who was an Army officer. Dinner at 20:00 was with the general staff officers of all ranks and guests—crowned heads, allied leaders, politicians, industrialists and scientists. They left the table to subdivide into informal chatting groups. At 21:30 Ludendorff announced that time was up and they returned to work. After a junior officer summarized the daily reports, he might confer with Ludendorff again before retiring. Under Hindenburg,

2080-505: A staff train equipped with the most advanced communication apparatus, visited their new forces. At threatened points, they formed mixed German and Austro-Hungarian units while other Austro-Hungarian formations were bolstered by a sprinkling of German officers. Officers were exchanged between the German and Austro-Hungarian armies for training. The derelict citadel of the Brest Fortress was refurbished as their headquarters. Their front

2210-470: The kaiserlicher Oberst und Landsknechtsführer (head of the Prussian Ministry of War section responsible for raising new units), had grave doubts about the wisdom of expanding the army but was over-ruled by Ludendorff. The German Army had begun 1916 equally well provided for in artillery and ammunition, massing 8.5 million field and 2.7 million heavy artillery shells for the beginning of

2340-618: The First Battle of the Masurian Lakes . Two columns drove east from these breakthrough points to pocket the Russians led by General Paul von Rennenkampf , who managed to retreat 100 km (62 mi) with heavy losses. In the first six weeks of the war the Russians had lost more than 310,000 men. Eight hundred thousand refugees were able to return to their East Prussian homes, thanks to victories that strikingly contrasted with

2470-803: The German Eighth Army in East Prussia, with General Erich Ludendorff as his chief of staff. After the Eighth Army had been defeated by the Russian 1st Army at Gumbinnen , it had found itself in danger of encirclement as the Russian 2nd Army under General Alexander Samsonov advanced from the south towards the Vistula River. Momentarily panicked, Eighth Army commander Maximilian von Prittwitz notified OHL of his intent to withdraw his forces into Western Prussia. The Chief of

2600-635: The German Empire was proclaimed on 18 January 1871; at 1.98m (6 feet 6 inches) tall with a muscular frame and striking blue eyes, he was an impressive figure. After the French surrender, he watched from afar the suppression of the Paris Commune . In 1873, he passed the highly competitive entrance examination for admission to the Kriegsakademie in Berlin. After three years of study, his grades were high enough for an appointment with

2730-686: The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria , their part of what once had been Poland . Meanwhile, the Russians were inexorably pushing from Galicia toward Hungary through the Carpathian passes. Under orders from Falkenhayn to contain the resurgent Russians, Hindenburg mounted an unsuccessful attack in Poland with his Ninth Army as well as an offensive by the newly formed Tenth Army which made only local gains. Following these setbacks, he set up temporary headquarters at Insterburg , and made plans to eliminate

SECTION 20

#1732773276629

2860-532: The Reichstag Fire Decree , which suspended various civil liberties. He signed the Enabling Act of 1933 , which gave the Nazi regime emergency powers. After Hindenburg died the following year, Hitler combined the presidency with the chancellery before declaring himself Führer ( lit.   ' Leader ' ) of Germany and transforming the country into a totalitarian state . Hindenburg

2990-784: The revolution erupted in Russia. Shunning opportunity, the Central Powers stayed put; Hindenburg feared that invaders would resurrect the heroic resistance of 1812 . On the Western Front, the Third OHL deduced the German Army's huge salient between the valley of the Somme and Laon obviously was vulnerable to a pincer attack, which indeed the French were planning. The new Hindenburg line ran across its base. Subsequently, On 16 March, Hindenburg authorized Operation Alberich whereby German forces were ordered to move out all able-bodied inhabitants and portable possessions to this line. In

3120-752: The second elected president of the Weimar Republic . Opposed to Hitler and his Nazi Party , Hindenburg nonetheless played a major role in the instability that resulted in their rise to power . After twice dissolving the Reichstag in 1932, Hindenburg agreed in January 1933 to appoint Hitler as chancellor in coalition with the Deutschnationale Volkspartei . In response to the February 1933 Reichstag fire , Hindenburg approved

3250-485: The " Russian army ". He learned the topography of the lakes and sand barrens of East Prussia during the annual Great General Staff's ride in 1888. The following year, he moved to the War Ministry, to write the field service regulations on field-engineering and on the use of heavy artillery in field engagements; both were used during the First World War. He became a lieutenant colonel in 1891, and, two years later,

3380-521: The 1918 German spring offensive and finally being pushed back in the Hundred Days Offensive from August 1918. At the end of the war it was serving as part of Heeresgruppe Kronprinz Rupprecht . By the end of the war, the 4th Army was organised as: The 4th Army had the following commanders during its existence. The later World War II -era Wehrmacht general Heinz Guderian served as an assistant signals officer (initially as

3510-856: The Austro-Hungarian fortress of Przemyśl fell on 23 March, Austria-Hungary's high command pushed for a joint strike on the Russian right flank that could potentially drive their forces out of the Carpathians. Agreeing to the proposal, Falkenhayn moved OHL east to the castle of Pless while forming Army Group von Mackensen from a new German Eleventh Army and the Austro-Hungarian Fourth Army . As Field Marshal August von Mackensen broke through Russian lines between Gorlice and Tarnów , Hindenburg's Ninth and Tenth Army launched diversionary attacks that threatened Riga in

3640-524: The Austro-Hungarians long regarded as impregnable. Probing assault troops located three weak spots which then were struck in force. In nine days they captured more than 200,000 men and 200 guns and pushed into the open country. Under Hindenburg's command, Ober Ost desperately shored up weak points with soldiers stripped from less threatened positions. Ludendorff was so distraught on the phone to OHL that General Wilhelm Groener (who directed

3770-454: The Battle of Verdun. Four million rounds were fired in the first fortnight and the 5th Army needed about 34 ammunition trains a day to replace consumption. The Battle of the Somme further reduced the German reserve of ammunition and when the infantry was forced out of the front position, the need for Sperrfeuer (defensive barrages), to compensate for the lack of obstacles, increased. Before

3900-800: The Black and Caspian Sea ran along the heights of the Caucasus mountains. Hindenburg urged the Ottomans to pull their men off the heights before winter but they did not. In his memoirs, he would later allege this was because of their "policy of massacre of the Armenians ". The front in Palestine ran from the Mediterranean to the southern end of the Dead Sea , and the defenders of Baghdad had

4030-569: The British tried to exploit their opening with a futile cavalry charge but did not press further. In the battle's aftermath, the Third OHL discovered one reason behind the British attack's success was that the Sixth Army commander, Ludwig von Falkenhausen , had failed to properly apply their instructions for a defense in depth by keeping reserve troops too far back from the front lines. As a result of this failure, Falkenhausen along with several staff officers were stripped of their command. After

Hindenburg Programme - Misplaced Pages Continue

4160-574: The East) on the German section of the Eastern Front . Hindenburg and Ludendorff had demanded reinforcements from Falkenhayn to fight a decisive campaign against Russia and intrigued against Falkenhayn over his refusals. Falkenhayn held that decisive military victory against Russia was impossible and that the Western Front was the decisive theatre of the war. Soon after taking over from Falkenhayn, Hindenburg and Ludendorff had no choice but to recognise

4290-724: The Eastern Front. In August, the Germans stormed the Novogeorgievsk fortress . Numerous Russian sources call the fall of Novogeorgievsk the most shameful page in the history of the Russian Imperial army. The German Tenth Army besieged Kovno , a Lithuanian city on the Nieman River defended by a circle of forts. It fell on 17 August, along with 1,300 guns and almost 1 million shells. On 5 August his forces were consolidated into Army Group Hindenburg, which took

4420-554: The French 88 heavy and 432 light machine-guns. The imposition of compulsory labour for prisoners of war and deported Belgian and Polish workers began in August 1915. Three decrees of increasing severity were issued between 15 August 1915 and 13 May 1916. On 26 October 1916, 729 people who were unemployed or "work-shy" were picked up and by the time that deportations ceased on 10 February 1917, 115 deportation operations had taken place. The hope of OHL to obtain 20,000 workers per week

4550-481: The General Staff. He was promoted to captain in 1878 and assigned to the staff of the II Corps . He married the intelligent and accomplished Gertrud von Sperling (1860–1921), daughter of General Oskar von Sperling , in 1879. The couple would have two daughters, Irmengard Pauline (1880) and Annemaria (1891), and one son, Oskar (1883). Next, he commanded an infantry company, in which his men were ethnic Poles . He

4680-475: The German General Staff , Generaloberst Helmuth von Moltke , responded by relieving Prittwitz and replacing him with Hindenburg. Upon arriving at Marienburg on 23 August, Hindenburg and Ludendorff were met by members of the 8th Army's staff led by Lieutenant Colonel Max Hoffmann , an expert on the Russian army. Hoffman informed them of his plans to shift part of the 8th Army south to attack

4810-802: The German War Cabinet was impressed by his swift decision-making. They credited "Old Man Hindenburg" with ending the "Verdun folly" and setting in motion the "brilliant" conquest of Romania. Hindenburg and Ludendorff visited the Western Front in September, meeting the Army commanders and their staffs as well as their leaders: Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria , Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg and Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia . Both crown princes, with Prussian chiefs of staff, commanded Army Groups. Rupprecht and Albrecht were presented with field marshal's batons. Hindenburg told them that they must stand on

4940-400: The German forces under his command held firm, but the Russians were able to cross into the Austro-Hungarian sector to the south. Hindenburg retreated and destroyed all railways and bridges so that the Russians would be unable to advance beyond 120 km (75 mi) west of their railheads—well short of the German frontier. On 1 November 1914 Hindenburg was appointed Ober Ost (commander in

5070-580: The Germans creating anger and bitterness, rather than docility. The Pope condemned the deportations and neutral opinion, particularly in the United States , was more outraged than at any time since the francs-tireur massacres of August 1914. Well-attended rallies were held in many cities and attempts by the US President, Woodrow Wilson, to mediate a peace deal with the combatants were a failure. US opinion became overwhelmingly pro-Entente over

5200-625: The Hindenburg Programme, needed more trains to carry ammunition to the front. On 28 July, the 4th Army fired 19 munitions trains' worth of ammunition, exceeding the record 16 trains' on the Somme. On 9 October, the 4th Army was firing 27 trains' worth per day, 18 million shells being fired during the battle. The trains had to compete for space on the railways with food supplies and troop transports, which created severe difficulties for Heeresgruppe Kronprinz Rupprecht . Men, horses and fuel were taken from agricultural production for

5330-633: The Hindenburg line was 42 km (26 mi) shorter freeing-up 14 German divisions. On 9 April, the British attacked at Arras and overtook two German lines while occupying part of a third as the Canadians swept the Germans completely off the Vimy Ridge . When the excitable Ludendorff became distraught over such developments, Hindenburg reportedly calmed his First Quartermaster-General by "pressing his hand" and assuring him, " We have lived through more critical times than today together. " Ultimately,

Hindenburg Programme - Misplaced Pages Continue

5460-537: The Kaiser and chancellor with a dictator, but Hindenburg would not agree. On 19 July, the Reichstag passed the resolution calling for a peace of understanding without "territorial acquisitions achieved by force and violations of political, economic or financial integrity", which the new chancellor, Georg Michaelis , agreed to "interpret". The policy of the peace resolution was therefore stillborn under Michaelis. The resolution became advantageous in August when Pope Benedict XV called for peace. The German response cited

5590-486: The Kaiser's deliberations about who should command Falkenhayn said "Well, if the Herr Field Marshall has the desire and the courage to take the post". Hindenburg replied "The desire, no, but the courage—yes". Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg favored Hindenburg, supposing him amenable to moderate peace terms, mistaking his amiability as tractability and unaware that he was intent on enlarging Prussia. Hindenburg

5720-419: The Kaiser. Hindenburg published a birthday manifesto, which ended with the words: With God's help our German strength has withstood the tremendous attack of our enemies, because we were one, because each gave his all gladly. So it must stay to the end. 'Now thank we all our God' on the bloody battlefield! Take no thought for what is to be after the war! This only brings despondency into our ranks and strengthens

5850-761: The Operations Section at OHL, the supreme headquarters in Mézières , for a further industrial mobilisation, to equip the army for the Materialschlacht (battle of equipment/battle of attrition) being inflicted on it in France, which would only intensify in 1917. Following the adoption of the programme, the main administrative novelty of the third OHL was the Kriegsamt (Supreme War Office), founded on 1 November 1916, with General Wilhelm Groener ,

5980-461: The Polish salient had shortened their lines substantially. Conversely, victorious Falkenhayn believed that "The Russian Army has been so weakened by the blows it has suffered that Russia need not be seriously considered a danger in the foreseeable future". The Russians replaced their experienced supreme commander, Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich , a man whose skill Hindenburg held in high regard, with

6110-586: The Prussian artillery came up to blast the French lines while the infantry, filled with the "holy lust of battle", swept through the French lines. His regiment suffered 1096 casualties, and he became a regimental adjutant. The Guards were spectators at the Battle of Sedan and for the following months sat in the siege lines surrounding Paris. He was his regiment's elected representative at the Palace of Versailles when

6240-497: The Reichstag debated a resolution for peace without "annexations or indemnities" . Colonel Bauer and the Crown Prince hurried to Berlin to block the move. The Minister of War urged Hindenburg and Ludendorff to join them, but when they arrived the Kaiser told them that "there could be no justification for their presence in Berlin". They should "return in haste to Headquarters where they certainly would be much better occupied." In

6370-485: The Romanov dynasty's fall from power, Russia remained at war under the new revolutionary government led by Alexander Kerensky . In the Kerensky Offensive launched on 1 July, the Russian army pushed Austro-Hungarian forces in Galicia on 1 July. In order to counter this success, six German divisions mounted a counterattack on 18 July that tore a hole through the Russian front through which they sliced southward toward Tarnopol . The ensuing German advance threatened to encircle

6500-475: The Russian attackers, thereby causing them to retreat. At the end of August, the advancing Central Powers stopped at the frontier of Moldavia . To keep up the pressure and to seize ground he intended to keep, Hindenburg shifted north to the heavily fortified city of Riga (today in Latvia) which has the broad Dvina River as a moat. On 1 September the Eighth Army, led by Oskar von Hutier , attacked; Bruchmüller's bombardment, which included gas and smoke shells, drove

6630-501: The Russians that made him a national hero and the center of a pervasive cult of personality . By 1916, his popularity had risen to the point that he replaced General Erich von Falkenhayn as Chief of the Great General Staff. Ultimately, he and his deputy, General Erich Ludendorff , exploited Emperor Wilhelm II 's immense delegation of power to the Supreme Army Command to establish a de facto military dictatorship . Under their leadership, Germany secured Russia's defeat and achieved

SECTION 50

#1732773276629

6760-444: The Russians' remaining toehold in East Prussia by ensnaring them in a pincer movement between the Tenth Army in the north and Eighth Army in the south. The attack was launched on 7 February. Hindenburg's forces encircled an entire corps and captured more than 100,000 men in the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes . Shortly thereafter, Hindenburg and Ludendorff played a key role in the Central Powers' Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive . After

6890-435: The Second Army, he believed they would cede ground only gradually as German reinforcements continued to mass on the invading Russians' flanks before ultimately encircling and annihilating them. On the eve of the ensuing battle, Hindenburg reportedly strolled close to the decaying walls of the fortress of the Knights of Prussia , recalling how the Knights of Prussia were defeated by the Slavs in 1410 at nearby Tannenberg . On

7020-425: The Somme had been much more demanding on German divisions and they had to be relieved after only a few days in the front line, lasting about 14 days on the Somme. A larger number of divisions might reduce the strain on the Westheer and realise a surplus for offensives on other fronts. Hindenburg and Ludendorff ordered the creation of another 22 divisions, to have an army of 179 divisions by early 1917. The men for

7150-581: The Somme, where he packed troops into the front-line to be battered by the hail of shells and sacked commanders who lost their front-line trench. German leaders contrasted Falkenhayn's bludgeon with Hindenburg's deft parrying. The tipping point came when Falkenhayn ordered a spoiling attack by Bulgaria on Entente lines in Macedonia , which failed with heavy losses. Thus emboldened, Romania declared war on Austro-Hungary on 27 August, adding 650,000 trained enemies who invaded Hungarian Transylvania . Falkenhayn had been adamant that Romania would remain neutral. During

7280-455: The Supreme Army Command wanted all German men and women from 15 to 60 enrolled for national service. Hindenburg also wanted the universities closed, except for medical training, so that empty places would not be filled by women. To swell the next generation of soldiers he wanted contraceptives banned and bachelors taxed. When a Polish army was being formed he wanted Jews excluded. Few of these ideas were adopted, because their political maneuvering

7410-425: The Third OHL set ambitious benchmarks for arms production in what became known as the Hindenburg Programme , which was directed from the War Office by General Groener. Major goals included a new light machine gun, updated artillery, and motor transport, but no tanks because they considered them too vulnerable to artillery. To increase output they needed skilled workers. The army released a million men. For total war,

7540-441: The Third Battle of Ypres led to the average number of men in an infantry battalion falling from 750 to 640 and in October, congestion on the railway lines behind the 4th Army led to more shortages. The 4th Army had a ration strength of 800,000 men and 200,000 horses, which needed 52 trains of 35 wagons each just for daily maintenance. The change to a defence based on firepower, using the extra weapons and munitions produced by

7670-437: The Tsar. In the spring of 1916, the Central Powers experienced a military catastrophe in the East that left Germany bearing much of the war effort until the end of hostilities. On 4 June, the Russian Army began a massive offensive along 480 km (300 mi) of the southwestern front in present-day western Ukraine . In the ensuing onslaught, four armies commanded by General Aleksei Brusilov overwhelmed entrenchments that

7800-429: The United States and other neutrals into the war. After securing the Dutch and Danish borders, Hindenburg announced that unrestricted submarine warfare was imperative and Ludendorff added his voice. On 9 January the chancellor was forced to bow to their unsound military judgments. OHL moved west to the pleasant spa town of Bad Kreuznach in southwest Germany, which was on a main rail line. The Kaiser's quarters were in

7930-493: The Western Front. Both men were dismayed at the nature of trench warfare that they found, in such contrast to the conditions on the Eastern Front and the dilapidated state of the Westheer . The Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme had been extraordinarily costly; on the Somme, 122,908 German casualties had been suffered from 24 June to 28 August. The battle had required the use of 29 divisions and by September, one division each day had to be withdrawn and replaced by

SECTION 60

#1732773276629

8060-519: The Western Front. The administrative reorganisation eased the distribution of men and equipment, yet made no difference to the lack of numbers and to the growing Franco-British superiority in weapons and ammunition. New divisions were needed and the manpower for them and replacements for the losses of 1916 had to be found. The superiority in manpower enjoyed by the Entente and its allies could not be surpassed but Hindenburg and Ludendorff drew on ideas from Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant-Colonel) Max Bauer of

8190-412: The army and industry. In early 1916, the German Army had 900,000 men in recruit depots and another 300,000 due in March, when the 1897 class of conscripts was called up. The army was so flush with men that plans were made to demobilise older Landwehr classes and in the summer, Falkenhayn ordered the raising of another 18 divisions, for an army of 175 divisions. The costly battles at Verdun and

8320-480: The army and munitions, which caused food shortages and food price inflation, leading to Germany coming to the verge of starvation at the close of 1918. Paul von Hindenburg Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German military leader and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during the First World War and later became president of Germany from 1925 until his death in 1934. He played

8450-448: The army for 46 years, including 14 years in General Staff positions. During his career, Hindenburg did not have political ambitions and remained a staunch monarchist. When WWI broke out, Hindenburg was retired in Hannover . On 22 August, due to the purge of German command following Russian success in East Prussia , he was selected by the War Cabinet and the German Supreme Army Command ( Oberste Heeresleitung , OHL) to assume command of

8580-477: The army's railroads and had been a competitor with Ludendorff on the General Staff) was sent to evaluate his nerves, which were judged satisfactory. For a week the Russians kept attacking: they lost 80,000 men; the defenders 16,000. On 16 July the Russians attacked the German lines west of Riga but were ultimately thwarted. When looking back on the Russian offensive, Hindenburg admitted that another attack of such scale and ferocity would have left his forces "faced with

8710-484: The attempt by the OHL to create a command economy at the expense of the working class. Extensive concessions to the workers were included in the law, with the establishment of a committee to supervise its implementation. Hindenburg later denounced the concessions as insufficient and "positively harmful"; industrialists, looking forward to a captive workforce to exploit, were aghast at being compelled to work with workers' committees and conciliation organisations. The purpose of

8840-447: The battle is the enemy's superiority in munitions. This allows their artillery, which is excellently supported by aircraft, to level our trenches and to wear down our infantry systematically.... The destruction of our positions is so thorough that our foremost line merely consists of occupied shell-holes. It was known in Germany that the British had introduced the Military Service Act 1916 (conscription) on 27 January 1916 and that despite

8970-503: The bloody deadlock of the Western Front following the failure of the Schlieffen Plan . The Hindenburg-Ludendorff duo's successful performance on the Eastern Front in 1914 marked the beginning of a military and political partnership that lasted until the end of the war. As Hindenburg wrote to the Kaiser a few months later: "[Ludendorff] has become my faithful adviser and a friend who has my complete confidence and cannot be replaced by anyone." Despite their strikingly dissimilar temperaments,

9100-597: The city of Grodno after bitter street fighting but could not trap the retreating defenders because the rail lines lacked the capacity to bring up the needed men. They occupied Vilnius on 18 September, then halted on ground favorable for a defensive line. On 6 August, German troops under Hindenburg used chlorine gas against Russian troops defending Osowiec Fortress . The Russians demolished much of Osowiec and withdrew on 18 August. In October, Hindenburg moved headquarters to Kovno. They were responsible for 108,800 km (42,000 mi ) of conquered Russian territory, which

9230-490: The co-operation of the unions during the unrest of 1917. The German army had reached its peak of manpower in 1916 and the Hindenburg Programme had been intended to reduce the burden on the remaining men by substituting machines. In 1917, the Westheer had managed to withstand the attacks of the French and the British, while offensive operations had been conducted on the eastern and southern fronts. The coalition against Germany increased its output of war materiel even more than

9360-454: The confidence which we placed in the moral and mental powers of our army, down to its smallest unit." Revised Infantry Field Regulations were published and taught to all ranks, including at a school for division commanders, where they maneuvered a practice division. A monthly periodical informed artillery officers about new developments. In the last months of 1916, the British battering along the Somme produced fewer German casualties. Overall, "In

9490-614: The defeat inflicted on the Order of the Teutonic Knights by the Polish and Lithuanian knights in 1410, even though it was fought nowhere near the field of Tannenberg. After this decisive victory, Hindenburg re-positioned the Eighth Army to face the Russian First Army. Hindenburg's tactics spurned head-on attacks all along the front in favor of schwerpunkte : sharp, localized hammer blows. Two schwerpunkte struck in

9620-724: The defenders from the far bank east of the city, the Germans crossed in barges and then bridged the river, immediately pressing forward to the Baltic coast, pocketing the defenders of the Riga salient . Next, a joint operation with the navy seized Oesel and two smaller islands in the Gulf of Riga . The Bolshevik revolution took Russia out of the war, and an armistice was signed on 16 December. Hindenburg detested Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg for arguing against unrestricted submarine warfare. Then in July,

9750-525: The defensive until Romania was dealt with, meanwhile defensive tactics must be improved—ideas were welcome. A backup defensive line, which the Entente called the Hindenburg Line , would be constructed immediately. Ludendorff promised more arms. Rupprecht was delighted that two such competent men had "replaced the dilettante 'Falkenhayn'." Bauer was impressed that Hindenburg "saw everything only with

9880-402: The destruction of the Russian 2nd Army, with 92,000 Russians captured together with four hundred guns, while German casualties numbered only 14,000. According to British field marshal Edmund Ironside it was the "greatest defeat suffered by any of the combatants during the war". Recognizing the victory's propaganda value, Hindenburg suggested naming the battle "Tannenberg" as a way of "avenging"

10010-422: The divisions created by Falkenhayn had come from reducing square divisions with four infantry regiments to triangular divisions with three, rather than a net increase in the number of men in the army. Troops for the extra divisions of the expansion ordered by Hindenburg and Ludendorff could be found by combing out rear-area units but most would have to be drawn from the pool of replacements, which had been depleted by

10140-502: The east) and was promoted to field marshal. To meet the Russians' renewed push into Silesia , Hindenburg moved the Ninth Army by rail north to Thorn and reinforced it with two corps from the Eighth Army. On 11 November, in a raging snowstorm, his forces surprised the Russian flank in the fierce Battle of Łódź , which ended the immediate Russian threat to Silesia and also captured Poland's second largest city. Hindenburg argued that

10270-668: The effect of the maturing of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). The Battle of the Somme (1 July – 18 November 1916) had cost the Westheer about 500,000 casualties and the Second Battle of the Aisne (16 April – 9 May 1917), the main part of the Nivelle Offensive , cost another 163,000. The Third Battle of Ypres (31 July – 10 November) added 217,000 German casualties. Casualties in

10400-573: The end of 1916 to 1.64 million men in October 1917 and more than two million by November, 1.16 million being kv. The demands of the Hindenburg Programme exacerbated the manpower crisis and constraints on the availability of raw materials meant that targets were not met. The Hindenburg Programme was provided with a legal basis in the Auxiliary Service Law, implemented on 6 December. The German Army returned 125,000 skilled workers to

10530-416: The exposed left flank of the advancing Russian Second Army. Agreeing with Hoffman's strategy, Hindenburg authorized Ludendorff to transfer most of the 8th Army south while leaving only two cavalry brigades to face the Russian First Army in the north. In Hindenburg's words the line of soldiers defending Germany's border was "thin, but not weak", because the men were defending their homes. If pushed too hard by

10660-508: The eye of the soldier." Under Field Marshal Hindenburg's leadership, the German Supreme Army Command issued a Textbook of Defensive Warfare that recommended fewer defenders in the front line relying on light machine guns. If pushed too hard, they were permitted to pull back. Front-line defenses were organized so that penetrating enemy forces found themselves cut down by machine gun fire and artillery from those who knew

10790-432: The hopes of the enemy. Trust that Germany will achieve what she needs to stand there safe for all time, trust that the German oak will be given air and light for its free growth. Muscles tensed, nerves steeled, eyes front! We see before us the aim: Germany honored, free, and great! God will be with us to the end!" 4th Army (German Empire) The 4th Army ( German : 4. Armee / Armeeoberkommando 4 / A.O.K. 4 )

10920-411: The huge losses on the Somme, there would be no shortage of reinforcements. At the end of August, German military intelligence calculated that of the 58 British divisions in France, 18 were fresh. The French manpower situation was not as buoyant but by combing out rear areas and recruiting more troops from the colonies, the French could replace losses until the 1918 conscription class became available in

11050-465: The increase of the Hindenburg Programme, an industrial competition that Germany could not win; the programme worsened the labour shortage in Germany. The theoretical changes in German defensive tactics had greater effect than the increase in the size of the army and the output of weapons. British attacks in 1917 were much more competent than those of 1916 but German defensive methods were adapted to negate

11180-594: The largest advance on the Western Front since the conflict's outbreak. However, such improvements in Germany's fortunes were reversed after its Army was decisively defeated in the Second Battle of the Marne and the Allies' Hundred Days Offensive . Following the armistice , Hindenburg stepped down as the German Army's Chief of Staff before retiring again in 1919. In 1925, Hindenburg returned to public life to become

11310-544: The law, to deny workers' mobility was thwarted and with it went the possibility of a centralised organisation of manpower. The super-profits anticipated by employers were limited by the prospect of improved pay and conditions being recognised as a valid reason to change jobs. The attempt by the third OHL to reorganise the war economy through compulsion was a failure but the law was effective in substituting workers of lesser physical fitness for those capable of military service. Concessions to organised labour were valuable in retaining

11440-490: The losses of 1916. Although new classes of conscripts would top up the pool of replacements, keeping units up to strength would become much more difficult once the pool had to maintain a larger number of divisions. By calling up the 1898 class of recruits early in November 1916, the pool was increased to 763,000 men in February 1917 but the larger army would become a wasting asset . Ernst von Wrisberg , Abteilungschef of

11570-483: The manufacture of ammunition without sufficient propellants and explosive fillings was pointless. Hindenburg and Ludendorff wanted firepower to replace manpower and ignored the principle of matching means and ends. To meet existing demand and to feed new weapons, Hindenburg and Ludendorff wanted a big increase in propellant output to 12,000 t (12,000 long tons) a month. In July 1916, the output target had been raised from 8,000–10,000 t (7,900–9,800 long tons) which

11700-496: The menace of a complete collapse." After having their strength decimated by the Russians in the Brusilov Offensive , the Austro-Hungarian forces submitted their Eastern Front forces to Hindenburg's command on 27 July (except for Archduke Karl's Army Group in southeast Galicia, in which General Hans von Seeckt was chief of staff). General von Eichhorn took over Army Group Hindenburg, while Hindenburg and Ludendorff, on

11830-430: The new tactics: front-line commanders took over reserves ordered into the battle and for flexibility, infantry platoons were subdivided into eight-man units under a noncom. Field officers who visited headquarters often were invited to speak with Hindenburg, who inquired about their problems and recommendations. At this time he was especially curious about the eight-man units, which he regarded as "the greatest evidence of

11960-411: The night of 25 August, Hindenburg told his staff, "Gentlemen, our preparations are so well in hand that we can sleep soundly tonight". On the day of the battle, Hindenburg reportedly watched from a hilltop as his forces' weak center gradually gave ground until the sudden roar of German guns to his right heralded the surprise attack on the Russians' flanks. Ultimately, the Battle of Tannenberg resulted in

12090-538: The north. In one of the war's most successful cavalry actions, three cavalry divisions swept east into Courland , the barren, sandy region near the Baltic coast. The cavalry's gains were held by Hindenburg's new Nieman army, named after the river. In June, the Supreme Army Command ordered Hindenburg to launch a Bug-Narew Offensive in Poland toward the Narew River north of Warsaw . Hindenburg created Army Group Gallwitz , named after its commander. Von Gallwitz

12220-460: The number of Maschinengewehr-Scharfschützen-Abteilungen (MGA, machine-gun sharpshooter detachments) to be increased. The greater output was insufficient to equip the new divisions and existing divisions which still had two artillery brigades with two regiments each, lost a regiment and the brigade headquarters, leaving three regiments. Against the new scales of equipment, British divisions in early 1917 had 64 heavy and 192 light machine-guns and

12350-481: The older general's calm decisiveness proved to be an outstanding fit for Ludendorff's energy and tactical ingenuity. Ludendorff's nerves twice drove him to consider changing their plans for Tannenberg at the last minute; both times Hindenburg talked to him privately and his confidence wavered no further. On the east bank of the Vistula in Poland the Russians were mobilizing new armies which were shielded from attack by

12480-634: The opposing Russian First Army were casualties in the first five hours. From then on Hindenburg often called on Bruchmüller. The Russians withdrew across the Narev River. However, steamroller frontal attacks cost dearly: by 20 August Gallwitz had lost 60,000 men. As the Russians withdrew from the Polish Salient , Falkenhayn insisted on pursuing them into Lithuania. However, Hindenburg and Ludendorff were dissatisfied with this plan. Hindenburg would later claim that he saw it as "a pursuit in which

12610-463: The overall situation). We were in agreement that a large-scale, positive outcome is now no longer possible. We can only hold on and take the best opportunity for peace. We made too many serious errors this year. On 29 August, Hindenburg and Ludendorff reorganised the army groups on the Western Front, by incorporating all but the 4th Army in Flanders into the army group structure on the active part of

12740-678: The prestigious War Academy in Berlin, where he studied before being appointed to the General Staff Corps. In 1885, he was promoted to major and became a member of the German General Staff . After teaching at the War Academy, Hindenburg rose to become a lieutenant general by 1900. In 1911, Hindenburg retired. After World War I began in 1914, Hindenburg was recalled and achieved fame on the Eastern Front as victor of Tannenberg . He oversaw crushing victories against

12870-414: The process, they destroyed every building, leveled all roads and bridges, cut down every tree, fouled every well, and burned every combustible. In 39 days the Germans withdrew from a 1000 mi (2,590 km ) area, more ground than they had lost to all Allied offensives since 1914. The cautiously following Allies also had to cope with booby traps, some exploding a month later. The new German front called

13000-552: The pursuer gets more exhausted than the pursued". On 1 June, Hindenburg's Nieman and Tenth Armies spearheaded attacks into Courland in an attempt to pocket the defenders. Ultimately, this plan was foiled by the prudent commander of the Fifth Russian Army who defied orders by withdrawing into defensible positions shielding Riga . Despite the setback in Latvia, Hindenburg, and Ludendorff continued to rack up victories on

13130-502: The ranges and location of their own strong points. Subsequently, the infantry would counterattack while the attacker's artillery was blind because they were unsure where their own men were. A reserve division was positioned immediately behind the line, if it entered the battle it was commanded by the division whose position had been penetrated. (Mobile defense was also used in World War II.) Responsibilities were reassigned to implement

13260-495: The receipt of only 470 from Germany; the munitions shortage was worsening. The 1st Army, on the north side of the Somme, reported on 28 August that The complications of the entire battle lay only in part with the superiority in number of enemy divisions (12 or 13 enemy against eight German on the battlefield) for our infantry feel completely the superiority of the English and French in close battle. The most difficult factor in

13390-456: The resolution to finesse specific questions like those about the future of Belgium. The industrialists opposed Groener's advocacy of an excess profits tax and insistence that workers take a part in company management. Ludendorff relieved Groener by telegram and sent him off to command a division. Hindenburg's 70th birthday was celebrated lavishly all over Germany, 2 October was a public holiday, an honor that until then had been reserved only for

13520-518: The right wing that was to pin down and defeat the French armies. The 4th Army defeated Belgian forces on the frontier , drove the French out of the Ardennes and then encountered the British Expeditionary Force in the " Race to the Sea " at the First Battle of Ypres . The 4th Army faced the British in Flanders for the rest of the war, notably defending in the Battle of Passchendaele (1917), attacking in

13650-521: The river; once assembled they would cross the river to march west into Silesia . To counter the Russians' pending invasion of Silesia, Hindenburg advanced into Poland and occupied the west bank of the Vistula opposite from where Russian forces were mobilizing. He set up headquarters at Posen in West Prussia, accompanied by Ludendorff and Hoffmann. When the Russians attempted to cross the Vistula ,

13780-563: The spa building, staff offices were in the orange court, and the others lived in the hotel buildings. In February a third Army Group was formed on the Western Front to cover the front in Alsace-Lorraine, commanded by Archduke Albrecht of Württemberg. Some effective divisions from the east were exchanged for less competent divisions from the west. Since their disasters of the previous year, the Russian infantry had shown no fight and in March

13910-402: The still miserably equipped Russians—some only carried spears—in the huge Polish salient were in a trap in which they could be snared in a cauldron by a southward pincer from East Prussia and a northward pincer from Galicia, using motor vehicles for speed, even though the Russians outnumbered the Germans by three to one. From Hindenburg's point of view, such an overwhelming triumph could end

14040-522: The summer of 1917. Of the 110 French divisions in France, 16 were in reserve and another 10–11 divisions could be obtained by swapping tired units for fresh ones on quiet parts of the front. Ludendorff admitted privately to Generalleutnant (Lieutenant-General) Hermann von Kuhl , the Chief of Staff of Heeresgruppe Kronprinz Rupprecht von Bayern (Army Group Rupprecht of Bavaria) who wrote in his diary that I spoke...with Ludendorff alone (about

14170-536: The top of his skull. Quickly regaining his senses, he wrapped his head in a towel and resumed leading his detachment, winning a decoration. He was a battalion adjutant when the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71) broke out. After weeks of marching, the Guards attacked the village of Saint Privat (near Metz). Climbing a gentle slope, they came under heavy fire from the superior French rifles . After four hours

14300-523: The war and the Allied naval Blockade of Germany , nitrates for explosives manufacture had been imported from Chile. Production of propellants could continue only because of the industrialisation of the Haber process for the synthesis of nitrates from atmospheric nitrogen but this took time to achieve. Under Falkenhayn, the procurement of ammunition and artillery had been based on the output of propellants, since

14430-729: The war economy and exempted 800,000 workers from conscription from September 1916 to July 1917. Steel production in February 1917 was 252,000 long tons (256,000 t) short of expectations and explosives production was 1,100 long tons (1,100 t) below the target, which added to the pressure on Ludendorff to retreat to the Hindenburg Line. Despite the shortfalls, by the summer of 1917, the Westheer artillery park had increased from 5,300 to 6,700 field guns and from 3,700 to 4,300 heavy guns, many being newer models of superior performance. Machine-gun output enabled each division to have 54 heavy and 108 light machine-guns and for

14560-679: The war in the Eastern Front . Erich von Falkenhayn , the Chief of Germany's Great General Staff , rejected his plan as a pipe dream. Nevertheless, urged on by Ludendorff and Hoffman, Hindenburg spent the winter fighting for his strategy by badgering the Kaiser while his press officer recruited notables like the Kaiserin and the Crown Prince to "stab the Kaiser in the back". The Kaiser compromised by keeping Falkenhayn in supreme command but replacing him as Prussian war minister. In retaliation, Falkenhayn reassigned some of Hindenburg's forces to

14690-530: The winter of 1916–1917. Ludwig von Mises called the Hindenburg Programme a command economy . Enterprises "not important to the war economy" were closed to supply more workers. In 2014, Alexander Watson wrote that the Auxiliary Service Law was drastically revised in the Reichstag by Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD), Zentrumspartei ( Zentrum ) and the Fortschrittliche Volkspartei (FVP) deputies, to confound

14820-454: The wisdom of the emphasis given by Falkenhayn to the Western Front, despite the crisis in the east caused by the Brusilov Offensive (4 June – 20 September) and the Romanian declaration of war on 28 August. On 8 September, Hindenburg and Ludendorff held a conference at Cambrai with the chiefs of staff of the armies of the Westheer (army of the west) as part of a tour of inspection of

14950-532: Was all Lutheran Protestants in the Evangelical Church of Prussia , which since 1817 included both Calvinist and Lutheran parishioners. Paul was proud of his family and could trace his ancestors back to 1289. The dual surname was adopted in 1789 to secure an inheritance and appeared in formal documents, but in everyday life, they were von Beneckendorffs. True to family tradition, his father supported his family as an infantry officer; he retired as

15080-484: Was almost 1,000 km (620 mi) and their only reserves were a cavalry brigade plus some artillery and machine gunners. In the west, the Germans were hemorrhaging in the battles of Verdun and the Somme . Influential Army officers, led by the artillery expert Lieutenant Colonel Max Bauer , a friend of Ludendorff's, lobbied against Falkenhayn, deploring his futile steamroller at Verdun and his inflexible defense along

15210-564: Was also appointed the Supreme War Commander of the Central Powers, with nominal control over six million men. Until the end of the war, this arrangement formed the basis of Hindenburg's leadership which would come to be known as the Third OHL . The British were unimpressed: General Charteris, Haig's intelligence chief, wrote to his wife "poor old Hindenburg is sixty-four years of age, and will not do very much." Conversely,

15340-589: Was an army level command of the German Army in World War I . It was formed on mobilisation in August 1914 from the VI Army Inspection . The army was disbanded in 1919 during demobilization after the war. At the outset of war, the 4th Army, with the 5th Army , formed the center of the German armies on the Western Front , moving through Luxembourg and Belgium in support of the great wheel of

15470-661: Was born in Posen, Prussia , the son of Prussian junker Hans Robert Ludwig von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (1816–1902) and his wife Luise Schwickart (1825–1893), the daughter of physician Karl Ludwig Schwickart and wife Julie Moennich. His paternal grandparents were Otto Ludwig Fady von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (1778–1855), through whom he was remotely descended from the illegitimate daughter of Count Heinrich VI of Waldeck , and his wife Eleonore von Brederfady (d. 1863). Hindenburg's younger brothers and sister were Otto (b. 1849), Ida (b. 1851) and Bernhard (b. 1859). His family

15600-570: Was expected to cover existing demand and the extra 2,000 t (2,000 long tons) of output demanded by Hindenburg and Ludendorff could never match the doubling and trebling of artillery, machine-guns and trench mortars. The industrial mobilisation needed to fulfil the Hindenburg Programme increased demand for skilled workers, Zurückgestellte (recalled from the army) or exempted from conscription. The number of Zurückgestellte increased from 1.2 million men, of whom 740,000 were deemed kriegsverwendungsfähig (kv, fit for front line service), at

15730-799: Was frank about hoping to stop the fighting. Hindenburg's Eastern Front ran south from the Baltic to the Black Sea through what now are the Baltic States, Ukraine, and Romania. In Italy, the line ran from the Swiss border on the west to the Adriatic east of Venice. The Macedonian front extended along the Greek border from the Adriatic to the Aegean . The line contested by the Russians and Ottomans between

15860-407: Was given responsibility for both aerial and antiaircraft forces; the army's vulnerable zeppelins went to the navy. Most cavalry regiments were dismounted and the artillery received their badly needed horses. In October General Philippe Pétain began a series of limited attacks at Verdun, each starting with an intense bombardment coordinated by his artillery commander General Robert Nivelle . Then

15990-680: Was home to three million people and became known as Ober Ost . The troops built fortifications on the eastern border while Ludendorff "with his ruthless energy" headed the civil government, using forced labor to repair the war damages and to dispatch useful products, like hogs, to Germany. A Hindenburg son-in-law, who was a reserve officer and a legal expert, joined the staff to write a new legal code. Baltic Germans who owned vast estates feted Hindenburg and he hunted their game preserves. Hindenburg would later judge German operations in 1915 to be "unsatisfactory". In his memoirs, he recounted that "[t]he Russian bear had escaped our clutches" and abandoning

16120-462: Was not realised and only 60,847 deportations were achieved. The army took the Belgians to camps where a deliberately harsh regime was imposed to coerce the victims into signing employment contracts under duress to make them "volunteers". Conditions in the camps were so poor that in a few months, 1,316 inmates died; despite the rigours, only 13,376 Belgians capitulated, the odious treatment meted out by

16250-399: Was one of many able commanders selected by Hindenburg, who stayed at the new army's headquarters to be available if needed. (When Berlin approved the new army group, it became Twelfth Army .) The army group broke through the Russian lines after a brief, but intense, bombardment directed by Lieutenant Colonel Georg Bruchmüller , an artillery genius recalled from medical retirement. One-third of

16380-591: Was promoted to colonel, commanding an infantry regiment. He became chief of staff of the VIII Corps in 1896. Hindenburg became a major-general (equivalent to a British and US brigadier general) in 1897, and in 1900 he was promoted to lieutenant general (equivalent to major-general) and received command of the 28th Infantry Division . Five years later he was made commander of the IV Corps based in Magdeburg as

16510-493: Was summoned to Pless on 29 August where he was named Chief of the Great General Staff and, by extension, the Supreme Army Command. Ludendorff demanded joint responsibility for all decisions"; Hindenburg did not demur. Henceforth, Ludendorff was entrusted with signing most orders, directives, and daily press reports. The eastern front was commanded by Leopold of Bavaria, with Hoffmann as his chief of staff. Hindenburg

16640-481: Was to be done. Ludendorff would give their staff of about 40 officers their assignments, while Hindenburg walked for an hour or so, thinking or chatting with guests. After conferring again with Ludendorff, he heard reports from his departmental heads, met with visitors, and worked on correspondence. At noon Ludendorff gave the situation report to the Kaiser unless an important decision was required when Hindenburg took over. He lunched with his personal staff, which included

16770-572: Was transferred in 1885 to the General Staff and was promoted to major. His section was led by Count Alfred von Schlieffen , a student of encirclement battles like Cannae , whose Schlieffen Plan proposed to pocket the French Army. For five years Hindenburg also taught tactics at the Kriegsakademie . At the maneuvers of 1885, he met the future Kaiser Wilhelm II ; they met again at the next year's war game in which Hindenburg commanded

16900-532: Was vigorous but inept, as Admiral Müller of the Military Cabinet observed "Old Hindenburg, like Ludendorff, is no politician, and the latter is at the same time a hothead." For example, women were not included in the service law that ultimately passed, because in fact more women were already seeking employment than there were openings. Following the death of Austro-Hungarian emperor Franz Joseph on 21 November, Hindenburg met his successor Charles , who

#628371