Erich Ludendorff

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ian cavalry. But Erich Ludendorff was not born to be a general. In Prussia (the dominant state in the cluster of Germanic states that would unify into the nation of Germany in 1871) generals came from the nobility. A person of noble birth was marked by the designation “von” before his last name. Ludendorff, born on April 9, 1865, was a commoner, raised in a struggling family that lived in the province of Posen. To reach the top of the German armed forces, he would have to work unrelentingly—and that is what he did. At the age of twelve Ludendorff entered cadet school at Holstein. Ludendorff was mocked by his fellow cadets because his last name lacked the “von” of nobility, and he was driven to his physical limit by the demanding Prussian officers who ruled the school. Perhaps because of these difficulties, Ludendorff became ever more focused and severe, devoting all his waking hours to making himself the best possible soldier. After graduating from the Lichterfelde Military Academy in Berlin at the top of his class, Ludendorff won a commission as a lieutenant in 1882. Just twelve years later, after passing every test that was placed before him, Ludendorff was appointed to the prestigious German general staff, the group of officers who prepared war plans and strategy for the commanding general of the army. At the age of twenty-nine, Ludendorff had become one of Germany’s premier soldiers. “A Man of Iron Principles” For the next twenty years, Ludendorff devoted himself to understanding every area of the German military. In 1908 he was appointed to lead the mobilization and deployment (gathering and transport of military supplies) division of the general staff, a position for which he had been trained by Field Marshal Count Alfred von Schlieffen (1833–1913), the mastermind of German war plans. Ludendorff longed for the day when his years of study and preparation would place him in the position of leadership that he felt he so richly deserved. Ludendorff’s years of devotion to the military had made him an unpleasant man. German officers were known for their arrogance and their rudeness to their subordinates, but Ludendorff was more rude and arrogant than most. Robert B. Asprey, author of The German High Command at War, 98 World War I: Biographies
describes Ludendorff as “generally tense, cold as a fish, a monocled [an eyeglass for one eye] humorless eye staring from a heavily jowled red face as he barked orders in a high, nasal voice, his second (and later third) chin quivering from the effort. He was rigid and inflexible in thought, given to sudden rages, a table banger, frequently rude to subordinates, often tactless to superiors.” According to Red Reeder, author of Bold Leaders of World War I, Ludendorff’s medical director said that the general’s devotion to work was so intense that “He has never seen a flower bloom or heard a bird sing.” According to Asprey, Ludendorff’s wife described her husband as “a man of iron principles.” Trial by Fire Ludendorff greeted the coming of World War I in August 1914 with excitement and anticipation: He had been training for this moment all his life. Joining in the German effort to cross Belgium and storm into France, Ludendorff was made first quartermaster general. He was in charge of providing food, clothing, transportation, and supplies to the troops attacking the Belgian fortress city of Liège. Observing the battle from behind the lines, Ludendorff grew impatient when the superior German army could not break through the wellfortified Belgian lines. When a battlefield general was killed in action, Ludendorff moved to the front lines to take his place. Seizing a captured Belgian car, Ludendorff drove toward a small tower that the Germans had been trying to capture. According to Reeder, “Ludendorff jumped out. He drew his sword as if he were attacking the fort singlehanded. He pounded on the gate with the hilt of his weapon and shouted, ‘Surrender! In the name of Kaiser Wilhelm.’” Ludendorff’s bold action energized the German troops, who soon overwhelmed the outnumbered Belgians. It also earned Ludendorff the nickname of “Hero of Liège” and a prestigious military medal, the Ordre pour le Mérite, from Kaiser Wilhelm II. Perhaps most important, Ludendorff’s leadership at Liège convinced Chief of the General Staff Helmuth Johannes von Moltke (1848–1916) that Ludendorff’s skills were needed in a spot where German soldiers were not faring so well: the Eastern Front. Erich Ludendorff 99
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Erich Ludendorff

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