General who directed Germany’s war with Hindenburg and later joined Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch
Born to a commoner family in the Province of Posen, he served on the General Staff and won fame at Liège and Tannenberg in 1914. In August 1916 he and Hindenburg took over the Supreme Army Command; as First Quartermaster General he directed the war under a de facto military dictatorship and drove the Hindenburg Programme. His spring offensive, opened with Operation Michael in March 1918, failed; in September he demanded an immediate armistice and in October he was dismissed. After the war he spread the stab-in-the-back myth and took part in the Kapp Putsch of 1920 and Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch of 1923. He sat in the Reichstag for the National Socialist Freedom Movement in 1924–1928 and died in Munich in 1937.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1914Liège and Tannenberg
- 1916–1918First Quartermaster General
- 1918Spring offensive (Operation Michael); dismissed in October
- 1920Took part in the Kapp Putsch
- 1923Took part in the Beer Hall Putsch
- 1924–1928Reichstag deputy (NSFB)
Related historical events
- 1914–1918First World WarFirst Quartermaster General of the German armyTook over the General Staff with Hindenburg in August 1916 and opened the spring offensive with Operation Michael in March 1918.
- 1918–1923The aftermath of the First World War: peace treaties and the revolutionary waveCo-leader of the Beer Hall PutschLed the Munich Beer Hall Putsch with Hitler in November 1923.