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German Generals Erich Ludendorff, Paul von Hindenburg and Erich von Falkenhayn during the First World War.

 German Generals Erich Ludendorff, Paul von Hindenburg and Erich von Falkenhayn during the First World War.





Today 107 years ago, on August 29, 1916, German Chief-of-Staff Erich von Falkenhayn was dismissed from his command and replaced by Generals Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff as 'Chief of the German Great General Staff' and 'First Quatermaster-General'. For simplicity sake, I will refer to these titles as Chief-of-Staff from now on.


General Erich von Falkenhayn, already Minister of War, was appointed Chief-of-Staff on September 14, 1914, following his predecessor Generel Helmuth von Moltke's nervous breakdown due to the German defeat in the First Battle of the Marne.


Chief-of-Staff Falkenhayn believed the war would be won on the Western Front and thus prioritized it over the Eastern Front. 


This belief was in direct contrast to General Paul von Hindenburg, German Commander in the East, who firmly believed Russia could be defeated by a single, massive, and decisive offensive on the Eastern Front, which, if pulled off, would undoubtedly tip the war in favor of Germany.


Chief-of-Staff von Falkenhayn dismissed this vision as a pipe dream, commencing a fierce and antagonistic rivalry between von Falkenhayn and von Hindenburg. 


During the winter of 1914/1915, von Hindenburg intensified his efforts of getting his will with von Falkenhayn, appealing to the Kaiser, the Empress and the Crown Prince Wilhelm in order to dismiss von Falkenhayn in favor of himself.


The Kaiser was reluctant of losing von Falkenhayn and compromised by removing von Falkenhayn as Minister of War, though still keeping him as Chief-of-Staff.


General von Hindenburg would somewhat get his will in May 1915, when Germany and Austria-Hungary launched a massive offensive at Gorlice-Tarnów on the Eastern Front. 


Although it didn't knock them out of the war, the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive forced Russia to withdraw 300 km eastwards, resulting in von Hindenburg becoming an even more popular figure in Germany.


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