Ludendorff
ERICH VON, German military leader, born in Prussian Poland, 1865; graduated from the Imperial Military Academy, in 1895, and 51 FIELD-MARSHAL VON LUDENDORFF was soon after attached to the General Staff, in Berlin. He rapidly won promotion through his zeal for military efficiency. In 1912 he was at the head of a department of the General Staff, with the rank of Colonel. When the war broke out, in 1914, he held the rank of Major-General and was practically head of the German military organization. It was he who recalled Hinden- LÜDENSCHEID burg from retirement and appointed him to the command of the German armies in East Prussia, after the disastrous initial defeat suffered at the hands of the Russians, shortly after hostilities broke out. From then until the final collapse of the German military organization, in 1918, Ludendorff retained his commanding position, nor was he greatly discredited in the minds of the German Imperialists by the final defeat of his armies.