Erich von Falkenhayn

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Falkenhayn then assumed command of the 9th Army in Transylvania (6 September 1916) and in August launched a joint offensive against Romania with August von Mackensen who attacked from Bulgaria, through the Dobruja. [15] As the commander of the 9th Army, Falkenhayn settled his army in Brașov and deceived the Romanians into believing that there would be no offensives in western Romania. The 9th Army fought the Romanian First Army in Hațeg. After the battle, Falkenhayn joined with Austrian forces to surround the Romanian forces. Falkenhayn delayed the offensive against Romanian forces and as a result came into conflict with Archduke Karl of Austria, who would later become Charles I of Austria. He justified the postponement by pointing to the bad conditions of roads. [27] Even with the conflict with the Austrian Army, in late 1916 and early 1917, Falkenhayn and Mackensen were able to drive the Romanian forces into Russia. [15]

Palestine (1917–1918)

Following his success in Romania in Brașov during mid-July 1917, Falkenhayn went to take military command of the Ottoman Yildirim Army Group (Heeresgruppe F [Army Group F]), which was being formed in Mesopotamia and at Aleppo. [15] After long discussions with the Ottoman general staff, Falkenhayn was sent on 7 September 1917 as supreme commander of two Ottoman armies in Palestine, with the rank of Mushir (equivalent to field marshal) of the Ottoman Army. In the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, Falkenhayn failed to prevent the conquest of Jerusalem by the British Egyptian Expeditionary Force (General Edmund Allenby) in December 1917 and was replaced by Otto Liman von Sanders. [5] Falkenhayn is credited with avoiding a battle for the Old City of Jerusalem with its many holy sites, as well as with a crucial role in stopping the forced removal of the Jewish population of Palestine, which Governor Djemal Pasha had planned along the lines of the Armenian genocide. [28] The evacuation of the population of Jerusalem during the harsh winter months had also been planned by Djemal Pasha and was thwarted by German officers including Falkenhayn. [28]

Belarus (1918–1919)

In February 1918, Falkenhayn became commander of the 10th Army in Belarus. [3] The unit carried out the occupation tasks in Belarus after Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. [29] As an Army unit commander, he witnessed the end of the war in Belarus. In December 1918 he oversaw the withdrawal of the 10th Army to Germany. The formation disbanded in February 1919 and Falkenhayn retired from the army following the dissolution of his unit. [3]

Retirement

In 1919, Falkenhayn retired from the army and withdrew to his estate, where he wrote his autobiography and several books on war and strategy. His war memoirs were translated into English as The German General staff and Its Critical Decisions, 1914–1916 (1919). [30] With the benefit of hindsight, he remarked that the German declarations of war on Russia and France in 1914 were "justifiable but overly-hasty and unnecessary". [31] Falkenhayn died in 1922, at Schloss Lindstedt, near Potsdam and was buried in Potsdam. [3]

Family life

In 1886, Falkenhayn married Ida Selkmann, with whom he had a son, Fritz Georg Adalbert von Falkenhayn (1890–1973), and a daughter, Erika Karola Olga von Falkenhayn (1904–1975), who married Henning von Tresckow (1901–1944), a general who participated in the 20 July plot to assassinate Hitler. [32]

Assessment

Falkenhayn in many ways typified the Prussian generals; a militarist in the literal sense, he had undeniable political and military competence and showed contempt for democracy and the representative Reichstag. He addressed the Reichstag in 1914, saying, "Only through the fact that the Prussian army is removed by the constitution from the party struggle and the influence of ambitious party leaders has it become what it is: the secure defence of peace at home and abroad". [33] Militarily, Falkenhayn had a mixed record. His offensive at Verdun proved a strategic failure. During the campaign against Romania in 1916 Falkenhayn demonstrated considerable skill in command of the German 9th Army, driving the Romanians from Transylvania, breaking through the Southern Carpathians and forcing the shattered Romanian forces north-east into Moldavia. [34]

Winston Churchill considered him to be the ablest of the German generals in World War I. Trevor Dupuy also ranked him near the top of the German commanders, just below Hindenburg and Ludendorff. [35] Robert Foley wrote that Germany's enemies were far more able to apply a strategy of attrition, because they had greater amounts of manpower, industry and economic control over the world, resorting to many of the methods used by Falkenhayn in Russia in 1915 and France in 1916. As the cost of fighting the war increased, the war aims of the Entente expanded, to include the overthrow of the political elites of the Central Powers and the ability to dictate peace to a comprehensively defeated enemy, which was achieved by a strategy of attrition. [36]

During his term as the Chief of the General Staff, one staff officer wrote that Falkenhayn had lacked decisiveness and foresight in the matters of organization and tactics. [37] All sources portray Falkenhayn as a loyal, honest and punctilious friend and superior. His positive legacy is his conduct during the war in Palestine in 1917. As his biographer Holger Afflerbach wrote, "An inhuman excess against the Jews in Palestine was prevented only by Falkenhayn's conduct, which against the background of the German history of the 20th century has a special meaning, and one that distinguishes Falkenhayn". [38]

Honours

He received the following decorations and awards: [3]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Herwig & Hamilton 2004, p. 72.
  2. ↑ Afflerbach 1996, p. 9.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Erich Georg Alexander Sebastien von Falkenhayn". the Prussian Machine. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  4. ↑ Huguenin 1912, p. 69.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Tucker 2016, pp. 63–65.
  6. 1 2 Biographie, Deutsche. "Falkenhayn, Erich von - Deutsche Biographie". www.deutsche-biographie.de (in German). Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  7. ↑ Gerard 1917, pp. 64–65.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Falkenhayn, Erich von | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1)". encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  9. ↑ Foley 2007, p. 82.
  10. ↑ Spenkuch 2019, p. 44.
  11. ↑ Herwig & Hamilton 2004, p. 71.
  12. ↑ TIMES, Special Cable to THE NEW YORK (14 December 1914). "FALKENHAYN YOUNGEST CHIEF; Won a Reputation Defending Army After Zabern Incident". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  13. ↑ "NEW GERMAN WAR MINISTER.; Wild von Hohenborn Relieves Falkenhayn, Who Is Promoted". The New York Times. 22 January 1915. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  14. ↑ Bruns 2014, pp. 31–32.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Proceedings of the Military History Symposium, USAF Academy. 1969. p. 44.
  16. ↑ The Star and Sentinel. The Star and Sentinel.
  17. ↑ Falkenhayn 2009, p. 38.
  18. ↑ "2". Zeitung der 10. Armee (in German). 1917. doi:10.11588/DIGLIT.12997.
  19. ↑ Falkenhayn 2009, pp. 42–43.
  20. ↑ Falkenhayn 2009, pp. 47–48.
  21. ↑ Dinardo 2016, pp. 486–503.
  22. ↑ Scheer 1920, p. 55.
  23. ↑ Andrews, Evan. "10 Things You May Not Know About the Battle of Verdun". HISTORY. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  24. ↑ Foley, Robert (2016). "The Killing Field". History Today. 66 (9): 30–37.
  25. 1 2 Smith, Audoin-Rouzeau & Becker 2003, p. 82.
  26. ↑ Cowley & Parker 1996, p. 361.
  27. ↑ Barrett 2013, pp. 180–181.
  28. 1 2 Did a German Officer Prevent the Massacre of the Jews of Eretz Yisrael during World War I?, Jewish Ideas Daily version of The Jerusalem Post Magazine article from 9 December 2011
  29. ↑ "Falkenhayn, Erich von – Kulturstiftung" (in German). Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  30. ↑ Falkenhayn 2009, pp. 1–336.
  31. ↑ Falkenhayn 2009, p. 96.
  32. ↑ Kolster 1994, p. 94.
  33. ↑ Craig 1956, pp. 253–254.
  34. ↑ Tucker 2014, p. 231.
  35. ↑ Cowley & Parker 1996, p. 915.
  36. ↑ Foley 2007, p. 268.
  37. ↑ Lupfer 1981, p. 8.
  38. ↑ Afflerbach 1994, p. 485.
  39. ↑ "Kaiser Rewards Falkenhayn". The New York Times. 13 May 1915. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  40. ↑ "Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Herzogtums Braunschweig für das Jahr 1908". (1908). In Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Herzogtums Braunschweig (Vol. 1908). Meyer. p. 17
  41. ↑ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden (1910), "Großherzogliche Orden", p. 202
  42. ↑ "Ritter-Orden: Oesterreichsch-kaiserlicher Leopold-orden", Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie, 1918, p. 75, retrieved 5 February 2021
  43. ↑ "Ritter-Orden: Königlich-ungarischer St. Stephan-orden", Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie, 1918, p. 56, retrieved 5 February 2021

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References

  • Afflerbach, Holger (1994). Falkenhayn: Politisches Denken und Handeln im Kaiserreich[Falkenhayn: Political Thinking and Action during the Empire]. Beiträge zur Militärgeschichte (in German). München: Oldenbourg. ISBN   978-3-486-55972-9.
  • Afflerbach, Holger (1996). Falkenhayn: Politisches Denken und Handeln im Kaiserreich[Falkenhayn: Political Thinking and Action during the Empire]. Beiträge zur Militärgeschichte (in German) (repr. ed.). München: Oldenbourg. ISBN   978-3-486-56184-5.
  • Barrett, Michael B. (23 October 2013). Prelude to Blitzkrieg: The 1916 Austro-German Campaign in Romania. Indiana University Press. ISBN   978-0-253-00870-1.
  • Cowley, Robert; Parker, Geoffrey (1996). The Reader's Companion to Military History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN   978-0-395-66969-3.
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  • Craig, Gordon A. (1956). The Politics of the Prussian Army 1640–1945. New York: Oxford University Press. OCLC   275199.
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  • Falkenhayn, Erich von (2009) [1919]. General Headquarters, 1914–1916 and its Critical Decisions (Pbk repr. Naval & Military Press, Ukfield ed.). London: Hutchinson. ISBN   978-1-84574-139-6 . Retrieved 29 February 2016.
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Further reading

Erich von Falkenhayn
Erich von Falkenhayn-retouched.jpg
Falkenhayn, c. 1913
Prussian Minister of War
In office
7 June 1913 –21 January 1915
Political offices
Preceded by Prussian Minister of War
1913–1915		Succeeded by
Military offices
Preceded by Chief of the General Staff
1914–1916		Succeeded by
Preceded by
New Formation
 Commander, 9th Army
6 September 1916 – 1 May 1917		Succeeded by
Preceded by
New Formation
 Commander, Ottoman Army Group F
20 July 1917 – 6 February 1918		Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander, 10th Army
5 March 1918 – 6 January 1919		Succeeded by
Dissolved
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