Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I. He later became president of Germany from 1925 until his death. During his presidency, he played a key role in the Nazi seizure of power in January 1933 when, under pressure from his advisers, he appointed Adolf Hitler as chancellor of Germany.
Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff was a German military officer and politician who contributed significantly to the Nazis' rise to power. He achieved fame during World War I for his central role in the German victories at Liège and Tannenberg in 1914. After his appointment as First Quartermaster General of the Army General Staff in 1916, he became the chief policymaker in a de facto military dictatorship until Germany's defeat. During the Weimar Republic, he took part in the failed 1920 Kapp Putsch and Hitler's 1923 Beer Hall Putsch.
Hermann Karl Bruno von François was a German General der Infanterie during World War I, and is best known for his key role in several German victories on the Eastern Front in 1914.
The German spring offensive, also known as Kaiserschlacht or the Ludendorff offensive, was a series of German attacks along the Western Front during the First World War, beginning on 21 March 1918. Following American entry into the war in April 1917, the Germans decided that their only remaining chance of victory was to defeat the Allies before the United States could ship soldiers across the Atlantic and fully deploy its resources. The German Army had gained a temporary advantage in numbers as nearly 50 divisions had been freed by the Russian defeat and withdrawal from the war with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
In warfare, infiltration tactics involve small independent light infantry forces advancing into enemy rear areas, bypassing enemy frontline strongpoints, possibly isolating them for attack by follow-up troops with heavier weapons. Soldiers take the initiative to identify enemy weak points and choose their own routes, targets, moments and methods of attack; this requires a high degree of skill and training, and can be supplemented by special equipment and weaponry to give them more local combat options.
Ludwig Alexander Friedrich August Philipp Freiherr von Falkenhausen was a German officer most notable for his activities during World War I.
Stormtroopers were specialist infantry soldiers of the German Army. In the last years of World War I, Stoßtruppen were trained to use infiltration tactics – part of the Germans' improved method of attack on enemy trenches. The German Empire entered the war certain that the conflict would be won in the course of great military campaigns, thus relegating results obtained during individual clashes to the background; consequently the best officers, concentrated in the German General Staff, placed their attention on maneuver warfare and the rational exploitation of railways, rather than concentrating on the conduct of battles. This attitude made a direct contribution to operational victories of Germany in Russia, Romania, Serbia and Italy, but it resulted in failure in the West. Thus the German officers on the Western Front found themselves in need of resolving the static situation caused by trench warfare on the battlefield.
Georg Cornelius Adalbert von der Marwitz was a Prussian cavalry general, who commanded several Imperial German armies during the First World War on both the Eastern and Western fronts.
Otto Ernst Vinzent Leo von Below served as a Prussian general officer in the Imperial German Army during the First World War (1914–1918). He arguably became most notable for his command, along with the Austro-Hungarian commander Svetozar Borojević, during the victorious Battle of Caporetto in October–November 1917.
Karl Wilhelm Georg August von Einem genannt von Rothmaler was the commander of the German 3rd Army during the First World War and served as the Prussian Minister of War responsible for much of the German military buildup prior to the outbreak of the war.
Friedrich Bertram Sixt von Armin was a German general who participated in the Franco-Prussian War and the First World War. In the latter he participated in many battles on the Western Front, including the Battles of Passchendaele and the Lys.
Friedrich Karl "Fritz" von Loßberg was a German colonel and later general, of the First World War. He was an operational planner, especially of defence. Loßberg served as chief of staff in the 3rd Army, 2nd Army, 6th Army and the 4th Army at the Second Battle of Champagne, Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Arras and the Third Battle of Ypres.
Georg Bruchmüller was a German artillery officer who greatly influenced the development of modern artillery tactics. He was nicknamed Durchbruchmüller, a combination of the German word Durchbruch (breakthrough) with his name.
Franz Hermann Günther von Etzel was a career soldier and general in the Imperial German Army, active in World War I.
The 18th Army was an army level command of the German Army in World War I. It was formed against France on 27 December 1917 from the former Heeresgruppe Woyrsch command. It served exclusively on the Western Front and was dissolved on 2 January 1919.
Hermann Josef von Kuhl was a Prussian military officer, member of the German General Staff, and a Generalleutnant during World War I. One of the most competent commanders in the German Army, he retired in 1919 to write a number of critically acclaimed essays on the war. Hermann von Kuhl is one of only three recipients to be distinguished with both the "military class" and "peace class" of the Pour le Mérite, Prussia's and Germany's highest honor.
Karl Freiherr von Plettenberg was a Prussian officer, and later General of Infantry during World War I. He was Commandant-General of the Guards Corps, Adjutant General of the German Kaiser Wilhelm II and a recipient of Pour le Mérite.
The Riga offensive, also called the Battle of Jugla or the Battle of Riga, took place in early September 1917 and was last major campaign on the Eastern Front of World War I before the Russian Provisional Government and its army began disintegrating.
Richard Heinrich Karl von Conta was a German General der Infanterie during World War I. He was notable for his participation in the Battle of Belleau Wood.
Georg Karl Kuno Alfred von Larisch (1856–1952) was a German General of the Infantry during World War I. He commanded the 10th Division, the 81st Reserve Division, the Guard Ersatz Division, and the Generalkommando z.b.V. 54 on the Western and Eastern fronts.
German Empire 
Imperial German Army 
