“s conduct of the war while forming the foundation for the Dolchstosslegende, the”
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Erich Ludendorff
Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff was a Prussian-born German general and politician. He achieved fame during World War I (1914–1918) for his central role in the German victories at Liège and Tannenberg in 1914. After his appointment as First Quartermaster General of the Great General Staff in 1916, Ludendorff oversaw virtually all decisions regarding Germany's strategy and war effort until the co…
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culture · German general and politician (1865–1937) · politician · military officer · autobiographer · writer · military leader · author · soldier · also Erich Ludendorff, Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff, Ludendorff
Born 9 April 1865 · Died 20 December 1937 · Q58579
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2026· 1 entry
2025· 1 entry
Jewish Telegraphic Agency: German Masonic Leader Sues General Erich Ludendorff for Anti-semitic Libel
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2024· 1 entry
Foreign Affairs: Erich Ludendorff: Sein Wesen Und Schaffen
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2023· 2 entries
SPIEGEL: Erich Ludendorff
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Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger: Burscheiderin findet Briefe des Generals Erich Ludendorff beim Aufräumen
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1937· 3 entries
Died 1937-12-20.
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“By the Revolution the Germans have made themselves pariahs among the nations, incapable of winning allies.”
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Ludendorff was given—against his explicit wishes—a state funeral organised and attended by Hitler
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1927· 2 entries
Published the book The Destruction of Free Masonry Through Revelation of Their Secrets
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Refused to even stand beside the field marshal at the dedication of the Tannenberg memorial
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1926· 1 entry
Ludendorff divorced Margarethe Schmidt and married his second wife, Mathilde von Kemnitz (1877–1966)
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1925· 1 entry
Founded the Tannenbergbund, a German nationalist organization which was both anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic, and published literature espousing conspiracy theories involving Jews, Catholics — especially Jesuits — and
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1924· 1 entry
Was elected to the Reichstag as a representative of the NSFB (a coalition of the German Völkisch Freedom Party (DVFP) and members of the Nazi Party), serving until 1928
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1920· 1 entry
Career landmark: member of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic (1920–1928).
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1918· 2 entries
Awarded Grand Cross of the Iron Cross (1914) (1918).
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Awarded Grand Cross of the Order of the Cross of Liberty (1918).
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1917· 1 entry
Awarded honorary citizen of Düsseldorf (1917).
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1916· 2 entries
Ludendorff oversaw virtually all decisions regarding Germany's strategy and war effort until the country's defeat in 1918
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The Germans attacked unsuccessfully at Verdun and soon were reeling under British and French blows along the Somme
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1915· 1 entry
Hindenburg and Ludendorff surprised the Russian army that still held a toehold in East Prussia by attacking in a snowstorm and surrounding it in the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes
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1913· 1 entry
Funding was approved for four additional corps but Ludendorff was transferred to regimental duties as commander of the 39th (Lower Rhine) Fusiliers, stationed at Düsseldorf
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1911· 1 entry
Ludendorff visited the key Belgian fortress city of Liège
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1910· 1 entry
At age 45, "the old sinner, as he liked to hear himself called" married the daughter of a wealthy factory owner, Margarethe Schmidt (1875–1936)
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1893· 2 entries
Was admitted to the prestigious German War Academy, and only a year later was recommended by its commandant to the General Staff Corps
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Entered the War Academy, where the commandant, General Meckel, recommended him to the General Staff, to which he was appointed in 1894
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1885· 1 entry
Ludendorff was commissioned as a subaltern into the 57th Infantry Regiment, then at Wesel
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1865· 1 entry
Born 1865-04-09.
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