Postcard of Kaiser Wilhelm II and Kaiser Franz Joseph, in the Secessionist style. Kaiser Wilhelm is wearing the uniform and shako of the Death's Head Hussars.
Völkerkrieg (people's war)1914; In Treue FestPeople's WarFirm in Loyalty
"Disappointed in Falkenhayn, [German Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg] on 6 December [1914] turned to the duumvirate of Hindenburg and Ludendorff. He found exactly what he was seeking: reassurances that the war was not lost, provided that the Army was given more men and supplies. Bethmann Hollweg, who knew nothing of military affairs, was impressed by Hindenburg's and Ludendorff's grasp of military detail. The two eastern leaders, for their part, saw the Chancellor as a welcome ally in their fight against the 'Westerner', Falkenhayn. Ludendorff equated Falkenhayn's call for an end to the war with 'treason'."
The German plan to avoid a two-front war — quickly defeat France, before defeating a ponderous Russia — had failed. After defeat in the Battle of the Marne, the end of the Race to the Sea, and defeat in the Battle of Flanders (the Battles of the Yser and of Ypres), German commander Erich von Falkenhayn argued to German Kaiser Wilhelm and Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg that Germany could not defeat the combined might of Great Britain, France, and Russia, and should negotiate a separate peace with Russia. Commanding Germany's Eastern Front armies, but subordinate to Falkenhayn, Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff argued that, given more men, more supplies, they could defeat Russia.
The First World War: Germany and Austria Hungary 1914-1918 by Holger H. Herwig, page 118, copyright © 1997 Holger H. Herwig, publisher: Arnold, publication date: 1997
ambition, 1914-12-06, 1914, December, Falkenhayn, Bethmann Hollweg, von Hindenburg, Hindenburg, Ludendorff
