Lieutenant General Erich Ludendorff, chief of staff to General Paul von Hindenburg. Together they commanded German forces on the Russian Front until Hindenburg replaced Erich von Falkenhayn as Commander of the German Army in 1916. Through the rest of the war Hindenburg and Ludendorff commanded the German Army.
Generalleutnant LudendorffSigned:Ludendorff
". . . Lossberg was now convinced that Ludendorff was no longer master of the situation, and had made a serious strategic mistake in refusing to withdraw.He was not alone in his assessment of Ludendorff. On 30 July Ludendorff discussed the military situation with Hintze and painted a ridiculously optimistic picture of the German position. On the following day Bartenwerffer complained to Merz about what he called 'this shocking state of affairs' and both men agreed that it was Ludendorff's overwhelming vanity which stopped him from putting the state secretary fully in the picture.Other officers at the OHL, although they were not yet openly critical of Ludendorff, were becoming highly alarmed about the military situation and could not share his nervous optimism or Hindenburg's confidence."
With Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, General, Erich Ludendorff commanded the German army. The last of their five 1918 offensives ended on July 17. The Allies counter-attacked in the Second Battle of the Marne, the Aisne-Marne Offensive. OHL, Oberste Heeresleitung, was German Supreme Army Command. Lossberg, Bartenwerffer, and Merz were German generals, Hintze an admiral.
The Silent Dictatorship by Martin Kitchen, pp. 247–248, copyright © 1976 by Martin Kitchen, publisher: Croom Helm, publication date: 1976
1918-07-31, 1918, July, Ludendorff, Erich Ludendorff, Lossberg, Bartenwerffer, Merz,Hintze
