My war memories 1914–1918

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My memories of war 1914-1918 is the title of the first published in 1919 war memories of the German general and politician Erich Ludendorff , the first quartermaster-general of the Supreme Command-line (OHL) in the First World War .

Erich Ludendorff - My War Memories - Ernst Siegfried Mittler and Son - Berlin 1919

Erich Ludendorff (1865–1937) had a decisive influence on German warfare and politics. The book is dedicated to "the heroes who fell believing in Germany's greatness". According to its own information, it was "Written in Sweden in Hessleholmsgard from November to February 1919, supplemented in Berlin by June 23, the day of acceptance - of peace." (Foreword).

His memories of the war, as Ludendorff puts it in his foreword, should “tell of the deeds of the German people and army, with which my name will remain forever connected. They describe my striving and tell of what I experienced in the international wrestling ”.

Ludendorff wrote his first memory book immediately after the collapse in an astonishing workload within just a few weeks in his Swedish exile.

The preface concludes as follows:

“The German has not yet found the time to reflect and contemplate. There is too much on him. And yet he can stand up proudly from the mighty deeds of his army and the achievements at home. But he has no time to lose to learn from the events that led to his misfortune, because world history advances relentlessly and crushes the peoples who are tearing themselves apart in disunity. "

The content is divided into the following main sections:

My thoughts and actions - Liège - As Chief of the General Staff in the East from August 22, 1914 to August 28, 1916 - As First Quartermaster General from August 29, 1916 to October 26, 1918.

The 10 cards show: I. Tannenberg 1914 - II. The Battle of the Masurian Lakes - III. The campaign in southern Poland autumn 1914 - IV. The campaign in northern Poland autumn 1914 - V. The winter battle in Masuria - VI. The summer campaign against Russia - VII. Outline map of the World War - VIII. The campaign against Romania 1916 - IX. The German attack in the west 1918 - X. German retreat movements 1918.

In 1926 the war memoirs appeared in the 9th edition.

reception

In a publication edited by the German historian Winfried Baumgart it is emphasized that the description of his activities in the Third Supreme Army Command is the most important for political history:

"It is based on the thesis repeated by many military officers in the post-war period that the German army was undefeated in the field and that the collapse was caused by the political weakness of the home front."

The Russian historian Dimitri Wolkogonow initially refers to the passage in the section The Decomposition of the Russian People from Ludendorff's memories of the war :

“By sending Lenin to Russia , our government had taken on a special responsibility. The trip was justified militarily. Russia had to fall. But our government had to make sure that we didn't fall too. "

Wolkogonov describes this plan as “as cynical as it is captivating” and further points out that Ludendorff was later able to publicly proclaim that the Soviet government only existed “by our grace”.

The author Samuel Hynes assigned the war memories to the literary genre of “self-memorials”, with which Ludendorff opened a “memoir war” that was to have a lasting impact on the political culture of the Weimar Republic .

literature

Expenses (selection)

Secondary literature

  • Roger Chickering : "Ludendorff's last war", in: Lebendige Sozialgeschichte: Commemorative publication for Peter Borowsky, edited by Rainer Hering, Rainer Nicolaysen. Westdeutscher Verlag 2003, p. 261 ff. ( Partial online view )
  • Kosch, Wilhelm : Biographisches Staats Handbuch. Lexicon of politics, press and journalism. Continued by Eugen Kuri. 2 volumes. Berlin, Francke 1963

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ From 1916 Ludendorff determined the politics and leadership of the Supreme Army Command (OHL) alongside the German Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg (later Reich President ), was responsible for the failed German spring offensive in 1918 and was one of the fathers of the stab in the back legend . During the Weimar Republic he was active in the national-völkisch and right-wing radical movement, took part in the Kapp Putsch (1920) and the Hitler putsch (1923), was a member of the Reichstag of the German Volkische Freedom Party and a co-founder of the Tannenberg League . - On its political location, cf. also the publications: 1. General Ludendorff: My military career. Sheets of memory of our proud army. 1933, Munich; 2. General Ludendorff: The total war. Munich 1935; 3. The last way of the field master Erich Ludendorff. Only text and photo report from the funeral ceremonies in 1937; 4. Mathilde Ludendorff : The people's soul and its power shapers. A philosophy of history. 1934; etc.
  2. ↑ digitized version
  3. ↑ Preface
  4. ↑ DNB
  5. ↑ Winfried Baumgart, Winfried Dotzauer, Winfried Becker: The Age of Imperialism and the First World War (1871-1918). Scientific Book Society, 1977, p. 48 .
  6. ↑ Erich Ludendorff: My War Memories 1914-1918. 1919, p. 407 ( digitized version ) (see Dimitri Wolkogonow: Lenin , German, p. 111, there only in a different wording)
  7. ↑ Dmitri Volkogonow: Lenin. Utopia and terror. German translation by Markus Schweisthal, Christian Geisinger, Jana Neik and Christiane Sieg Düsseldorf: Econ, ²1996, German, p. 111.
  8. ↑ According to: Manfred Nebelin: Ludendorff: Dictator in the First World War. Settlers 2010, p.12 .
  9. ↑ Ibid. - Part of the so-called "memoir war" also formed Ludendorff's publication Warfare and Politics (Berlin, ES Mittler & Sohn , 1922).