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Osprey
The Kaiser's Warlord's-The German Commanders of World War 1
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By Ronald Pawley with illustrations by Patrice Courcelle
Osprey Publishing-Elite series No 97 pp64
ISBN 1 841 76 558 9 £8.99
This short book continues Osprey's Elite Series with a summary of the principle commanders of the German Army during the 1914-18 War. As you might expect from this series it is well illustrated with many excellent black and white photographs some being from the author's own collection, which I presume, are previously unpublished.
There are a couple of remarkable photographs of Wilhelm II from the author's collection which contrast with the familiar posed and retouched photographs we are all familiar with. One taken in 1888 shows a young Wilhelm sporting a rather effete bracelet and giving a rare outing in front of camera of that famous left arm. The other is a portrait showing the deep scar under his left eye (which is usually retouched out of photographs) the scar was caused by a piece of metal thrown at him by a
striking dockworker during a visit to Bremen. Whoever said that the Germans would not make good cricketers!
There are four distinct sections to the book, describing in turn the evolution of the General Staff, their role during the war, short biographical notes on the principle commanders and finally descriptions to accompany the colour plates.
The first section of the book describes how control of the German Army evolved between the end of the Franco-Prussian War and 1914.Crucially the author recognises the efforts of Bismarck in trying to keep the army under political control. However with Wilhelm II's dismissal of Bismarck the in 1888 the General Staff (Oberste Heeresleitung-'OHL') steadily wrestled more and more control of the army from political control By 1914 the OHL had super ceded the Ministry of War in control of the army. By 1918 the supremacy of the OHL over the Political Executive had become absolute, making the post war 'stab in the back by the politicians ' theories all the more ironic.
The book then describes the selection and training of the OHL. By 1914 this was undoubtedly far in advance of the Allies. However the organisation and tactics of the German Army at the start of the war was still deeply rooted in the experience of the German victories of 1866 to 1871. There were too many infantry and too little artillery. Their tactical use of troops was ponderous.
The largest section of the book provides a series of vignettes of 22 of the principle commanders. The descriptions are brief but provide excellent information .As you might expect due weight is given to Hindenburg, Ludendorff, Falkenhayn and von Molke. The constraints of a book of this length are clear however I would I would have enjoyed seeing the inclusion also of Colmar van der Goltz who commanded the 6th Army in Iraq becoming the Nemesis of Townsend at Kut al Amara and Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck who whilst relatively junior in rank to the other commanders mentioned did command a theatre of operations in East Africa with remarkable success.
The final section of the book covers the coloured plates illustrating uniforms and accessories by Patrice Courcelle. These will delight those with an eye for detail.
If you are looking for an accessible overview of the men who by 1918 were controlling not only the German Army but also the whole fabric of the German nation this book provides an excellent starting point.
Andrew Chapman
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