Erich Ludendorff

The books which General Erich Ludendorff wrote are historical documents for all times to come. He was a World-Revolutionary who spoke to all races, to all nations. His name and his deeds will be recognized forever, for his life in so-called peace-times, as also during World War I, was dedicated to serve not only his own people but all Humanity through his untiring battle against superstition and erring God-conceptions. His most unusual dedication made it possible that his own people could, for the first time, choose to follow their own, inborn God-conception. This freedom of choice is valid for all human beings, for it enables them to live in harmony with the universe, unfettered by dogma and priestly teachings.

The first volume of German infantry General Erich Ludendorff's memoir of World War I takes us from the 1914 outbreak of war, through trench warfare and several battles, to the end of 1916.The author speaks from his experiences commanding several divisions of Germany's infantry during the notorious trench warfare of World War I. Despite adverse conditions on fronts which barely moved for months at a time, Ludendorff was able to achieve important breakthroughs and victories which encouraged the German army and impressed his fellow generals. With ample experience on both the Western and Eastern fronts of the war, Ludendorff oversaw offensives against Belgium, Russia and Romania, observing tactics and warfare conditions change over time. Appended to this volume are fourteen maps, depicting the battlefields and lines of both Allied and German troops. Ludendorff's political ambitions - which at certain junctures clashed with his military career - meant his interest lay not merely in the battlefield: several assessments of the mood in Germany are included, how the population saw the conflict and the successive waves of recruitment and its effects upon life. Overall this book offers an intense narrative of the Great War from the perspective of strategizing commanders.

The second volume of Erich Ludendorff's memoirs of World War I begins with the Entente Offensive of early 1917, and concludes with the armistice which marked the end of the horrific conflict.By the later stages of the war, several new technologies plus the United States joining the Entente Cordial shifted the balance. Tanks were seen in far greater numbers than before, German submarines were deployed en masse, while poison gas and aerial bombardments became commoner. Mechanized mobility and the presence of automatic rifles changed the tempo of combat; while static trench warfare remained dominant along the front, breakthroughs became more achievable. Battles such as Cambrai, where massed French and British tanks punched through a large section of front, plus the evermore numerous American forces, placed heavy stresses upon the German army and its high command.Ludendorff acknowledges the deteriorating conditions in Germany; the economy became exhausted by the insatiable demands of war for both men and materiel. By late 1918 he realized that the Allies had simply to wait for the inevitable collapse; German soldiers taken as prisoners of war revealed the chaos behind their front lines, as battle groups were hastily mobilized and reformed amid unrelenting casualties. At the conclusion of the book Ludendorff delivers some patriotic words, looking ahead to the future recovery of his nation.