Fritz von Lossberg - Lossbergs War: The World War I Memoirs of a German Chief of Staff (Foreign Military Studies)

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Lossbergs War

FOREIGN MILITARY STUDIES

History is replete with examples of notable military campaigns and exceptional military leaders and theorists. Military professionals and students of the art and science of war cannot afford to ignore these sources of knowledge or limit their studies to the history of the U.S. armed forces. This series features original works, translations, and reprints of classics outside the American canon that promote a deeper understanding of international military theory and practice.

SERIES EDITOR: Roger Cirillo

An AUSA Book

Lossbergs War

The World War I Memoirs of a German Chief of Staff

Fritz von Lossberg

Edited and Translated by

Major General David T. Zabecki, USA (Ret.), and

Lieutenant Colonel Dieter J. Biedekarken, USA (Ret.)

Foreword by Holger H. Herwig

UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY

The original German edition of this book was published as Meine Ttigkeit im Weltkriege 19141918 (Berlin: Mittler und Sohn, 1939).

English translation copyright 2017 by The University Press of Kentucky

Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth,

serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky

University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University.

All rights reserved.

Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky

663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008

www.kentuckypress.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Lossberg, Fritz von, 1868-1942, author. | Zabecki, David T., translator. | Biedekarken, Dieter J., translator.

Title: Lossbergs war : the World War I memoirs of a German Chief of Staff / Fritz von Lossberg ; edited and translated by Major General David T. Zabecki, USA (Ret.), and Lieutenant Colonel Dieter J. Biedekarken, USA (Ret.) ; Foreword by Holger H. Herwig.

Other titles: Meine Ttigkeit im Weltkriege 1914-1918. German | World War I memoirs of a German Chief of Staff

Description: Lexington, Kentucky : University Press of Kentucky, [2017] | Series: Foreign military studies | Originally published: Meine Ttigkeit Weltkriege 1914-1918. Berlin : Mittler und Sohn, 1939. | Lossbergs 1939 prologue Chief of Staff of the XIII Army Corps Division Chief of the General Staff of the Supreme Command of the Field Army (OHL) Chief of the General Staff of the Third Army (Champagne, 1915) Chief of the General Staff of the Second Army (The Somme, 1916) Chief of the General Staff of the First Army (The Somme, 1916) Chief of the General Staff of the Sixth Army (Arras, 1917) Chief of the General Staff of the Fourth Army (Flanders, 1917) Chief of the General Staff of Army Group Boehn Chief of the General Staff of Army Group Duke Albrecht of Wrttemberg After the War . The Prussian/German staff system, 1806-1918. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017032725| ISBN 9780813169804 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780813169811 (pdf) | ISBN 9780813169828 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Lossberg, Fritz von, 1868-1942. | World War, 1914-1918Personal narratives, German. | World War, 1914-1918CampaignsWestern Front. | GeneralsGermanyBiography. | Defensive (Military science) | World War, 1914-1918Germany.

Classification: LCC D531 .L65 2017 | DDC 940.4/1343092 [B] dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017032725

This book is printed on acid-free paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.

Manufactured in the United States of America.

Member of the Association of American University Presses

In memory of Gefreiter Hans-Werner Biedekarken,
23rd Reserve Field Artillery Regiment,
23rd (Royal Saxon) Reserve Division,
who died in action at the age of nineteen on 1 January 1918.

Contents

by Holger H. Herwig

Maps

Map 4. Ninth Armys Advance South of the Vistula, November 1914

Foreword

Fritz von Lossberg: Lion of the Defensive or Rigoletto?

In the preface to his book, Lossberg casually states: During the Great War I served as the chief of staff of German combat formations nine times in an uninterrupted sequence. Those assignments included, in succession, the XIII Wrttemberg Corps; German Fifth, Sixth and Ninth Armies; division chief in the Army Supreme Command (OHL); chief of staff of Third, Second, First, Sixth, and Fourth Armies; and finally chief of staff of Army Group Boehn and Army Group Duke Albrecht of Wrttemberg. He was the fireman of the German armies in the West. Wherever a breakthrough occurred, Lossberg was hastily dispatched to put out the fire. Not surprisingly, his role was controversial. To his supporters, he was the lion of the defensive (Abwehrlwe); to his detractors, he was Rigoletto, the court jester of Giuseppe Verdis opera by the same name.

Born into a military family from Electoral Hesse, Lossberg joined the Prussian Army in 1886 and experienced the customary rotation of line and General Staff assignments before 1914. He entered the war in the rank of lieutenant colonel with the XIII Corps. Lossberg was a fervent devotee of the Schlieffen Plan and blamed the Younger Moltke for the failure to execute the plan, by allowing the reckless advance of Seventh Army into Lorraine, by sending two corps to the East on the eve of the Battle of the Marne, and by remaining far behind the fighting front at Luxembourg. Lossbergs transfer into OHL as deputy chief of operations in January 1915 was unfortunate: he was constantly at odds with Moltkes chief of operations, Colonel Gerhard Tappen, who vetoed Lossbergs transfer of junior staff officers to the front to gain combat experience.

With regard to the war of attrition raging in the West, Lossberg stood firm with Moltkes successor, Erich von Falkenhayn: every inch of territory was to be held regardless of cost. Thus, when Lossberg, only recently promoted to the grade of colonel, was dispatched to the Champagne in September 1915 to shore up the crumbling front of the Third Army, he immediately commanded that the frontline trace be held at all costs. The Lossberg command style was simple and consistent: upon arriving at any new position, he toured the front, interviewed all division commanders and their chiefs of staff, and insisted on open and frequent communication between front and headquarters. Only then did he report to his superiorto demand the right to make decisions on the spot (Vollmacht

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