August von Mackensen
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August von Mackensen (December 6, 1849 – November 8, 1945) was a German Field Marshal, born August Mackensen in Haus Leipnitz, in the Prussian province of Saxony, to Louis and Marie Louise Mackensen. He commanded with success during the First World War and became one of Imperial Germany's most prominent military leaders.
Biography
Before joining the army, Mackensen studied agriculture in Halle without graduating. He began his military service in 1869 as a volunteer with the 2nd Life Hussars regiment. During the Franco-Prussian War he was promoted to second lieutenant and recommended for the Iron Cross, Second Class. After an interlude at Halle University, Mackensen formally entered the German Army in 1873, with his old regiment. In 1891 he joined the General Staff in Berlin, where he was heavily influenced by the new chief, Alfred von Schlieffen. When Schlieffen retired in 1906 Mackensen was regarded by some as a possible successor, although the job went to Helmuth von Moltke.At the beginning of World War I Mackensen commanded XVII Army Corps as part of the Eighth Army under first General Prittwitz and then General Hindenburg and saw action in the battles of Gumbinnen and Tannenberg. Late in 1914 Mackensen took command of the new Ninth Army and was awarded the Pour le Mérite for actions around Łódź and Warsaw. Until October of 1915 Mackensen saw action in Galicia, and assisted in the capture of Przemysl and Lemberg.
In October of 1915 Mackensen led a renewed Austro-German campaign against Serbia and finally crushed effective military resistance there. After marching in Belgrade he erected a monument to the Serbian soldiers that heroically died defending Belgrade saying "We fought against an army that we have only heard about in fairy tales".
He followed this up in 1916 with a successful campaign against Romania (under the command of General Falkenhayn). He was in command of a multi-national army of Bulgarians, Ottomans, and Germans. Despite this, his offensives were very successful, breaking every army that faced his own.
After this campaign, he was awarded the "Schwarzer Adler" (black eagle), the highest-ranking medal of the Prussian kings and he was promoted to Field Marshal. From 1917 on, he was the military governor of Romania. His last campaign was an attempt to destroy the reorganised Romanian army (after the Kerensky Offensive was thrown back). But the attempt failed (Battle of Mărăşeşti), with both sides taking heavy losses. At the end of the war, he was captured by General d'Esperey's French army in Hungary and held as a military prisoner until November 1919.
In 1920 Mackensen retired from the army. Although standing in opposition to new established republican system, he avoided public campaigns. Around 1924 he changed his mind and began to use his image as war hero to support conservative, monarchic groups. He became very active in pro-military conservative organizations, particularly Stahlhelm and the Schlieffen Society.
During the German elections of 1932 he supported Hindenburg over Hitler, but following the latter's accession to power Mackensen became a visible, if symbolic supporter of the Nazi regime. He did, however, protest the killings of Generals von Bredow and von Schleicher and the atrocities committed in Poland. By the early 1940s Hitler and Goebbels suspected Mackensen of disloyalty but could do nothing. Norman J. W. Goda, "Black Marks: Hitler's Bribery of His Senior Officers during World War II", The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 72, No. 2. (Jun., 2000), 430-432. Mackensen remained a committed monarchist (notably, he appeared in full uniform at Kaiser Wilhelm II's funeral in 1941).
Mackensen died on November 8th 1945, after the Second World War, at the age of 95, his life having spanned the old of Old- Prussia,Kaiserreich, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, and post-war Allied occupation.
Miscellaneous
There is a street with his name in Belgrade downtown.Assessment
Mackensen conducted two very successful military campaigns during the war: the conquest of Serbia in the fall of 1915 and the conquest of Romania in the fall and winter of 1916. Both campaigns were characterized by careful and effective planning and good execution. As a result, Mackensen is considered by some historians to be one of the best field commanders of the German army during the First World War. [First World War.com]Notes
References
- Goda, Norman J. W. "Black Marks: Hitler's Bribery of His Senior Officers during World War II." The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 72, No. 2. (Jun., 2000), 413-452.
- Hedin, Sven. Große Männer denen ich begegnete, Zweiter Band, Wiesbaden, F.A. Brockhausen, 1953.
- Mombauer, Annika. Helmuth von Moltke and the Origins of the First World War. Cambridge University Press, 2001.
- Schwarzmüller, Theo. Zwischen Kaiser und "Führer." Generalfeldmarschall August von Mackensen. Eine politische biographie. Munich: Deutsche Taschenbuch Verlag, 1995.
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