Erich von Falkenhayn
Chief of the German General Staff
1861 CE to 1922 CE
General Erich Georg Sebastian Anton von Falkenhayn (September 11, 1861 – April 8, 1922) is the second Chief of the German General Staff of the First World War from September 1914 until 29 August 1916.
He is removed on August 29, 1916 after the failure at the Battle of Verdun, the opening of the Battle of the Somme, the Brusilov Offensive and the entry of Romania into the war on the Allied side undo his strategy to end the war before 1917.
He is later given important field commands in Romania and Syria.
His reputation as a war leader is attacked in Germany during and after the war, especially by the faction that supports Paul von Hindenburg.
Falkenhayn holds that Germany cannot win the war by a decisive battle but will have to reach a compromise peace; his enemies say he lacks the resolve necessary to win a decisive victory.
Falkenhayn's relations with the Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg sre troubled and undercut Falkenhayn's plans.
World
The Great Crossroads
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Erich von Falkenhayn, after leading a German army against Romania for ten months, takes command of the Central Powers forces in Palestine on July 9, 1917.
Falkenhayn had attempted a counterstroke at Beersheba, but the collapse of the Turkish center necessitates a general retreat.
General Otto Liman von Sanders, Falkenhayn's successor as German commander of the Turkish forces in Syria-Palestine, is convinced that the British will make their main effort east of the Jordan.
Allenby, however, is really interested in taking a straight northerly direction, reckoning that the Palestine branch rail line at 'Afula and Beisan, some sixty miles behind the Turkish front, can be reached by a strategic "bound" of his cavalry and that their fall will isolate the two Turkish armies in the west.