Erich von Ludendorff

From Ludendorff's Own Story August 1914 - November 1918

By sending Lenin to Russia our Government had . . . assumed a great responsibility. From a military point of view his journey was justified, for Russia had to be laid low. But our Government should have seen to it that we also were not involved in her fall.

New York and London : Harper & Brothers 1919, vol. ii, p. 126.

From The General Staff and its Problems, Erich von Ludendorff May 1920

At the beginning of November the revolution broke out from below in Germany. On the 9th His Majesty the Kaiser was betrayed by the Government of Prince Max. On November 11 followed the capitulation and the armistice.

The revolution above and below gave the German Army its death blow in its struggle with the enemy. Agitation had begun considerably earlier, In this matter different aspects are to be distinguished�I exclude hostile propaganda and Bolshevism. It ranges from sabotage in the moment of victory to the revolution itself. When the history of the catastrophe in Germany comes to be written it will have to be investigated from top to bottom. I can only give sidelights here.

( . . )

A declaration by an Entente statesman ; �It is perfectly plain to us that there are influential circles in Germany to whom nothing could be worse than a military victory for Ludendorff.�

Extract from Pamphlet no. 9 of the Spartacist Union :

�Even during the war the party, as the Spartacist Union, recognized the importance of the military propaganda. It saw its principal task in influencing along revolutionary lines, the process of disintegration in progress within the military structure set up by the bourgeoisie. As far as was in the power of the Spartacist Union it fulfilled that task during the war. The scope of its ambitions was extended with the ruin and dissolution of the old regular army and the simultaneous commencement of the struggle of the proletariat for political power. Side by side with the duty of destroying bourgeois militarism lay the task of popularizing the notion of a red army. The general political situation at the outbreak of the revolution led to the concentration of the revolutionary forces in a military sense. That in turn led to the establishment of a red �Soldiers� Union.��

Fikentscher, � Die Wahrheit über den Zusammenbruch der Marine �* : �On August 30, 1919, Haase, formerly in the navy, used the following words at a meeting of the radical Seamen�s Union—�Ever since the beginning of the war, indeed early in 1915, we worked systematically for a revolution in the fleet. We each gave 50 pfennings from our pay every ten days, got into touch with members of the Reichstag, drew up revolutionary leaflets, and had them printed and distributed in order to prepare the ground for the events of November. ��

      * �The Truth about the collapse of the Navy."   [Tr.]

General von Kuhl writes : �We clearly realized that the process of dissolution originated at home.�

The Independent Social Democrat Vater, in a speech at Magdeburg in the winter of 1918-19 :

�The revolution did not come as a surprise to us. We had been systematically preparing for it since January 25, 1918. . . ! We induced our men who were going to the front to desert. We organized the deserters, supplied them with forged papers, money and unsigned pamphlets. We sent these men out in all directions, but principally to the front, in order that they should work on the feelings of the men at the front and bring about its dissolution. They persuaded the soldiers to desert and so the work of destruction was slowly but surely completed.�

A declaration of the Under-Secretary of State to the Imperial Ministry of Justice, Dr. Oscar Kohn, on December 27 1918 :

�Is any formal statement or justification required that I was only too glad to receive the money which our Russian friends put at my disposal through Comrade Joffe for the purpose of the German revolution? . . .�

And a little further on :

"Comrade Joffe gave me the money in the night of November 5, 1918 ; this had nothing to do with the sums which he had previously stated had been disbursed for the purchase of arms. I applied the money to the purpose for which it was destined, that is, propagating the idea of a revolution, and my only regret is that circumstances have made it impossible for me to use it all. I hope that the time will soon come for me to render an account to our Russian friends.�

( pages 706-8 )

New York : Dutton. vol. ii.
( no date ; Introduction has 'May 1920' )

From The Russian Revolution (1917-1926) by Lancelot Lawton, 1927

. . . The Germans sought to make use of the services of the Bolshevik leaders for their own military purposes, but they had a poor understanding of Bolshevik aims. In the end the Russian Revolution went to lengths such as they had never anticipated ; and its virus infected the morale of the German armies and peoples. Thus fate had its revenge ; the deceivers were deceived.

London : Macmillan, 1927, page 452.

Ludendorff, Erich, 1865-1937 Title The General Staff and its problems; the history of the relations between the high command and the German Imperial Government as revealed by official documents. Translated by F. A. Holt Publisher Freeport, N.Y., Books for Libraries Press [1971] Description 2 v. (vi, 721 p.) 23 cm ISBN 0836959558 Language English Note Translation of Urkunden der Obersten Heeresleitung Reprint of the 1920 ed Note Includes bibliographical references

Ludendorff, Erich, 1865-1937. Title The nation at war, by General Ludendroff, translated from the German by Dr. A.S. Rappoport. Publisher London, Hutchinson & Co., Ltd. [1936?] Description 3 p. l., 11-188, [1] p. front. (port.) 22 cm. Language English

Note : Rappoport, A. S. (Angelo Solomon), 1871-1950. Title Dictionary of socialism, by Angelo S. Rappoport ... Publisher London, T. F. Unwin, ltd. [1924] Description xi, 271 p. 23 cm. Contents I. Definitions, terms, theories, history, parties, and programmes.--II. Who's who in socialism.--III. Socialist literature. Language English

Ludendorff, Erich, 1865-1937. Title Concise Ludendorff memoirs, 1914-1918, Publisher London, Hutchinson & co., ltd. [1933] Description 336 p. fold. front., maps (part fold.) 22 cm. Language English

Title The two battles of the Marne; the stories of Marshal Joffre, General von Ludendorff, Marshal Foch, Crown Prince Wilhelm. Publisher New York, Cosmopolitan book corporation, 1927. Description 229 p. illus. 21 cm. Language English

Ludendorff, Erich, 1865-1937. Uniform Title [ Urkunden der Obersten Heeresleitung. English] Title The General Staff and its problems; the history of the relations between the high command and the German Imperial Government as revealed by official documents. Translated by F. A. Holt. Publisher London : Hutchinson & Co., [1920] Description 2 v. (vi, 721 p.) 23 cm. Language English Note Translation of Urkunden der Obersten Heeresleitung. Note Includes bibliographical references.

Ludendorff, Erich, 1865-1937. Title The General Staff and its problems; the history of the relations between the high command and the German Imperial Government as revealed by official documents. by General Ludendorff...Translated by F. A. Holt. O.B.E. Publisher New York : E. P. Dutton and company, [1920] Description 2 v. 24 cm. Language English Note Paged continuously.

Ludendorff, Erich, 1865-1937. Uniform Title [ Meine Kriegserinnerungen. English] Title Ludendorff's own story, August 1914-November 1918 : the Great War from the siege of Liege to the signing of the armistice as viewed from the Grand headquarters of the German Army / by Erich von Ludendorff. Publisher New York ; London : Harper & Brothers, c1919. Description 2 v. : ports., maps ; 21 cm. Language English Note Includes index.

Ludendorff, Erich, 1865-1937. Title My war memories, 1914-1918, Publisher London, Hutchinson & co. [1919] Description 2 v. maps (part fold.) 24 cm. Language English