Pancho35

Yes I know, but just because he was a guerilla leader doesn't mean that was that only thing he was good at. Not all generals are one trick ponies. If he was smart enough to succeed as much as he did in Africa maybe he might have a good general in the Western Front.

sylla1

Must agree with Leccy and others; IMHO oranges and apples are trying to be compared here.

The unavoidable static conditions of the trench warfare overwhelmingly favored the defensive over the offensive forces; that fact was essentially an insurmountable obstacle for any potential "tactical geniuses" for years.

That's why the commanders involved in overt movement warfare (wherever such kind of tactics were possible all along WW1) were comparatively so successful; just think about Herr Rommel in Romania or TE Lawrence in the Middle East.

AFAIK, there not any single reason to believe that Von Lettow-Vorbeck, Rommel or Lawrence would have been particularly effective if they were fighting at the trenches of the western front.

Leccy

If you wish to read Vorbecks Biography of his time in East Africa you can find it here for download.

My Reminiscence of East Africa by General Paul Emil Von Lettow-Vorbeck

bluesman

Thanks a lot to everyone who has participated in this discussion- I'm grabbing that book right away, I live for this stuff.

For the sake of the argument, from what I've heard an absolutely critical aspect of Lettow-Vorbeck's success was his ability to use the new machine guns in a tactical environment. Perhaps this ability could have been applied to the Western Front? Obviously it's a non-issue of sorts merely because it never happened, but did his use of the MG really differ that much from his conventional colleagues?

Another question I've been mulling is, why have I never heard of this man before this week? The only Germans I knew from WW1 were von Richtofen, Kaiser Wilhelm, Rommel, and (S)Hitler. The only general I've heard discussed at any real length was Blackjack Pershing (scooney). Granted, I'm American, but how could L-V not be mentioned in the history books?

Nemowork

He's a minor enemy commander in a minor theatre while the western front is in full swing, peoples histories tend to be parochial, British texts tend to focus on British battles and heroes, Americans on American heroes and battles and so on. Most people would be hard pushed to know about the Somme or Bellau wood, Gallipoli if they were Australian but anywhere else?

If you want obscure names try Oskar Von Niedermayer for a good bit of German colonial adventure.

Pancho35

Yeh, as cool as Vorbeck was, East Africa was a minor theatre and did not have a very big impact on the outcome of the war as a whole.

Also, guys like him are never discussed in school, in my school we did not discuss Canadian generals or war heroes, so even in Germany I'd expect they would only talk about the big chiefs like Ludendorf and Hindenberg.

World War 1 Generals you should know: Ludendorf, Hindenberg, Falkenhayn, Von Moltke, John French, Haig, Foch, Petain, Nivelle, Currie and ugh... well I guess I don't know as many as I thought but that covers the Western Front pretty well.

Leccy

Most Brits would know about the Somme 60,000 British and commonwealth (British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealanders, South Africa, Newfoundland) casualties on the first day (the worst ever loss in one day for British Forces).

1.5 million casualties on all sides in around 3 months. British Commonwealth, French, German,

sylla1

Done! Nice material; thanks, IOU 1

Nemowork

Max Hoffman is always a good one to read up on, he's the one that planned the battle of Tannenberg before more senior officers took all the credit and very competent on the eastern front. Crown Prince Wilhelm is also interesting.

On the allied side French, Rawlinson and Monash are interesting or if youre keen on reading a perfect example of how not to do thing theres Hunter-Weston. Its also where highly competent people like Slim, Horrocks and Montgomery got their start. I'm afraid i dont know much about the French.

irishcrusader95

remarkabel!

i would certinly like to read more about him some day, whereabouts in africa was he mostly active?