Germany
Erich von Falkenhayn
1861–1922 Chief of the General Staff, 1914–August 1916
A Prussian general who had become Chief of the General Staff after Moltke's collapse in September 1914, Falkenhayn was cold, clever and skeptical of the grand schemes of the eastern generals. He believed the war could only be won against Britain's allies, and chose to attack Verdun to bleed France white. The battle he started became a battle he could not control, and it consumed his reputation as it consumed the divisions of the German army. Dismissed on 29 August 1916 after Romania's entry, he was not disgraced: he led the Ninth Army in the conquest of Transylvania and later commanded forces in Palestine and Belarus. His memoirs, published in 1919, are our main source for the Christmas memorandum of 1915, and are read with caution.