Vintage Video - Erich Ludendorff, 1914
Erich Ludendorff's wartime career was turbulent.
After distinguishing himself as a virtual unknown during the German triumph at Liege, he was posted to the Eastern Front as aide to Paul von Hindenburg, and thence - in 1916 - with Hindenburg to Berlin to oversee the German war effort.
Ludendorff's wartime command - he was widely believed to be the prime force behind Germany's military strategy rather than Hindenburg - came to an end with his resignation in October 1918. By this stage he was aware that Germany was going to lose the war and was unwilling to be in office when this happened.
In the post-war years this enabled Ludendorff to claim that the military high command had been 'stabbed in the back' by dissident politicians, a belief that became resonant in Germany throughout the 1930s.
Use the player above to view wartime footage of Erich Ludendorff.
Bulgaria mobilised a quarter of its male population during WW1, 650,000 troops in total.
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