| The Prussian Machine - Generals |
Prince Leopold von Bayern
|
||
|
|
Leopold Maximilian Joseph Maria Arnulf, Prinz von Bayern (9.2.1846 - 28.9.1930) place of birth: Munich (Bavaria) Generalfeldmarschall: 1 January 1905 Prince of Bavaria and Field Marshal who was the son of Regent Prince Luitpold of the Royal House of Wittelsbach and his wife Archduchess Augusta of Austria. Leopold's wife was Archduchess Gisela which thus made him the son-in-law of Kaiser Franz Josef of Austria. As a Bavarian artillery officer, he fought against the Prussians in 1866. He joined forces with the Prussians in 1870, however, to defeat the French at Sedan. He also received Bavaria's highest military decoration, The Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Max Joseph. Prince Leopold thereafter remained in the Bavarian Army and after promotion to field marshal in 1905, he then retired in 1913. Recalled to command the Ninth Army during World War One, he lead the capture of Warsaw and forced the Russians back to Minsk. He was then called to head up Army Group Prinz Leopold von Bayern (1915-16), a combined German/Austrian force deployed to the central part of the Eastern Front. This led to his receiving the Grand Cross of the Military Order of Max Joseph and the Pour le Merite. He later replaced Hindenburg as Supreme Commander of the Eastern Front, a post he retained until war's end. Leopold's own chief of staff, Max Hoffmann, described him as "intelligent, but scarcely a star performer." He was one of only five recipients of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross (1918). Leopold was the uncle of Crown Prince Rupprecht and the younger brother of the Bavarian King "Crazy Ludwig". He died on 28 September 1930 in Munich and is buried in the Michelskirche. |
| Assignments and Commands (pre-War) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
* * *
