Kolmar von der Goltz

Goltz, Kolmar von der

 

(Goltz-pasa). Born Aug. 12, 1843. in Labiau (Bielkenfeld); died Apr. 19. 1926, in Baghdad. Baron, German field marshal (1911).

Goltz took part in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71. From 1878 to 1883 he served on the German General Staff. In 1883 he became a member and from 1885 to 1895 was chief of the German military mission in Turkey, where he directed a reorganization of the Turkish Army along German lines. He later commanded a division and a corps in Germany and was general-inspector of the corps of engineers. From 1909 to 1912 he was vice-president of the Supreme Military Council in Turkey. In 1914 he was governor-general of occupied Belgium. In November 1914 he became general-adjutant of the Turkish sultan; in April 1915 he became commander of the Turkish First Army and then in October 1915 of the Sixth Army; and in December 1915 he surrounded British troops in Kut-el-Amara. He was the author of a number of books on the history of the Franco-Prussian wars of 1806 and 1870–71.