August Von Mackensen

Born Dec. 6, 1849, in Haus Leiptnitz, Wittenberg District; died Nov. 8, 1945, in Burghorn, Celle District. German field marshal (1915).

Mackensen entered the army in 1868 and saw service in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. His service in the guard and his closeness to Emperor William II ensured his rapid advance in the army. He was commander of the XVII Corps in East Prussia and Poland at the beginning of World War I (1914-18). Mackensen was placed in command of the Ninth Army in November 1914; in April 1915 he took over the command of the Eleventh Army, which carried out the Gorlice breakthrough of 1915. He then commanded an Austrian-German group of armies in Poland. He was commander of an Austrian-German-Bulgarian group of armies during the rout of Serbia in the fall of 1915. Mackensen was placed in command of a German-Bulgarian group of armies in Dobruja in July 1916 and of the occupation troops in Rumania in January 1917. He retired in 1920. Mackensen actively supported the Hitlerites.