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Alexander von Linsingen

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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"ALEXANDER VON LINSINGEN (1850-), Prussian general, was born on Feb. 10 1850 at Hildesheim. From 1909 to 1914, he was in command of the II. Army Corps, and in Jan. 1915 was given the command of the German Southern Army, which he exchanged in July of the same year for the command of the Army of the Bug. In the following Sept. the German-Austrian south-eastern group (Army Group L) was likewise placed under his command. With these forces he succeeded in repelling Russian attempts to break through in Oct. and Nov. 1915, and in 1916 and 1917. He was in command at the battle of Gartorysk on Oct. 8 when the German-Austrian troops captured the Russian positions, while the operations which the Russians initiated nine days later resulted in their breaking the Austro-German front on Oct. 20. In March 1918 Linsingen led the advance into the Ukraine, and was advanced to the rank of Generaloberst. In the following June he was appointed chief-in-command in the Mark, i.e. in the province of Brandenburg including Berlin. In this capacity he was responsible for the disposition of the troops which had been left in Berlin and neighbouring garrisons for the purpose of preserving order. On the eve of the revolution he and the officers in command under him failed to maintain their authority, and, on Nov. 9 1918, the troops made common cause with the revolutionary workmen, who overthrew the imperial and royal regime and secured the proclamation of the German Republic.