Max Hoffmann

Max Hoffmann (1869-1927), German general who served on the eastern front during World War I (1914-1918). Hoffmann was born in Hamburg and attended the Kriegsschule and the Kriegsakademie at Torgau. In 1899 he joined the Russian section of the general staff and served as military observer at Japanese headquarters during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). During World War I Hoffmann shared with German commanders Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff credit for the defeat of Alexander Samsonov's Russian army at Tannenberg in August 1914 and for the German victories at the Masurian Lakes in 1914 and 1915.

Hoffmann became chief of the general staff under Prince Leopold of Bavaria in 1916. He negotiated an armistice with the Russians at Brest-Litovsk in December 1917. Hoffmann was known for his daring, originality, and shrewdness. He wrote Der Krieg der versäumten Gelegenheiten (The War of Missed Opportunities, 1923), An allen Enden Moskau (All Roads Lead to Moscow, 1925), Tannenberg wie es wirklich war (Tannenberg as It Really Was, 1927), and Die Aufzeichnungen des General-majors Max Hoffmann (The Papers of Major General Max Hoffmann, 1929).