Alexander von Linsingen
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Alexander Adolf August Karl von Linsingen (1850-1935) was one of the best German field commanders during WWI.
In 1868 he started service in Prussian Army and rose to Commander of Corps in 1909. He was one of the very few top German generals who never served on the general staff, but rather had always been a troop commander. At the beginning of the WWI Linsingen was a commander of Corps in battle of Marne. Transferred to the Eastern Front where German and Austrian armies were threatened by Russian offense in Galicia, Linsingen took command of the Army Group South (1915). Linsinged defeated Russian armies in the Battle of Stryi in 1915 capturing 60,000 Russian prisoners. He was awarded Pour le Merite. In 1916 he faced Brusilov offensive, after initial retreat checked the Russian advance near Kovel. He was promoted to Colonel-General, the highest rank for General in German Army. In 1917-1918 he led German offense to Ukraine. After end of war with Russia, he became the Military Governor of Berlin (1918). Under Nazis, outraged by racist policies, Linsingen who was a Christian but of Jewish descent, demonstratively joined the Union of Jewish War Veterans.
