Talk:Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck

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Contents 1 Pour le Mérite 2 Some issues with the article. 3 Changed 4 Futher literature

[edit] Pour le Mérite

Shouldn't something about this award be added?

I think the following needs some clarification:

He fiercely opposed the Nazis, who upon inception of power made him work as a menial in Hamburg. There, Winston Churchill who still feared Lettow's military prowess but needed him for geopolitical necessities, tried to convince Lettow to assassinate Hitler. Lettow refused, on grounds that the original was lost forever and the only expiation was the total punishment of Germany.

When and how did Churchill get in touch with Lettow-Vorbeck, and why would Churchill assume, that Lettow-Vorbeck, now probably going on 70 and working as a labourer, would be in a position to assasinate Hitler? Also, I take it that "the original" refers to the Germany Lettow-Vorbeck knew and loved, but shouldn't that be explicitly stated in the text? Io 19:16, 20 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Indeed---I'm a little fuzzy on what exactly he did during the war. grendel|khan 06:38, 2005 Mar 2 (UTC)

[http://216.239.37.104/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&langpair=de%7Cen&u=http://dikigoros.150m.com/lettowvorbeck.htm&prev=/language_tools Translation of a link from the de: page] Wizzy 12:05, Mar 2, 2005 (UTC)

I changed the intro to "colonial campaign", because Germany also remained undefeated in Russia. I don't have an account, though.

Removed the Churchhill story, as it remains unproven. Added DNVP party membership and reasons why he opposed the Nazis. --Dorthonion 17:33, 12 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Some issues with the article.

Most sources I've encountered concerning Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck give his middle name as Emil, rather than Erich. This is true, for example, even of some of the External links given in the article. A google search returns far more entries for Erich than Emil, but most of them seem to be reproductions of the Wikipedia page itself. If anyone feels that additional citations of Emil rather than Erich would be helpful, I will try to procure some in the near future.

Some additional thoughts:

1. The article doesn't really convey the sheer scale of the Allied efforts to catch von Lettow, nor the scale of the damage he inflicted. As an example, by war's end, the vast majority of von Lettow's forces were armed with captured British and Portuguese rifles, backed up by British and Portuguese machineguns.

1. The article gives a very vague and confusing impression of von Lettow's role in early Weimar politics:

"He soon became a right wing extremist who participated in the chaotic politics of the Weimar Republic. Following strikes and arrests, he served in the Reichstag from 1929 to 1930."

While this would seem to imply that von Lettow was busy striking and being arrested, he was actually a major figure in the Freikorps movement. While he was right wing, he intentionally abstained from participation in the planned military putsches following the paring down of the Bundeswehr.

1. Dr. Heinrich Schnee had no von in his name. I daresay the lack of one in real life bothered him rather more than its presence in the article bothers me, but it was an important aspect of his life, and of his relationship with von Lettow.

Hopefully, I will get a chance to actually sit down and edit this article in the near future, any comments would be appreciated.

Swuboo 07:11, August 17, 2005 (UTC)

Go for it - please. Wizzy…☎ 07:33, August 17, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Changed

The name, according to My Reminiscences, is Emil. I changed the article to reflect the correct name. I don't know how to edit the title.

Update: Signed up, but my account is too new to change the article title.

Changed and moved. Srnec 04:25, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Futher literature

There exist a very good novel called the Ghosts of Africa (author ???) on this man's life.

The Ghosts of Africa is by William Stevesnon. One booksller on the web has this: "A fictional account of the campaign in East Africa, inspired by the character of Von Lettow-Vorbeck.

William Stevenson is an author, journalist and television writer and producer. A Canadian, though born in England, he served as a fighter pilot in WWII and as a reporter has covered many of the major conflicts in Africa, the Far East and the Middle East." Jeffmatt 10:06, 27 January 2006 (UTC)