Background
Karl von Einem was bom in Herzberg on January 1, 1853, to a patrician clan from Lower Saxony; his father had served as a Hanoverian army officer.
Karl von Einem was bom in Herzberg on January 1, 1853, to a patrician clan from Lower Saxony; his father had served as a Hanoverian army officer.
Einem served in the Prussian army for much of his life when he was appointed Minister of War in 1903. During his six years of service, Einem oversaw the reorganization of the German army building much of the military's heavy armament in preparation for modern warfare, specifically the introduction of the machine gun and modern heavy artillery.
Einem fought in the Franco-Prussian War, entered the General Staff in 1880 without having attended the War Academy, and was promoted captain there two years later. In 1898 he joined the Prussian War Ministry; five years later he was promoted lieutenant general and appointed Prussian war minister. As such Einem devoted his special attention not to the quantitative expansion of the army, but to the technical and tactical modernization of this force. In particular, he upgraded the field artillery and introduced the machine gun as well as the field gray uniform. Einem feared not only the escalating costs of the navy budget, but also that any rapid expansion of the army would entail serious social and political repercussions as it would require the recruitment of officers from lower middle-class families. Einem was promoted general of cavalry in 1907; two years later he was appointed commander of the VII Army Corps at Münster.
General von Einem led the VII Corps into the Great War as part of General Karl von Bülow's Second Army. Most notably, the VII Corps on August 16 stormed the fortress of Liège, crossed the Sambre River one week later, and stood on Bülow's right wing in the ensuing victory at St. Quentin. During the critical days between September 5 and 9, Einem's units formed Bülow's right wing at the Marne and as such took part in the general retreat behind the Aisne River.
Einem was given command of the Third Army in the Champagne on September 12, 1914 a post that he held to war's end. Promoted colonel general in January 1915, Einem in February and March of that year between Reims and the Argonne fought the so-called winter battle of the Champagne. In September 1915, he was hard pressed again by fifty-two French divisions, but managed to repulse the attack and to inflict 100,000 casualties on the enemy. General Robert Nivelle's spurious offensive in April 1917 caught part of the Third Army, but Einem's forces again held the line. On July 15, 1918, after the great Michael assault in the west had failed to turn the tide, Einem's twelve divisions were ordered to attack the enemy on both sides of Reims, advancing as far as Souain and Aubérive before being driven back by the Allies. A Franco-American assault broke against the Third Army on September 26, and by October 9 Einem had retreated to positions behind the Aisne River, to the Hunding-Brunhilde sector of the Hindenburg line. Early in November he was forced to retire as far as the Antwerp-Meuse River line.
On November 12, 1918, Einem was entrusted with command of the erstwhile Army Group Crown Prince Wilhelm, and he led this force home before his retirement in January 1919. General von Einem died in Mühlheim/Ruhr on April 7, 1934. Throughout his life he had enjoyed the reputation of being a completely independent military as well as political thinker. Indeed, as war minister the Hanoverian had audaciously suggested that Count von Schlieffen was not immortal; worse, that his blueprint for victory was in error.