born April 22, 1866, Schleswig, Prussia
died Dec. 27, 1936, Berlin, Ger.
German general.
A career army officer, in World War I he was chief of staff of the 11th Army and then chief of staff of the Turkish army. After the war he became head of the German Reichswehr (1919–26) and secretly built a small but efficient army, circumventing the Treaty of Versailles prohibition. He supported cooperation with Russia and encouraged the Treaty of Rapallo . He later served as an adviser to the Chinese Nationalist Army (1934–35).