Mackensen, Anton Ludwig Friedrich August von (1849-1945)

German field-marshal. He commanded the 9th Army at the opening of World War I on the Eastern Front. After the Armistice he surrendered at Budapest in December 1918.

He was born in Haus Leipnitz, near Wittenberg. In 1869 he entered the army and served in France 1870-71. In 1898 he accompanied William II to Palestine, and he was ennobled the following year. In 1914 he repulsed the Russians at Kutno, Łódź, and Lowicz. In April 1915 he led the German forces in Western Galicia, assisting in the breakthrough at Gorlice. On 26 June 1915 he was made field-marshal, and in August and September again repulsed the Russians at Brest-Litovsk and Pinsk. In October and November he commanded the army that overran Serbia. In 1916 he completed the conquest of Romania by subduing the Dobrudja district.