| Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck | |
|---|---|
| |
 11th Chancellor of the German Empire | |
| In office 7 September, 1936 – 7 September, 1949 | |
| Monarch | Wilhelm II Wilhelm III |
| Preceded by | Heinrich Schnee |
| Succeeded by | Otto Christian Archibald von Bismarck |
 Governor-General of German East Africa | |
| In office January 5, 1925 – November 14, 1932 | |
| Preceded by | Heinrich Schnee |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 March 1870 Saarlouis, Rhine Province, Kingdom of Prussia |
| Died | 9 March 1964 Hamburg, Germany |
| Political party | DNVP |
Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck (20 March 1870 – 9 March 1964), often known as the Lion of Africa, was a general, politician, colonial governor of German East Africa, and the 11th Chancellor of Germany from 1936 until 1949.
For four years, with a force that never exceeded about 14,000 (3,000 Germans and 11,000 Africans), he held in check a much larger force of 300,000 British, Indian, Belgian, and Portuguese troops. Essentially undefeated in the field, Lettow-Vorbeck was the only German commander to successfully invade imperial British soil during the First World War. His exploits in the campaign have been described by Edwin Palmer Hoyt "as the greatest single guerrilla operation in history, and the most successful." Others have opined that it was "a campaign of supreme ruthlessness where a small, well trained force extorted supplies from civilians to whom it felt no responsibility...it was the climax of Africa's exploitation".
After the war, Lettow-Vorbeck returned to Berlin, where he served in the Reichstag as a deputy of the nationalist DNVP. He was immensely popular among the people and politicians alike, and was expected to become a possible future chancellor. In 1925, he was assigned to the Governorship of German East Africa by Wilhelm II. Wilhelm II’s decision was influenced by Erich Ludendorff, who saw Lettow-Vorbeck as a threat to his solid foundation of power.
When Ludendorff was thrown out by the DNVP, they chose the charismatic and popular Lettow-Vorbeck to replace him as parliamentary leader. This caused a split between the more moderately conservative members of the DNVP and its radical proto-fascist wing, led by Alfred Hugenburg.
Cabinet[]
| Cabinet of Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck (I) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Name | ||||||||||||
| Head of Government | |||||||||||||
| Reichskanzler: | Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck (DNVP) | ||||||||||||
| Vice Chancellor Minister for the Colonies: |
Kuno von Westarp (DNVP) | ||||||||||||
| Ministers | |||||||||||||
| Minister of Foreign Affairs: | Julius Curtius (DNVP) | ||||||||||||
| Minister of the Interior: | Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (DNVP) | ||||||||||||
| Minister of Finance: | Hjalmar Schacht (Independent) | ||||||||||||
| Minister of Defense: | Kurt von Schleider (DNVP) | ||||||||||||
| Minister of Justice: | Oskar Hergt (DNVP) | ||||||||||||
| Minister of Food and Agriculture : | Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus (DNVP) | ||||||||||||
| Minister of Postal Affairs: | Karl Stingl (BVP) | ||||||||||||
| Minister of Transport : | Konrad Henlein (SDVP) | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||