Erich Ludendorff

Erich Ludendorff (1865 - 1937) was the German general who, along with Paul von Hindenburg, was the leading force in defeating the Russians in World War I particularly at the Battle of Tannenberg and Masurian Lakes.

Ludendorff was responsible for much of the German military policy and for requesting an armistice with the allied forces to put an end to World War I. After the war he led a nationalist movement and took part with Hitler in his abortive coup attempt in Munich in 1923. However, Ludendorff severed his relationship with Hitler soon thereafter.

Sources

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0823750.html