page_title: Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck
section_title: Post-war
hierarchical_section_title: Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck / Post-war
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Herbstmanöver bei Celle Zentralbild Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck Preußischer Generalmajor. geb.: 20.3.1870 in Saarlouis; war von 1913 bis 1918 Kommandeur der Schutztruppen in Deutsch-Ostafrika. UBz: von Lettow-Vorbeck (rechts) als Manövergast bei den großen Truppenmanövern bei Celle 1935 mit dem Befehlshaber des Wehrkreises VI Generalleutnant von Kluge. 29481-35 [Großes Herbstmanöver des 6. Armeekorps in der Lüneburger Heide 2. bis zum 7. September 1935] Abgebildete Personen: Lettow-Vorbeck, Paul von: General der Schutztruppen in Deutsch-Ostafrika, Deutschland Kluge, Günther von: Generalfeldmarschall, Ritterkreuz (RK), Heer, Deutschland (GND 124447775)
context_page_description: Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck, also called the Lion of Africa, was a general in the Imperial German Army and the commander of its forces in the German East Africa campaign. For four years, with a force of about 14,000, 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 a part of the British Empire 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."
  However, Lettow-Vorbeck's military successes against the Allies came at a high cost to local civilians.
context_section_description: Lettow-Vorbeck returned to Germany in early March 1919 to a hero's welcome. He led the veterans of the Schutztruppe in their tattered tropical uniforms on a victory parade through the Brandenburg Gate, which was decorated in their honour. He was the only German commander to successfully invade the British Empire during the First World War.
  He remained in the Reichswehr despite attempts to involve him in the politics of the Weimar Republic. Fourteen months after his return to Germany, Lettow-Vorbeck commanded the troops that ended the Spartacist Uprising in Hamburg. However, Lettow-Vorbeck then lost his commission in the Reichswehr in the summer of 1920 following his involvement in the Kapp Putsch. He subsequently worked in Bremen as an import-export manager.
  In June 1926, Lettow-Vorbeck met Richard Meinertzhagen in Bremen, the British Intelligence Corps Colonel with whom he had fought a battle of wits until December 1916, when Meinertzhagen was invalided. Three years later, Lettow-Vorbeck accepted an invitation to London where he met face-to-face for the first time J. C. Smuts; the two men formed a lasting friendship. When Smuts died in 1950, Lettow-Vorbeck sent his widow a moving letter of sympathy.
  A similar oft-quoted claim states that Lettow-Vorbeck also apologised for the "ungentlemanly death" of the British hunter Frederick Selous at the hands of one of his snipers; this claim, however, is not supported by any contemporary evidence.
caption: Lettow-Vorbeck (right) as a guest of General Günther von Kluge during army maneuvers in 1935
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