Some context: Ludendorff was born on 9 April 1865 in Kruszewnia near Posen, Province of Posen, Kingdom of Prussia (now Poznan County, Poland), the third of six children of August Wilhelm Ludendorff (1833-1905). His father was descended from Pomeranian merchants who had achieved the prestigious status of Junker. Erich's mother, Klara Jeanette Henriette von Tempelhoff (1840-1914), was the daughter of the noble but impoverished Friedrich August Napoleon von Tempelhoff (1804-1868) and his wife Jeannette Wilhelmine von Dziembowska (1816-1854), who came from a Germanized Polish landed family on the side of her father Stephan von Dziembowski (1779-1859). Through Dziembowski's wife Johanna Wilhelmine von Unruh (1793-1862), Erich was a remote descendant of the Counts of Donhoff, the Dukes of Duchy of Liegnitz and Duchy of Brieg and the Marquesses and Electors of Brandenburg.
In 1885, Ludendorff was commissioned as a subaltern into the 57th Infantry Regiment, then at Wesel. Over the next eight years, he was promoted to lieutenant and saw further service in the 2nd Marine Battalion, based at Kiel and Wilhelmshaven, and in the 8th Grenadier Guards at Frankfurt on the Oder. His service reports reveal the highest praise, with frequent commendations. In 1893, he entered the War Academy, where the commandant, General Meckel, recommended him to the General Staff, to which he was appointed in 1894. He rose rapidly and was a senior staff officer at the headquarters of V Corps from 1902 to 1904. Next he joined the Great General Staff in Berlin, which was commanded by Alfred von Schlieffen, Ludendorff directed the Second or Mobilization Section from 1904-13. Soon he was joined by Max Bauer, a brilliant artillery officer, who became a close friend. By 1911, Ludendorff was a full colonel. His section was responsible for writing the mass of detailed orders needed to bring the mobilized troops into position to implement the Schlieffen Plan. For this they covertly surveyed frontier fortifications in Russia, France and Belgium. For instance, in 1911 Ludendorff visited the key Belgian fortress city of Liege. Deputies of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, which became the largest party in the Reichstag after the German federal elections of 1912, seldom gave priority to army expenditures, whether to build up its reserves or to fund advanced weaponry such as Krupp's siege cannons. Instead, they preferred to concentrate military spending on the Imperial German Navy. Ludendorff's calculations showed that to properly implement the Schlieffen Plan the Army lacked six corps. Members of the General Staff were instructed to keep out of politics and the public eye, but Ludendorff shrugged off such restrictions. With a retired general, August Keim, and the head of the Pan-German League, Heinrich Class, he vigorously lobbied the Reichstag for the additional men. In 1913 funding was approved for four additional corps but Ludendorff was transferred to regimental duties as commander of the 39th (Lower Rhine) Fusiliers, stationed at Dusseldorf. "I attributed the change partly for my having pressed for those three additional army corps." Barbara Tuchman characterizes Ludendorff in her book The Guns of August as Schlieffen's devoted disciple who was a glutton for work and a man of granite character but who was deliberately friendless and forbidding and therefore remained little known or liked. It is true that as his wife testified, "Anyone who knows Ludendorff knows that he has not a spark of humor...". He was voluble nonetheless, although he shunned small talk. John Lee, states that while Ludendorff was with his Fusiliers, "he became the perfect regimental commander ... the younger officers came to adore him." His adjutant, Wilhelm Breucker, became a devoted lifelong friend.
did this visit produce any positive result?
A: His section was responsible for writing the mass of detailed orders needed to bring the mobilized troops into position to implement the Schlieffen Plan.
Some context: White Lies are an English post-punk band from Ealing, London. Formerly known as Fear of Flying, the core band members are Harry McVeigh (lead vocals, guitar), Charles Cave (bass guitar and backing vocals), and Jack Lawrence-Brown (drums). The band perform live as a five-piece, when sidemen Tommy Bowen and Rob Lee join the line up. White Lies' musical style has been described as dark yet uplifting by the media, drawing comparisons to Editors, Interpol, Joy Division, and The Killers.
In an interview with the BBC's Newsbeat programme, McVeigh stated that due to the nature of the band's songwriting techniques clashing with their difficult touring schedules, there will be no new White Lies material until 2010. Despite this, McVeigh has mentioned that the ambitious recording of "Nothing to Give" and "The Price of Love" (from To Lose My Life...) act as a taster of the different sound to come on their sophomore release. In September 2009, the band released "Taxidermy" as a digital download through iTunes for the first time. A live favourite amongst fans, the track had previously only been released on the (now deleted) vinyl release of "To Lose My Life". During the same month, the band supported Kings of Leon's tour of the United States, and Coldplay's tour of the United Kingdom. As well as this, the band played their own headline tour across Europe during October--November 2009, including some of their biggest shows to date in the UK. A number of the tour dates were later cancelled, due to McVeigh falling ill during their concert in Munich, Germany. Having fully recovered in time for the beginning of their UK dates, the tour continued as normal, with cancelled dates being rescheduled for February 2010. On 13 February 2010, White Lies became the first high-profile artist to perform at the FAC251 music venue in Manchester. The band played there again on 14 February, with tickets for the second show made available exclusively through the band's website. The performances were the band's only scheduled headline performances of 2010. Both concerts sold out in a matter of minutes, with 38,000 people applying for the 400 tickets available. As well as this, the band showed their mutual love of Muse at a number of European stadium shows between June and September 2010, and played the 2010 V Festival in the United Kingdom. During November 2010, White Lies confirmed that their second album, Ritual, had been completed and would be released on 17 January 2011. Produced by Alan Moulder, the album's first single "Bigger than Us" was released on 3 January 2011. An eleven date tour of the United Kingdom was also announced for February 2011.
What was ritual?
A:
their second album,