Paul von Hindenburg was a successful World War I general and the last President of Germany's Weimar Republic.

He was born on Oct. 2, 1847, in Posen, in the Kingdom of Prussia. His father was Hans von Hindenburg, and his mother was Luise Schwickart.

Hans von Hindenburg served in the army, retiring as a major. Paul, too, entered into military training, at the Cadet Corps School at Wahlstatt, in 1858. After five years there, he transferred to training in Berlin, graduating and then entering the army as a second lieutenant in the third Regiment of Foot Guards.

Hindenburg graduated just in time to fight in the Austro-Prussian War, a struggle between onetime allies that lasted all of seven weeks and proclaimed Prussia as a major European power. He fought at the decisive Battle of Königgrätz, he sustained a head wound from a bullet that pierced his helmet; wrapping a towel around his head, he continued to lead his men; for his efforts, he won plaudits.

He was still in the army four years later, when Prussia went to war with France. That, too, was a relatively quick victory, and Hindenburg was present at the Palace of Versailles when the German Empire was proclaimed.

After winning admission to the Prussian War College, he earned an appointment on the General Staff and found assignment as a captain in the II Corps. He taught for five years at the War College and also won promotion to major, serving under Count Alfred von Schlieffen, whose encirclement plan would later form the blueprint for the German attack patterns at the beginning of the Great War. Working his way up the chain of command, he achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel and then colonel and, in 1896, became chief of staff of the VIII Corps. Along the way, he also wrote field service regulations on the use of heavy artillery and on military engineering.

His last movements up the military ranks were to major general and then General of the Infantry. He retired in 1911, having served in the military for more than four decades.

The coming of war in 1914 convinced Hindenburg to abandon his retirement and take command of the German Eighth Army in East Prussia; his chief of staff was Erich Ludendorff. Taking command of an army in disarray after early bludgeoning by the Russian Army, Hindenburg reversed the fortunes of his men, marching them to victory at the Battle of Tannenberg. The battle began on August 26; four days later, it was finished.

The German forces captured hundreds of heavy Russian guns while also inflicting heavy casualties on the Russian force: Estimates are about 50,000 dead or injured and about 90,000 captured. German losses were 1,800 dead, 7,500 injured, and 4,700 missing.

The Eighth Army carried on, facing down the Russian First Army at the First Battle of Masurian Lakes. While German troops were getting bogged down in the West, Hindenburg's troops in the East were having great success, none more than the capture of Lodz, Poland's second-largest city, in yet another defeat of Russian troops.

Another such defeat came at the hands of not only Germany but also Austria-Hungary, in the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive, punching through the Russian line again and pursuing the retreating forces into Lithuania. Significantly, Hindenburg ordered the use of chlorine gas against Russian troops defending Osowiec Fortress on Aug, 6, 1915.

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