the Ersatz Corps of the 6th Army. As commander of Armee-Abteilung Falkenhausen, he commanded the German troops during the battles for the 1914/15 Delmer back and in the trench warfare in Lorraine (1915-1916). He was highly successful during the first half of World War I and was awarded the Pour le Mérite on 23 August 1915, with oak leaves following on 15 April 1916. After having commanded the coastal defenses near Hamburg (April–September 1916), on 28 September 1916 Falkenhausen was given command of the 6th Army at the Battle of Arras in April 1917. He failed to deploy correctly the newly developed defence in depth to counter new British and Dominion tactics and was removed from field command by General Erich Ludendorff. Thereafter, he succeeded Moritz von Bissing and served as governor-general of the General Governorate of Belgium during the German occupation, from May 1917 until November 1918. In early 1918, The Times published an article – entitled Falkenhausen's reign of terror – describing 170 military executions of Belgian civilians that had taken place since he had been appointed governor. Death He died in Görlitz, Nazi Germany. Family During the Second World War, his nephew Alexander von Falkenhausen served as military governor of Belgium (22 May 1940 - 15 July 1944). Awards and decorations German honours Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle, 27 January 1917 (Prussia) Pour le Mérite (military), 23 August 1915; with Oak Leaves, 25 April 1916 (Prussia) Iron Cross, 2nd Class (1870); 1st Class (1914) (Prussia) Knight of the Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd Class with Oak Leaves (Prussia) Knight of the Order of the Prussian Crown, 2nd Class (Prussia) Knight of Justice of the Johanniter Order (Prussia) Knight of the Order of the Zähringer Lion, 1st Class with Swords, 1878; Commander 1st Class with Oak Leaves, 1893 (Baden) Knight of the Military Merit Order, 2nd Class (Bavaria) Knight of the Military Order of St. Henry, 15 September 1915 (Saxony) Foreign honours Commander of the Imperial Order of Leopold, 1889 (Austria-Hungary) Commander of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (Italy) Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd Class (Japan) Knight of the Order of St. Anna, 2nd Class in Diamonds (Russia) Commander of the Order of the Sword, 2nd Class, 31 August 1888 (Sweden-Norway) Notes References External links Biography at the Lexikon der Deutschen Generale 1844 births 1936 deaths Ludwig People from Guben People