Erich Paul Weber (born 12 September 1860 in

Kamen Kamen () is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the district Unna. Geography Kamen is situated at the east end of the Ruhr area, approximately 10 km south-west of Hamm and 25 km north-east of Dortmund. Neighbouring citie ...

; died 29 October 1933 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) was a German army officer, who served in both the

German Imperial Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...

and the

Ottoman Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and ultimately attained the rank of

General of Infantry General of the infantry is a military rank of a General officer in the infantry and refers to: * General of the Infantry (Austria) * General of the Infantry (Bulgaria) * General of the Infantry (Germany) ('), a rank of a general in the German Imper ...

(General der Infanterie).

Military career

Weber entered the Prussian Army and received his commission as Sekondeleutnant on 15 April 1878.Preußisches Kriegsministerium (ed.), ''Rangliste der Offiziere der Königlich Preußischen Armee und des XIII. (Königlich Württembergisches) Armeekorps 1917'' ( E.S. Mittler & Sohn: Berlin 1917), p. 6 A successful career as a junior regimental officer culminated in his command of the Schleswig-Holsteinische Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 9, headquartered in Harburg. On 14 April 1907, with the rank of

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

, he was transferred to Engineer Inspectorate (Ingenieur-Inspektion) IV, where he served as an engineer officer in the Metz Fortification Command (Festung Metz). On 22 March 1910 he was promoted to

Oberstleutnant () (English: Lieutenant Colonel) is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to lieutenant colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, ...

.Preußisches Kriegsministerium (ed.), ''Rangliste der Königlich Preußischen Armee und des XIII. (Königlich Württembergischen) Armeekorps für 1911.'' ( E.S. Mittler & Sohn: Berlin 1911), p. 124. His transfer to

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

on 22 May 1912 followed his appointment as commanding officer of the Pioneers of the XV Corps. In this position he wore the uniform of the 1. Elsässische Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 15. On 19 November 1912 he was promoted to

Oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German language, German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the Army, ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, a ...

. On 3 December 1913 Weber was selected to participate in the newly inaugurated German Military Mission (Militärmission) to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, headed by Liman von Sanders. On 8 December Weber was formally granted retirement from active service in the German Imperial Army prior to his transfer to the Ottoman Army, and he was among the first contingent of 10 German officers to arrive in Istanbul later that month. He was initially appointed Inspector-General of Engineers (İstihkam Müfettişi) attached to the Ottoman Ministry of War, with the higher Ottoman rank of

Mirliva ''Mirliva'' or ''Mîr-i livâ'' was a military rank of the Ottoman Army and Navy. It corresponds to brigadier general ( modern Turkish: ''Tuğgeneral'') and division general ( modern Turkish: ''Tümgeneral'') in the modern Turkish Army. ''M ...

(= German

Generalmajor is the Germanic languages, Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central Europe, Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and R ...

). As a specialist in fortifications, when the Ottoman Empire began preparing to enter World War I, Weber was assigned to strengthen the coastal defences of the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...

. In late March/April 1915 he was appointed commander of the Ottoman XV Corps on the Asian shore of the Straits. During the Gallipoli Campaign, he distinguished himself in the early stages of the fighting on the Asian side of the Dardanelles. On 18 April 1915 he was promoted to the German rank of

and thus automatically attained the higher Ottoman rank of Ferik (= German

Generalleutnant () is the German-language variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries. Austria Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO ...

), along with the honorific Ottoman title of

Pasha Pasha (; ; ) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitary, dignitaries, and others. ''Pasha'' was also one of the highest titles in the 20th-century Kingdom of ...

. On 5 May Weber was appointed commander of South Group, on the southern part of the Gallipoli peninsula, during a phase of heavy fighting in this sector. Following criticism of his performance, however, Weber quarreled with Liman von Sanders and was relieved of this command on 8 July. In October 1915 Weber returned to Germany. Formally reinstated in the German Imperial Army, from 22 October to 16 November 1915 he served on the Western Front as commanding officer of 100th Infantry Brigade.G. Wegner, ''Stellenbesetzung der Deutschen Heere 1815–1939'', vol. 1: ''Die Höheren Kommandostellen 1815–1939'' (Biblio Verlag: Osnabrück 1990: ), p. 315. On 21 December 1916 he assumed command of 9th Division on the Western Front and remained in this post until the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...

in 1918. Following the end of the war, Weber was absorbed into the Provisional

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' (; ) was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first two years of Nazi Germany. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

(Vorläufige Reichswehr). On 16 June 1920 he was promoted to

and appointed commander of

Military District Military districts (also called military regions) are formations of a state's armed forces (often of the Army) which are responsible for a certain area of territory. They are often more responsible for administrative than operational matters ...

(Wehrkreis) II. After the formation of the

, on 1 October 1920 he was appointed commanding officer of the 2nd Division, based in

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

. On 15 June 1921 he retired from the Reichswehr with the brevet rank of General der Infanterie.''Militär-Wochenblatt'' Nr. 52 105 (25 June 1921), col. 1141; Deutscher Offizier Bund (ed.), ''Ehren-Rangliste des ehemaligen Deutschen Heeres auf Grund der Ranglisten von 1914 mit den inzwischen eingetretenen Veränderungen'' (E.S. Mittler & Sohn: Berlin 1926), vol. I, p. 20. Weber's daughter Ingeborg married the later High Admiral

Karl Dönitz Karl Dönitz (; 16 September 1891 – 24 December 1980) was a German grand admiral and convicted war criminal who, following Adolf Hitler's Death of Adolf Hitler, suicide, succeeded him as head of state of Nazi Germany during the Second World ...

in 1916. The

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

Höxter Höxter () is a town in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on the left bank of the river Weser, 52 km north of Kassel. It lies the heart of the Weser Uplands, and is the seat of the Höxter district. The district of Höxter has a popul ...

are named after Weber.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weber, Erich 1860 births 1933 deaths People from Kamen German Army generals of World War I Ottoman military personnel of World War I Pashas Military personnel from North Rhine-Westphalia