View source for Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck

{{Short description|German army officer (1870–1964)}}
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* https://lccn.loc.gov/2016039912 (refs: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 24, 56, 70)

|date=August 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}

{{Infobox military person
| name          = Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck
| image         = General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck LCCN2014719610b.jpg
| image_size    = 
| caption       = Lettow-Vorbeck in 1914
| nickname      = Der Löwe von Afrika<br/>''The Lion of Africa''
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1870|03|20|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Saarlouis]], [[Rhine Province]], [[Kingdom of Prussia]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1964|03|09|1870|03|20|df=y}}
| death_place   = [[Hamburg]], [[West Germany]]
| placeofburial = 
| allegiance    = {{flag|German Empire}} (1890–1918)<br/>{{flag|Weimar Republic}} (1918–1920)
| branch        = {{army|German Empire}}
*{{army|Prussia}}
{{army|Weimar Republic}}
| serviceyears  = 1890–1920
| rank          = ''[[Major General |Generalmajor]]'' <br/>
''[[General of the Infantry (Germany)|General der Infanterie]]'' <br/> ''([[Brevet (military)|Charakter]])''
| unit          = [[4th Foot Guards (German Empire)|4th Foot Guards]] <br/>Schutztruppe of German<br/>South-West Africa <br/>[[XI Corps (German Empire)|XI Corps]]
| commands      = [[Seebataillon|2nd Sea Battalion]] <br/>''[[Schutztruppe]]'' of German<br />East Africa
| battles       = {{Tree list}}
* [[Boxer Rebellion]]
* [[Herero Wars]]
** [[Battle of Waterberg]]
* [[World War I]]
** [[East African Campaign (World War I)|East African Campaign]]
*** [[Battle of Tanga]]
*** [[Battle of Jassin]]
*** [[Battle of Mahiwa]]
*** [[Battle of Ngomano]]
*** [[Battle of Lioma]]
*** [[Battle of Kisaki]]
*** [[Battle of Nambanje]]
*** [[Battle of Kondoa Irangi]]
*** [[Battle of Mlali]]
*** [[Battle of Namacurra]]
*** [[Battle of Dutumi]]
*** [[Battle of Kibata]]
*** Battle of Kilosa
* [[German Revolution of 1918–19|German Revolution]]
{{Tree list/end}}
| awards        = [[Pour le Mérite]] with Oak Leaves
| relations     = 
| laterwork     = Public speaker, writer
}}

'''Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck''' (20 March 1870 – 9 March 1964), popularly known as the '''Lion of Africa''' ({{langx|de|Löwe von Afrika}}), was a [[general]] in the [[Imperial German Army]] and the commander of its forces in the [[German East Africa]] [[East African Campaign (World War I)|campaign]]. For four years, with a force of about 14,000 (3,000 Germans and 11,000 Africans), he held in check a much larger force of 300,000 British, Indian, Belgian, and Portuguese troops.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=1964-03-10 |title=Gen. von Lettow-Vorbeck Dead; World War I Guerrilla Leader |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/03/10/archives/gen-von-lettowvorbeck-dead-world-war-i-guerrilla-leader.html |access-date=2023-11-06 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He is known for never being defeated or captured in battle.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stratis |first=John C. |date=2002 |title=A Case Study in Leadership - Colonel Paul Emil Von Lettow-Vorbeck |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA404449 |journal=Defense Technical Information Center |access-date=2023-11-05}}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Crowson |first=Thomas A. |title=When Elephants Clash: A Critical Analysis of Major General Paul Emil Von Lettow-Vorbeck in the East African Theater of the Great War |date=2003 |degree=Master's |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA417332 |publisher=Defense Technical Information Center}}</ref>

Lettow-Vorbeck was the only German commander to successfully invade a part of the [[British Empire]] during the [[World War I|First World War]]. His exploits in the campaign have been described by historian [[Edwin Palmer Hoyt]] as "the greatest single [[Guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] operation in history, and the most successful".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoyt |first=Edwin P. |url=https://archive.org/details/guerillacolonelv00hoyt/page/228/mode/2up |title=Guerilla: Colonel von Lettow-Vorbeck and Germany's East African Empire |publisher=Macmillan |year=1981 |location=New York |pages=229 |language=en}}</ref>

==Early life==
[[File:Saarlouis Lettow Vorbeck Geburtshaus.jpg|thumb|left|Lettow-Vorbeck's birthplace in [[Saarlouis]]]]
Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck was son of Paul von [[:de:Lettow-Vorbeck|Lettow-Vorbeck]] (1832–1919) and Marie von [[:de:Eisenhart (Adelsgeschlecht)|Eisenhart-Rothe]] (1842–1919). He was born into the [[Pomerania]]n [[German nobility#Divisions of nobility|minor nobility]], while his father was stationed as an army officer at [[Saarlouis]] in the [[Prussia]]n [[Rhine Province]].<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Held |editor1-first=Ivan |editor2-first=Christine |editor2-last=Ball |editor3-first=Jeanne-Marie |editor3-last=Hudson |editor4-first=Benjamin |editor4-last=Lee |editor5-first=Claire |editor5-last=Claire |editor6-first=Tom |editor6-last=Colgan |editor7-first=Cindy |editor7-last=Hwang |publisher=Caliber/[[Berkeley Books]] ([[Penguin Random House]]) |title=African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |first=Robert |last=Gaudi |lccn=2016039912 |isbn=9780425283714 |date=1 January 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |oclc=957705214 |language=English |access-date=19 June 2021 |chapter=Chapter 4: Ancestors |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA30 |page=30 }}</ref> He was educated in boarding schools in Berlin and joined the cadet corps at [[Potsdam]] and [[Berlin-Lichterfelde]].<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Held |editor1-first=Ivan |editor2-first=Christine |editor2-last=Ball |editor3-first=Jeanne-Marie |editor3-last=Hudson |editor4-first=Benjamin |editor4-last=Lee |editor5-first=Claire |editor5-last=Claire |editor6-first=Tom |editor6-last=Colgan |editor7-first=Cindy |editor7-last=Hwang |publisher=Caliber/[[Berkeley Books]] ([[Penguin Random House]]) |title=African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |first=Robert |last=Gaudi |edition=1st |lccn=2016039912 |isbn=9780425283714 |date=1 January 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |oclc=957705214 |language=English |access-date=19 June 2021 |chapter=Chapter 5: Youth  |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA34 |page=34 }}</ref> In 1890, he was commissioned a ''[[Leutnant]]'' into the [[Imperial German Army]].

According to Robert Gaudi, "In ''Mein Leben'' von Lettow writes nostalgically of his decade as a junior officer in the Kaiser's Imperial Army: there were Dawn inspections in the biting cold, regimental maneuvers, glimpses of the luminaries of the day – [[Wilhelm I of Germany|the Kaiser]], [[Friedrich III, German Emperor|Crown Prince Friedrich]], the "Man of Gold" Field Marshal [[Helmuth von Moltke the Elder|Count von Moltke]], who was Germany's greatest military strategist, and others. There were drinking parties with fellow officers, card games till all hours, and splendid dances in [[Berlin]] – the young women shivering in their off-the-shoulder dresses, the new officers in bright stiff uniforms - followed by the mad rush to catch the last train back to [[Spandau]] barracks before the last roll call."<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Held |editor1-first=Ivan |editor2-first=Christine |editor2-last=Ball |editor3-first=Jeanne-Marie |editor3-last=Hudson |editor4-first=Benjamin |editor4-last=Lee |editor5-first=Claire |editor5-last=Claire |editor6-first=Tom |editor6-last=Colgan |editor7-first=Cindy |editor7-last=Hwang |publisher=Caliber/[[Berkeley Books]] ([[Penguin Random House]]) |title=African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |first=Robert |last=Gaudi |edition=1st |lccn=2016039912 |isbn=9780425283714 |date=1 January 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |oclc=957705214 |language=English |access-date=19 June 2021 |chapter=Chapter 5: Youth |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 |page=36 }}</ref>

Lettow-Vorbeck later wrote, "I recall an older officer scolding a younger one because he failed to ask a young woman who was without a partner to dance. Offenses against [[chivalry]] were not tolerated."<ref name="Gaudi 2017 p. 37">{{cite book |editor1-last=Held |editor1-first=Ivan |editor2-first=Christine |editor2-last=Ball |editor3-first=Jeanne-Marie |editor3-last=Hudson |editor4-first=Benjamin |editor4-last=Lee |editor5-first=Claire |editor5-last=Claire |editor6-first=Tom |editor6-last=Colgan |editor7-first=Cindy |editor7-last=Hwang |publisher=Caliber/[[Berkeley Books]] ([[Penguin Random House]]) |title=African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |first=Robert |last=Gaudi |edition=1st |lccn=2016039912 |isbn=9780425283714 |date=1 January 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |oclc=957705214 |language=English |access-date=19 June 2021 |chapter=Chapter 5: Youth |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA37 |page=37 }}</ref>

Lt. von Lettow-Vorbeck was assigned to the [[German General Staff|Great German General Staff]].<ref name="Gaudi 2017 p. 37" />

==Military career==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2007-0621-500, Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Captain von Lettow-Vorbeck, stationed in [[German South-West Africa]] in 1904]]

In 1900, Lettow-Vorbeck was posted to [[Qing Empire|China]] as a member of the [[Eight-Nation Alliance|international alliance forces]] to quell the [[Boxer Rebellion]].<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Held |editor1-first=Ivan |editor2-first=Christine |editor2-last=Ball |editor3-first=Jeanne-Marie |editor3-last=Hudson |editor4-first=Benjamin |editor4-last=Lee |editor5-first=Claire |editor5-last=Claire |editor6-first=Tom |editor6-last=Colgan |editor7-first=Cindy |editor7-last=Hwang |publisher=Caliber/[[Berkeley Books]] ([[Penguin Random House]]) |title=African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |first=Robert |last=Gaudi |edition=1st |lccn=2016039912 |isbn=9780425283714 |date=1 January 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |oclc=957705214 |language=English |access-date=19 June 2021 |chapter=Chapter 6: At War with the Boxers |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA55 |pages=55–56 }}</ref> Although Lettow-Vorbeck was fascinated by the ancient history and elaborate courtesy of [[Chinese culture]], he intensely disliked fighting against guerrillas and considered the war detrimental to the discipline of the German Army. He returned to the German General Staff from China in 1901.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Held |editor1-first=Ivan |editor2-first=Christine |editor2-last=Ball |editor3-first=Jeanne-Marie |editor3-last=Hudson |editor4-first=Benjamin |editor4-last=Lee |editor5-first=Claire |editor5-last=Claire |editor6-first=Tom |editor6-last=Colgan |editor7-first=Cindy |editor7-last=Hwang |publisher=Caliber/[[Berkeley Books]] ([[Penguin Random House]]) |title=African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |first=Robert |last=Gaudi |lccn=2016039912 |isbn=9780425283714 |date=1 January 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |oclc=957705214 |language=English |access-date=19 June 2021 |chapter=Chapter 6: At War with the Boxers |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA66 |page=66 }}</ref>

Beginning in 1904, Lettow-Vorbeck, now a captain, was assigned to [[German Southwest Africa]] (now [[Namibia]]), during the [[Herero Wars|Herero insurrection]] and the [[Herero and Nama genocide|subsequent genocide]].<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Held |editor1-first=Ivan |editor2-first=Christine |editor2-last=Ball |editor3-first=Jeanne-Marie |editor3-last=Hudson |editor4-first=Benjamin |editor4-last=Lee |editor5-first=Claire |editor5-last=Claire |editor6-first=Tom |editor6-last=Colgan |editor7-first=Cindy |editor7-last=Hwang |publisher=Caliber/[[Berkeley Books]] ([[Penguin Random House]]) |title=African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |first=Robert |last=Gaudi |edition=1st |lccn=2016039912 |isbn=9780425283714 |date=1 January 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |oclc=957705214 |language=English |access-date=19 June 2021 |chapter=Chapter 7: Hereroland |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA82 |page=82 }}</ref>

Lettow-Vorbeck saw combat against the [[Herero people|Herero]] at the [[Battle of Waterberg]], which he later called, "something rarely encountered in guerrilla warfare, a chance to defeat them in a single operation."<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Held |editor1-first=Ivan |editor2-first=Christine |editor2-last=Ball |editor3-first=Jeanne-Marie |editor3-last=Hudson |editor4-first=Benjamin |editor4-last=Lee |editor5-first=Claire |editor5-last=Claire |editor6-first=Tom |editor6-last=Colgan |editor7-first=Cindy |editor7-last=Hwang |publisher=Caliber/[[Berkeley Books]] ([[Penguin Random House]]) |title=African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |first=Robert |last=Gaudi |edition=1st |lccn=2016039912 |isbn=9780425283714 |date=1 January 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |oclc=957705214 |language=English |access-date=19 June 2021 |chapter=Chapter 7: Hereroland |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA85 |pages=85–90 }}</ref>

When the [[Nama people]] also rose against German rule under the leadership of [[Hendrik Witbooi (Nama chief)|Hendrik Witbooi]], Lettow-Vorbeck remained in [[German Southwest Africa]] in order to continue fighting. He played a major role in the pursuit of [[Jacob Morenga]]. During a 1906 gunfight against Morenga and his men, Lettow-Vorbeck suffered injuries to his left eye, which was left blind, and his chest.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Held |editor1-first=Ivan |editor2-first=Christine |editor2-last=Ball |editor3-first=Jeanne-Marie |editor3-last=Hudson |editor4-first=Benjamin |editor4-last=Lee |editor5-first=Claire |editor5-last=Claire |editor6-first=Tom |editor6-last=Colgan |editor7-first=Cindy |editor7-last=Hwang |publisher=Caliber/[[Berkeley Books]] ([[Penguin Random House]]) |title=African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |first=Robert |last=Gaudi |edition=1st |lccn=2016039912 |isbn=9780425283714 |date=1 January 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |oclc=957705214 |language=English |access-date=19 June 2021 |chapter=Chapter 8: A Red Soup with Black Dumplings |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA93 |pages=93–100 }}</ref>

He was then evacuated to [[South Africa]] for treatment and recovery.<ref>Farwell, ''The Great War in Africa'', p. 106</ref>

[[Leonard Mosley]] would later write, however, "It was from these brilliant and fantastic [[Hottentot (racial term)|Hottentots]] that Lettow-Vorbeck learned the Bushcraft that was to prove of such value to him in his war against the British in East Africa. When [Hottentot guerrilla leader] [[Samuel Isaak]] was captured and brought in for questioning, it was von Lettow who conducted the interrogations... His questions were how to live off a country which offers no apparent sustenance, how to run in conditions when most men barely have the strength to walk, how to condition the body to go without food or water, and most important of all, how to become so much a part, so absorbed into an unfriendly wilderness that survival is possible as the snakes and land crabs and lizards survive".<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Held |editor1-first=Ivan |editor2-first=Christine |editor2-last=Ball |editor3-first=Jeanne-Marie |editor3-last=Hudson |editor4-first=Benjamin |editor4-last=Lee |editor5-first=Claire |editor5-last=Claire |editor6-first=Tom |editor6-last=Colgan |editor7-first=Cindy |editor7-last=Hwang |publisher=Caliber/[[Berkeley Books]] ([[Penguin Random House]]) |title=African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |first=Robert |last=Gaudi |lccn=2016039912 |isbn=9780425283714 |date=1 January 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |edition=1st |oclc=957705214 |language=English |access-date=19 June 2021 |chapter=Chapter 8: A Red Soup with Black Dumplings  |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA101 |pages=101 }}</ref>

In 1907 Lettow-Vorbeck was promoted to Major and assigned to the staff of [[XI Corps (German Empire)|XI Corps]] at [[Kassel]], [[Hesse]].<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Held |editor1-first=Ivan |editor2-first=Christine |editor2-last=Ball |editor3-first=Jeanne-Marie |editor3-last=Hudson |editor4-first=Benjamin |editor4-last=Lee |editor5-first=Claire |editor5-last=Claire |editor6-first=Tom |editor6-last=Colgan |editor7-first=Cindy |editor7-last=Hwang |publisher=Caliber/[[Berkeley Books]] ([[Penguin Random House]]) |title=African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |first=Robert |last=Gaudi |edition=1st |lccn=2016039912 |isbn=9780425283714 |date=1 January 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |oclc=957705214 |language=English |access-date=19 June 2021 |chapter=Chapter 8: A Red Soup with Black Dumplings  |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA101 |pages=102 }}</ref>{{additional citation needed|date=October 2017|reason=Gaudi says Lettow-Vorbeck was appointed "as corps adjutant of the garrison at Kassel" but doesn't say it was the 11th Army Corps}} From March 1909 to January 1913, he was commanding officer of the marines of [[Seebataillon|''II. Seebataillon'']] ("2nd Sea Battalion") at [[Wilhelmshaven]], [[Lower Saxony]].<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Held |editor1-first=Ivan |editor2-first=Christine |editor2-last=Ball |editor3-first=Jeanne-Marie |editor3-last=Hudson |editor4-first=Benjamin |editor4-last=Lee |editor5-first=Claire |editor5-last=Claire |editor6-first=Tom |editor6-last=Colgan |editor7-first=Cindy |editor7-last=Hwang |publisher=Caliber/[[Berkeley Books]] ([[Penguin Random House]]) |title=African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |first=Robert |edition=1st |last=Gaudi |lccn=2016039912 |isbn=9780425283714 |date=1 January 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |oclc=957705214 |language=English |access-date=19 June 2021 |chapter=Chapter 9: Peacetime Ennui |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA105 |pages=105 }}</ref> In October 1913, the Imperial German army promoted him to Lieutenant Colonel and appointed him to command the German colonial forces, known as the ''[[Schutztruppe]]'' (protectorate force), in [[German Kamerun]] (today's [[Cameroon]], plus a portion of present-day [[Nigeria]]). Before he could assume this command, however, his orders were changed and he was posted — with effect from 13 April 1914 — to [[German East Africa]] (Tanganyika, the mainland territory of present-day [[Tanzania]]).<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Held |editor1-first=Ivan |editor2-first=Christine |editor2-last=Ball |editor3-first=Jeanne-Marie |editor3-last=Hudson |editor4-first=Benjamin |editor4-last=Lee |editor5-first=Claire |editor5-last=Claire |editor6-first=Tom |editor6-last=Colgan |editor7-first=Cindy |editor7-last=Hwang |publisher=Caliber/[[Berkeley Books]] ([[Penguin Random House]]) |title=African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |first=Robert |last=Gaudi |edition=1st |lccn=2016039912 |isbn=9780425283714 |date=1 January 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |oclc=957705214 |language=English |access-date=19 June 2021 |chapter=Chapter 9: Peacetime Ennui |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA108 |pages=108–109 }}</ref>{{additional citation needed|date=October 2017|reason=The chronology in Gaudi's book African Kaiser doesn't quite match that of the article, which probably comes from Farwell's The Great War in Africa}}

While travelling to his new assignment, Lettow-Vorbeck formed a lifelong friendship with Danish author [[Karen Blixen]] (also known by her pen name of Isak Dinesen), who was travelling aboard the same liner. Decades later, she recalled that, "He belonged to the olden days, and I have never met another German who has given me so strong an impression of what [[German Empire|Imperial Germany]] was and stood for."<ref>Farwell, ''The Great War in Africa'', p. 105</ref>

==First World War==
[[File:Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck WWI poster.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Great War poster of Lettow-Vorbeck leading African soldiers. Above: "Colonial Warriors' Donation"; below a facsimile of Lettow-Vorbeck's signature]]

Lettow-Vorbeck's plan for the [[World War I|war]] was relatively simple: knowing that East Africa would only be a sideshow to other theatres of war, he was determined to tie down as many British troops as he could. He intended to keep them away from the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]], and in this way to contribute to the German war effort.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Held |editor1-first=Ivan |editor2-first=Christine |editor2-last=Ball |editor3-first=Jeanne-Marie |editor3-last=Hudson |editor4-first=Benjamin |editor4-last=Lee |editor5-first=Claire |editor5-last=Claire |editor6-first=Tom |editor6-last=Colgan |editor7-first=Cindy |editor7-last=Hwang |publisher=Caliber/[[Berkeley Books]] ([[Penguin Random House]]) |title=African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |first=Robert |last=Gaudi |edition=1st |lccn=2016039912 |isbn=9780425283714 |date=1 January 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |oclc=957705214 |language=English |access-date=19 June 2021 |chapter=Chapter 12: Opening Moves |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA149 |page=149 }}</ref>

In August 1914 Lettow-Vorbeck was the commander of a military garrison of 2,600 German nationals and 2,472 African soldiers in fourteen [[Askari]] field companies.<ref>Farwell, p. 109.</ref> Feeling the need to seize the initiative, he disregarded orders from Berlin and the colony's Governor, [[Heinrich Schnee]], who had attempted to achieve neutrality for German East Africa, relying on the [[Berlin Conference|Congo Act]] of 1885, by which the European colonial powers had promised to keep their overseas possessions neutral in any European wars.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Held |editor1-first=Ivan |editor2-first=Christine |editor2-last=Ball |editor3-first=Jeanne-Marie |editor3-last=Hudson |editor4-first=Benjamin |editor4-last=Lee |editor5-first=Claire |editor5-last=Claire |editor6-first=Tom |editor6-last=Colgan |editor7-first=Cindy |editor7-last=Hwang |publisher=Caliber/[[Berkeley Books]] ([[Penguin Random House]]) |title=African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |first=Robert |last=Gaudi |edition=1st |lccn=2016039912 |isbn=9780425283714 |date=1 January 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |oclc=957705214 |language=English |access-date=19 June 2021 |chapter=Chapter 12: Opening Moves |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA136 |page=136 }}</ref> He thus prepared to repel a major British amphibious assault on the city of [[Tanga, Tanzania|Tanga]]. The attack began on 2 November 1914, and for the next four days the German forces fought the [[Battle of Tanga]].<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Held |editor1-first=Ivan |editor2-first=Christine |editor2-last=Ball |editor3-first=Jeanne-Marie |editor3-last=Hudson |editor4-first=Benjamin |editor4-last=Lee |editor5-first=Claire |editor5-last=Claire |editor6-first=Tom |editor6-last=Colgan |editor7-first=Cindy |editor7-last=Hwang |publisher=Caliber/[[Berkeley Books]] ([[Penguin Random House]]) |title=African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |first=Robert |last=Gaudi |edition=1st |lccn=2016039912 |isbn=9780425283714 |date=1 January 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |oclc=957705214 |language=English |access-date=19 June 2021 |chapter=Chapter 14: Tanga |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA184 |pages=184–203 }}</ref> Lettow-Vorbeck then assembled his men and their scant supplies to attack the British railways in East Africa. He scored a second victory over the British at [[Battle of Jassin|Jassin]] on 19 January 1915.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Held |editor1-first=Ivan |editor2-first=Christine |editor2-last=Ball |editor3-first=Jeanne-Marie |editor3-last=Hudson |editor4-first=Benjamin |editor4-last=Lee |editor5-first=Claire |editor5-last=Claire |editor6-first=Tom |editor6-last=Colgan |editor7-first=Cindy |editor7-last=Hwang |publisher=Caliber/[[Berkeley Books]] ([[Penguin Random House]]) |title=African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |first=Robert |last=Gaudi |edition=1st |lccn=2016039912 |isbn=9780425283714 |date=1 January 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |oclc=957705214 |language=English |access-date=19 June 2021 |chapter=Chapter 16: The Siege of Jasin |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA228 |pages=228–234 }}</ref> These victories allowed the Germans to capture much needed rifles and other supplies, in addition to boosting the troops' morale. Lettow-Vorbeck also lost many experienced men, however, including the "splendid Captain [[Tom von Prince]]", whom he could not easily replace.<ref>Prince had a Scots father and German mother and was born on [[Mauritius]]. After being orphaned, Prince and his sister had been educated in England. Later, his mother's family brought him to Germany, where he and Lettow-Vorbeck were classmates at the Kassel Military Academy (''Kadettenanstalt Kassel''). Prince eventually settled in the Usambara region of German East Africa. He was recalled to active duty as ''Hauptmann'' (captain) and given command of the Askaris of the 13th Field Company and of the 7th and 8th ''Schützenkompagnies'' (rifle companies composed mainly of the sons of German settlers). Prince's exploits earned him the nickname ''Bwana Sakarani'' — the wild one — from his Askaris. He was killed at Tanga on 4 November 1914. Gaudi 2017, pp. 35, 145–148, 200{{additional citation needed|date=October 2017|reason=Gaudi's book African Kaiser confirms most of the information in this footnote but not all}}</ref>

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 105-DOA3056, Deutsch-Ostafrika, Askarikompanie.jpg|thumb|''Schutztruppe'' Askari Company (1914)]]
Though casualties were high, Lettow insisted his commanders engage British forces, though they offered few enticing targets. This forced him to conduct raids into [[British East Africa]] (later [[Kenya]], [[Uganda]], and [[Zanzibar]]), targeting forts, railways, and communications, still hoping to force the ''[[Allies of World War I|Entente]]'' to divert manpower from the main theatre of war in Europe. Realizing the critical needs of [[guerrilla warfare]], he used everything available to him to keep his troops supplied.

The ''[[Schutztruppe]]'' recruited new personnel and expanded its size to some 14,000 soldiers, most of them [[Askari]]s. Lettow-Vorbeck's fluency in the [[Swahili language]] apparently earned the respect and admiration of his African soldiers. He appointed black officers and reportedly stated that "we are all Africans here".<ref>{{cite book|last=Garfield|first=Brian|author-link=Brian Garfield|title= The Meinertzhagen Mystery|page= 85}}</ref> In one historian's opinion, <blockquote>"It is probable that no white commander of the era had so keen an appreciation of the African's worth not only as a fighting man but as a man."<ref>Miller, Charles (1974), ''Battle for the Bundu, The First World War in East Africa'' p. 38.</ref></blockquote>The historian Michael von Herff says the loyalty of Askaris during the campaign was due to them having formed a military caste within the colonial structure, which had largely separated itself from its members' tribal roots.<ref>''They Walk Through The Fire Like The Blondest German – African Soldiers Serving the Kaiser in German East Africa 1888–1918''. Michael von Herff MA Thesis, McGill University, Montreal 1991</ref>

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 105-DOA3100, Deutsch-Ostafrika, Artillerie.jpg|thumb|''Königsberg'' guns on land]]
In 1915, he gained the men and artillery of the German cruiser {{SMS|Königsberg|1905|6}} which had been scuttled in the [[Rufiji River]] delta. The cruiser had a capable crew under commander [[Max Looff]], and its artillery pieces, converted to land use, became the largest standard guns used in the East African Theatre. In March 1916 British forces under [[Jan Smuts|General Jan Smuts]] and the Belgians under [[Charles Tombeur]] launched an offensive with 45,000 men near [[Tabora]]. Lettow-Vorbeck used the climate and terrain to his advantage, engaging the British on his terms. British reinforcements forced Lettow-Vorbeck to yield territory. Continuing his resistance, Lettow-Vorbeck fought a crucial battle at [[Battle of Mahiwa|Mahiwa]] in October 1917, where he inflicted 2,700 casualties on the British.<ref>Miller, p. 287.</ref> Lettow-Vorbeck himself lost 519 men killed, wounded, or missing while also running critically low on ammunition, forcing him to withdraw. The British would proceed to recover their losses and continue to hold an overwhelming advantage in numbers of men. For the ''Schutztruppe'', this was serious, for there were no reserves with which to replenish their ranks. After news of the battle reached Germany, however, Lettow-Vorbeck was promoted to major-general (''Generalmajor'').<ref>Hoyt, p. 175; on a comparison chart this rank was equivalent to brigadier general in the British or American armies: i.e., the lowest general-officer rank.</ref>

[[File:Der Durchbruch der Schutztruppe Deutsch-Ostafrika über den Rowuma MItte November 1917. Darstellung von Carl Arriens.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Battle of Ngomano]] in November 1917]]
Lettow-Vorbeck thus withdrew to the south, with his troops on half rations and the British in pursuit. On 25 November 1917, his advance column waded across the [[Ruvuma River]] into [[Portuguese Mozambique]].<ref>A state of war had existed since 9 March 1916 between Germany and Portugal: when neutral Portugal complied with a British demand to confiscate German ships interned in Portuguese ports, Germany reacted by declaring war on Portugal.</ref> Having essentially cut their own supply lines, the ''Schutztruppe'' caravan became a completely independent unit. On its first day across the river, the column [[Battle of Ngomano|attacked the newly replenished Portuguese garrison of Ngomano]] and solved its supply problems for the foreseeable future.<ref>Miller, p. 296.</ref> The subsequent capture of a river steamer with a load of medical supplies, including [[quinine]], satisfied some of its medical needs as well.<ref>Hoyt, p. 214.</ref> For almost a year Lettow-Vorbeck's men had lived off whatever was available, mainly provisions captured from the British and Portuguese; they had replaced their old rifles with new equipment and acquired machine guns and mortars after [[Battle of Namacurra|capturing Namakura]] ([[Namacurra]] in modern Mozambique) in July 1918.<ref>Willmott, ''World War One'', p. 93.</ref>

[[File:Vorbeck-Schnee.jpg|thumb|General von Lettow-Vorbeck and colonial Governor Heinrich Schnee]]
The war in East Africa set off a chain of events with devastating results for the natives and their German overlords. The invasions caused interruptions throughout the colony, so that the land no longer "basked in a climate of plenty."<ref>Miller, p. 22.</ref>

Lettow-Vorbeck considered his first obligation as a military commander that to his army, over the objections of Governor Heinrich Schnee. The governor regarded war as the worst possible calamity to befall German East Africa, "[undoing] everything his social and economic reforms had accomplished."<ref>Miller, p. 41.</ref> Lettow-Vorbeck's strategy, meanwhile, held central giving ground and escaping confrontations with Allied forces. He had thus established food depots along his intended line of march from [[Moshi, Tanzania|Neu Moshi]] to the [[Uluguru Mountains]], writing off famine in neighboring villages as a misfortune of war.<ref>Miller, p. 236.</ref>

{{Css Image Crop|Image = GEA-45a-Deutsch Ostafrikanische Bank-20 Rupien (1915).jpg|bSize = 220|cWidth = 220|cHeight = 145|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0|Location = right|Description=A 20 [[German East African rupie]] provisional banknote issued in [[Dar es Salaam]] due to a significant lack of provisions resulting from naval blockade}}

Little aid from Germany could penetrate the British naval blockade to alleviate the enormous supply deficiencies facing Lettow-Vorbeck's men in the area, and only two ships succeeded in running the blockade and reaching the colony. On 14 April 1915, the freighter ''Kronborg'' arrived off Tanga at [[Manza Bay]] after a two-month journey from [[Wilhelmshaven]], and was promptly attacked by the British cruiser [[HMS Hyacinth (1898)|HMS ''Hyacinth'']]. Fortunately for the Germans, ''Kronborg'' was scuttled by her captain to avoid a coal fire after repeated hits were scored by the British cruiser, and the ship settled in shallow water. Nearly the entire cargo could then be salvaged.<ref>Hoyt, pp. 89–90</ref> However, when the steamer ''Marie von Stettin'' arrived south of [[Lindi]] on 17 March 1916,<ref>Hoyt, p. 119.</ref> its cargo of 1,500 tons was of only very modest help to Lettow-Vorbeck's forces.<ref>Farwell, p. 276.</ref>

An attempt in November 1917 to resupply German forces by [[Zeppelin]] airship, an operation codenamed "the China Show", failed. The Zeppelin, [[LZ 104 (L 59)]], intended also as a morale-booster to the beleaguered East African troops, was designed to be dismembered on arrival and all its parts cannibalised as spares for the troops - the canvas of its hull used for tents, for example. The airship reached the [[Sudan]], in a single uninterrupted flight from [[Bulgaria]], where it received a message from the German Admiralty that its planned landing area in East Africa was no longer in Lettow-Vorbeck's hands. Its captain decided to turn back. The British later claimed the about-turn was a result of a fake radio message sent in German by British intelligence in Cairo stating that Lettow-Vorbeck had surrendered, but this has never been proven.

By late September 1916, all of coastal German East Africa, including [[Dar es Salaam]] and the [[Central Line (Tanzania)|Central Railway]], was under British control. The west of the colony was meanwhile occupied by Belgian forces.<ref>Louis, ''Great Britain and Germany's Lost Colonies 1914–1919'', p. 74.</ref> In December 1917, the German colony was officially declared an Allied protectorate.<ref>Miller, p. 291.</ref>

Lettow-Vorbeck and his caravan of Europeans, Askaris, porters, women, and children marched on, deliberately bypassing the tribal homelands of the native soldiers in an effort to prevent desertions. They traversed difficult territory. "Swamps and jungles ... what a dismal prospect there is in front of me," stated the Allied commander in pursuit, General Jan Smuts, whose new approach was subsequently not to fight the ''Schutztruppe'' at all, but to go after their food supply.<ref>Miller, p. 237.</ref> When the end of the campaign eventually came, Smuts was in London and General J. L. van Deventer commanded East Africa.

His actions were described as "a campaign of supreme ruthlessness where a small, well trained force extorted supplies from civilians to whom it felt no responsibility...it was the climax of Africa's exploitation".<ref>''The Boers in East Africa: Ethnicity and Identity'', Brian M. Du Toit</ref> Lettow-Vorbeck's tactics led to a famine that killed thousands of Africans and weakened the population, leaving it vulnerable to the [[Spanish flu|Spanish influenza]] epidemic in 1919.<ref>Warfare in World History [[Michael S. Neiberg]] page 68</ref>

In a book published in 1919, Ludwig Deppe, a doctor of medicine who campaigned with Lettow-Vorbeck and who had formerly headed the hospital at Tanga, lamented the tragedy that German forces had imposed on East Africa in their war with the Allies: <blockquote>"Behind us we leave destroyed fields, ransacked magazines and, for the immediate future, starvation. We are no longer the agents of culture, our track is marked by death, plundered and evacuated villages, just like the progress of our own and enemy armies in the [[Thirty Years' War]]."<ref>Ferguson, ''Empire'', p. 253.</ref> </blockquote>When the worldwide [[Spanish influenza]] epidemic swept into eastern Africa in 1918–1919, it struck down thousands of people.<ref name="Farwell, p. 354">Farwell, p. 354.</ref> The weakened state of many native Africans, resulting from the war, made them especially susceptible.<ref>Miller, p. 329.</ref>

Lettow-Vorbeck was greatly respected by his white officers, non-commissioned officers and Askaris, and even Allied forces.<ref name="Farwell, p. 354" /> In the field when rations had to be reduced and supplies dwindled,<blockquote>"It was a measure of the Askaris' loyalty to their commander that they accepted the cuts and did not desert en masse. Some did desert, of course... But the German Askaris were by far the most loyal as well as the most effective, and it all went back to… Lettow-Vorbeck's brand of discipline, which bound him and his German officers as much as his black soldiers".<ref>Hoyt, p. 171.</ref></blockquote>[[File:Lettow's surrender.jpg|left|thumb|Lettow-Vorbeck surrendering his forces to the British at Abercorn, as drawn by an African artist]]

There is a ''legend'' that Lettow-Vorbeck once lost his glass eye in the bush. When an ''askari'' returned it to him and enquired why the colonel had removed it, Lettow-Vorbeck replied that "he had placed it there to watch that the ''askari'' were doing their duty".<ref>{{cite book | last = Paice | first = Edward  | title = Tip and Run: The untold tragedy of the Great War in Africa | publisher = Weidenfeld and Nicolson | date = 2007 | location = London | pages = 17 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 9-780297-847090 }}</ref>

On 28 September 1918, Lettow-Vorbeck again crossed the [[Ruvuma River]] and returned to German East Africa, with the British still in pursuit. He then turned west and raided [[Northern Rhodesia]], evading an ambush that the British had prepared in German East Africa. On 13 November 1918, two days after the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918|Armistice]], he took the town of [[Kasama, Zambia|Kasama]], which the British had evacuated,<ref>[http://www.nrzam.org.uk/NRJ/V4N5/V4N5.htm "The Evacuation of Kasama in 1918".] ''The [[Northern Rhodesia Journal]]''. '''IV''' (5) (1961). pp. 440–442. Retrieved 7 March 2007.</ref> and continued heading south-west towards [[Katanga Province|Katanga]]. When he reached the [[Chambeshi River]] on the morning of 14 November, the British magistrate [[Hector Croad]] appeared under a white flag and delivered a message from South African General [[Jacob van Deventer (general)|Jacob van Deventer]], informing Lettow-Vorbeck of the Armistice.<ref name="NRJ" /> Lettow-Vorbeck agreed to a cease-fire at the spot now marked by the [[Chambeshi Monument]] in present-day [[Zambia]]. He was instructed by the British to march north to [[Mbala, Zambia|Abercorn]] to surrender his army, arriving there on 25 November.<ref name="NRJ">[http://www.nrzam.org.uk/NRJ/V2N5/V2N5.htm Gore-Browne, Sir Stewart (1954). "The Chambeshi Memorial".] ''The Northern Rhodesia Journal'', '''2''' (5) pp. 81–84 (1954). Retrieved 18 May 2007.</ref><ref>Lettow-Vorbeck, ''My Life''</ref> The remains of his army at the time consisted of 30 German officers, 125 German non-commissioned officers and other enlisted ranks, 1,168 [[Askari]]s, and some 3,500 porters.<ref>Haupt, ''Deutschlands Schutzgebiete in Übersee 1884–1918'', p. 154.</ref>
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-2004-0094, Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck (Mitte).jpg|thumb|British officer with Lettow-Vorbeck and [[Georg Kraut]] in Dar es Salaam, March 1919]]
After hostilities ended, the British transferred the German POWs to [[Dar es Salaam]] for eventual repatriation. Lettow-Vorbeck made several efforts to secure an early release for his Askaris, who were in a [[Prisoner-of-war camp|POW camp]] at [[Tabora]].<ref>Miller, p. 327.</ref>

Before Lettow-Vorbeck was separated from his Askaris, one of them cried out, <blockquote>"I have been asked to say this to you ''[[List of English words of Niger-Congo origin|Bwana]]'' General. Where do you go now? Where you go, we will go with you! And if this is not the time, then wait until my son grows up to be a warrior and he will take my place and go with you. We will go with the ''Bwana'' General, will we not?"<ref name="Gaudi 2017 page 409">{{cite book |editor1-last=Held |editor1-first=Ivan |editor2-first=Christine |editor2-last=Ball |editor3-first=Jeanne-Marie |editor3-last=Hudson |editor4-first=Benjamin |editor4-last=Lee |editor5-first=Claire |editor5-last=Claire |editor6-first=Tom |editor6-last=Colgan |editor7-first=Cindy |editor7-last=Hwang |publisher=Caliber/[[Berkeley Books]] ([[Penguin Random House]]) |title=African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |first=Robert |last=Gaudi |edition=1st |lccn=2016039912 |isbn=9780425283714 |date=1 January 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |oclc=957705214 |language=English |access-date=19 June 2021 |chapter=Chapter 24: The English Motorcycle Messenger |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA416 |pages=409 }}</ref></blockquote>Robert Gaudi writes, <blockquote>"To a man, the Askaris stepped forward, ready to follow the commander to the ends of the Earth. But von Lettow held them back with a gesture and kept on marching. His war was over now."<ref name="Gaudi 2017 page 409" /></blockquote>

==Post-war==
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-P008268, General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck.jpg|thumb|Lettow-Vorbeck at a parade in Berlin in 1919]]
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.<ref>Farwell, pp. 355–356.</ref> He was the only German commander to successfully invade the [[British Empire]] during the [[First World War]].<ref>Article 17 of the Armistice did not require his "surrender" but simply "evacuation of all German forces operating in East Africa." [Farwell, p. 353]</ref>

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]].<ref name="Miller, p. 331">Miller, p. 331</ref> 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.<ref>Lettow Vorbeck. ''My Life'' pp. 142ff</ref><ref>Farwell, p. 356.</ref>

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H27605, Herbstmanöver bei Celle.jpg|thumb|Lettow-Vorbeck (right) as a guest of General [[Günther von Kluge]] during army maneuvers in 1935]]
In June 1926, Lettow-Vorbeck met [[Richard Meinertzhagen]] in Bremen, the British [[Intelligence Corps (United Kingdom)|Intelligence Corps]] Colonel with whom he had fought a battle of wits until December 1916, when Meinertzhagen was invalided.<ref>Garfield, p. 164.</ref> Three years later, Lettow-Vorbeck accepted an invitation to London where he met face-to-face for the first time [[Jan Smuts]];<ref>Garfield, p. 178.</ref> the two men formed a lasting friendship. When Smuts died in 1950, Lettow-Vorbeck sent his widow a letter expressing his sympathy for her loss.<ref name="Farwell, p. 357">Farwell, p. 357.</ref>

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;<ref name="selous">{{cite web|url=http://www.enotes.com/topic/Frederick_Selous|title=Frederick Selous|publisher=enotes.com|access-date=27 December 2011}}</ref> this claim, however, is not supported by any contemporary evidence.

===Political career===
In a review of the work on Lettow-Vorbeck by [[Uwe Schulte-Varendorff]], historian [[Eckard Michels]] agrees with Schulte-Varendorff that Lettow-Vorbeck did not directly show susceptibility to [[Far-right politics|far right]] politics and [[Antisemitism|anti-Semitism]]. Eckard Michels also writes, however, that Lettow-Vorbeck did not seek publicity out of opportunism or greed and only morphed into a public figure because of the society at the time's desire for a reminder of bygone times.<ref>{{cite contribution|last1=Michels |first1=Eckard |contribution=Uwe Schulte-Varendorff, ''Kolonialheld für Kaiser und Führer: General Lettow-Vorbeck—Mythos und Wirklichkeit''; Edward Paice, ''Tip and Run: The Untold Tragedy of the Great War in Africa'' |title=German Historical Institute London Bulletin Volume XXIX, No. 2 |date=November 2007 |url=https://www.ghil.ac.uk/fileadmin/redaktion/dokumente/bulletin/GHIL%20Bulletin%2029%20(2007),2.pdf |access-date=2 March 2019}}</ref>

Between May 1928 and July 1930, Lettow-Vorbeck served as a [[Reichstag (Weimar Republic)|Reichstag]] deputy for the [[monarchist]] [[German National People's Party]]. He left the party in 1930, after [[Alfred Hugenberg]] became the party leader and drew it increasingly into the [[far right]]. Lettow-Vorbeck then joined the [[Conservative People's Party (Germany)|Conservative People's Party]] and ran for it in the [[1930 German federal election|election of 1930]], where he gained the best result of the party in his electoral district of [[Upper Bavaria]], but was not re-elected. He intensely "distrusted [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] and his movement,"<ref name="Farwell, p. 357" /> and approached his relative [[Hans-Jürgen von Blumenthal]] with an idea to form a coalition with ''[[Der Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten|Der Stahlhelm]]'' against the Nazis. This resulted in the [[Vorbeck-Blumenthal Pact]].

==Nazi Germany==
Later, when Hitler offered him the ambassadorship to the [[Court of St James's]] in 1935, he "declined with frigid hauteur"; the suggestion for the nomination as ambassador to the Court of St James had come from retired Colonel [[Richard Meinertzhagen]] during a visit to Berlin.<ref name="Miller, p. 331">Miller, p. 331</ref> During the 1960s, [[Charles Miller (author)|Charles Miller]] asked the nephew of a ''Schutztruppe'' officer, "I understand that von Lettow told Hitler to go fuck himself." The nephew responded, "That's right, except that I don't think he put it that politely."<ref name="Miller, p. 331"/>

After his blunt refusal, Lettow "was kept under continual surveillance" and his home office was searched.<ref name="Miller, p. 331"/> Thanks to his popularity among the [[German people]], he was promoted to the rank of General for Special Purposes in 1938, at the age of 68, but was never recalled to active service.

One of Lettow-Vorbeck's junior officers, [[Theodor von Hippel]], used his experiences in East Africa to form the [[Brandenburgers]], the commando unit of the [[Abwehr]], the German [[military intelligence]] service during the [[World War II|Second World War]].<ref>Lefèvre, ''Brandenburg Division'', pp. 17–29.</ref>

==''Die Stunde Null''==
By the end of [[World War II]], Lettow-Vorbeck was destitute. His house in Bremen had been destroyed by [[Strategic bombing during World War II|Allied bombs]], and he depended for a time on food packages from his friends [[Richard Meinertzhagen|Meinertzhagen]] and Smuts. After the [[Wirtschaftswunder|postwar economic boom]], however, he enjoyed comfortable circumstances again.<ref name="Miller, p. 331" /> In 1953 he visited [[Dar-es-Salaam]], where he was welcomed by surviving Askaris who greeted him with their old marching song ''Heia Safari!'' British colonial officials welcomed him with full military honours.<ref>This trip was sponsored by the German news magazine [[Stern (magazine)|''Stern'']].</ref>

As colonialism came to an end in Africa, several activists for the independence of [[German East Africa|Tanganyika]], who were all the sons of Lettow-Vorbeck's Askaris, came to seek his advice. As there had been violence against the White population in the former colony of [[German East Africa]], Lettow-Vorbeck later recalled that he gave one of them, who later became a government official in independent [[Tanzania]], <blockquote>"...a good talking to. I told him not to despise the White people and not to humiliate them for the mistakes they made. 'We only repudiate the small men, father,' he replied, 'When the White Man is big enough, as you were big enough, we continue to respect him.'" </blockquote>Lettow-Vorbeck was pleased by this answer, and laughed and slapped his knee when he told [[Leonard Mosley]] about the conversation.<ref>Robert Gaudi (2017), ''African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918'', Caliber. Pages 416-417.</ref>

==Personal life==
After his return from Africa, Lettow-Vorbeck married Martha Wallroth (1884–1953) in 1919. They had two sons and two daughters: Rüdiger (1921–1940), Arnd (1922–1941), Heloise (1923-2018), and Ursula (1927).

Both his two sons, Rüdiger and Arnd von Lettow-Vorbeck, and his stepson Peter Wallroth,<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Held |editor1-first=Ivan |editor2-first=Christine |editor2-last=Ball |editor3-first=Jeanne-Marie |editor3-last=Hudson |editor4-first=Benjamin |editor4-last=Lee |editor5-first=Claire |editor5-last=Claire |editor6-first=Tom |editor6-last=Colgan |editor7-first=Cindy |editor7-last=Hwang |publisher=Caliber/[[Berkeley Books]] ([[Penguin Random House]]) |title=African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |first=Robert |last=Gaudi |edition=1st |lccn=2016039912 |isbn=9780425283714 |date=13 January 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |oclc=957705214 |language=English |access-date=19 June 2021}}</ref> were [[killed in action]] serving in the ''[[Wehrmacht]]''.

==Death==
In 1964, eleven days before his 94th birthday, Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck died in Hamburg. The West German government and the ''[[Bundeswehr]]'' flew in two former Askaris as state guests to attend the funeral.<ref>Uwe Schulte-Varendorff, ''Kolonialheld für Kaiser und Führer. General Lettow-Vorbeck – Mythos und Wirklichkeit'' (Ch. Links, Berlin 2006), p. 125</ref>

Several officers of the ''Bundeswehr'' were assigned as an honour guard, and West Germany's Minister of Defence, [[Kai-Uwe von Hassel]], gave the [[eulogy]], saying that the deceased, "was truly undefeated in the field". Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck was buried in [[Pronstorf]], [[Schleswig-Holstein]], in the graveyard of Vicelin Church.

==Legacy==
[[File:Ex Lettow-Vorbeck-Kaserne Hamburg 04.jpg|thumb|Relief sculpture at the former Hamburg-Jenfeld barracks]]
[[File:Chambeshi_Monument_03.jpg|thumb|[[Chambeshi Monument]], in the [[Northern Province, Zambia|Northern Province]] of [[Zambia]], also called the Chambeshi Memorial and the Lettow-Vorbeck Memorial, commemorates the final [[cessation of hostilities]] of the [[World War I|First World War]], three days after the [[Armistice]] in [[Europe]].]]
In the year of Lettow-Vorbeck's death, 1964, the West German ''[[Bundestag]]'' voted to give back-dated pay to all surviving Askaris from the German forces of the First World War. A temporary cashier's office was set up in [[Mwanza]] on Lake Victoria. Of the 350 former soldiers who gathered, only a handful could produce the certificates that Lettow-Vorbeck had given them in 1918. Others presented pieces of their old uniforms as proof of service. The German banker who had brought the money then had an idea. Each claimant was asked to step forward, was handed a broom, and was ordered in German to perform drills from their [[manual of arms]].<ref name="Farwell, p. 357" /> Not one man failed the test.<ref>Miller, p. 333.</ref>

Four barracks of the Federal German Army, or ''Bundeswehr'', were once named in Lettow-Vorbeck's honour. They were situated at [[Leer, Lower Saxony|Leer]], [[Hamburg]]-Jenfeld, [[Bremen]], and [[Bad Segeberg]]. Following the recent closure of 178 military installations, the only one remaining is the Lettow-Vorbeck-Kaserne in [[Leer, Lower Saxony|Leer]], [[East Frisia]]. The former Hamburg-Jenfeld barracks houses the "Tanzania Park", a group of large [[terracotta]] relief sculptures of Lettow-Vorbeck and his Askari soldiers, now closed to the public.<ref>{{cite journal |publisher=[[Heldref Publications]] (Helen Dwight Reid Education Foundation/[[Taylor & Francis]] |date=15 August 2009 |title=Briefly Noted: A monument under lock and key: Seeking Germany's colonial lieux de mémoire |pages=251–258 |url=http://www-personal.umich.edu/~geostein/docs/SteinmetzGermanic.pdf |via=[[University of Michigan]] ''(author's personal webpage)'' |archive-date=12 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612174419/http://www-personal.umich.edu/~geostein/docs/SteinmetzGermanic.pdf |language=English |volume=84 |issue=3 |issn=0016-8890 |doi=10.3200/GERR.84.3.251-258 |journal=The Germanic Review: Literature, Culture, Theory |first=George |last=Steinmetz |s2cid=2817150 |editor1-first=Oliver |editor1-last=Simons |editor2-first=Andreas |editor2-last=Huyssen |editor3-first=Harro |editor3-last=Müller |editor4-first=Willi |editor4-last=Goetschel |editor5-first=Nils |editor5-last=Roemer |editor6-first=André |editor6-last=Flicker |editor7-first=Xan |editor7-last=Holt |oclc=60624209 |publication-place=[[Washington, D.C.]], United States of America |author-link=George Steinmetz (academic) }}</ref> Another sculpture of Lettow-Vorbeck and the Askaris is on display at Mühlenteich, near the [[Otto von Bismarck|Bismarck]] memorial at [[Friedrichsruh]].<ref>[https://www.panoramio.com/photo/22561619 Lettow-Vorbeck und seine Askari] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101001632/http://www.panoramio.com/photo/22561619 |date=1 January 2017 }} {{in lang|de}}</ref>

In early 2010, the City Council of [[Saarlouis]] renamed ''Von Lettow-Vorbeck-Straße'', mainly for Lettow-Vorbeck's involvement in the 1920 [[Kapp Putsch]].<ref>[http://www.saarbruecker-zeitung.de/sz-berichte/dillingen/Lettow-Vorbeck-Strasse-Umbenennung;art2809,3279852 "Stadtrat beschließt neue Straßennamen"] ''[[Saarbrücker Zeitung]]'', 3 May 2010.</ref> In [[Hanover]], "Lettow-Vorbeck Straße" was renamed "[[Namibia]] Straße". In [[Wuppertal]], [[Cuxhaven]], [[Halle, North Rhine-Westphalia|Halle]] and [[Graz, Austria]] there are still streets named after General von Lettow-Vorbeck.<ref>[http://www.suedkurier.de/region/kreis-konstanz/radolfzell/Lettow-Vorbeck-Strasse-hat-ausgedient;art372455,5743258 "Lettow-Vorbeck-Straße hat ausgedient"] ''[[Südkurier]]'', 25 October 2012.</ref>

The [[Dryosauridae|dryosaurid]] species ''[[Dysalotosaurus]] lettowvorbecki'' was named after Lettow-Vorbeck.

==Honours==
He received the following orders and decorations:<ref>{{cite web|title=Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck|website=the Prussian Machine|access-date=29 October 2020|url=http://prussianmachine.com/aka/lettow.htm}}</ref>
* {{flag|Kingdom of Prussia}}:
** Officer of the [[Order of the Red Eagle]], with Crown
** Knight of the [[Order of the Crown (Prussia)|Order of the Prussian Crown]], 3rd Class with Swords
** [[Pour le Mérite]] (military), ''4 November 1916''; with Oak Leaves, ''10 October 1917''
** [[Iron Cross]], 1st and 2nd class 
* {{flag|Kingdom of Bavaria}}:
** Knight of the [[Military Order of Max Joseph]]
** Knight of the [[Military Merit Order (Bavaria)|Military Merit Order]], 4th Class with Swords and Crown
* {{flagicon|Saxe-Coburg and Gotha}} {{flagicon|Saxe-Altenburg}} {{flagicon|Saxe-Meiningen}} [[Ernestine duchies]]: Commander of the [[Saxe-Ernestine House Order]], 2nd Class
* {{flag|Württemberg}}: Knight of the [[Order of the Crown (Württemberg)|Order of the Württemberg Crown]], with Golden Lions
* {{flag|Russian Empire}}: Knight of the [[Order of Saint Stanislaus (House of Romanov)|Order of St. Stanislaus]], 3rd Class with Swords

==In popular culture==
[[File:KLA 1918 0413.jpg|thumb|Cartoon (1918) showing Lettow-Vorbeck eluding the [[List of national symbols of the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man|British lion]] in [[East African campaign (World War I)|East Africa]]]]
Lettow-Vorbeck appears in a 1993 episode of the television series ''[[The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles]]''. The episode, which was titled "The Phantom Train of Doom", begins with [[Indiana Jones (character)|Indiana Jones]] as an officer in the [[Belgian Army]] during the First World War. Determined to destroy a ''Schutztruppe'' [[armoured train]], Indiana takes General von Lettow-Vorbeck (played by [[Tom Bell (actor)|Tom Bell]]) hostage and attempts to return with him behind Allied lines. When the ''Schutztruppe'' tracks them down, Indy draws his revolver to shoot the general, but decides to let him go. The general magnanimously gives him a [[compass]] so Indiana can find his way back to his lines, and the two part as friends.

Lettow-Vorbeck is the [[protagonist]] of ''The Ghosts of Africa'', a 1980 [[historical novel]] by Anglo-Canadian novelist [[William Stevenson (Canadian writer)|William Stevenson]] about the East African Campaign which highlighted the long-distance resupply mission of the German rigid airship [[LZ 104 (L 59)|L 59]].

The many bureaucratic absurdities of the British campaign against General von Lettow-Vorbeck in [[German East Africa]] are satirized in [[William Boyd (writer)|William Boyd]]'s 1983 anti-war novel ''[[An Ice-Cream War]]''.

Lettow-Vorbeck also appears as a character in [[Peter Høeg]]'s short story, "Journey into a Dark Heart", which is the opening story in his 1990 collection, ''[[Tales of the Night (Høeg book)|Tales of the Night]]''. In this story Høeg imagines Lettow-Vorbeck travelling through Africa by train at night accompanied by [[Joseph Conrad]].

Much of the history of Lettow-Vorbeck's war campaign in East Africa is detailed in the book ''Speak Swahili, Dammit!'' (2011) by James Penhaligon, as well as in a novel of the same year, ''The Bridge Builders'' (''Brobyggarna'' in Swedish) by [[Jan Guillou]].

A German film, ''Lettow-Vorbeck: Der deutsch-ostafrikanische Imperativ'', was produced in 1984.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0463336/|title = Lettow-Vorbeck: Der deutsch-ostafrikanische Imperativ (1984)| website=[[IMDb]] }}</ref>

==Works==
*Lettow-Vorbeck, Paul Emil von, ''Heia Safari! Deutschlands Kampf in Ostafrika'' [Heia Safari! Germany's Campaign in East Africa]. Leipzig: Hase & Köhler. 1920.
*Lettow-Vorbeck, Paul Emil von, ''Meine Erinnerungen aus Ostafrika''. Leipzig: Hase & Köhler, 1920. Published in Great Britain as ''My Reminiscences of East Africa''. London: Hurst & Blackett, Paternoster House, 1920. U.S. edition entitled ''East African Campaigns'' with an introduction by John Gunther. New York: Robert Speller & Sons, 1957. [https://archive.org/details/myreminiscenceso00lettuoft ''My Reminiscences of East Africa'' at archive.org (English)] [https://archive.org/details/meineerinnerunge00lettuoft (German)]
*Lettow-Vorbeck, Paul Emil von, ''Die Weltkriegsspionage''. München, Justin Moser. 1931.
*Lettow-Vorbeck, Paul Emil von, ''Mein Leben''. Biberach an der Riss: Koehlers Verlag. 1957. – ''My Life''. Loves Park, Illinois: Rilling Enterprises, 2012. First English translation.

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Germany}}
* [[German colonial empire]]
* [[Hermann Detzner]]
* [[Ada Schnee]]
* [[Lettow]]
* [[William F.S. Edwards]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin|60em}}
* {{citation |title=The Forgotten Front: The East African Campaign, 1914-1918 |publisher=Tempus Publishing ([[The History Press]]) |date=4 August 2014 |edition=2nd |last=Anderson |first=Ross |isbn=9780752423449 |publication-place=[[Stroud]], [[Gloucestershire]], England, United Kingdom of Great Britain |oclc=538164082 |language=English }}.
* Crowson, Thomas A. ''When Elephants clash. A critical analysis of Major General Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck in the East African Theatre of the Great War''. (Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Faculty of the US Army Command and General Staff College, Masterarbeit, 2003). Washington, DC: Storming Media, 2003. NTIS, Springfield, VA. 2003. [[Microform]]-Edition.
* [[Byron Farwell|Farwell, Byron]]. ''The Great War in Africa, 1914–1918''. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1989, {{ISBN|0-393-30564-3}}.
* Ferguson, Niall. ''Empire. The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power''. New York: Basic Books. 2004. {{ISBN|0-465-02328-2}}
* [[Brian Garfield|Garfield, Brian]]. ''The Meinertzhagen Mystery''. Washington, DC: Potomac Books, Inc. 2007. {{ISBN|1-59797-041-7}}
* {{citation |editor1-last=Held |editor1-first=Ivan |editor2-first=Christine |editor2-last=Ball |editor3-first=Jeanne-Marie |editor3-last=Hudson |editor4-first=Benjamin |editor4-last=Lee |editor5-first=Claire |editor5-last=Claire |editor6-first=Tom |editor6-last=Colgan |editor7-first=Cindy |editor7-last=Hwang |publisher=Caliber/[[Berkeley Books]] ([[Penguin Random House]]) |title=African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |first=Robert |last=Gaudi |lccn=2016039912 |isbn=9780425283714 |date=1 January 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96D0CwAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |oclc=957705214 |language=English |access-date=19 June 2021 }}
* Haupt, Werner. ''Deutschlands Schutzgebiete in Übersee 1884–1918'' [Germany's Overseas Protectorates 1884–1918]. Friedberg: Podzun-Pallas Verlag. 1984. {{ISBN|3-7909-0204-7}}
* {{citation |first=Edwin Palmer |last=Hoyt |title=The Germans who Never Lost: The Story of the Königsberg |oclc=440986 |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |language=English |author-link=Edwin P. Hoyt |publisher=[[Funk & Wagnalls]] |isbn=9780090964000 |date=1 January 1968 |edition=1st |editor1-first=Edwin Palmer |editor1-last=Hoyt Jr. 
}}. Note: This book is a study of Captain Max Looff and his crew of the light cruiser ''Königsberg''. The main sources are German admiralty records and published accounts by crew members. The book is listed here for reference only, since, as the author explains, he "had gotten off the track as far as [Paul Emil] von Lettow-Vorbeck was concerned." Thus, all footnotes for "Hoyt" on this page refer to his book ''Guerilla''. See {{SMS|Königsberg|1905|6}}.
* {{citation |first=Edwin Palmer |last=Hoyt |author-link=Edwin P. Hoyt |year=1981 |title=Guerilla: Colonel Von Letow-Vorbeck and Germany's East African Empire |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |edition=1st |isbn=9780025552104 |oclc=7732627 |language=English |access-date=19 June 2021 |archive-date=10 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010190303/https://zimmerer.typepad.com/Documents/Guerrilla%20Von%20Lettow%20New.pdf |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers (United States)|MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc.]] |url=https://zimmerer.typepad.com/Documents/Guerrilla%20Von%20Lettow%20New.pdf}}.
* {{citation |lccn=00710168 |title=Brandenburg Division: Commandos of the Reich (''Original title: La Division Brandenburg 1939–1945'') |publication-place=[[Paris]], France |publisher=Histoire & Collections (Original publisher: Presses de la Cité) |year=2000 |translator1-first=Julia |translator1-last=Finel |last=Lefèvre |first=Eric |oclc=47838683 |isbn=9782908182736 |series=Special operations series |volume=IV |language=English |orig-date=1983 |edition=1st }}
* Louis, Wm. Roger. ''Great Britain and Germany's Lost Colonies 1914–1919''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1967.
* Michels, Eckart ''"Der Held von Deutsch-Ost-Afrika" Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck Ein preußischer Kolonialoffizier'', Fredinand Schöningh, Paderborn 2008, {{ISBN|978-3-506-76370-9}}.
* Miller, Charles. ''Battle for the Bundu: The First World War in German East Africa''. London: Macdonald & Jane's, 1974; and New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. 1974. {{ISBN|0-02-584930-1}}.
* Mosley, Leonard. ''Duel for Kilimanjaro''. New York: Ballantine Books, 1963.
* {{citation |date=1 January 2007 |title=Tip and Run: The Untold Tragedy of the First World War in Africa |last=Paice |first=Edward |publisher=[[Weidenfeld & Nicolson]] ([[Orion Publishing Group]]/[[Hachette (publisher)|Hachette]]) |edition=1st |isbn=9780297847090 |publication-place=[[London]], England, United Kingdom of Great Britain |oclc=538164082 |language=English }}
* Schulte-Varendorff, Uwe. ''Kolonialheld für Kaiser und Führer. General Lettow-Vorbeck – Eine Biographie'' [Colonial Hero for Kaiser and Führer. A General Lettow-Vorbeck Biography]. Berlin: Ch. Links Verlag, 2006. {{ISBN|3-86153-412-6}}.
* {{citation |last=Sibley |first=([[Major (rank)|Major]]) J. Roger |date=10 August 1973 |title=Tanganykan Guerrilla: East African campaign, 1914-18 |volume=XX |series=Ballantine's illustrated history of the violent century: Campaign book |publisher=[[Ballantine Books]] ([[Penguin Random House]]) |editor1-first=Ian |editor1-last=Ballantine |editor1-link=Ian Ballantine |editor2-first=Betty |editor2-last=Ballantine |editor2-link=Betty Ballantine |publication-place=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States of America |language=English |edition=2nd |isbn=9780345098016 }}.
* Stephenson, William. ''Der Löwe von Afrika. Der legendäre General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck und sein Kampf um Ostafrika'' [The Lion of Africa. The legendary General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and his campaign for East Africa]. Munich: Goldmann, 1984. {{ISBN|3-442-06719-7}}.
* Strachan, Hew. ''The First World War 1914–1918''. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2001. {{ISBN|0-19-926191-1}}.
* Stratis, John C. ''A Case Study in Leadership. Colonel Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck''. Springfield, VA.: NTIS, 2002. [[Microform]]-Edition.
* Willmott, H. P. ''World War One''. London: [[Dorling Kindersley]]. 2003. {{ISBN|0-7894-9627-5}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck}}
*[http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/lettowvorbeck.htm Biography of Lettow-Vorbeck at First World War.com]
*[http://www.nrzam.org.uk/Site%20Resources/KasamaPics/Chambeshi.jpg British article from 1964] of the conclusion of Lettow-Vorbeck's campaign
*[http://www.lettow-vorbeck.de/literat.htm#afrika Website of the Lettow-Vorbeck family (has extracts from his autobiography ''Mein Leben'')]
*[http://www.tokencoins.com/gea04a.htm Summary of Oberst Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck's extraordinary military campaigns against the Allies]
* {{DNB portal|118779737|TYP=}}
* {{PM20|FID=pe/011321}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lettow-Vorbeck, Paul}}
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