Curt von Morgen

Curt Ernst von Morgen (1 November 1858 in Neiße – 15 February 1928 in Lübeck) was a Prussian explorer and officer, later General of Infantry during World War I. He was a recipient of Pour le Mérite with Oak Leaves.
Explorer in Cameroon.
Curt von Morgen was stationed in German Kamerun and undertook two research journeys to central Cameroon in 1889 and from 1890 to 1891. After the expeditions, Morgen returned to Germany but in 1894 he was tasked with the formation of the Kamerun Schutztruppe. He also led two military expeditions against the Abo north of Douala and the Kwe (Bakwiri) near Mount Cameroon.
The Middle East.
In 1896-97, he followed as military observer the English Dongola-Expedition against the Mahdists. In 1897, he became Military Attaché in Istanbul. He followed as observer the Greco-Turkish War (1897) and prepared the visit of Kaiser William II to Palestine in 1898.
Military service in Germany.
On 27 January 1912, he was promoted to Generalmajor and assigned as commander of the 81st Infantry Brigade in Lübeck. On 9 August 1913, when the emperor visited the town, he reported to him.
World War I.
On mobilisation for World War I in August 1914, he became commander of the 3rd Reserve Division from Danzig, and promoted to Generalleutnant on the 19th of that month. He commanded this division as part of the 8th Army in the pivotal Battle of Tannenberg at the opening of the war on the Eastern Front, and at the subsequent First Battle of the Masurian Lakes. For his performance in this period, he was awarded the Pour le Mérite on 1 December 1914.
On 24 November 1914, he took over command of I Reserve Corps from Otto von Below. He led this Corps for almost the entire war, only swapping places with Richard Wellman in command of XIV Reserve Corps in August 1918.
With the I Reserve Corps, he fought in the Battle of Łódź (1914) and in the Romanian campaign (1916-1917) in which he failed to achieve a decisive breakthrough after being defeated by the Romanians at Dragoslavele, 8 miles from the town of Câmpulung. Von Morgen argued that much more of the Romanian Army could have been captured if a breakthrough would have been achieved at Câmpulung. He insisted that this would have achieved "a real victory, a Cannae, a Tannenberg".
He was awarded the Oakleaves to the Pour le Mérite (signifying a second award) on 11 December 1916.
Later life.
After his retirement he became General of Infanterie and returned to Lübeck.
Family.
His son Heinrich-Joachim von Morgen (1902–1932) was an early German race car driver. His daughter Elizabeth married in 1923 the aircraft designer Anthony Fokker (1890-1939).
References.
+ "Rangliste der Königlich Preußischen Armee und des XIII. (Königlich Württembergischen) Armeekorps für 1914", Hrsg.: Kriegsministerium, Ernst Siegfried Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1914, S.82
« Reisen im Hinterlande von Kamerun 1889/91 » in Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin 1891, cahier 7.
Durch Kamerun von Süd nach Nord. Reisen und Forschungen im Hinterlande 1889 bis 1891, F. A. Brockhaus, 1893, 451 p. [lire en ligne [archive]].
À travers le Cameroun du Sud au Nord : voyages et explorations dans l'arrière pays de 1889 à 1891 (traduction, présentation, commentaire et bibliographie de Philippe Laburthe-Tolra), Université Fédérale du Cameroun, Yaoundé, Université de Haute-Bretagne, Rennes, 1971-1974, 2 vol. (XVIII-375 p.-19 p. de pl.), compte-rendu de Thierno Mouctar Bah (Université de Yaoundé), in Revue française d'histoire d'outre-mer, 1984, vol. 71, no 262, p. 106-107, [lire en ligne [archive]]
Kriegs- und Expeditionsführung in Afrika, Berlin, 1893
Zeitskizzen, Berlin, 1919.
Meiner Truppen Heldenkämpfe, Berlin, 1920.
Cet article est partiellement ou en totalité issu de l’article de Wikipédia en allemand intitulé « Kurt von Morgen » (voir la liste des auteurs).
(de) Florian Hoffmann, Okkupation und Militärverwaltung in Kamerun. Etablierung und Institutionalisierung des kolonialen Gewaltmonopols 1891–1914, Göttingen, 2007, 433 p. ().
(en) « Kurt von Morgen » [archive], sur La machine prussienne (consulté le 19 août 2015).
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