# Erich Ludendorff German general who effectively ran Germany's war effort in [[World War I]] as part of the Supreme Command alongside Hindenburg, then became a key figure in proto-fascist politics. Ludendorff marched alongside [[Adolf Hitler]] in the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch and helped popularize the [[Stab in the Back Myth]] — the lie that Germany lost the war because of internal betrayal by Jews and socialists. His concept of "total war" (theorized in his 1935 book) and his promotion of conspiracy theories linking military defeat to domestic scapegoats established a template that resonates through modern far-right movements. *Stub — expand with: Hindenburg-Ludendorff dictatorship 1916-18, Dolchstoßlegende propagation, relationship to early Nazi movement, total war doctrine.*