GOLTZ, COLMAR, FREIHERR VON DER (1843-1916), Prussian soldier and military writer, was born at Bielkenfeld, East Prussia, on Aug. 12, 1843, and entered the Prussian infantry in 1861. In 1864 he entered the Berlin military academy, but was temporarily withdrawn in 1866 to serve in the Austrian war, in which he was wounded at Trautenau. In 1867 he joined the topo graphical section of the general staff, and at the beginning of the Franco-German War of 187o-71 was attached to the staff of Prince Frederick Charles. He took part in the battles of Vionville and Gravelotte and in the siege of Metz. After its fall he served under the Red Prince in the campaign of the Loire, including the battles of Orleans and Le Mans. He was appointed in 1871 pro fessor at the military school at Potsdam, and the same year was promoted captain and placed in the historical section of the general staff. He then wrote Die Operationen der II. Armee bis zur Capitulation von Metz and Die Sieben Tage von Le Mans, both published in 1873. In 1874 he was appointed to the staff of the 6th division, and while so employed wrote Die Operationen der II. Armee an der Loire and Leon Gambetta and seine Armeen, published in 1875 and 1877 respectively. Both are impartially written, and the latter was translated into French the same year. The views expressed in it led to his being sent back to regimental duty for a time, but he soon returned to the military history sec tion. In 1878 von der Goltz was appointed lecturer in military history at the military academy at Berlin, where he remained for five years and attained the rank of major. He published, in 1883, Rossbach and Jena (new and revised ed., Von Rossbach bis Jena and Auersteidt, 1906), Das Volk in Waffen (Eng. trans. The Nation in Arms), both of which quickly became military classics, and during his residence in Berlin contributed many articles to the military journals. In June 1883 his services were lent to Turkey to reorganize the military establishments of the country. He spent 12 years in this work, the result of which appeared in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, and he was made a pasha and in 1895 a mushir or field-marshal. On his return to Germany in 1896 he became a lieutenant-general and commander of the 5th division, and in 1898, head of the Engineer and Pioneer Corps and inspector-general of fortifications. In 190o he was made general of infantry and in 1902 commander of the I. Army Corps. In 1907 he was made inspector-general of the newly created sixth army inspection at Berlin, in 1908 colonel-general, and in 191I field-marshal. He retired in 1913.
In Aug. 1914 he was appointed governor-general of Belgium, then occupied by German forces. In November of the same year he was attached to the Turkish headquarters as aide-de-camp general to the Sultan. In April 1915 he was placed in the chief command of the I. Turkish army in Mesopotamia, and succeeded in investing General Townshend's British forces at Kut-el-Amara in Dec. 1915. He died on April 19, 1916, at Baghdad and was said to have been poisoned by the Young Turks. His latest work was Kriegsgeschichte Deutschlands im 19ten Jahrhundert (2 vol., I9I0–I4)• In addition to the works already named and frequent contribu tions to military periodical literature, he wrote Kriegf iuhrung (1895, later ed. Krieg- and Heerf iihrung, 19o1; Eng. trans. The Conduct of War) ; Der thessalische Krieg (1898) ; Ein Ausflug nach Macedonien (1894) ; Anatolische Aus fliige (1896) ; a map and description of the environs of Constantinople; Von Jena bis Pr. Eylau (1907), a most important historical work, carrying on the story of Rossbach and Jena to the peace of Tilsit, etc.
See v. Schmiterlow, Gen.-Feldm. Freiherr Colmar von der Goltz Pasha, Leben and Briefe (1926).