During the four years of fighting I was unable to keep any record of events. I had not the time. Now that I have more leisure, I pro pose to repair this omission by writing my experiences during the Great War, drawing chiefly upon my memory for the narrative. It has been my destiny to hold various high appointments. Upon field-marshal von Hindenburg and myself, in conjunction with other men, devolved the task of conducting the defence of the Fatherland. In these pages I propose to give an account of those deeds of the German people and their Army with which my name will for all time be associated. I Shall tell of my strivings and of all that I lived through in this struggle of the nations — how the German people fought as men have never fought before, how they endured, and how their efforts were gradually paralysed.
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