He was promoted to Oberst in 1916, and situated himself at HQ in Brest-Litovsk to eventually succeed Ludendorff as the primary authority on the Eastern Front. Hoffmann was then promoted to Generalmajor in 1917, by which time he commanded the Eastern Front Armies as the Chief of Staff to Prinz Leopold.
He was particularly interested in bringing all fighting forces on the Eastern Front under his direct control, including all Austrian commands. From his headquarters in Brest-Litovsk, Hoffmann gradually won his demands thanks to pressure on Austrian Kaiser Karl from the whole German diplomatic and military machinery.
By the spring of 1918, Hoffmann was assured of total cooperation by the Austrians on Eastern Front matters. In fact, threats by the Austrian Foreign Ministry to make peace with Ukraine separately in February 1918 caused Hoffmann to threaten removal of all German support on the Eastern Front; such an ultimatum had the desired effect of causing the Austrians to follow his lead in the invasion of Soviet Russia in March 1918.
In all, Generalmajor Hoffmann was probably Germany's most brilliant military mind. Hoffmann was the uncredited genius behind the formidable Hindenburg-Ludendorff, and he spared no ink in criticizing both commanders in his memoirs. Max Hoffmann died in Homberg in 1927.
GWS, 4/01
