1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Groener, Wilhelm

GROENER, WILHELM (1867–  ), German general, was born Nov. 22 1867 at Ludwigsburg, Württemberg. In 1912 he was a sectional chief of the railway section of the German army with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. During mobilization in 1914 he was at the head of the German field railway service. In 1915 he was promoted to the rank of major-general, and from May 27 1916 to Aug. 1917 he was at the head of the War Office and a member of the directorate of the War Food Supply Office. He subsequently returned to the front as divisional commander and leader of an army corps, and in 1918 was chief of staff of the army group under the command of Linsingen and afterwards of Eichhorn. From Nov. 1918 to Sept. 1919 he was the successor of Ludendorff in the position of quartermaster-general. He retired as a protest against the signature of the Treaty of Versailles. During his tenure of office at the Ministry of War Gen. Groener was instrumental in maintaining, in spite of strikes and other difficulties, the coöperation of the German trade unions in securing a steady supply of munitions.