Goltz, Rüdiger Graf von der

(1865-1946)

   general; led the Bal-tic Volunteers in 1919. Born in the Brandenburg town of Züllichau (now Po-land s* Sulechow) to a noble family that traced its lineage to 1297 and had produced forty-three generals (nineteen of whom had been awarded the Pour le Merite, Prussia's* highest honor), Rüdiger chose a military career. He began service in World War I as commander of the Hamburg Infantry Regiment and led various brigades on both the Western and Eastern fronts in the following three years. When in February 1918 Finland requested assistance to neutralize a threat from the new Red Army, Goltz was named commander of the Ostsee-Division. Shipping his division from Danzig* to Hango in April 1918, he cap-tured Helsinki and surrounded the Bolsheviks Western Army near Lahti. Assigned to create a Finnish army, he remained in Helsinki through December 1918.

   Goltz assumed command of the Sixth Reserve Corps in February 1919; com-bined with several Freikorps* units, his force was known as the Baltic Volun-teers. Ordered to secure the southern Baltic Provinces* from the Red Army, he captured Riga on 22 May 1919. But his paramount aim to advance to St. Pe-tersburg and control the entire Baltic coast failed. After his October 1919 recall to Germany, he resigned his commission and became an implacable foe of the Republic. A supporter of the Kapp* Putsch (he was not involved because of his recent problems in the Baltic), he worked with Jungdo* and helped found the Vereinigte Vaterlandische Verbande Deutschlands* (Union of German Patriotic Associations, VVVD) in 1922; he represented the VVVD in the anti-Young Plan campaign and at the Harzburg Front* gathering of October 1931. Although he campaigned for Hitler* in 1932, Goltz was a monarchist and an opponent of the NSDAP's rabid racism; he played no significant role in Nazi Germany.

   REFERENCES:Diehl, Paramilitary Politics; NDB, vol. 6; Waite, Vanguard ofNazism.