Who was the head of the General Staff of Germany during World War 1?

Answer 1

At the start of the war the Chief of the Imperial Staff was Helmuth von Moltke the Younger (his uncle had been the elder). He was replaced in late October 1914 by Erich von Falkenhayn, who was replaced in August 1916 by Paul von Hindenburg.

But the real power was in Hindenburg's deputy, the Quartermaster General, Erich Ludendorff (no "von"). Hindenburg acted more like a commander in chief, instead of the Kaiser, while Ludendorff functioned as more of a chief of staff. When push came to shove Ludendorff could bully old Hindenburg into doing as Ludendorff told him to do. Hindenburg actually had retired a couple of years before WWI began, but was called back to active service at the beginning of the war, and he lived to be elected president of Germany in the early 30s, based on his enormous prestige still remaining from WWI. It was Hindenburg who asked Hitler to become Chancellor in 1933, when the Nazis got more votes than any other party, though not a majority, in the elections. Then Hindenburg died in 1934 and Hitler added the title of president to his existing title of chancellor, and became "the Fuhrer".