1. Hans Anton Wilhelm Friedrich Kundt was a German military officer.
17 Facts About Hans Kundt
1. 2.
Hans Kundt was the primary military figure of Bolivia during the two decades preceding the Chaco War.
3.
Hans Kundt was commissioned in 1888, receiving the rank of Fahnrich in 1889.
4.
Hans Kundt arrived in Bolivia in 1908, as head of a German military training mission.
5.
Hans Kundt enjoyed an excellent relationship with the Bolivians and acquired a reputation as a competent peacetime administrator and troop trainer.
6.
At the start of First World War, Hans Kundt returned to Germany.
7.
Hans Kundt served as chief of staff on the corps level, and as a brigade commander.
8.
Hans Kundt accepted the posts, adopted Bolivian citizenship and headed the program of rearming Bolivia during the 1920s, and the planning to occupy the Chaco.
9.
Only two years later, Hans Kundt was brought back to direct the Bolivian Army against Paraguay in the Chaco War, and was appointed both Commander in Chief and Minister of War.
10.
In that role, Hans Kundt was instrumental in Bolivia's purchase of a large amount of modern arms and equipment, including an insistence that Bolivia include a number of light tanks and armoured vehicles in the order.
11.
Hans Kundt later boasted to an American reporter that "if the Paraguayans ever dare to take up the Chaco issue again, I shall make a military walkover right over to their capital of Asuncion, and settle the matter once and for all".
12.
However, Hans Kundt's directing of the Bolivian military campaign was problematic.
13.
The valuable aerial reconnaissance produced by Bolivia's superior air force was largely ignored by Hans Kundt, who dismissed the reports as exaggerations by overzealous airmen.
14.
Hans Kundt repeatedly eschewed flanking manoeuvres for futile frontal infantry assaults against well-defended Paraguayan positions using machine guns with interlocking fire zones.
15.
Hans Kundt proved a failure at logistics, and large Bolivian forces were regularly forced to surrender for lack of water to their opponents.
16.
Hans Kundt displayed excellent qualities as an administrator and dedicated instructor, and was concerned for the well-being of his men.
17.
However, during World War I Hans Kundt demonstrated a mediocre grasp of tactics, preferring frontal assaults in most situations.