Description

The Supreme War Command ; initially the Joint Supreme War Command was a military headquarters established on 7 September 1916 to exert command over all of the armed forces of the Central Powers in the First World War. The creation of the command had been discussed by German political figures by mid-1916 but was implemented at the request of Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, who were appointed to effective command of the Imperial German Army on 29 August. Germany's key ally Austria-Hungary was ambivalent on the matter but eventually agreed to the proposal on 3 September. The other two Central Powers, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire, formally agreed at a conference on 6 September and the OKL was established the following day.