Alfred von Schlieffen
The meticulous Prussian strategist whose single, inflexible war plan aimed for a knockout blow but instead helped march Europe into a catastrophic stalemate.
1833–1913 (age 80)·German field marshal·Birthday: February 28
Biography
Alfred von Schlieffen was a soldier-scholar who spent his career preparing for a war he would never fight. As Chief of the German General Staff, he devoted himself to solving Germany's existential strategic dilemma: a two-front war against France and Russia. His answer was a breathtaking gamble of operational art—the plan that would bear his name. Envisioning a massive, sweeping right hook through neutral Belgium and into northern France, he aimed to crush the French army in a matter of weeks, like a modern Cannae, before turning east to face the slower-mobilizing Russians. He retired before he could test his theory, famously muttering on his deathbed to "keep the right wing strong." His successors fatally diluted the plan's overwhelming force. When implemented in 1914, the modified Schlieffen Plan failed, bogging down into the trench warfare of the Western Front. Thus, his life's work became a blueprint not for victory, but for the protracted horror of World War I.
#1 When Alfred Was Born
The biggest hits of 1833
Alfred's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1833Born
1838Started school
1846Became a teenager
1849Could drive
1851Could vote
1854Turned 21
1863Turned 30
President: Abraham Lincoln
1873Turned 40
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1883Turned 50
President: Chester A. Arthur
1893Turned 60
World's Columbian Exposition dazzles Chicago
President: Grover Cleveland
1903Turned 70
Wright brothers achieve first powered flight
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1913Turned 80
The Federal Reserve is established
President: Woodrow Wilson
Key Achievements
- Served as Chief of the German General Staff for 15 years, from 1891 to 1906, shaping the Imperial Army's doctrine.
- Developed the eponymous Schlieffen Plan, a detailed strategic deployment for a two-front war against France and Russia.
- His extensive historical studies and war games emphasized the concept of the decisive battle of encirclement (Vernichtungsgedanke).
- Was promoted to the rank of Generalfeldmarschall (field marshal) in 1911.
Did You Know?
He was a noted student of military history, particularly the campaigns of Hannibal and Frederick the Great.
The famous "Schlieffen Plan" existed primarily as a memorandum and a series of staff exercises, not a formal, signed document.
He was reportedly an avid reader of detective novels.
His son-in-law was Ulrich von Hassell, who would later be executed for his part in the 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler.
“Let the last man on the right brush the Channel with his sleeve.”
