von Schlieffen, Alfred (1833-1913)

A Prussian strategist. He built his career at the heart of the German military staff, as far as becoming its Chief of Staff in 1891. In 1905 he concocted a plan, which would bear his name, consisting of launching a lightning offensive to the West against the French armies in passing widely through Belgium beyond the Meuse. He retired in 1906 and was named Field Marshall in 1911. He died in Berlin on January 4, 1913, nineteen months before the launching of hostilities…and his plan being put partly into practice by his successor, Helmuth von Moltke.