I am a German Field Marshall

I was born on February 28th, 1833

I died on January 4th, 1914

I am the son of a Prussian General

I entered the army in 1854

I participated in the Seven Weeks’ War against Austria in 1866

I participated in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870-1871

I became head of the Military History Section of the Great General Staff in 1884

I became Chief of the Great General Staff in 1891

My plan, called the Schlieffen plan, was created in

December of 1905

My pan was based of my belief that the Western

front would be the most decisive area for future

European conflict

I identified that France would be Germany’s most

dangerous opponent

I concluded that a massive surprise attack would be

enough to put of Britain from joining a continental

war

My plan was based on a six week opening to defeat France

After the defeat of France, Germany’s extensive railway system would be used to transport German troops back to the German/Russian Front

They would then attack Russia

Due to European tension, my plan was revised, but the basis remained the same; conquer France within a six week gap, then return my troops to attack Russia

Click to play the movie!

My plan was bold, but it came with glaring weaknesses

The actions of Russia would determine when Germany would have to start her attack, whether she was ready or not

The plan assumed that Russia would take 6 weeks to mobilize

The plan assumed that Germany would defeat France in less than six weeks

This is me inspecting my troops

I was replaced Graf von Waldersee as Chief of the

Great General Staff in 1891

During my years, I served as the highest ranked

individual in the German Armed Forces

I retired from my position as Chief of the Great

General Staff in 1906

I was succeeded by Helmuth von Moltke

In 1914 Moltke implemented a modified version of my plan and failed

A union of formal General Staff officers named themselves after me and commemorated a day called Schlieffen Day in my honor.

My doctrines of encirclement and annihilation continued to prevail

For a while, my plans failure was viewed to be the fault of Moltke, but views were later changed to show that its failure was in fact because of the basis if the plan itself

And my name is…

Alfred von Schlieffen

Click play to hear the German Empires National Anthem from my reign