Schlieffen, Count Alfred von Born: February 28, 1833; Berlin, Germany. Died: January 4, 1913; Berlin, Germany. Military significance: Schlieffen was most famous as the chief of the Great General Staff who designed the general plan for the offensive against France with which German began the First World War. Born into an old noble, military family, Schlieffen studied law at the University of Berlin and then joined the cavalry, eventually rising to command of the First Guard Uhlans. In 1884, he was appointed deputy to Great General Staff chief Alfred von Waldersee. When Waldersee was relieved by Wilhelm II in 1891, Schlieffen was appointed in his place. An exacting and taciturn man, Schlieffen’s concern with the danger of a two front war against France and Russia ultimately resulted in his Great Memorandum of 1905. This envisaged the defeat of France in six weeks by sweeping through Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg with a powerful right stroke, bypassing Paris and destroying the French field army. His last words were, "It must come to a fight. Only make the right wing strong." Whether his plan would have worked is a matter of conjecture; he was never satisfied that he could deliver sufficient firepower to crush the French. Shifts in Great Power politics and emendations made in the plan by his successor, Helmuth von Moltke, doomed it to failure. Standard references Books and articles Bucholz, Arden. Moltke, Schlieffen and Prussian War Planning. New York: Berg, 1991. Foerster, Wolfgang. Count Schlieffen and the World War. Carlisle Barracks, US Army War College, 1983. Keegan, John. The First World War. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1999. Ritter, Gerhard. The Schlieffen Plan: critique of a myth. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1979. Zuber, T. "The Schlieffen Plan reconsidered." War in History. 6(1999). Films and other media The Great War. Episode 1: Explosion. Documentary. PBS Home Video, 1996. See also: Marne; Moltke, Helmuth Johannes Ludwig von; William II, World War I. George S. Vascik.