Alfred von Schlieffen Alfred Graf von Schlieffen , mostly called Count Schlieffen ( ; 28 February 1833 – 4 January 1913 ) was a German field marshal and strategist who served as Chief of the Imperial German General Staff from 1891 to 1906 . His name lived on in the 1905 Schlieffen Plan , the strategic plan for victory in a two - front war against the Russian Empire to the east and the French Third Republic to the west . Biography . Schlieffen was born in Berlin on 28 February 1833 as the son of a Prussian army officer . He was part of an old Prussian noble family , the Schlieffen family . He lived with his father , Major Magnus von Schlieffen , in their estate in Silesia . Alfred von Schlieffen left to go to school in 1842 . Growing up , Schlieffen showed no interest in joining the military and so he did not attend the traditional Prussian cadet academies . Instead , he studied law at the University of Berlin . While studying law , he enlisted in the army in 1853 for his required one - year compulsory military service . After this , instead of joining the reserves , he was chosen as an officer candidate . Thus he started a long military journey , working his way up through the ranks , and lasting 53 years in service . During the middle of Schlieffen ' s military duties , he married and had a family . He married his cousin Countess Anna Schlieffen in 1868 . They had one healthy child , but after the birth of their second child , Anna died . After his wife ' s death , Schlieffen focused all his attention on his military work . Military Service . On the recommendation of his commanders , Schlieffen was admitted to the General War School in 1858 at age 25 , particularly young compared to others . He graduated in 1861 with high honors which guaranteed him a role as General Staff officer . In 1862 he was assigned to the Topographic Bureau of the General Staff , providing him with geographic knowledge that would help him devise the Schlieffen Plan . He was transferred to the actual German General Staff itself in 1865 , though his role was initially minor . He first saw war as a staff officer with the Prussian Cavalry Corps in the Battle of Königgrätz of 1866 in the Austro - Prussian War . The " battle of encirclement " tactic employed there would later figure in his Schlieffen Plan . During the Franco - Prussian War , he commanded a small army in the Loire Valley in what was one of the most difficult campaigns fought by the Prussian Army . In France , Frederick I , Grand Duke of Baden , promoted him to Major and head of the military - history division . After years working alongside Helmuth von Moltke and Alfred von Waldersee , on 4 December 1886 , he was promoted to Major General , and shortly after replaced the retiring Moltke as Waldersee ' s Deputy Chief of Staff . Not long after he became Quartermaster General , then Lieutenant General on 4 December 1888 , and eventually General of the Cavalry ( Germany ) on 27 January 1893 . After nearly 53 years of service , Alfred Von Schlieffen retired New Year ' s Day , 1906 . He died on 4 January 1913 , just 19 months before the outbreak of World War I . His last words are said to have been , " Remember : keep the right wing very strong . " Schlieffen Plan . In 1894 , Schlieffen came up with a strategical plan . It was modified in 1897 in which it was used as a power drive into Lorraine . This was the first concept of the Schlieffen Plan . He introduced the idea of entering through the north of France and forcing the French down by using a wheel - like motion . Schlieffen was known for changing and modifying his plans ; there were adjustments made almost every year up until the final plan was laid out . Given the fact that Germany was soon to face a battle , it was Schlieffen ' s responsibility to prepare his country for war . Schlieffen knew that if France and Russia formed an alliance , they could easily overpower Germany . Thus , in 1905 , he outlined the Schlieffen Plan . It allowed Germany to avoid fighting a two - front war against the Franco - Russian alliance . The Schlieffen Plan would employ an early version of Blitzkrieg — lightning warfare — to quickly overthrow France . Knowing that the French always had a defensive strategy , Schlieffen devised the plan so that Germany would invade northern France by passing through Belgium and the Netherlands . While using minimum force to withstand Russian forces on the East , Germany would send troops to France and try to defeat them by using a giant flanking movement , by forcing France to fight while retreating south , or by forcing them to flee to Switzerland . Germany could then send a vast majority of their troops to the Eastern front to fight a war against Russia . By attacking along the flanks of France , the plan would allow Germany to avoid many costly deaths , and force France off balance . He intended to roll up the French forces in a giant envelope , cut off northeastern France from the rest of the country and defeat the French in a decisive envelopment battle for Paris , thus forcing France into a humiliating surrender . Schlieffen envisioned that it would take roughly six weeks to knock France out of the war — the same amount of time he believed it would take Russia to fully mobilize . He then planned to turn the bulk of the German forces back to the east to catch the Russians off guard . Schlieffen was well aware that sending German troops through Belgium would bring the British into the war , thus eliminating any chance of localizing the war . However , he was confident that any British assistance would be too little and too late to make any difference . In August 1905 , Schlieffen was kicked by a companion ' s horse , making him incapable of battle . During his time off , now at the age of 72 , he started planning his retirement . His successor was yet undetermined . Von der Goltz was the primary candidate , but the Emperor was not fond of him . A favourite of the Emperor was Helmuth von Moltke . He became the German Chief of staff after Schlieffen retired . During Schlieffen ' s absence , Moltke had ideas of his own . He inherited Schlieffen ' s ideas but disagreed with them in a few ways . He made a few insubstantial modifications . Upon Schlieffen ' s return , he insisted that France could be beaten only by a flank attack through Belgium . Knowing this , Moltke still morphed the plan . The Schlieffen Plan was unsuccessfully used during World War I . Schlieffen did not live to witness the failure of his plan . Influence . Schlieffen was perhaps the best - known contemporary strategist of his time , although criticized for his " narrow - minded military scholasticism . " Schlieffen ' s operational theories were to have a profound impact on the development of maneuver warfare in the twentieth century , largely through his seminal treatise , " Cannae " , which concerned the decidedly un - modern battle of 216 BC in which Hannibal defeated the Romans . Cannae had two main purposes . First , it was to clarify , in writing , Schlieffen ' s concepts of maneuver , particularly the maneuver of encirclement , along with other fundamentals of warfare . Second , it was to be an instrument for the Staff , the War Academy , and for the Army all together . His theories were studied exhaustively , especially in the higher army academies of the United States and Europe after World War I . American military thinkers thought so highly of him that his principal literary legacy , " Cannae " , was translated at Fort Leavenworth and distributed within the U . S . Army and to the academic community . Along with the great militarist man we ' ve known Schlieffen to be , there are also underlying traits about Schlieffen that often go untold . As we know , Schlieffen was a strategist . Unlike the Chief of Staff , Waldersee , Schlieffen avoided political affairs and instead was actively involved in the tasks of the General Staff . These tasks included the preparation of war plans , and the readiness of the German Army for war . He focused much of his attention on planning . He devoted time to training , military education , and the adaptation of modern technology for the use of military purposes and strategic planning . It was evident that Schlieffen was very much involved in preparing and planning for future combat . He considered one of his primary tasks was to prepare the young officers in not only a way in which they would accept responsibility for taking action in planning maneuvers , but also for directing these movements after the planning had taken place . In regards to Schliffen ' s tactics , General Walter Bedell Smith , chief of staff to General Dwight D . Eisenhower , supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in World War II , pointed out , General Eisenhower and many of his staff officers , products of these academies , " were imbued with the idea of this type of wide , bold maneuver for decisive results . " General Erich Ludendorff , a disciple of Schlieffen who applied his teachings of encirclement in the Battle of Tannenberg , once famously christened Schlieffen as " one of the greatest soldiers ever . " Long after his death , the German General Staff officers of the Interwar and World War II period , particularly General Hans von Seeckt , recognized an intellectual debt to Schlieffen theories during the development of the " Blitzkrieg " doctrine .