Alfred Graf von Schlieffen
(28.02.1833 - 04.01.1913)
place of birth:  Berlin
Königreich Preußen:  Generalstabschef; Generalfeldmarschall

                          

Son of a Prussian Army officer, he initially trained for law but opted for a tour with the 2nd Guard Uhlans Regiment in 1853. Served on Prince Albrecht's general staff during the Six-Weeks War (1866) and saw action at the Battle of Königgrätz. Schlieffen served on the staff of Friedrich II. of Mecklenburg- Schwerin's XIII. Army Corps during the Franco-Prussian War. Later he headed the military history section of the Great General Staff (1884). 

Count von Schlieffen succeeded Alfred von Waldersee as Chief of General Staff, serving from 1891 to 1906. During this time he was promoted to general of cavalry and his primary achievement was to devise a plan dealing with a two-front war:  France to the west and Russia to the east. His famous Schlieffen Plan initially concentrated seven-eighths of the army against France for a swift encirclement of Paris, followed by a transfer of forces eastward to deal with the slowly deployed Russian armies. Von Schlieffen became cold, distant and sarcastic following his wife's death in 1872. He was a brilliant scientific strategist who paid little attention to moral considerations of war. He died in 1911 in his hometown of Berlin, his last words reportedly being, "Remember to keep the right wing strong."