Inventing the Schlieffen Plan: German War Planning 1871-1914

by Terence Zuber

Overview

The existence of the Schlieffen plan has been one of the basic assumptions of twentieth-century military history. It was the perfect example of the evils of German militarism: aggressive, mechanical, disdainful of politics and of public morality. The Great War began in August 1914 allegedly because the Schlieffen plan forced the German government to transform a Balkan quarrel into a World War by attacking France. And, in the end, the Schlieffen plan failed at the battle of the Marne.
Yet it has always been recognized that the Schlieffen plan included inconsistencies which have never been satisfactorily explained. On the basis of newly discovered documents from German archives, Terence Zuber presents a radically different picture of German war planning between 1871 and 1914, and concludes that, in fact, there never really was a ‘Schlieffen plan'.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199250165
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	01/09/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	356
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Terence Zuber is a retired United States Army Officer, who received his Ph.D. from the University of Wurzburg.

Table of Contents

1. Inventing the Schlieffen plan2. Moltke's Ostaufmarsch, 1871-18863. Fortresses, spies, and crisis, 1886-18904. Schlieffen's war plan, 1891-19055. Moltke's war plan, 1906-19146. Excuses and accusations