Moltke, Helmuth Johannes Ludwig von

Moltke, Helmuth Johannes Ludwig von 

Born May 25, 1848, in Gersdorff, Mecklenburg; died June 18, 1916, in Berlin. Count; German military figure; general. Nephew of H. C. von Moltke.

Moltke was appointed quartermaster general in 1903 and chief of the General Staff in 1906. In preparation for World War I (1914–18) he based his war plans on General A. von Schlieffen’s plan, which entailed the defeat of the French Army by the main forces, the defense of East Prussia, and an attack on Russia. But in deploying the German Army in 1914, Moltke weakened the right wing of the German Army in the west and increased the forces on the left wing and in East Prussia. In the battle of the Marne (1914), when he was headquarters chief of staff (virtually commander in chief), Moltke lost control of the movement of troops, which was one of the causes for the defeat of the German Army. He was relieved of his post on September 14.