Helmuth Johann Ludwig, Count von Moltke, born May 25, 1848 in Gersdorf (Mecklenburg), died June 18, 1916 in Berlin, was a German soldier.
He was the nephew of Helmuth Karl Bernhard von Moltke (1800-1891), a great Prussian military leader.
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, he served with the 7th Grenadier Regiment and was cited for bravery.
He was chief of staff of the German army from 1906 to 1914 where he applied the Schlieffen plan. After the Battle of the Marne, he was replaced in command by Erich von Falkenhayn.
Worried about the future of German hegemony on the European continent, he has been a supporter, since his accession to the post of Chief of Staff, of a preventive war against Russia and its enormous demographic and industrial potential. The crisis between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Serbia, which followed the assassination of Archduke Francois-Ferdinand, offered him a perfect opportunity to set in motion his aggressive anti-Slavic policy. He and the rest of the German general staff thus arrive, under the false guise of helping their Austrian ally against Serbia, to trigger hostilities with Russia and its ally France, a process which will quickly lead to the conflagration of the first world war.
General von Moltke, who did not hesitate to manipulate the great leaders of the time to achieve his ends, in particular Kaiser Wilhelm II, is today considered one of the main people responsible for the outbreak of the first war. worldwide.