Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

Helmuth Von Moltke and the Battle of the Marne Introduction By August, 1914 Europe had reached a boiling point. Germany and the Austro-Hungarian empire prepared themselves for an inevitable war against France and Russia. Germany had been planning for war for nearly two decades. Helmuth Johann Ludwig Von Moltke, German Chief of Staff, placed the fate of the entire German army into the success of the Schlieffen Plan, a grand mobilization plan he had inherited from his predecessor, which eventually lead to the Battle of the Marne. Historians generally agree that Moltke was an incompetent leader. He neglected to take into account the realities of the war he was going to be fighting, and lacked the skill, or wherewithal to adjust the Schlieffen Plan once it had fallen apart. He…

truly great nation. Germany claimed that it must receive its share of colonies—“a place in the sun”. Being determined to become competitive world power, Germany hoped it could win a “brief and decisive war” and thus cripple Russia and France’s power, like the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. Therefore, after the Archduke’s assassination, Germany used the tension between Austria-Hungary and Russia to exacerbate international relations and provoked war. At last, German government was strongly…

comprehend from Sun Tzu’s dictation that modifying tactic needs also taking initiative. On the other hand, taking initiative requires taking risk. Deductively, we can conclude by saying at least two basic principles of mission command- taking initiative and risk- had applied during Sun Tzu’s time. The concept gained more value in the 19th century warfare. At this time, decentralization of command system tend to gain importance. Commanders understood that for unpredictability and uncertainty of…

This ability to move quickly and strike forcefully garnered Prussia from a small kingdom in the 1600’s, and then Germany’s growth into a great industrialized nation in the late 19th century that soundly defeated the French in less than two months. From Frederick the Great’s concept of maneuvering formations to attack opponents obliquely and on their flanks to the teachings of Clausewitz’s On War through Moltke's (the elder) use of maneuver of large Prussian and German armies to envelope the…

clinical work in hospitals taking care of patients directly, working in the community promoting and educating others on health related subjects, research trials with drug companies and the role a nurse plays there and working with the technology that goes into providing and documenting health care. I also started to look at my immediate professional situation and determined that it would be a good time to place my business for sale and I have started looking for employment at a hospital or…