Helmuth von Moltke (the Elder)
The Chief of the Prussian General Staff who directed the wars of unification by railway and telegraph.
Life
The Great Silent One
Moltke the Elder came from a noble family in Mecklenburg. After serving in the Danish army he transferred to the Prussian army, and he was once a military adviser to the Ottoman Empire. Taciturn by nature, he was called "the Great Silent One."
Railways and telegraph
In 1857 he became Chief of the Prussian General Staff, and over thirty years he turned the General Staff into a precise war machine, using railways to move troops rapidly and the telegraph to direct armies that would "advance separately, strike together."
Three swift victories
He directed three wars in succession, against Denmark in 1864, Austria in 1866 and France in 1870, winning each quickly and earning first credit for the unification of Germany. He died in 1891.
Legacy
Moltke the Elder was a master of the modern staff system and operational command; he said that "no plan of operations remains valid after the first contact with the enemy's main force."
Did you know? His nephew, Moltke the Younger, served as Chief of the German General Staff at the start of World War I and led the army to setbacks.
Key dates
- 1835Military adviser to the Ottoman Empire
- 1857Became Chief of the General Staff
- 1866Great victory at Königgrätz
- 1870Captured Napoleon III at Sedan
- 1871Promoted to Marshal
- 1891Died