Chief of the Prussian General Staff whose railway mobilisation and encirclements destroyed the French armies at Metz and Sedan
Born at Parchim in Mecklenburg, the son of a German general in Danish service, he was educated at the Copenhagen military academy and became a Prussian second lieutenant in 1822. Chief of the General Staff from 1857, he held the post for thirty years and created a new way of directing armies that used railways and the telegraph. Chief of staff of the allied forces against Denmark in 1864 and director of the Königgrätz campaign of 1866, he was appointed chief of staff for the war in July 1870 with the right to issue orders equivalent to royal commands. By wheeling three armies he shut Bazaine in Metz, encircled MacMahon at Sedan and then besieged Paris. Made a count in 1870 and a field marshal in 1871, he sat in the Reichstag for the Conservative Party from 1867. He retired in 1888 and died in Berlin in 1891; his is the only surviving voice recording of a person born in 1800.
Also known as: Moltke the Elder · Helmuth Karl Bernhard von Moltke · Helmuth Graf von Moltke
Activities and affiliations
- 1857–1888 Military command · Germany state institutions
- 1867–1891 Legislature and state representation
Career Timeline
- 1822Second lieutenant in the Prussian army
- 1857–1888Chief of the Prussian General Staff
- 1864Chief of staff of the allied forces against Denmark
- 1866Directed the Königgrätz campaign
- 1870–1871Chief of staff for the war; made count and field marshal
- 1867–1891Member of the North German and German Reichstag (Conservative Party)