02.15.07
Did They Shoot That Guy?
A friend and I were discussing World War I over breakfast last week. World War I because that’s what the first few weeks of Sr. Seminar have been about. I was trying to remember the name of the German that modified the , quite possibly changing the outcome of the war.
“Did they shoot that guy?” my friend asked. Because, as we further discussed this point, we began to feel that perhaps if the Schlieffen Plan had succeeded, Hitler would have remained in the Army, become a painter of modest means and maybe, just maybe World War II wouldn’t have come about.
That guy who began to have doubts about the efficacy of the Schlieffen Plan was Helmuth von Moltke the Younger. Further, Moltke gave Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria some latitude in how the Sixth Army would approach the French.
Historians still argue over Moltke’s actions and how much impact his wavering attitude had on the outcome of the war.
The answer to my friend’s question is, “No. They didn’t shoot that guy. Moltke’s health gave way in 1914 and he died in 1916.”
NOTE: I highly recommend Modris Ecksteins’ Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age for a different look at the war. Ecksteins book is a look at the cultural history and the tension of modernity vs. established values using the Ballet Russes’ presentation of Stravinsky’s Rites of Spring as a framework. It is a complex and chewy read, but worth the time if you’re interested in a different view of the war.