Helmuth von Moltke the Elder
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Graf Helmuth Karl Bernhard von Moltke was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall. The chief of staff of the Prussian Army for thirty years, he is regarded as the creator of a new, more modern method of direc
Graf von Moltke, c. 1870s
Moltke (left) advising Ottoman commander Hafiz Pasha at Nezib
Statue of Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, near the Berlin Victory Column in the Tiergarten, Berlin, by Joseph Uphues
Sketch of Helmuth von Moltke
Otto von Bismarck
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Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg, was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as its first chancellor
Helmuth von Moltke the Elder
…and said "The purpose of war is to carry out the policy of the government with arms". He emphasized the autonomy of war. This brought conflicts with Otto von Bismarck. One of Moltke's characteristic strategies, seen in all his plans for war with Russia and France, was what has been called the offensive–defensive…
Bismarck in 1885
Bismarck in 1833, at age 18
Bismarck in 1847, at age 32
Bismarck in 1863 with Roon (centre) and Moltke (right), the three leaders of Prussia in the 1860s