His "dead hand," according to A.J.P. Taylor, "automatically pulled the trigger" that started World War I. FTP name this Chief of the German General Staff from 1891 to 1905, whose war plan advocated a swift takeover of France while Russia mobilized.
In the wake of the Russo-Japanese war he wanted to launch a preemptive invasion of Russia while her forces were concentrated in the Far East. His "dead hand," according to A.J.P. Taylor, "automatically pulled the trigger" that started World War I. FTP name this Chief of the German General Staff from 1891 to 1905, whose war plan advocated a swift takeover of France while Russia mobilized.
In the wake of the Russo-Japanese war he wanted to launch a preemptive invasion of Russia while her forces were concentrated in the Far East.
Alfred von {Schlieffen}