Helmuth von Moltke and the Origins of the First World War

The importance and extent of the role of the Chief of the General Staff can be understood only in the context of the complicated system of military decision-making that was characteristic of Imperial Germany. It was determined by two elements in particular: the Kaiser's extensive and almost unchecked power, and the polycratic structure of the army, in which rival centres of authority were often in direct competition with one another. This chapter will analyse the organization of the German army as essential background to an understanding of Helmuth von Moltke's role and the limitations of his position. Given his impressive title and the fact that historians have so often focused on the General Staff in their investigations of the German army, it is easy to form the impression that this post was the most important and most influential military position in the German Empire. Certainly, this is what contemporaries in the General Staff claimed. However, the Great General Staff did not have sole control over the army. There were many competing bodies, each with their own wide-ranging authority, and ultimately any person's influence depended on his standing with the monarch. This important fact is vital in understanding the limitations and constraints of Moltke's position. The Great General Staff created Germany's strategy, it devised the annual mobilization plan and had to ensure that the army was ready for war at all times. However, military doctrine was created by the Ministry of War and the corps commanders, who had immediate access to the Kaiser. The structure of the armed forces was also ultimately decided by the Minister of War, who was responsible for presenting demands for army increases to the Reichstag. Important appointments were decided by the Kaiser's Military Cabinet, independently of both the General Staff and the Ministry of War. This chapter will examine the nature of the competition between these different military bodies, before moving on to an analysis of the Great General Staff as a military institution.