Schlieffen

British  

/ ˈʃliːfən /

noun

1. Alfred (ˈalfreːt), Count von Schlieffen. 1833–1913, German field marshal, who devised the Schlieffen Plan (1905): it was intended to ensure German victory over a Franco-Russian alliance by holding off Russia with minimal strength and swiftly defeating France by a massive flanking movement through the Low Countries. In a modified form, it was unsuccessfully employed in World War I (1914)

---

Example Sentences

The Schlieffen Plan called for a rapid advance into France to knock the French forces out of the war within six weeks.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2020

German tactics centered on the “Schlieffen Plan,” named after its author, Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen, who had devised it in the first years of the twentieth century.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2020

The defeat of the Germans left the Schlieffen Plan in ruins.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2012

If Hitler had not dominated the plan for attack on Russia, the German Army might have used an adaptation of the old Schlieffen strategy offered by General Marcks.

From Time Magazine Archive

It is true that there were such provisions in the earlier Brunswick and Hanau Treaties, but Schlieffen had them struck out of the new Hessian Treaty of 1775.

From A Defence of the Hessians by Rosengarten, J. G. (Joseph George)