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)

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Example Sentences

While the first few weeks of the German invasion seemed to match the ambitions of the Schlieffen Plan, they soon ground to a halt.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2020

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

General Omar Nelson Bradley had reversed their classic Schlieffen plan of enveloping France.*Now the Eisenhower-Montgomery wheeling movement, anchored at the mouth of the Seine, was developing arcs that expanded toward Belgium and Germany.

From Time Magazine Archive

The greater part was absolutely rejected, much reduced to a six per cent. basis, and Schlieffen at last forced to accept £41,820 for the actual outlay of 300,000 thalers for hospital expenses.

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