Moltke was scapegoated to preserve the myth of Schlieffen’s planning genius

Evidence

General Moltke (the younger, 1848-1916) was German Chief of Staff, 1906-14 and the successor of Schlieffen. His modifications of the famous “Schlieffen Plan” for war against France were blamed for the German failure to defeat the French decisively in 1914, and led to his removal. In feet, modern historiography (and the unearthing of the original Schlieffen Plan) make it clear that he was a scapegoat, sacrificed to an unmerited myth of Schlieffen’s infallibility. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 2106

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s module work on how mythology and common sense (hegemony) preserve certain framings of historical events.