Genealogical diversion
Sir: David Damant (Letters, 31 May) would have done better to consult the Almanach de Gotha rather than pester the good Dr Moritz Graf Strachwitz of Deutsches Adelsarchiv.
However, to be rid of this genealogical 'It random14, chooses six numbers as my bonus.' irrelevance, Graf Alfred von Schlieffen entered into a brief liaison after the death of his wife Anna, with the result that a son was born in 1880, from whom I trace direct descent.
To return to the central argument, David Damant appears to have followed this genealogical diversion, because he is unable to refute the statement I made (Letters, 26 April) that all Germany's long-term politi- cal aims of 1914 have been achieved, and that 'Where the Kaiser failed Kohl has tri- umphed.'
This is, I suppose, hardly surprising, as my own rather limited biographical research reveals that he has impeccable 'Europhile' credentials, having worked as a financier in two major European counting houses. To agree that Germany is now the paramount power in Europe is the ultimate heresy!
The use of General Friederich von Bern- hardi to support John Keegan's assertion (Letters, 10 May) that my great-grandfa- ther knowingly bequeathed a 'doomed' plan to the German nation is nonsense. If nothing else, 'Deutschland und der nachste Krieg' is a brutal cry for Germany to spare no effort in arming herself for the inevitable conflict ahead. No single work carries greater responsibility for the myth of Trussianism' than this.
It is a matter of record that my great- grandfather dismissed von Bernhardi from the General Staff.
The remark, 'perhaps the German philosophers of the 19th century are to blame for all this', is redolent of politically correct 'liberal'-speak. Darwin bears as much responsibility as either Nietzsche or Treitschke for such ideas as 'the weak will go to the wall' etc.
Alice von Schlieffen
57 Great Cumberland Place, London W1
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