The wrong right hook
Sir: Alice von Schlieffen (Letters, 29 March) might consider whether her great- grandfather's plan could possibly have suc- ceeded in pushing 90 per cent of 'all avail- able mobile forces' into the 'right hook through Belgium'. It can certainly be argued that the capacity was simply not there, and there is some evidence in the later drafts of the plan that Schlieffen him- self began to see that point, only to push the problem out of the picture. There was also the question of the enormous power of defence by 1914, because of the machine gun etc.
Politically, the Schlieffen plan was a dis- aster for Germany since it violated Belgian neutrality, which was almost certain to bring Britain into the war as Germany's enemy. All in all, the plan was a gambler's throw, as the great (elder) von Moltke recognised in his last years when it was being developed.
David Damant
12 Agar Street, London WC2
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