Alfred Graf von Waldersee
Encyclopedia
Alfred Ludwig Heinrich Karl Graf von Waldersee (8 April 1832, Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....

 – 5 March 1904, Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...

) was a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 Generalfeldmarschall
Generalfeldmarschall
Field Marshal or Generalfeldmarschall in German, was a rank in the armies of several German states and the Holy Roman Empire; in the Austrian Empire, the rank Feldmarschall was used...

who served as Chief of the Imperial German General Staff
German General Staff
The German General Staff was an institution whose rise and development gave the German armed forces a decided advantage over its adversaries. The Staff amounted to its best "weapon" for nearly a century and a half....

 from 1888 to 1891 and as Allied Supreme Commander
Eight-Nation Alliance
The Eight-Nation Alliance was an alliance of Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States whose military forces intervened in China to suppress the anti-foreign Boxers and relieve the siege of the diplomatic legations in Beijing .- Events :The...

 in China in 1900-1901.

Family

Alfred von Waldersee was the fifth of six children of the Prussian cavalry general Franz Heinrich Count von Waldersee (1791–1873) and Bertha von Hünerbein (1799–1859). Franz Heinrich von Waldersee was the son of Franz Anton von Waldersee (1763–1823), the illegitimate son of Leopold III Friedrich Franz, Duke of Anhalt-Dessau
Leopold III, Duke of Anhalt-Dessau
Leopold III Frederick Franz, Duke of Anhalt-Dessau , known as "Prince Franz" or "Father Franz", was a German prince of the House of Ascania...

 (1740–1817) with Johanne Eleonore Hoffmeier (1739–1816). Nevertheless, Franz Anton was raised and educated at the ducal court and elevated in 1786 to Graf or Count. The Waldersee family estate, Waterneverstorf, is located on the Baltic coast near Behrensdorf
Behrensdorf
Behrensdorf is a municipality in the district of Plön, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It lies on the western shore of Hohwacht Bay on the Baltic Sea coast. About one kilometre to the north is the eighty-year old Neuland Lighthouse....

 in the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...

.

Early years and beyond

Alfred von Waldersee was born at Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....

 to a military and aristocratic family. After attendance at several cadet schools, he was commissioned Leutnant in 1850 in the Artillery Corps of the Prussian army
Prussian Army
The Royal Prussian Army was the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.The Prussian Army had its roots in the meager mercenary forces of Brandenburg during the Thirty Years' War...

. He soon attracted the favorable notice of his superiors. In his first major campaign, the Austro-Prussian War
Austro-Prussian War
The Austro-Prussian War was a war fought in 1866 between the German Confederation under the leadership of the Austrian Empire and its German allies on one side and the Kingdom of Prussia with its German allies and Italy on the...

 of 1866, he served as aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...

to General of Artillery Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia, with whom he was present at Königgrätz
Battle of Königgrätz
The Battle of Königgrätz , also known as the Battle of Sadowa, Sadová, or Hradec Králové, was the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian War, in which the Kingdom of Prussia defeated the Austrian Empire...

. In the course of this campaign, Count Waldersee was promoted to major and assigned to the general staff. Thereafter, he served on the staff of X Army Corps, a new formation in the conquered kingdom of Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...

. In January 1870, he became military attaché at the Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 embassy of Prussia. At this post he was able to gather intelligence on troop strengths and other information on the French military that proved valuable in the campaigns to come.

In the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...

, Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...

 Count Waldersee, recognized for his military prowess and recent analysis of the adversary's armed forces, proved a most useful assistant to the "supreme War-Lord." He was present at the great battles around Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...

, assigned to the staff of General Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin; and later in operations against Chanzy
Antoine Eugène Alfred Chanzy
Antoine Eugène Alfred Chanzy was a French general, notable for his successes during the Franco-Prussian War and as a governor of Algeria.-Biography:...

's army on the Loire
Loire
Loire is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.-History:Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. This was a response to counter-Revolutionary activities in Lyon...

. The grand duke was a prominent soldier, but not a tactician of note, and the successful outcome of the western campaign was largely due to his adviser, Count von Waldersee.

At the end of the war, Waldersee received the Iron Cross First Class
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....

, and was entrusted with the difficult post of German representative at Paris, in which his tact and courtesy were marked. At the end of 1871, Waldersee took command of the 13th Uhlan
Uhlan
Uhlans were Polish light cavalry armed with lances, sabres and pistols. The title was later used by lancer regiments in the Russian, Prussian, and Austrian armies....

 Regiment at Hanover, and two years later became chief of staff of the Hanoverian army corps, in which he had served before 1870. On 14 April 1874, he married Mary Esther Lee
Mary von Waldersee
Countess Mary von Waldersee was a philanthropist in Germany. She married Prince Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg-Noër and later, after his death, Count Alfred von Waldersee, the successor of Field-Marshal von Moltke.Mary von Waldersee was the daughter of David Lee, a New...

 (1837-1914), third daughter of the wealthy New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 merchant David Lee and widow of Prince Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein. Mary had previously been created Princess of Nöer by the Emperor of Austria. She became an advocate for the poor in Prussia and was honored for her compassion.

The Great General Staff

In 1882, Waldersee was chosen by Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder as his principal assistant on the General Staff at Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 with the rank of Generalquartiermeister. With his selection, he was already seen as the putative successor of the octogenarian field marshal. On several occasions Waldersee accompanied Prince Wilhelm, the future Kaiser Wilhelm II, on trips abroad, representing the prince's grandfather Kaiser Wilhelm I. Out of these trips grew a tenuous teacher/student association, however, Waldersee was seen by Wilhelm's liberal parents (Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm
Frederick III, German Emperor
Frederick III was German Emperor and King of Prussia for 99 days in 1888, the Year of the Three Emperors. Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl known informally as Fritz, was the only son of Emperor William I and was raised in his family's tradition of military service...

 and Victoria, Princess Royal
Victoria, Princess Royal
The Princess Victoria, Princess Royal was the eldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert. She was created Princess Royal of the United Kingdom in 1841. She became German Empress and Queen of Prussia by marriage to German Emperor Frederick III...

) as "... anti-Semitic, narrowly zealous in religion, and reactionary ... the quartermaster general was the personification of everything Wilhelm's parents most detested."

Chancellor Otto von Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck
Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...

 had been in power in Prussia and Germany for a generation, but by the mid-1880s the socio-political mood in Germany was changing. Socialists were gaining seats in the Reichstag
Reichstag (German Empire)
The Reichstag was the parliament of the North German Confederation , and of the German Reich ....

 and the liberal bourgeoisie had a friend in the crown prince. Bismarck, in efforts to retain his power, now looked to an alignment with the army, but he was weary and suspicious of Waldersee. Effectively in all but title already chief-of-staff, the count was "... able but extravagantly ambitious, restlessly intriguing, [and he] more or less openly aspired to the chancellorship [himself]." The General Staff knew of few of Bismarck's schemes and Waldersee's outlook was on occasion at odds with foreign policy positions held by the chancellor. Waldersee, officially still second under Moltke, had been elevating the military attachés at the Imperial embassies "into a virtually independent diplomatic service," often managing to bypass the Foreign Ministry. After one such breach of protocol was detected at the Vienna embassy, Waldersee in person was subsequently "hauled over the coals" by Bismarck, to pointedly demonstrate to the military establishment who was in charge of foreign affairs. Field Marshal Moltke finally retired in August 1888 and Waldersee's appointment to succeed him was a foregone conclusion – the newly crowned 29-year old Kaiser Wilhelm II gave his consent.

Waldersee essentially followed the Moltke line until he ran headlong into the often unpredictable young emperor. In 1891, at the autumn maneuvers [Kaisermanöver] of the Imperial Army, Waldersee had the effrontery to soundly "defeat" the formations under control of the impetuous Wilhelm II. Waldersee thus 'lost the confidence' of his sovereign, was relieved of his duties and reassigned to command IX Army Corps at Hamburg-Altona
Altona, Hamburg
Altona is the westernmost urban borough of the German city state of Hamburg, on the right bank of the Elbe river. From 1640 to 1864 Altona was under the administration of the Danish monarchy. Altona was an independent city until 1937...

, a clear demotion, but nevertheless an assignment of importance. Waldersee, despite all, would establish his Hamburg residence near the Bismarck retirement estate at Friedrichsruh
Friedrichsruh
Friedrichsruh is a district in the municipality of Aumühle, Herzogtum Lauenburg district, Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany.- History :After the victory over France and the establishment, in 1871, of the German Empire, Otto von Bismarck received the Sachsenwald as a present from Emperor William I...

. In 1898, he was appointed inspector-general of the Third Army at Hanover, the transfer orders being accompanied by eulogistic expressions of Wilhelm II's goodwill.

Expedition to China

Two thousand European and Chinese Christians were trapped in the legation compound at Peking by Boxer insurgents
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...

 in 1900. An eight-nation International Relief Force of European, American and Japanese troops maneuvered to the rescue. Since Kaiser Wilhelm II’s minister to China, Baron Clemens von Ketteler, was murdered by the Boxers, the Germans "claimed a certain priority in the crusade against Chinese barbarism." The now semi-retired, sixty-eight year old, but for the occasion newly promoted Field Marshal Alfred Count von Waldersee, was proposed by the Tsar of Russia, and seconded by the Japanese, as the first Allied Supreme Commander of modern times.

Preparations for the field marshal's departure from Germany to China caused a good deal of satirical comment on what became known as Waldersee Rummel or "Waldersee theatricals" — which he detested. Much of this circus, he wrote in his irritation "... unfortunately made it into the newspapers." Waldersee arrived at the front before Peking too late to direct his multinational force in any fighting of note, but was in charge of the pacification of the Boxers. "These punitive expeditions ... were unrewarding enterprises [and] from Waldersee's point of view ... hardly constituted war." It is probable, however, that "if his appointment had not existed, or if it had been filled by a less positive personality, the animosities which ceaselessly embittered the [international] contingents in North China would have assumed serious proportions. ... [In addition] there were countless minor incidents, and it is at least partly to Waldersee's credit that nothing came of them."

The field marshal did not understand the resilience of the Chinese psyche. But he understood that the conduct of the conquerors was unbecoming; their soldiery was idle and bored, venereal disease was rampant, and after looting was curtailed, the rank-and-file remained gullible enough to be swindled with "Chinese art" of all descriptions. At the end of the campaign he hastened his return to Germany. In 1901, for his "accomplishments in the interest of world peace," he was named an honorary citizen of Hamburg, his erstwhile home. Again at Hanover, he resumed the duties of inspector-general, which he performed almost until his death in 1904 at age 72.

In popular culture

In the Hong Kong movie The Boxer Rebellion, Waldersee, played by Richard Harrison
Richard Harrison (actor)
Richard Harrison is an American B-movie actor and occasionally a writer/director/producer.Harrison was very prolific and worked with most of the better-known names in European B-movies during the 1960s and 1970s, branching out to exploitation films shot all over the world in the early 1970s...

, is depicted as married to a Chinese lady who saves his life after two of the Chinese protagonists try to kill him. He is also depicted as a much younger man than he was at the time of the rebellion.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK