Alexander von Kluck

Alexander Heinrich Rudolph von Kluck (May 20, 1846 - October 19, 1934) was a German general during World War I. He was born in Münster, Westphalia. He saw service during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the Franco-Prussian War. He advanced steadily through the ranks of the German Army and in 1913 was appointed Inspector General of the Seventh Army District.

With the outbreak of the war he was placed in command of the German First Army. According to the Schlieffen Plan, the First Army was part of the strong right wing and positioned on the outer edge of the German advance through Belgium and France. After fighting the British at Mons and Le Cateau, the First Army pursued Lanzerac's French Fifth Army during the great retreat. An aggressive commander, von Kluck followed on the Fifth Army's heels and ended up passing to the east of Paris when the Schlieffen Plan had dictated he stay to the west. This error was also aided by the commander of the German Second Army, Karl von Bulow, who was hesitant to allow a gap to appear between the two armies.

As a result of passing to the east of Paris, General Maunoury's Sixth Army was able to launch an attack against von Kluck's flank from Paris at the opening of the First Battle of the Marne. Turning his front to face this attack opened a gap between the First and Second Armies. An attack by Franchet D'Esperey's Fifth Army against von Bulow's Second helped widen the gap which the British Expeditionary Force was marching to exploit when the Germans began their retreat to the River Aisne. This marked the failure of the Schlieffen Plan to deliver a decivise blow against France and the long stalemate of trench warfare was ready to begin.

Von Kluck was seriously injured in the leg in March 1915 and retired from active service in October 1916. His post war memoirs, The March on Paris and the Battle of the Marne, were published in 1920. Alexander von Kluck died in Berlin on October 19, 1934.