WI: Moltke The Younger Dies In 1913

I've always read that the incompetence of Moltke The Younger during the initial stages of the First World War was the main contributor to the failure of the modified Schlieffen Plan.

Let's say Moltke has a stroke in 1913, and it is fatal. Could Moltke's successor improve the Schlieffen Plan, or implement it better, and if they did, would it be war winning?

Would Falkenhayn be the successor in 1913, or would it be someone else?
 
Falkenhayn Either would keep the plans to the end and maybe ending with germany winning the race of the sea(Moltke junior snapped and was costly at the end) or just maybe do something different, either russia first with Hidenburg or a more aggresive west plan.
 
Falkenhayn may have been a more disciplined adherent of the plan, but that still rests on whether the plan was a fixed 'blueprint' or a set of intentions designed to work up 'unitil first contact with the enemy'. Even assuming that it was a firm blueprint, it's not certain that it would have worked in any case.

Didn't Russia mobilise much more quickly than was anticipated by the plan? Schlieffen might have been a dead rubber all along.
 

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An alternative to Moltke may have implemented the "Moltke Plan" better once the War began, or selected a better plan.

With the original plans lost, the details are sketchy, but it would seem Schlieffen never intended to sweep round into Paris as Moltke tried to do. His 'western plan' intended to meet the expected French attack into Alsace-Lorraine on the strategic defensive but executed tactically by counterattacking once the French were clear of their fortifications. This would be with 60% of the German army, whilst the other 40%-odd (some would be allocated to northern shore defence as OTL) would remain on the defensive against the Russians. Once the eastern armies had blunted the Russian attacks, troops would be redeployed to the west to take the offensive to the French.

Maybe his replacement would have had time to adopt the Schlieffen plan or worked something else up. Falkenhayn may have had the chutzpah to provide a dynamic enough plan of operation - his campaign against Romania was pretty effective - or he might have made all the same mistakes Moltke did - he was the planner of Verdun, after all.
 
Falkenhayn Either would keep the plans to the end and maybe ending with germany winning the race of the sea(Moltke junior snapped and was costly at the end) or just maybe do something different, either russia first with Hidenburg or a more aggresive west plan.

Falkenhayn may have been a more disciplined adherent of the plan, but that still rests on whether the plan was a fixed 'blueprint' or a set of intentions designed to work up 'unitil first contact with the enemy'. Even assuming that it was a firm blueprint, it's not certain that it would have worked in any case.

Didn't Russia mobilise much more quickly than was anticipated by the plan? Schlieffen might have been a dead rubber all along.

An alternative to Moltke may have implemented the "Moltke Plan" better once the War began, or selected a better plan.

With the original plans lost, the details are sketchy, but it would seem Schlieffen never intended to sweep round into Paris as Moltke tried to do. His 'western plan' intended to meet the expected French attack into Alsace-Lorraine on the strategic defensive but executed tactically by counterattacking once the French were clear of their fortifications. This would be with 60% of the German army, whilst the other 40%-odd (some would be allocated to northern shore defence as OTL) would remain on the defensive against the Russians. Once the eastern armies had blunted the Russian attacks, troops would be redeployed to the west to take the offensive to the French.

Maybe his replacement would have had time to adopt the Schlieffen plan or worked something else up. Falkenhayn may have had the chutzpah to provide a dynamic enough plan of operation - his campaign against Romania was pretty effective - or he might have made all the same mistakes Moltke did - he was the planner of Verdun, after all.

Could this have a decisive impact on the Western Front? Would Falkenhayn make the same decisions Moltke did, like sending 2 corps to East Prussia to help defend against the Russians?
 
Didn't Russia mobilise much more quickly than was anticipated by the plan? Schlieffen might have been a dead rubber all along.

I think their trick was that they started mobilizing while the July Crisis was still ongoing, and before anyone else got their heads in the game.

Could this have a decisive impact on the Western Front? Would Falkenhayn make the same decisions Moltke did, like sending 2 corps to East Prussia to help defend against the Russians?

Moltke was noted for his pessimism regarding the Russians and how easily they could be held off while the fighting in the west was going on. Falkenhayn was a lot more fixated on the west as the key to winning the war, so he'd probably be a lot more reluctant to send reinforcements that could cost him where it mattered.
 
I think their trick was that they started mobilizing while the July Crisis was still ongoing, and before anyone else got their heads in the game.



Moltke was noted for his pessimism regarding the Russians and how easily they could be held off while the fighting in the west was going on. Falkenhayn was a lot more fixated on the west as the key to winning the war, so he'd probably be a lot more reluctant to send reinforcements that could cost him where it mattered.
Perhaps if Falkenhayn focused completely on the West and followed the original Schlieffen Plan, the French could be caught in a decisive battle close to German supply lines. Schlieffen wanted the destruction of the French Army to happen near the border before the Germans would take the offensive, so if this is met it could be decisive.
 
Possible butterflies.

Does Falkenhayn do as Moltke did and order Kluck to turn eastward and move closer to Bulow? Ii not, Kluck probably outflanks the BEF instead of meeting it head on as OTL - and it won't have the Mons-Conde Canal as an obstacle to rally behind.

Does Falkenhayn send someone else to East Prussia instead of Ludendorff? Iirc Ludendorff was Moltke's protégé, so very likely not. If not then who will be? Seeckt? Groener? A N Other? Could change the whole second half of the war.
 
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