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Flank attack is the essence of the whole history of warfare.

— Alfred von Schlieffen

Der Angriff gegen die Flanke ist der wesentlichste Inhalt der ganzen Kriegsgeschichte.

Original text (German)

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Source: In Gerhard Ritter, Der Schlieffenplan (1956) p. 49. Translated by Andrew and Eva Wilson, The Schlieffen Plan (1958) pt. 2, sec. 3, p. 50
Source quality: Precise citation Points to a specific work with a page, chapter, date or similar locator, so you can look it up.

More by Alfred von Schlieffen

A victory on the battlefield is of little account if it has not resulted either in breakthrough or encirclement. Though pushed back the enemy will appear again on different ground to renew the resistance he momentarily gave up. The campaign will go on.

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History

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A man is born, and not made, a strategist.

When you march into France, let the last man on the right brush the Channel with his sleeve.

It must come to a fight. Only make the right wing strong.

The principles of strategy remain unchanged. The enemy's front is not the objective. The essential thing is to crush the enemy’s flanks...and complete the extermination by attack upon his rear.

To win, we must endeavour to be the stronger of the two at the point of impact. Our only hope of this lies in making our own choice of operations, not in waiting passively for whatever the enemy chooses for us.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Alfred von Schlieffen (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.