- Karl von Bülow
Karl von Bülow (
April 24 ,1846 –August 31 ,1921 ) was a GermanField Marshal commanding the German 2nd Army duringWorld War I from 1914 to 1918.Biography
Born in
Berlin to a distinguishedPrussia n military family, Bülow enlisted in thePrussian Army during theAustro-Prussian War in 1866. He served in theFranco-Prussian War in 1871 as a junior officer. A Captain of the German General Staff in 1877, Bülow was promoted to Colonel and assigned to the 9th Guards Regiment in 1894. In 1897 Bülow became director of the Central Department in the German War Ministry. He was Commander of the German III Corps from 1903 until his appointment to Army Inspector of the German 3rd Army in 1912 shortly before the outbreak ofWorld War I .Assigned to the German 2nd Army at the beginning of World War I in August 1914, Bülow invaded
Belgium , capturing the fortress of Namur on August 22-23. Advancing intoFrance , Bülow defeated GeneralCharles Lanrezac of the French Fifth Army atCharleroi on August 23-24 and again atSt. Quentin on August 29-30.As the 2nd Army and General
Alexander von Kluck 's 1st Army nearedParis fromAugust 31 toSeptember 2 , Bülow, concerned of the growing gap between the two armies, ordered Kluck to turn the 1st Army on his right towards him. This decision, however, resulted in Kluck's advancing south and east of Paris, instead of north and west as specified in theSchlieffen Plan . Bülow crossed the Marne onSeptember 4 , but decided to retreat toAisne after the successful counterattack by combined French and British forces against Kluck's 1st Army at theFirst Battle of the Marne from September 5-10.Bülow was promoted to
Field Marshal in January of the next year. After suffering a heart attack two months later, he was allowed to retire in early 1916, living in Berlin until his death.References
*Evans, M. M. (2004). Battles of World War I. "Select Editions". ISBN 1841932264.
*Barbara Tuchman , "The Guns of August ", New York, 1972
*Hiss, O.C. "Kleine Geschichte der geheime Presse", Berlin, 1946External links
* [http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/bulow.htm FirstWorldWar.com Who's Who: Karl von Bulow]
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