ABSTRACT
The face of Europe was darkening—Franco-German relations had been strained by the Moroccan crisis and the first Russian revolution was already history—when, on January 1st, 1906, the younger Helmuth von Moltke somewhat diffidently assumed the office in which his uncle had served with such distinction. To some extent Moltke’s social graces caused him to have preferment thrust upon him. From time to time the idea arose of giving a number of these Chiefs of Staff of the new generation a place in the general conduct of the war. Submarine warfare was closely connected with the problem of industrial production, and this in its turn touched the equally difficult problem of the social question. The epoch of so-called “War Socialism” had set in, and both War Ministry and General Staff found themselves compelled to take a hand in the direction of armament and food production.
