Abstract
This article takes issue with Zuber's thesis (War in History VI (1999), pp. 262-305) that the Schlieffen plan was an `isolated aberration', a careless and exaggerated concept unrelated to Schlieffen's previous plans and exercises, and without influence on the younger Moltke's preparations for war. The main object of this reply is to demonstrate that the plan was in fact an earnest and coherent project, representing both a response to the circumstances of the moment and a logical development of the operational ideas that preoccupied Schlieffen over the two years prior to its composition. An attempt is also made to show that Moltke's attitude to the plan evolved from initial scepticism to eventual acceptance of its broad outline as the basis for his pursuit operation of August 1914.
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