Alfred Ludwig Heinrich Karl Graf von Waldersee 1832 1904 German General field marshall Chief Imperial German General Staff
Alfred Ludwig Heinrich Karl Graf von Waldersee (8 April 1832, Potsdam – 5 March 1904, Hanover) was a German Generalfeldmarschall who served as Chief of the Imperial German General Staff from 1888 to 1891 and as Allied Supreme Commander in China in 1900-1901. Two thousand European and Chinese Christians were trapped in the legation compound at Peking by Boxer insurgents in 1900. An eight-nation International Relief Force of European, American and Japanese troops maneuvered to the rescue. Since Kaiser Wilhelm II’s minister to China, Baron Clemens von Ketteler, was murdered by the Boxers, the Germans "claimed a certain priority in the crusade against Chinese barbarism." The now semi-retired, sixty-eight year old, but for the occasion newly promoted Field Marshal Alfred Count von Waldersee, was proposed by the Tsar of Russia, and seconded by the Japanese, as the first Allied Supreme Commander of modern times. Preparations for the field marshal's departure from Germany to China caused a good deal of satirical comment on what became known as Waldersee Rummel or "Waldersee theatricals" — which he detested. Much of this circus, he wrote in his irritation "... unfortunately made it into the newspapers." Waldersee arrived at the front before Peking too late to direct his multinational force in any fighting of note, but was in charge of the pacification of the Boxers. "These punitive expeditions ... were unrewarding enterprises [and] from Waldersee's point of view ... hardly constituted war." It is probable, however, that "if his appointment had not existed, or if it had been filled by a less positive personality, the animosities which ceaselessly embittered the contingents in North China would have assumed serious proportions. ... there were countless minor incidents, and it is at least partly to Waldersee's credit that nothing came of them."
Size: 2721px × 3478px
Photo credit: © SOTK2011 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -fashioned, 1800, 1832, 1904, 19th, 2d, academic, age, aged, alfred, allied, ancient, antiquarian, antique, antiquity, art, artistic, black, book, bw, bygone, century, chief, china, classical, commander, copy, cut, cut-, dot, dots, drawing, embossed, empire, expression, field, figure, formal, front, general, german, graf, graphic, halftone, hand, heinrich, heritage, historic, historical, history, illustrated, illustration, image, imperial, karl, ludwig, marshall, master, military, monotone, national, nineteenth, notable, obscure, obsolete, olden, original, paper, period, photo, photograph, pictorial, picture, portrait, pre, press, print, printed, printing, publication, publicity, rare, real, realism, realistic, reference, regalia, relief, replica, represent, representation, repro, reproduce, reproduction, reprographic, retro, romantic, screen, social, staff, standard, steel, studio, style, supreme, teach, technique, time, title, tool, topic, topical, tract, unusual, victoria, victorian, vintage, von, waldersee, white
