Graf Alfred von Schlieffen was a German and Prussian officer and strategist, eventually reaching the rank of field marshal. He served as chief of the Imperial German General Staff from 1891 to 1906. His name is most known for the 1905–06 "Schlieffen Plan", then Aufmarsch I, a deployment plan and operational guide for a decisive initial offensive operation/campaign in a two-front war against the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire.