MOLTKE 



published in 1867. Later disclo- 

 sures show that it was a modifi- 

 cation of Moltke's original design, 

 due to influences which he could 

 not control. At any rate it was 

 justified by complete success. 

 Moltke held that the triumph of 

 strategy was to bring two armies 

 from different directions to con- 

 verge against the enemy on the 

 same battlefield. This had been 

 the nature of the operation at 

 Waterloo, which might have been 

 the model for Koniggratz. 



In 1870 Moltke directed his three 

 armies towards the short French 

 frontier between Luxemburg and 

 the Rhine. His plan was for a 

 convergent attack on Bazaine's 

 front and flanks. The Crown 

 Prince, by crushing Macmahon at 

 Worth, prepared the way for his 

 intended move against Bazaine's 

 right flank and rear, but the rash- 

 ness of Steinmetz brought on a 

 premature attack on the front and 

 caused Bazaine to escape by falling 

 back upon Metz. Moltke then 

 resolved to cross the Moselle S. of 

 Metz and by a right wheel to 

 attack him from the S. during his 

 expected retreat towards Chalons. 

 The energy of Alvensleben at Mars- 

 la-Tour prevented the retreat and 

 made it possible for Moltke, with 

 200,000 men, to attack the strong 

 position at Gravelotte which 

 Bazaine defended with 150,000. 



The day after this battle Moltke 

 ordered the investment of Metz 

 and of Bazaine's army by one of 

 the German armies, and the ad- 

 vance of the other two on Paris. 

 When he learned of Macmahon's 

 march from Chalons to relieve 

 Bazaine, Moltke wheeled his two 

 armies to the N. and struck Mac- 

 mahon in flank, crushing his right 

 wing corps at Beaumont. Pressing 

 on, he drove Macmahon back to 

 Sedan, and there not only attacked 

 but surrounded his army, so that 

 of its 124,000 men 100,000 became 

 prisoners. The capitulation of 

 Sedan and the subsequent sur- 

 render of Bazaine at Metz made an 

 end of the French regular army. 

 Moving on from Sedan to Paris, he 

 invested that city, and, despite 

 Gambetta's efforts, maintained the 

 investment until its surrender 

 ended the war. 



In 1870 Moltke was created 

 count and received a vote of money. 

 In 1871 he was elected to the 

 Reichstag, where his voice in de- 

 bates on the army was decisive. 

 He supervised the preparation by 

 the general staff of histories of the 

 wars of 1866 and 1870-71, and con- 

 tinued, until his retirement in 1888, 

 to discharge the duties of his office, 

 in which during his later years he 

 had the assistance of Count Walder- 



5476 



see. He died at his official residence 

 in Berlin, April 24, 1891. 



Moltke's greatness rested on a 

 character formed by a life of study 

 and self-denial. He was not 

 merely the inventor of the modern 

 method of command by devolution. 

 His energy, boldness, and deter- 

 mination make him the peer of the 

 great commanders of history, and 

 his genius was the more remarkable 

 in that he was able to reveal it, 

 though neither a monarch com- 

 manding in his own name nor even 

 an independent commander-in- 

 chief, but merely the adviser of his 

 king. His system of trusting for 

 the details of execution to the 

 commanders of armies several 

 times came near to a breakdown 

 through the weakness of these com- 

 manders, notably of Frederick 

 Charles in 1866 and of Steinmetz 

 in 1870. In spite of these disap- 

 pointments, he always held to his 

 purpose and reached his goal. Per- 

 haps better than any other great 

 general, he realized the character 

 described by Wordsworth as the 

 happy warrior. 



Bibliography. Gesammelte Schrif- 

 ten und Denkwiirdigkeiten des Gen. 

 Feld. Graf en H. v. Moltke, 7 vols., 

 1892; Militarische Werke, 10 vols., 

 1892-1906 ; Lives, W. O'C. Morris, 

 1893 (in English); M. Jahns, 1894 

 (in German) ;. The Brain of an Army, 

 H. S. Wilkinson, 1895 ; The Trans- 

 formations of War, Chap. IV, J. 

 Colin, Eng. trans. L. H. R. Pope- 

 Hennessy, 1912 : Early Life of M., 

 H. S. Wilkinson, 1913; Moltke, 

 Lt.-Col. F. E. Whitton, 1920. 



Moltke, HELMTJTH JOHANNES 

 LUDWIG VON (1848-1916). German 

 soldier. Son of Adolf von Moltke, 



administrator 



o f Rantzau, 

 and nephew 

 of the great 

 von Moltke, he 

 was born at 

 Gersdorff, 

 Mecklenberg- 

 Schwerin, May 

 23, 1848. He 

 entered the 

 German army 

 as a lieute- 

 nant of infantry, and served 

 through the Franco-Prussian War. 

 He was for a time a lecturer in the 

 Military Academy, Berlin. In 1891 

 he was appointed A.D.C. to Wil- 

 liam II, and in 1906 became general 

 of infantry and chief of the general 

 staff, in succession to Count von 

 Schlieffen. As chief of the general 

 staff he was the real generalissimo 

 of the German army when the 

 Great War broke out, and held that 

 position till Oct., 1914, when, ow- 

 ing to the failure to capture Paris, 

 he was superseded by Falkenhayn. 

 He died on June 18, 1916. 



Helmuth von Moltke, 

 German soldier 



MOLUCCELLA LAEVIS 



Molton, SOUTH. Mun. borough 

 and market town of Devonshire. 

 It stands on the Mole, 12 m. 

 from Barnstaple and 197 m. from 

 London, with a station on the G.W. 

 Rly. The chief buildings are the 

 fine Perpendicular church of S. 

 Mary Magdalene, with an old 

 pulpit and font, the guildhall, and 

 the market house. The town is an 

 agricultural centre, and its indus- 

 tries include flour-milling. It had 

 fairs in the Middle Ages, and was 

 given a corporation in 1590. It 

 was then and later a centre of the 

 woollen manufacture, while at one 

 time lace was made here. At one 

 period it sent two members to Par- 

 liament. Market days, Thurs. and 

 Sat. Pop. 2,950. North Molton 

 is a parish and village, 3 m. to the 

 N.E. It was once a market town, 

 and its church, All Saints, has some 

 objects of interest. : 



Moluccas OR SPICE ISLANDS. 

 East Indian islands forming part of 

 the Dutch East Indies. They are 

 Gilolo or Halmahera, Ternate, 

 Tidore, Bachian, Buru, Ceram, 

 Amboyna, and the Banda Islands. 

 Amboyna and Ternate give their 

 names to the two administrative 

 divisions into which the group is 

 divided, and these divisions include 

 also Dutch New Guinea. The 

 islands cover some 20,000 sq. m. in 

 area, 40,000 sq. m. if adjacent 

 islands are included ; est. pop. 

 450,000. In general they are vol- 

 canic ; and there are active cones 

 on Ternate, Gilolo, and Banda. 



Ternate consists of a peak 6,000 

 ft. above sea level, and has the 

 residence of the sultan. Ceram ex- 

 ports sago, Amboyna cloves, and 

 the Banda Islands nutmegs. 



The Spice Islands were known by 

 repute long before European ships 

 reached the East Indies, and their 

 native and unique products were 

 articles of trade greatly desired 

 during the Middle Ages, when sea- 

 soning was required to make winter 

 meat palatable. Two Portuguese, 

 Serrano and D'Abren, located 

 them in 1512, and they were Portu- 

 guese from 1521 until the natives 

 expelled the traders in 1583 ; in 

 1613 the Dutch acquired them, and 

 have held them since that date. 

 The early Dutch policy was marked 

 by great secrecy; to maintain the 

 monopoly in the supply of cloves, 

 the tree was exterminated in all the 

 islands except Amboyna. The 

 monopoly has been abandoned, and 

 both cloves and nutmegs are grown 

 elsewhere in the East Indies and 

 Malaya. See Amboyna ; Gilolo. 



Moluccella laevis . Annual herb 

 of the natural order Labiateae. 

 It is a native of the Mediterranean 

 region. It has roundish long- 

 stalked leaves, and the flowers are 



