Waldersee in his diary, 15 October 1885, quoted in Scott A. Silverstone, From Hitler's Germany to Saddam's Iraq
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I see a future for us only in a Great War in which we lastingly cripple an opponent, France or Russia. Unless there should be a great war, the only way out of our dilemma will be through internal commotion, preferably revolutions in France or Russia.

— Alfred von Waldersee

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "I see a future for us only in a Great War in which we lastingly cripple an opponent, France or Russia. Unless there should be a great war, the only way out of our dilemma will be through internal commotion, preferably revolutions in France or Russia." in the context of "Waldersee in his diary, 15 October 1885, quoted in Scott A. Silverstone, From Hitler's Germany to Saddam's Iraq" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Alfred von Waldersee" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Alfred von Waldersee

About Alfred von Waldersee

Alfred Ludwig Heinrich Karl Graf von Waldersee (8 April 1832 – 5 March 1904) was a German field marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) who became Chief of the Imperial German General Staff.