Alfred von Waldersee

Alfred Heinrich Karl Ludwig Graf von Waldersee (8 April 1832 – 5 March 1904) was a German Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) who served as Chief of the Imperial German General Staff and Commander of the International Relief Force during the Boxer Rebellion.

Born into a military family, von Waldersee saw decorated service as an artillery officer, and became Prussian military attaché at the Paris embassy in 1870. This gave him insight into the French defences that would prove crucial in the upcoming Franco-Prussian War, in which he played a significant role. Later, as principal assistant to Field-Marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, von Waldersee gained influence with the future Kaiser Wilhelm II, who promoted him Chief of Staff on his accession.

When the Peking legation compound was besieged by the Boxer insurgents in 1900, von Waldersee was appointed as head of an eight-nation relief force. Although he arrived too late to take part in the fighting, he conducted punitive expeditions, which succeeded in pacifying the Boxers, and allegedly took a Chinese mistress, Sai Jinhua.