Born in Parchim, von Moltke first joined the Danish service, then in 1822 the Prussian army. From 1835 to 1839 he served as advisor to the army of the Ottoman Empire. From 1857 to 1888 he functioned as head of the Prussian Großer Generalstab (chief of military staff). He planned and led the successful military operations during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), which paved the way for the Prussian-led German Empire founded in 1871. He served in the Diet of the North German Conderation from 1867 to 1871, and from 1871 to 1891 he was a member of the \Reichstag, the German parliament of the time. In 1888 he retired as Chief of the General Staff and was succeeded by Count Alfred von Waldersee. His nephew, Helmuth Johann Ludwig von Moltke, was Chief from 1906 until 1914.

He wrote a number of works on military theory. His main thesis was that military strategy had to be understood as a system of options since only the beginning of a military operation was plannable. As a result, he considered the main task of military leaders to consist in the extensive preparation of all possible outcomes.