Born in Berlin to the distinguished Prussian military family von Bülow, originally from Mecklenburg, he enlisted in the Prussian Army and was assigned to the 2nd Guards regiment of infantry in 1864. He saw action during the Austro-Prussian War in 1866 and gained distinction at Königgrätz. Von Bülow served through the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 as a junior officer, winning the Iron Cross Second Class. A Captain of the German General Staff in 1877, von Bülow was promoted to Colonel and assigned to the 9th Guards Regiment in 1894. In 1897, von Bülow was a major-general and became director of the Central Department in the German War Ministry. In 1900 he was promoted to lieutenant-general and in 1901 was appointed general commanding the Guards Division. He was Commander of the German III Corps from 1903 until his appointment as Inspector of the German 3rd Army in 1912. Assigned to the German 2nd Army at the beginning of World War I in August 1914, von Bülow's army was part of the German force that invaded Belgium. He occupied Liege on 7 August and captured the fortress of Namur on 22–23 August. In France, von Bülow defeated General Charles Lanrezac of the French Fifth Army at Charleroi on 23–24 August and again at St. Quentin on 29–30 August. Karl von Bülow is considered as a war criminal for the massacres in Andenne and a few days later in Leffe : he ordered the killing of men, women and children. In Liege, to keep the population in fear, the Germans hung messages stating: "... With my authorisation, the general who was in command of our troops burnt the city and had 110 victims executed. I bring this fact to the attention of the city of Liege so the inhabitants know what can be expected if they act in the same manner". In fact, more than 260 people were killed in Andenne. As the 2nd Army and General Alexander von Kluck's 1st Army neared Paris from 31 August to 2 September, von Bülow, concerned about the growing gap between the two armies, ordered Kluck to turn the 1st Army on his right towards him. This decision, however, resulted in Kluck's advancing south and east of Paris, instead of south and west as specified in the Schlieffen Plan. Von Bülow crossed the Marne on 4 September, but was ordered to retreat to the Aisne after the successful counterattack by combined French and British forces against Kluck's 1st Army at the First Battle of the Marne from 5–10 September. Von Bülow was believed by the German public to be responsible for the German failure to capture Paris. Von Bülow was promoted to Field Marshal in January of the following year. After suffering a heart attack two months later, he was allowed to retire in early 1916, living in Berlin until his death.
