At his birth, his father, Friedrich Wilhelm Liebert (1805–53) was a major in the Prussian general staff, and was taking part in the war against Denmark.

Eduard von Liebert joined the 58th (3rd Posen) Infantry Regiment of the Prussian Army as an ensign at a very early age.

During these years he travelled several times to Russia, and published Der polnische Kriegsschauplatz[2] under the pseudonym of Sarmaticus, which was indicative of his interest in military tactics.

He returned to Germany in 1890[4] and was present when the Kaiser, Wilhelm II received the Zanzibari embassy at Potsdam, along with the then German consul-general of Zanzibar, Michahelles, Count Eulenberg and Otto von Bismarck.

The latter had been appointed Reich Commissioner for German East Africa, in the face of indigenous uprisings encountered there, and had the task of quelling the rebellions.

During that time Liebert served as companion to the Chinese viceroy, Li Hung-Chang who was visiting Germany in 1896, and drove with him to Frankfurt to have the 12th Grenadiers presented to him there.

[6] Due to his enthusiasm for colonialism, he fell out of favour in Berlin, and Leo von Caprivi, who had succeeded Bismarck as Chancellor of Germany in 1890, even threatened to ban him from speaking.

In a speech during this time given at the Association of German Students in Berlin, he passionately quoted a verse from Felix Dahn's Walhall:[7] "Seitdem ist’s freudig Germanenrecht,[8] Mit dem Hammer Land zu erwerben; Wir sind von des Hammergottes Geschlecht Und wollen sein Weltreich erben."

Tobacco cultivation had proved to be a failure, and coffee planting had also encountered major difficulties, but an important crop was available, the agave, sisal.

[11] Amid great controversy, his single-minded attempt to enforce the hut tax in order to raise revenue, was not well received.

The hut tax, introduced in 1897, was the first practical step to make the land and its inhabitants usable to further colonization plans of the German administration.

The task of collection, however, was almost impossible, not least because of the prevalent use of barter, lack of a national currency and a dearth of usable roads or other means of communication.

During the First World War, until prevented by his age in 1917, Liebert held various commands at the front, and was awarded the Pour le mérite in 1917.