Moltke on the Art of War

Informationen zum Autor Daniel Hughes Klappentext Prussian hero Field Marshal Helmuth Graf von Moltke was the architect of the German way of war.INTRODUCTION Count Helmuth von Moltke is most famous for his accomplishments as a field commander during the Prussian army's victories over the Austrians in 1866 and, with other German contingents, over the French in 187071. His celebrated victories have been the subject of numerous studies, including at least two of the best single-volume campaign studies ever written.1 Moltke's other dimension has been relatively neglected since the Second World War. In addition to being one of the most successful field commanders of the nineteenth century, Moltke was a military intellectual of great importance to Prusso-German military theory. Termed the ablest military mind since Napoleon by David Chandler, Moltke laid much of the institutional and theoretical foundation of the modern German military system.2 Gunther Rothenberg argued that Moltke may be considered the most incisive and important European military writer between the Napoleonic era and the First World War.3 Moltke's influence extended far beyond his own times. Although the army of Molkte's lifetime was a royal Prussian rather than an imperial army, its power was at the core of Prussian dominance of the German Empire and its influence extended to the other armies (those of Bavaria, Saxony, and Württemberg) of Bismarck's federal state. The subsequent armies of the Weimar Republic and of Nazi Germany were truly German. The continuity in personnel, military thought (much of which was Moltke's), and institutions from the Prussian to the German armies justifies the common reference to a single Prusso-German approach to warfare. This volume has the purpose of making Moltke's thoughts on the art of war available in English to a wider audience. Helmuth von Moltke was neither a Prussian by birth nor a military officer by basic inclination. His nephew, Helmuth von Moltke (the younger), related that his uncle had told him that he had been forced into the Danish cadet corps and thus had his profession determined for him. He would have preferred, the elder Moltke said, to have studied archaeology and to have become a professor of history. Moltke served in the Danish army until 1822, when he entered Prussian service.4 This was a risky undertaking, as he had to resign his Danish commission and pass a rigorous examination before being accepted by the Prussians. For the privilege of acquiring his new commission, he thus gave up his Danish seniority and became the most junior lieutenant in the Prussian army. For the next thirty-five years Moltke pursued a successful if unspectacular career. He gained admittance to the General War School, as the War Academy was then called, in 1823. His application and acceptance were notable because he was allowed to take the entrance examination before he had completed the required three years of service and because his main essay was so good that it became part of the General Staff's research archive. Moltke's years at the General War School were not particularly noteworthy, although he was quite successful. One of the ironies of those years was that young Moltke, who subsequently was the most important person in incorporating Carl von Clausewitz's basic thoughts into Prusso-German military theory, apparently had no personal contact with the author of On War. Clausewitz held a purely administrative position at the General War School, and the two great thinkers probably took no notice of each other. During those years Moltke was a very junior and largely unknown officer, so there was no reason for Clausewitz, who normally had no contact with the students at the General War School, to have taken note of him. Nor would Moltke and other students have known about Clausewitz's ongoing studies of war. Clausewitz, in any case, confided in only a very limit...

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Daniel Hughes

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Prussian hero Field Marshal Helmuth Graf von Moltke was the architect of the German way of war.

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Prussian hero Field Marshal Helmuth Graf von Moltke was the architect of the German way of war.

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INTRODUCTION
 
Count Helmuth von Moltke is most famous for his accomplishments as a field commander during the Prussian army’s victories over the Austrians in 1866 and, with other German contingents, over the French in 1870–71. His celebrated victories have been the subject of numerous studies, including at least two of the best single-volume campaign studies ever written.1 Moltke’s other dimension has been relatively neglected since the Second World War. In addition to being one of the most successful field commanders of the nineteenth century, Moltke was a military intellectual of great importance to Prusso-German military theory. Termed “the ablest military mind since Napoleon” by David Chandler, Moltke laid much of the institutional and theoretical foundation of the modern German military system.2 Gunther Rothenberg argued that Moltke “may be considered the most incisive and important European military writer between the Napoleonic era and the First World War.”3 Moltke’s influence extended far beyond his own times. Although the army of Molkte’s lifetime was a royal Prussian rather than an imperial army, its power was at the core of Prussian dominance of the German Empire and its influence extended to the other armies (those of Bavaria, Saxony, and Württemberg) of Bismarck’s federal state. The subsequent armies of the Weimar Republic and of Nazi Germany were truly “German.” The continuity in personnel, military thought (much of which was Moltke’s), and institutions from the Prussian to the German armies justifies the common reference to a single Prusso-German approach to warfare. This volume has the purpose of making Moltke’s thoughts on the art of war available in English to a wider audience.
 
Helmuth von Moltke was neither a Prussian by birth nor a military officer by basic inclination. His nephew, Helmuth von Moltke (the younger), related that his uncle had told him that he had been forced into the Danish cadet corps and thus had his profession determined for him. He would have preferred, the elder Moltke said, to have studied archaeology and to have become a professor of history. Moltke served in the Danish army until 1822, when he entered Prussian service.4 This was a risky undertaking, as he had to resign his Danish commission and pass a rigorous examination before being accepted by the Prussians. For the privilege of acquiring his new commission, he thus gave up his Danish seniority and became the most junior lieutenant in the Prussian army.
 
For the next thirty-five years Moltke pursued a successful if unspectacular career. He gained admittance to the General War School, as the War Academy was then called, in 1823. His application and acceptance were notable because he was allowed to take the entrance examination before he had completed the required three years of service and because his main essay was so good that it became part of the General Staff’s research archive.
 
Moltke’s years at the General War School were not particularly noteworthy, although he was quite successful. One of the ironies of those years was that young Moltke, who subsequently was the most important person in incorporating Carl von Clausewitz’s basic thoughts into Prusso-German military theory, apparently had no personal contact with the author of On War. Clausewitz held a purely administrative position at the General War School, and the two great thinkers probably took no notice of each other. During those years Moltke was a very junior and largely unknown officer, so there was no reason for Clausewitz, who normally had no contact with the stud…