Moltke’s Projects for the Campaign of 1866 Against Austria

Moltke’s Projects for the Campaign of 1866 Against Austria PDF

Author: Field Marshal Graf Helmuth von Moltke

Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing

Published: 2017-01-23

Total Pages: 111

ISBN-13: 1787203654

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Originally published in 1907, this is the translation by the British Army War Office of Field Marshal Moltke’s military papers relating to the war of 1866 (first published in their original German in 1896). “A NEW light was thrown upon the campaign of 1864 by the publication, in 1892, of Moltke’s military correspondence during that war—a volume which revealed, as nothing published before it had done, the brilliant abilities and resolute character of the Prussian general. That delightful volume was followed, in 1896, by the publication of a selection from Moltke’s military papers relating to the war of 1866...They are divided into four parts, collected under the headings of preparation, mobilization, and deployment, the actual operations, the truce and peace. The chief interest of these disclosures lies in the first part, for it is the arrangements for the first deployment and subsequent concentration of the Prussian Army that have formed the principal subject of controversy in regard to this campaign. Moreover, since the construction of railways, the great importance which always in every campaign has attached to the opening has been, if anything, increased. The opening is usually arranged with a deliberation impossible in the subsequent stages of the action. It is the part of the game which admits of the completest study beforehand, and it is the part in which for this campaign abundant evidence is now given. Moltke’s colleagues of the Staff have told us since his death that they were much impressed by his habitual effort to think things out, and that he used in this process to assist himself by putting his thoughts on paper and rewriting his analysis or his argument again and again until he found it satisfactory.”

Moltke's Projects for the Campaign of 1866 Against Austria

Moltke's Projects for the Campaign of 1866 Against Austria PDF

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2015-07-14

Total Pages: 84

ISBN-13: 9781331393313

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Excerpt from Moltke's Projects for the Campaign of 1866 Against Austria: With Map A new light was thrown upon the campaign of 1864 by the publication, in 1892, of Moltke's military correspondence during that war - a volume which revealed, as nothing published before it had done, the brilliant abilities and resolute character of the Prussian general. That delightful volume was followed, in 1896, by the publication of a selection from Moltke's military papers relating to the war of 1866. These papers, to some extent, lift the thin veil which in the Staff history half concealed the moving springs. They are divided into four parts, collected under the headings of preparation, mobilization, and deployment, the actual operations, the truce and peace. The chief interest of these disclosures lies in the first part, for it is the arrangements for the first deployment and subsequent concentration of the Prussian Army that have formed the principal subject of controversy in regard to this campaign. Moreover, since the construction of railways, the great importance which always in every campaign has attached to the opening has been, if anything, increased. The opening is usually arranged with a deliberation impossible in the subsequent stages of the action. It is the part of the game which admits of the completest study beforehand, and it is the part in which for this campaign abundant evidence is now given. Moltke's colleagues of the Staff have told us since his death that they were much impressed by his habitual effort to think things out, and that he used in this process to assist himself by putting his thoughts on paper and re-writing his analysis or his argument again and again until he found it satisfactory. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The Enemy's House Divided

The Enemy's House Divided PDF

Author: Charles De Gaulle

Publisher: UNC Press Books

Published: 2014-03-30

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 1469620227

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Originally published in 1924 and available here in English for the first time, The Enemy's House Divided is Charles de Gaulle's analysis of the major errors that led the Germans to disaster in World War I. Based partly on observations made during his internment as a prisoner of war from 1916 to 1918, it can be seen as the foundation for everything he wrote in the 1920s and 1930s in the shadow of German resurgence and for much of what he said and did after the Nazi victory in June of 1940. To de Gaulle, the German conduct of the Great War and the debacle of 1918 was the greatest moral disaster ever to befall a modern civilized political community. He seeks to identify the internecine causes of the collapse of the German war effort in 1918 and of the subsequent dissolution of the German Empire. His diagnosis of the profound moral crisis that unfolded in Germany during World War I points forward to 1940, for de Gaulle understood the fall of France, above all, as a moral catastrophe for the French. His first book, it is also a key document of de Gaulle's "philosophy of action," introducing his statesmanship to the world with its deliberate and studied critique of the perils of Nietzsche's philosophical initiative.

Moltke on the Art of War

Moltke on the Art of War PDF

Author: Daniel Hughes

Publisher: Presidio Press

Published: 2009-03-12

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 0307538516

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Field Marshal Helmuth Graf von Moltke is best known for his direction of the German/Prussian campaigns against Austria in 1866 and France in 1870-71, yet it was during his service as chief of the General Staff that he laid the foundation for the German way of war which would continue through 1945. Professor Daniel Hughes of the Air War College, in addition to editing and assisting with the translation of this selection of Moltke’s thoughts and theories on the art of war, has written an insightful commentary on “Moltke the Elder” that places him in the broader context of Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz’s sometimes abstract philosophical ideas. The book also contains an extensive bibliographic and historiographic commentary that includes references to Moltke and his theories in the current literature in Germany, England, and the United States—a valuable aid to anyone doing research on the subject. This volume, in addition to its appeal to scholars, serves as an introduction to the theory of the German army, as well as a summary of Moltke’s enduring theoretical legacy. Praise for Moltke on the Art of War “Moltke molded the Prussian and ultimately the German army at a time of technological and economic change. For that reason . . . this book deserves a much wider audience than those interested in nineteenth-century military history. Readers will be particularly grateful for the editor’s careful explanation of terms that are easily mistranslated in English, and for concise and useful footnotes and bibliography. A model of fine editing.”—Foreign Affairs Magazine “This valuable work ably compiles the selected writings on the art of war of one of military history’s greatest geniuses. [Moltke’s] impact on American military thinking persists, especially in various military staff college curricula. Strongly recommended.”—Armed Forces Journal “A thoughtfully edited, well-translated anthology that merits a place in any serious collection on the craft of war in the modern Western world."—Journal of Military History

The Allure of Battle

The Allure of Battle PDF

Author: Cathal Nolan

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017-01-02

Total Pages: 709

ISBN-13: 0199910995

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History has tended to measure war's winners and losers in terms of its major engagements, battles in which the result was so clear-cut that they could be considered "decisive." Cannae, Konigsberg, Austerlitz, Midway, Agincourt-all resonate in the literature of war and in our imaginations as tide-turning. But these legendary battles may or may not have determined the final outcome of the wars in which they were fought. Nor has the "genius" of the so-called Great Captains - from Alexander the Great to Frederick the Great and Napoleon - play a major role. Wars are decided in other ways. Cathal J. Nolan's The Allure of Battle systematically and engrossingly examines the great battles, tracing what he calls "short-war thinking," the hope that victory might be swift and wars brief. As he proves persuasively, however, such has almost never been the case. Even the major engagements have mainly contributed to victory or defeat by accelerating the erosion of the other side's defences. Massive conflicts, the so-called "people's wars," beginning with Napoleon and continuing until 1945, have consisted of and been determined by prolonged stalemate and attrition, industrial wars in which the determining factor has been not military but matériel. Nolan's masterful book places battles squarely and mercilessly within the context of the wider conflict in which they took place. In the process it help corrects a distorted view of battle's role in war, replacing popular images of the "battles of annihilation" with somber appreciation of the commitments and human sacrifices made throughout centuries of war particularly among the Great Powers. Accessible, provocative, exhaustive, and illuminating, The Allure of Battle will spark fresh debate about the history and conduct of warfare.