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Surrounded by potential adversaries, nineteenth-century Prussia and twentieth-century Germany faced the formidable prospect of multifront wars and wars of attrition. To counteract these threats, generations of general staff officers were educated in operational thinking, the main tenets of which were extremely influential on military planning across the globe and were adopted by American and Soviet armies. In the twentieth century, Germany's art of warfare dominated military theory and practice, creating a myth of German operational brilliance that lingers today, despite the nation's crushing defeats in two world wars. In this seminal study, Gerhard P. Gross provides a comprehensive examination of the development and failure of German operational thinking over a period of more than a century. He analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of five different armies, from the mid--nineteenth century through the early days of NATO. He also offers fresh interpretations of towering figures of German military history, including Moltke the Elder, Alfred von Schlieffen, and Erich Ludendorff. Essential reading for military historians and strategists, this innovative work dismantles cherished myths and offers new insights into Germany's failed attempts to become a global power through military means.

In his last book, the late William Carr provides a masterly account of the origins and impact of the three major wars fought by Prussia in creating the Bismarckian Reich of 1871. He begins with a study of the development of nationalism and liberalism from the late eighteenth century to the 1860's, before turning to a detailed examination of the Schleswig-Holstein Conflict of 1864; the `Six Weeks War' of 1866; and the Franco-Prussia War of 1870--71.

Carl von Clausewitz is still considered one of the most important writers on military strategy. In Prussian Military Thought 1815-1830: Beyond Clausewitz , Jacek Jedrysiak offers a new perspective on the context of his legacy, with a detailed analysis of Prussian military thought after the Napoleonic wars and an examination of the development of certain institutions, such as the General Staff, leading to a more nuanced understanding of Clausewitz's work. The dominance of the famous figures of Clausewitz and Helmuth von Moltke the Elder has obscured much about the Prussian army in the 19th century. In this study, Jacek Jedrysiak reveals the forgotten face of the Prussian army.

Hull argues that the routines and practices of the Imperial German Army, unchecked by effective civilian institutions, increasingly sought the absolute destruction of its enemies as the only guarantee of the nation's security.

In a book that is at once a major contribution to modern European history and a cautionary tale for today, Isabel V. Hull argues that the routines and practices of the Imperial German Army, unchecked by effective civilian institutions, increasingly sought the absolute destruction of its enemies as the only guarantee of the nation's security. So deeply embedded were the assumptions and procedures of this distinctively German military culture that the Army, in its drive to annihilate the enemy military, did not shrink from the utter destruction of civilian property and lives. Carried to its extreme, the logic of \"military necessity\" found real security only in extremities of destruction, in the \"silence of the graveyard.\" Hull begins with a dramatic account, based on fresh archival work, of the German Army's slide from administrative murder to genocide in German Southwest Africa (1904-7). The author then moves back to 1870 and the war that inaugurated the Imperial era in German history, and analyzes the genesis and nature of this specifically German military culture and its operations in colonial warfare. In the First World War the routines perfected in the colonies were visited upon European populations. Hull focuses on one set of cases (Belgium and northern France) in which the transition to total destruction was checked (if barely) and on another (Armenia) in which \"military necessity\" caused Germany to accept its ally's genocidal policies even after these became militarily counterproductive. She then turns to theEndkampf(1918), the German General Staff's plan to achieve victory in the Great War even if the homeland were destroyed in the process-a seemingly insane campaign that completes the logic of this deeply institutionalized set of military routines and practices. Hull concludes by speculating on the role of this distinctive military culture in National Socialism's military and racial policies. Absolute Destructionhas serious implications for the nature of warmaking in any modern power. At its heart is a warning about the blindness of bureaucratic routines, especially when those bureaucracies command the instruments of mass death.

When Helmuth von Moltke took over as Chief of the Prussian General Staff, the Prussian army had not fought for more than forty years. Yet within a decade and a half he had brought it to the point where it was the strongest in Europe.

This volume works through spatio-temporal concepts to be found in imperial practices and their representations in a wide range of media.The individual cases investigated in the volume cover a broad spectrum of historical periods from ancient times up to the present.

Découvrez enfin tout ce qu'il faut savoir sur la bataille de Midway en moins d'une heure! Depuis l'attaque de Pearl Harbor en décembre 1941, la guerre fait rage dans le Pacifique. La victoire américaine dans la mer de Corail a stoppé pour un temps l'expansion japonaise, mais l'équilibre reste précaire et les Américains s'attendent à une nouvelle offensive. Reste à savoir où frappera la force nipponne… Ce livre vous permettra d'en savoir plus sur: • Le contexte politique et social de l'époque • Les acteurs majeurs du conflit • Le déroulement de la bataille de Midway et sa chronologie (carte à l'appui) • Les raisons de la victoire américaine • Les répercussions de la bataille Le mot de l'éditeur: « Dans ce numéro de la collection « 50MINUTES|Grandes Batailles », Laurent Campolini nous présente la bataille qui a permis de renverser le rapport de force dans le Pacifique au profit des États-Unis. Mais l'histoire aurait été tout autre si les services de renseignements américains n'étaient pas parvenus à décrypter le code secret des communications japonaises. » Stéphanie DagrainÀ PROPOS DE LA SÉRIE 50MINUTES | Grandes Batailles La série « Grandes Batailles » de la collection « 50MINUTES » aborde plus de cinquante conflits qui ont bouleversé notre histoire. Chaque livre a été pensé pour les lecteurs curieux qui veulent tout savoir sur une bataille, tout en allant à l'essentiel, et ce en moins d'une heure. Nos auteurs combinent les faits, les analyses et les nouvelles perspectives pour rendre accessibles des siècles d'histoire.

German armies examines the diversity of German involvement in European conflict from the Peace of Westphalia to the age of Napoleon. Challenging assumptions of the Holy Roman Empire as weak and divided, this study provides a comprehensive account of its survival in a hostile environment of centralizing belligerent states. In contrast to the later german states, the Empire was inherently defensive, yet many of its component territories embarked on expansionist, militaristic policies, creating their own armies to advance their objectives. The author examines the resultant tensions and explains the structure and role of the different German forces. In addition, a number of wider issues are addressed, such as war and the emergence of absolutism, the rise of Austria and Prussia as great powers, non-violent forms of conflict resolution and the relative effectiveness of German military and political institutions in meeting the challenge of revolutionary France. Drawing on a range of sources, the author provides a detailed analysis of the German dimension of the great struggles against Louis XIV's France, competition for supremacy in the Baltic and Mediterranean and the prolonged wars with the Ottoman Turks. German armies extends the boundaries of military history by placing ancien regime warfare within a wider social, cultural and international context. 'It is important as a contribution to research which also adds to the present-day debate, And as a survey intended for a broad expert audience, it will also be useful for students.' – German Historical Institute Bulletin