Prussian Army
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The Royal Prussian Army (German: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1701 to 1919 and was successor to the Electoral Brandenburg Army (German: Kurfürstlich Brandenburgische Armee, 1644 to 1701). It became vital to the development of Prussia as a European power and formed the strong core of the Imperial German Army.
The prowess of the Prussian military elite with the famous General Staff have been imitated and admired by Germany's friends and enemies. And its prestige still survives its fall. Under the leadership of Helmuth von Moltke, Albrecht Graf von Roon, Otto von Bismarck, Alfred von Schlieffen, and later under Hans von Seeckt, the German army triumphed on the world stage.
Contents
History
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The Prussian Army had its roots in the core mercenary forces (Landsknechte) of Brandenburg-Prussia during the Thirty Years' War of 1618–1648. Elector Frederick William developed it into a viable standing army, while Prussian King King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia dramatically increased its size and improved its doctrines. By the end of Friedrich Wilhelm I's reign, Prussia had the fourth-largest army (80,000 soldiers) in Europe but was twelfth in population size (2.5 million). This led to the famous quote of Voltaire: Where some states have an army, the Prussian Army has a state.
The army was maintained with a budget of five million thalers (out of a total state budget of seven million thalers). King Frederick the Great, a formidable battle commander, led the disciplined Prussian troops to victory during the 18th-century Silesian Wars and greatly increased the prestige of the Kingdom of Prussia. From 1717 onwards, independent garrison regiments were formed in Prussia. In 1726, the garrison units already had a strength of 7,000 men (invalids).
- Its development runs parallel, step by step, with the development of the Prussian state, of which it is both a cause and a result. In its history there are two decisive epochs. The first is the establishment and maintenance by the Great Elector of a miles perpetuus, or "standing army". This was a permanent, active field army kept on foot in time of peace as well as war, and was composed of well-disciplined and well-trained professional, paid soldiers in the direct service and control of the sovereign. Being an army of paid professionals, as distinct from a civilian militia, it was necessarily limited in numbers by the revenues available for its support, and was in fact relatively small in comparison with the total population-a great contrast to modern armies based on the principle of universal military service. It may be compared in many respects with the English army of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries or with the regular army of the United States. It was the outgrowth of the danger threatening Prussia from the aggressive plans of Charles Gustavus of Sweden during the first Northern War. The second decisive epoch was the great liberalizing and nationalizing reform movement of Stein and Scharnhorst at the opening of the nineteenth century, which resulted in the establishment of a national Prussian army based on the principle of universal military service. It was the outgrowth of Napoleon's conquest of Prussia and of his boomerang-like decree which attempted to limit the Prussian army to 42,000 men.[1]
Coalition Wars
- The post-Frederician Prussian army cultivated the glory of the past, but also experienced continuous debates and reforms intending to optimize the army according to the principles of enlightened rationalism. The confrontation with the French revolutionary armies activated intensive discussions, but for the military authorities, the experiences did not call for principal doubts about the suitability of the army. The defeat of 1806 (de), however, did. The following reforms had to handle elementary needs to re-establish the armed forces, but also took the opportunity to create new organisational frameworks and to introduce new principles for recruitment, military justice and officers’ careers. From a quantitative perspective, the important measures converged on the implementation of a general conscription, and from a qualitative perspective, they especially targeted reconciling the educated middle-class with military service. When the break with France in 1813 effaced the previously existing restrictions, the plans resulted not only in an augmentation of the standing army, but in the establishment of complementary military formations of own characters. Their coexistence reflected organisational constraints, as well as different aspects of the previous debates. Although not without improvisations, the authorities were able to increase the armed forces more than sevenfold within about nine months.[2]
General Staff
- The German General Staff (German: Generalstab) was the product of a long historical evolution. Credited by some as having stemmed from the staff organization of Frederick William of Prussia in 1635, this staff system attained its full development during the latter half of the nineteenth century, at which time the Chief of the General Staff became the highest German military leader, and the General Staff itself achieved virtual independence from any civil authority save the Emperor. This high position of the General Staff had gradually developed from the functions performed in the early years by the “Quartermaster General’s Staff,” which over a period of time expanded to include not only supply and quartering duties, but almost all staff duties connected with operational and intelligence functions. By the beginning of the nineteenth century the Quartermaster General’s Staff had become highly trained in military science and tactics, and in 1803 its supremacy within the Prussian Army was officially established by the King, who, among other things, decreed that only those matters approved by the Quartermaster General and three of his lieutenants should be submitted to the King for approval. This royal order granted the Quartermaster General a key position in the flow of business between the Army and the King, and within a few years the term “Quartermaster General’s Staff” came to mean “General Staff” throughout the Prussian military system.
- The evolution of the Prussian (later German) General Staff over the next one hundred years was marked by the division of the General Staff into two distinct parts, one portion being located in Berlin and called the “Great General Staff” (Großer Generalstab), and the other being distributed among the various field commands under the term “Field Forces General Staff” (Truppengeneralstab). Both of these parts were under the direction of the War Ministry until 1821, at which time the entire General Staff was placed directly subordinate to the King. It was under these circumstances that the General Staff developed into the most important institution of the German military system after the War of 1866, the Chief of the General Staff eventually being recognized as the leader of the armies in wartime. Although the Emperor was the “Supreme War Lord,” it was understood that the Chief of the General Staff in wartime should exercise command of the armies in the name of the Emperor, submitting major decisions to the Emperor for approval. In effect, the Chief of the General Staff thus became head of the entire military system. These were the basic arrangements of the German General Staff prior to World War I, during the course of which several fundamental changes were introduced. The period between the two world wars witnessed a great many developments which precluded the reestablishment of the German General Staff in any form approximating its previous status and make-up, and the peculiar arrangements instituted by the German chief of state for the conduct of World War II rendered the remains of the classic German General Staff hardly recognizable. [...]
- At the close of the nineteenth century the German General Staff more closely resembled the ideal of its chief architects than it did at any other time. At this time it enjoyed its highest prestige and was marked by several outstanding characteristics: the highly competitive manner in which officers were selected and trained for the General Staff; a sharp distinction between routine staff functions and staff functions directly related to the planning and execution of field operations; the broad authority conferred on General Staff officers; the elite nature of the General Staff Corps; and finally, the General Staff privilege of appealing directly to the chief of state in matters affecting the military. The educational system supporting the General Staff Corps officer training and selection program was significant not only because of its tendency to ensure the appointment of the best qualified officers to the General Staff, but also because it was a means of giving advanced training to future high commanders of the Army. This common experience also made possible a greater degree of cooperation between General Staff officers and other units of the Army in later years. As a result of rigid competitive examinations, a few candidates (approximately 150 during the years immediately preceding World War I) were selected from the entire officer corps to begin a three-year course of intensive study at the famous Kriegsakademie. At the end of this course, roughly thirty per cent of the candidates passed a competitive examination covering, in addition to subjects of a military nature, such matters as personality, character, general education, and personal behavior. These successful candidates then were “commanded to the Great General Staff,” usually for a term of two years. [...]
- The two major parts of the German Army General Staff, the Great General Staff at Berlin and the Field Forces General Staff, together were administered by a single head, the Chief of the General Staff of the Army. The entire body of General Staff officers usually numbered approximately 250, with fewer than 100 serving on the Great General Staff at any given time. The Great General Staff was charged with all responsibilities connected with the drawing up of plans for possible future operations, including logistical and intelligence functions. This body, moreover, provided for the training and selection of younger members of the General Staff, and conducted studies of war and military history. It was here that the young General Staff officer usually received his final training prior to definite selection to the General Staff. Through intensive map exercises and other assignments, every officer was pressed almost to the limits of endurance in order to develop his capacity for hard work and to fit him for the strenuous General Staff work required in time of war. The Chief of the General Staff was assisted in the supervision of this central body by three “Chief Quartermasters” who acted in the name of the Chief, both in directing the General Staff officers distributed among the field commands and in supervising the chiefs of the various sections of the Great General Staff.[3]
Strength
1755
In December 1755, the line infantry counted 84,284 men in 99 battalions (including 2 battalions of pioneers and 2 of field artillery), more precisely (including supernumeraries and excluding junior staff and surgeons):
- 2,501 officers
- 5,844 NCOs
- 2,096 drummers and fifers
- 73,843 privates (including carpenters)
In December 1755, the garrison troops counted 21,289 men in 26 battalions (including the New Garrison Regiment and Garrison Artillery), more precisely (including supernumeraries and excluding junior staff and surgeons):
- 610 officers
- 1,488 NCOs
- 458 drummers and fifers
- 18,733 privates (including carpenters)
The 3,388 men forming the 22 grenadier companies belonging to the Garrison regiments were attached to the field army and counted:
- 88 officers
- 198 NCOs
- 88 drummers and fifers
- 3,014 privates (including carpenters)
In December 1755, the Land regiments counted 4,832 men in 25 companies, more precisely (including supernumeraries and excluding junior staff and surgeons):
- 102 officers
- 264 NCOs
- 66 drummers
- 4,400 privates
In December 1755, the cavalry counted 21,801 men in 61 cuirassier squadrons and 70 dragoon squadrons, more precisely (including supernumeraries and excluding junior staff and surgeons):
- 825 officers
- 1,572 NCOs
- 345 trumpeters and drummers
- 192 farriers
- 18,867 troopers
In December 1755, the hussars counted 9,248 men in 80 squadrons (excluding the Bosniak Uhlans), more precisely:
- 288 officers
- 640 NCOs
- 80 trumpeters
- 80 farriers
- 8,160 troopers[4]
Later
The infantry gradually trained a total of 60 infantry regiments by 1806. By 1806, the cavalry had formed a number of 35 regiments. In 1806, the artillery consisted of 4 field artillery regiments, a horse artillery regiment and 17 garrison artillery companies. In addition to these three branches of arms, there were also smaller groups in the Prussian army. Mention should be made of the technical troops (for example miners and pioneers/engineers), minstrels, the rudimentary medical service and the field preachers.
At Waterloo in 1815, a total of 200,000 men from three armies fought against each other. At Königgrätz in 1866, half a century later, all the armed forces involved already numbered over 480,000 men.
From the end of 1815 to 1859, the structure of the Prussian army remained largely the same. A major change took place in 1861 as a result of von Roon's army reform, when additional line regiments were founded at the expense of the Landwehr, which became significantly less important. With the formation of the North German Confederation, further contingents from smaller states were integrated into the army. From the founding of the empire until the outbreak of the First World War, the strength of the Prussian army continued to increase. It formed up to 80% of the Imperial Army.
In 1900, there were 17 Prussian army corps (plus three Bavarian ones with separate numbering, two Saxon ones and one Württemberg one). An army corps usually had two divisions under its command. The total strength of an army corps was: 1,554 officers, 43,317 men, 16,934 horses, 2,933 vehicles. The divisions usually comprised two infantry brigades of two regiments each, two cavalry regiments of four squadrons and a field artillery brigade of two regiments. An infantry regiment usually consisted of three battalions, each consisting of four companies, i.e. twelve companies per regiment.
In addition, an army corps had one or two foot artillery regiments, a Jäger battalion, one or two pioneer battalions, a train battalion and, in some cases, various other units, such as a telegraph battalion, one or two field engineer companies, one or two medical companies, railway companies, etc. available as corps troops. In 1900, an infantry regiment had a peacetime strength of 69 officers, six doctors, 1,977 non-commissioned officers and men as well as six military officials, a total of 2,058 men. A cavalry regiment had 760 men and 702 service horses. This strength applied to regiments with high budgets; regiments with medium or lower budgets had lower strength. An infantry company with a high budget had five officers and 159 non-commissioned officers and men, with a lower budget four officers and 141 non-commissioned officers and men.
In 1914, before WWI, the Prussian Army comprised 166 infantry regiments, 14 Jäger/rifle battalions, 9 machine gun departments, 86 cavalry regiments, 76 artillery regiments, 19 foot artillery regiments (fortress artillery), 28 pioneer battalions, 7 railway battalions, 6 telegraph battalions, 4 aviation battalions, 1 motor vehicle battalion, 19 train battalions (logistical transport).
See also
Further reading
- Königlich Preußische Ordens-Liste (1877, 1886, 1895)
- The 1895 edition has several supplementary volumes for decorations up to 31 January 1902
- Rangliste der Königlich Preußischen Armee from 1785 until 1914, hathitrust.org
- Rangliste der Königlich Preußischen Armee, Silesian Digital Library
- Rang- und Quartierliste der Königlich Preußischen Armee from 1784 to 1903
- Dienstalters-Liste der Offiziere der Königlich Preussischen Armee und des XIII. (Königlich Württembergischen) Armeekorps until 1919 (HathiTrust)
- Dienstalters-Liste der Offiziere der Königlich Preussischen Armee und des XIII. (Königlich Württembergischen) Armeekorps, 1918 (Google Books)
- Schlachten des Weltkrieges, 36 Volumes, Berlin und Oldenburg 1921–1930
- Jonathan R. White: The Prussian Army 1640-1871, 1996
- Robert M. Citino: The German Way of War: From the Thirty Years' War to the Third Reich, University Press of Kansas, 2005
- Benton L. Bradberry: The Myth of German Villainy, AuthorHouse, 2012, ISBN 978-1477231838 [454 p.]
- Daniel Krause: Verleihungen von Preußischen Kriegs-Orden und Ehrenzeichen im Ersten Weltkrieg
External links
- The Wars of Frederick the Great – German General Staff Study (Archive)
- Best soldiers of WWI (Israeli study in German)
- Prussian War Ministry (in German)
References
- ↑ Sidney B. Fay: The Beginnings of the Standing Army in Prussia, in "The American Historical Review", Vol. 22, No. 4 (July 1917), pp. 763-777
- ↑ The Prussian Army from Part II - The State of the Armed Forces
- ↑ Carey Brewer: The General Staff Of The German Army – A Lesson in Military Organization, February 1956 (Archive)
- ↑ Prussian Army
