The Battle of Königgrätz

The Battle of Königgrätz PDF Author: Gordon A. Craig
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 9780812218442
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
Königgrätz, a city overlooking the river Elbe, was a western strongpoint of the Austrian Empire. On the morning of July 3, 1866, Prussia attacked the city against high odds and defeated the Austrian army in a single day, despite the Austrian advantage in heavy artillery and command of the high ground. The fall of Königgrätz transferred power over the German states from Austria to Prussia, marking the beginning of the German nation, a political consequence considered to be among the most important of any conflict in modern history. The battle for the city of Königgrätz—now called Hradec Králové, located in the Czech Republic—was the largest of its time, with nearly half a million troops involved. It was also the first battle where the outcome was directly determined by the availability of new technologies, including the railroad, telegraph, cast steel rifled cannon, and breech-loading rifle. It also marked a lesson in the fallacy of dependence on technology at the expense of sound strategy. In this full account, distinguished historian Gordon A. Craig discusses the state of political affairs surrounding the battle, the personalities involved, the weaponry, and the tactics in order to recreate the battlefield in all its complexity.

The Battle of Königgrätz

The Battle of Königgrätz PDF Author: Gordon A. Craig
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 9780812218442
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
Königgrätz, a city overlooking the river Elbe, was a western strongpoint of the Austrian Empire. On the morning of July 3, 1866, Prussia attacked the city against high odds and defeated the Austrian army in a single day, despite the Austrian advantage in heavy artillery and command of the high ground. The fall of Königgrätz transferred power over the German states from Austria to Prussia, marking the beginning of the German nation, a political consequence considered to be among the most important of any conflict in modern history. The battle for the city of Königgrätz—now called Hradec Králové, located in the Czech Republic—was the largest of its time, with nearly half a million troops involved. It was also the first battle where the outcome was directly determined by the availability of new technologies, including the railroad, telegraph, cast steel rifled cannon, and breech-loading rifle. It also marked a lesson in the fallacy of dependence on technology at the expense of sound strategy. In this full account, distinguished historian Gordon A. Craig discusses the state of political affairs surrounding the battle, the personalities involved, the weaponry, and the tactics in order to recreate the battlefield in all its complexity.

The Road to Königgrätz

The Road to Königgrätz PDF Author: Quintin Barry
Publisher: Helion
ISBN: 9781909384965
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"Before the War of 1866 the name Helmuth von Moltke was scarcely known outside the Prussian army ... This book follows Moltke's part in the course of the campaign at the end of which his name had become a household word. It traces his rise to the position of Chief of the General Staff, against the background of the political situation of Prussia in the middle of the 19th Century, and the way in which he developed the functions of the General Staff."--Inside cover

The Campaign of Königgrätz

The Campaign of Königgrätz PDF Author: Arthur Lockwood Wagner
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Königgrätz, Battle of, Sadová, Czech Republic, 1866
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description


For God and Kaiser

For God and Kaiser PDF Author: Richard Bassett
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300213107
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 633

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Book Description
Among the finest examples of deeply researched and colorfully written military history, Richard Bassett’s For God and Kaiser is a major account of the Habsburg army told for the first time in English. Bassett shows how the Imperial Austrian Army, time and again, was a decisive factor in the story of Europe, the balance of international power, and the defense of Christendom. Moreover it was the first pan-European army made up of different nationalities and faiths, counting among its soldiers not only Christians but also Muslims and Jews. Bassett tours some of the most important campaigns and battles in modern European military history, from the seventeenth century through World War I. He details technical and social developments that coincided with the army’s story and provides fascinating portraits of the great military leaders as well as noteworthy figures of lesser renown. Departing from conventional assessments of the Habsburg army as ineffective, outdated, and repeatedly inadequate, the author argues that it was a uniquely cohesive and formidable fighting force, in many respects one of the glories of the old Europe.

The Austro-Prussian War

The Austro-Prussian War PDF Author: Geoffrey Wawro
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521629515
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
This is a history of the Austro-Prussian-Italian War of 1866, which paved the way for German and Italian unification. It is based upon extensive new research in the state and military archives of Austria, Germany, and Italy. Geoffrey Wawro describes Prussia's successful invasion of Habsburg Venetia, and the wretched collapse of the Austrian army in July 1866. Although the book gives a thorough accounting of both the Prussian and Italian war efforts, it is most notable for the light it sheds on the Austrians. Through painstaking archival research, Wawro reconstructs the Austrian campaign, blow-by-blow, hour-by-hour. Blending military and social history, he describes the terror and panic that overtook Austria's regiments of the line in each clash with the Prussians. He reveals the unconscionable blundering of the Austrian commandant and his chief deputies who fumbled away key strategic advantages and ultimately lost a war - crucial to the fortunes of the Habsburg Monarchy - that most European pundits had predicted they would win.

Moltke on the Art of War

Moltke on the Art of War PDF Author: Daniel Hughes
Publisher: Presidio Press
ISBN: 0307538516
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
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 Franco-Prussian War

The Franco-Prussian War PDF Author: Geoffrey Wawro
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521584364
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Wawro describes the Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1, that violently changed the course of European history.

The Austro-Prussian War in Bohemia, 1866, Otherwise Known as the Seven Weeks' War Or Needle-gun War

The Austro-Prussian War in Bohemia, 1866, Otherwise Known as the Seven Weeks' War Or Needle-gun War PDF Author: John H. Anderson
Publisher: London : Rees 1908.
ISBN:
Category : Austria
Languages : en
Pages : 114

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Book Description
Useful and reliable primer that was designed for use of Staff College students sitting exams in 1908, and as such gives a clear analytical account of this mid-19th century conflict. The Seven Weeks' War was the first war between two major continental powers in seven years, and used many of the same technologies as the American Civil War. The Prussian Army used von Dreyse's breech-loading needle gun, which could be rapidly loaded while the soldier was seeking cover on the ground, whereas the Austrian muzzleloading rifles could only be loaded slowly, and generally from a standing position. Superior Prussian organization and élan decided the battle against Austrian numerical superiority, the victory was near total, with Austrian battle deaths nearly seven times the Prussian figure. --

The Armies of Bismarck's Wars

The Armies of Bismarck's Wars PDF Author: Bruce Basset-Powell
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1612002293
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 386

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Book Description
The riveting story of the nineteenth-century rise of the Prussian army—a key factor in the unification of Germany—with maps and illustrations. On July 3, 1866, a Prussian force overwhelmed and defeated an Austrian army near the fortress city of Königgrätz in a bloody battle that lasted all day. At a stroke, the foremost power in Germany and central Europe had been reduced to a second rate player. The event caused anxiety and alarm in the capitals of the western world. How was an upstart country like Prussia able to upset the balance of power in Europe? Only sixteen years before, it had been put in its place by Austria with the treaty of Olmütz. Its performance as an Austrian ally had been less than stellar in the Second Schleswig War of 1864, despite its defeat of the Danes at Düppel. Yet within five years, a Prussian-led army would humble France and a Prussian king would be crowned emperor of a united Germany. The history of the world would be changed forever. This book tells the story of this army, chronicling its growth from the end of the Napoleonic Wars to the reforms of the 1860s, then offering a full account of the wars against Denmark in 1864 and Austria in 1866. The author shows how the confluence of three men’s lives—King William I, Helmuth von Moltke, and Otto von Bismarck—provided the essential ingredients that created this victorious army. The growth and influence of the General Staff is examined, along with the recruitment and training of officers and men. Powell fully describes the organization of the army and the fledgling navy, as well as the weapons with which they fought.

The German Way of War

The German Way of War PDF Author: Robert Michael Citino
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 456

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Book Description
For Frederick the Great, the prescription for warfare was simple: kurz und vives (short and lively) - wars that relied upon swift, powerful, and decisive military operations. Robert Citino takes us on a dramatic march through Prussian and German military history to show how that primal theme played out time and time again. Citino focuses on operational warfare to demonstrate continuity in German military campaigns from the time of Elector Frederick Wilhelm and his great sleigh-drive against the Swedes to the age of Adolf Hitler and the blitzkrieg to the gates of Moscow. Along the way, he underscores the role played by the Prussian army in elevating a small, vulnerable state to the ranks of the European powers, describes how nineteenth-century victories over Austria and France made the German army the most respected in Europe, and reviews the lessons learned from the trenches of World War I.