How did the Prussian Army Dominate Europe in the 1800s? | Animated History

i'm excited to announce that the first gameplay trailer for our new game fire and maneuver has been released and you can check it out right now on steam using the link in the description fire and maneuver is a historical strategy game set during the years 1853-1871 and utilizes a simultaneous turn-based system we will also have a campaign system historical battles and a map editor that will be showing off on our development channel armchair history interactive our game will be released in early access on steam for free on june 15th so don't forget to wishlist if you want to support development and play the alpha build right now subscribe on patreon and join our discord which is also linked below she can almost hear the words in her beloved's voice marie von klosovitz sorts through her late husband's papers a seemingly bottomless well of military musings and observations in these pages is written the theory of carl von klassevitz the man whose book would lead the charge to turn prussia from a military failure shamed by napoleon into the military leader of europe as she reads her husband's words it's as if marie is on the battlefield at aursdet the prussian cavalry breaking around her as napoleon's squares put them to route she feels the sting of defeat marching in the loping retreat the horse bearing the now eyeless and mortally wounded duke of brunswick passing marie will live to publish her beloveds treat us on the art of war but not to see its effect the grand army of prussia crushing the stagnant french and the proclamation of a new german empire in the very seat of french vanity hi i'm griffin johnson the armchair historian voltaire once quipped that while many states have an army the prussian royal army had a state though thoroughly cliched by now voltaire's words are strikingly true military service and philosophy were key pillars of prussian society and helped this small militaristic kingdom become the force that would create a united germany and whose descendants would plunge the world into conflicts of titanic proportions in today's video we will chronicle what we believe are the twin historical times that made the prussian army the military juggernaut history buffs no and in some cases love from the embarrassments at the hands of napoleon to the jubilation at versailles this is a concise overview of the evolution of the prussian army one of the key factors that allowed the prussian army to win wars was military intelligence in the franco-prussian war many prussian officers had toured france in their youth memorizing the terrain and fortifications this brings us to the sponsor of today's video nordvpn which allows you to conduct your own missions into foreign territory with features like dynamic region switching using over 5000 servers in 60 different countries nordvpn remains the only strong reliable vpn that lets you access region-locked historical content alongside shows movies and documentaries from all across the world on top of that nordvpn comes with a host of extra tools like nordlocker an encrypted cloud storage system and nordpass for password security start building your intel report today with nordvpn and support our channel in the process by signing up using the link in the description below the fire that would forge the modern prussian army was first kindled during the napoleonic wars when prussia stood alongside the rest of the fourth coalition as they made their attempt to strike down the would-be tyrant of europe once and for all but the prussian steel initially forged by the military genius of frederick the great had grown brittle and rusty over the years leaving the nation fielding a force as disorganized as it was toothless the royal army had become a haven for social climbers seeking to use military service to advance their own careers and these politically minded officers rode the coattails of their forebearers lazily implementing tried strategies that were highly predictable petty bureaucracy and rivalries between these complacent officers exacerbated the royal army's issues the net result of all of this was a force whose rank and file soldiers were disciplined and proud to serve but whose movements were ponderous and predictable von klassevitz likened the royal army to a damaged building behind the facade all was mildewed jena austet saw the french outmaneuver the mildewed prussians particularly at auschdet at this fight 52 000 prussians attacked an invading french army half their size but the prussian officers lived up to their reputation invincing an utter lack of coordination and failing to press their numerical advantage during their initial engagements letting napoleon's army launch a bold counter-offensive the imperial french routed their germanic foes pursuing the prussians all the way to berlin their capital occupied the prussians put on a brave but ultimately futile resistance with the rest of the kingdom falling to the french in less than a month this shameful display was witnessed by the men whose names would be written on the pages of military history the aforementioned von klassevitz future officer core reformer gerhard von scharnhorst organizational mastermind august von kenaisenau and future waterloo victor gebert von bluker this cadre witnessed the embarrassment of their kingdom's military and would go on to play key roles in prussia's reclaiming of her military honor but before prussia could rise she had to fall napoleon dragged prussia to the negotiating table and foisted the peace of tilset on them in 1807 hobbling its armed forces and seizing large portions of prussian territory king frederick wilhelm iii determined to not let this happen to his kingdom ever again assembled the military reform commission not long thereafter their purpose was simple find what went wrong in the fight against napoleon and correct it with vigor von scharnhorst and antwan kenaisenau would lead the commission ably assisted by von klosovitz who would later use his notes from their meetings as the basis for on war the commission's main reforms were ending corporal punishment in the ranks introducing combined arms tactics and advocating for mass conscription von scharnhorst used his part to introduce meritocracy into the prussian officer corps opening it up to candidates outside of the aristocracy and advocating for an officer's qualifications to be in peace knowledge and education in times of war courage and conduct for the next six years napoleon would campaign and conquer while prussia reformed martial training was deeply embedded into general education and while the questionably qualified officers proved difficult to sack scharnhorst's push for more recruiting gave the kingdom's nepotistic and self-aggrandizing generals a competent group of assistants at the very least by 1813 king frederick wilhelm iii had a much improved force at his disposal and the will to use it napoleon's devastating defeat in russia gave frederick his opening and as france licked its frostbitten wounds prussia moved in on the injured empire in what would become known as the war of liberation prussia marshaled a full six percent of its population to reclaim its territory and its honor though and proved the royal army still had some travails facing napoleon's forces but the sixth coalition succeeded where the other five had failed and napoleon was removed from power with the fall of the french empire prussia joined the other victorious allies in re-establishing control of the continent and stood poised to implement its most ambitious reforms yet september 3rd 1814 saw a tectonic shift in prussian society frederick introduced conscription for all prussian males over age 20. three forces made up the new military apparatus the main standing army the militia and the reserves with the entire adult male population of prussia distributed among them one way or another a prussian man served it was this conscription force that joined the duke of wellington in defeating napoleon at waterloo in 1815 led by von bluecker the prussians were instrumental in defeating and pursuing napoleon's forces launching a fantastically successful attack on the would-be emperor's right prussia once again sat at the victor's table and witnessed the creation of the german confederation which would be replaced in time by a united germany under the prussian banner the roughly 30 years following frederick wilhelm iii's grand reform saw a number of key events that reshaped the face of war in europe new weapons like the breach loading rifle and rifled cannon were introduced sanitation was brought to the forefront due to the horrors of the crimean war and telegraphs gave the world near instant long-distance communication for the first time in history as the world evolved at an unprecedented rate so too did prussia educational rigor became a focus of the army's development with examinations for entrance into the officer corps introduced in 1844 interestingly for a society as seemingly militarized as prussia's there was a gradual disfavor of an entirely military education examinations for promotion and entrance would require not only the demonstration of military knowledge but a keen general knowledge as well the focus on education extended to all levels of the military even the common soldiers unlike most other european counterparts just about every single man in the prussian army could read and write this seemingly simple addition had dramatic and far-reaching implications now men could be taught advanced concepts using books and training manuals that could be studied while off duty and even during civilian life this also radically improved battlefield cohesion and strengthened lines of communication between units never again would a lucky shot paralyze a whole platoon by killing one officer who could read orders to his men prussia's growth was not isolated to education however the kingdom was an early adoptee of both the aforementioned breach loaders and rifled cannons in the form of the dressa needle gun and the infamous gun the dresa was a breech loading weapon that relied on a pre-packaged paper cartridge rather than a separate shot and powder the cartridge contained a bullet powder and a percussion cap which was struck by a needle within the chamber to fire hence needle gun the drasa was far easier to load than a muzzle loaded musket thanks to its cartridge and breach system but the all too essential needle was prone to damage from burning powder and the elements as the action was not airtight the main advantage of the dressa ultimately lay in the fact that early adoption meant the army had almost 30 years of experience with a modern quick firing infantry weapon while the rest of europe was still struggling to transition away from the musket on the other hand the revolutionary guns were a series of breech-loading field artillery pieces made of cast steel a common example was the c67 six-pound gun able to accurately deposit high-explosive canister shells onto targets up to five miles or eight kilometers away this was almost twice the effective range of the cannons still used by most european nations additionally crop artillery shells used some of the first contact detonators removing the need to keep large stockpiles of timed fuses on hand for different ranges these advantages would prove decisive in the critical war that would see the kingdom of prussia reforge itself into the empire of germany avid armchair viewers are doubtless familiar with the importance of the franco-prussian war this key event is the linchpin of prussian military dominance and the climactic event of their military evolution this was due largely to the efforts of one man field marshal helmut von moltka a dedicated student of von klosovitz multica oversaw a victorious revolution in the prussian army greater than anything frederick william iii could have dreamt of the prussian army that marched to war against the lesser of the two napoleons would ride the rails of military modernization to victory literally as chief of the general staff von moltka had laid careful preparations for this final war of german unification he and his subordinates oversaw an expansion in prussia's railway network purpose built for the rapid deployment of troops each and every addition to the communications baltic remarked especially the railroads must be considered a military advantage it was an advantage prussia would need as von multica knew that his army was equal to if not smaller than most forces on the continent efficiency and tactics would make the difference since prussia could not drown its enemies in a tide of conscripts like the russians or starve her foes into submission with a wooden wall like the british and their navy von moltka would instead focus on speed in a grim foreshadowing of blitzkrieg less than a century later the objective of the prussian army would be to overwhelm its force by lightning fast deployment using railroads and telegraphs the prussians would attempt to swamp their enemy in the opening stages of the campaign using the aid of the railroads to shuttle their men to the best defensive positions or get them into the most advantageous position to fall upon their enemies on a broader level von multica pressed for a goal of encirclement mobilizing his forces along a broad front to envelop and crush his opponent at the fastest possible pace von mulke's mind was not just of metal and wheels ever the logistical mastermind van multica posited the idea of march divided fight united which would see the prussian army divide its forces for deployment only to reorganize into a massive force to fight a decisive battle smaller forces proved less stressful on supply lines and if one such subsidiary force was somehow set upon and destroyed by the enemy the army as a whole would survive to avenge their fallen comrades and when these smaller units coalesced and battle was joined von moltka knew that if their commanders hewed strictly to the letter of their orders the battle was lost this was the traditional way of doing battle with the generals at the top giving specific orders and their commanders following them in the most literal sense no matter the result thus von mulke introduced the idea of giving subordinate commanders the initiative to react to changes on the battlefield while still serving the intent of their orders after all as the man himself said no plan survives contact with the enemy and by giving commanders on the ground the ability to react in real time vanmultka hoped to take advantage of the training and education prussia had focused so hard on giving its officers like many geniuses von mulke's ideas were not initially well received in their time in particular the aforementioned empowering of junior officers which was dubbed aftrak's tactic or mission type tactics was seen as reckless and costly should the junior commanders falter the simple truth was that fonmotica's ideas were anathema to the prevailing napoleonic era military mindset which treated war like a chessboard with a centralized command staff manipulating the movements of each piece down to the finest detail meanwhile under the prussian way of doing things field commanders were granted broad authority in reacting to the shifting situation on the battlefield if a prussian commander saw a glaring opening to exploit a lapse in his enemy's judgment or a sudden twist of fortune he had the ability to pursue it with vigor a napoleonic commander on the other hand would be forced to watch such opportunities slip through his fingers with the penalty of immediate court martial if he dared defy the centralized command structure thus were the prussians able to out-think and out-maneuver their enemies in addition to out-deploying them after years of careful planning and training the new prussian army was finally tested in battle against the austrians in the austro-prussian war of 1866. using five separate train lines the prussians were able to storm across the border and quickly coalesce into three army groups that totally outflanked their shocked austrian adversaries the initial engagements quickly showed the value of the dressa needle gun whose high rate of fire enabled the prussians to decimate the austrian infantry at close range yet at long range austrian muzzleloaders proved more accurate and a lack of krupp guns meant that the enemy artillery often outranged maltga's own but at the climactic battle of konigrates the prussians were able to decisively outmaneuver their austrian opponents and inflict some 20 000 casualties while taking another 22 000 prisoners of war the war ended in a total prussian victory and served as a vital proving ground for maltca's new stratagems giving him time to refine and perfect his techniques just in time for war against france which broke out just four years later in 1870 with van moltka at their head the prussians were able to deliver a stunning defeat to the french ironically using one of napoleon bonaparte's favorite tactics against them the prussians victory was secured through skillful use of modern artillery carrying on the legacy of the first french emperor in the fight against the second van molta's forces were armed with the latest in breach loading cannon from the infamous corrupt arms factories the climactic battle of sadan saw the prussians reach the height of their artillerist powers skillfully bombing the french into submission and securing the victory that forged the german empire with the victory over france the german empire was declared in the hall of mirrors at versailles and the evolution of the prussian army was complete from their defeat at the hands of napoleon the first the prussians took the lesson of making war a science a thing to be thought of and philosophized over in addition to waged prussian officers became educated technocrats and a push for innovation in tactics and arms saw this small germanic kingdom cast a large shadow over all of europe from the pages of von klausevitz to the timetables of von moltka prussia's rise was orchestrated by masterful generals and logisticians united in one purpose crush their enemies elevate their kingdom and never know the shame of defeat again [Music] you

Channel: The Armchair Historian

Views: 804,079

Keywords: Prussian army, prussian tactics, war of 1870, franco-prussian war, the battle of sedan, austro-prussian war, helmuth von moltke, otto von bismarck, napoleon iii

Id: DsStFKUNeDQ

Length: 20min 42sec (1242 seconds)

Published: Sat May 28 2022