Iron and blood : a military history of the German-speaking peoples since 1500

more detailed bookmarks From the author of the acclaimed The Thirty Years War and Heart of Europe , a masterful, landmark reappraisal of German military history, and of the preconceptions about German militarism since before the rise of Prussia and the world wars. German military history is typically viewed as an inexorable march to the rise of Prussia and the two world wars, the road paved by militarism and the result a specifically German way of war. Peter Wilson challenges this narrative. Looking beyond Prussia to German-speaking Europe across the last five centuries, Wilson finds little unique or preordained in German militarism or warfighting. Iron and Blood takes as its starting point the consolidation of the Holy Roman Empire, which created new mechanisms for raising troops but also for resolving disputes diplomatically. Both the empire and the Swiss Confederation were largely defensive in orientation, while German participation in foreign wars was most often in partnership with allies. The primary aggressor in Central Europe was not Prussia but the Austrian Habsburg monarchy, yet Austria’s strength owed much to its ability to secure allies. Prussia, meanwhile, invested in militarization but maintained a part-time army well into the nineteenth century. Alongside Switzerland, which relied on traditional militia, both states exemplify the longstanding civilian element within German military power. Only after Prussia’s unexpected victory over France in 1871 did Germans and outsiders come to believe in a German gift for warfare―a special capacity for high-speed, high-intensity combat that could overcome numerical disadvantage. It took two world wars to expose the fallacy of German military genius. Yet even today, Wilson argues, Germany’s strategic position is misunderstood. The country now seen as a bastion of peace spends heavily on defense in comparison to its peers and is deeply invested in less kinetic contemporary forms of coercive power. Cover Title Copyright Dedication Contents List of Illustrations List of Maps Note on Form Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction Part 1: Balancing War and Peace 1 Warlords Military Power and Political Authority The Holy Roman Empire The Development of Collective Security Austria Germany Switzerland Cow Swiss and Sow Swabians The Public Peace and Foreign Service Enforcing the Public Peace Foreign Service Wars in Italy The Battle of Marignano and the ‘Invention’ of Swiss Neutrality, 1515 The Wars of Charles V Pavia and the Sack of Rome The Turkish Wars, 1521–33 Renewed Italian and Turkish Wars The Schmalkaldic War, 1546–7 The Princes’ Revolt and Renewed War with France, 1551–9 Peace and Security in a Confessionalized Age Western and Northern Security Eastern Security and the Long Turkish War 2 Forming Armies Supreme Field Captains Command and Control Military Administration War Councils Militia and ‘Mercenaries’ Vassals Militia Professionals Contracting Pike and Shot Army Size Infantry Cavalry Artillery Fortifications Command of the Rivers Navies in German History Mediterranean Campaigns The Hansa The Danube Flotilla 3 Going for a Soldier Good and Bad War Military Knowledge Attitudes to War Violence The Trade of War Motives Geographical Origins Social Origins ‘Dishonourable trouser devils’ Corporate Autonomy Mutiny and its Response Landsknecht Culture Landsknecht Dress The Campaign Community Welfare, Medical Care, and Mortality No Money, No War War Costs Fiery Taxes Economic Impact Part II: Accepting War as Permanent 4 Restraining the War Monster The Thirty Years War, 1618–48 The War in German History Causes The Bohemian Revolt and its Aftermath The Peace of Westphalia Collective Security, 1648–80 Peace Implementation Peace Preservation Initial Armaments The Turkish War, 1662–4 The Dutch War, 1672–9 Defence Reform, 1681–2 The Réunions, 1679–81, and Switzerland’s Response Imperial Defence Reform The Turkish and French Wars, 1683–1714 The Siege of Vienna and the Great Turkish War The Nine Years War, 1688–97 The End of the Great Turkish War The Great Northern War, 1700–21 The War of the Spanish Succession, 1701–14 5 Permanent Armies Generalissimos Field Command The First General Staffs War Commissariats and Councils From Contract to Commission Contracting Officer Appointment and Promotion Recruitment Militia and Conscripts Close Order and Firepower Size Infantry Cavalry Dragoons Light Troops Artillery and Technical Troops Fortifications Maiden Voyages Naval Developments The Imperial Navy The Brandenburg Navy and Colonies The Hansa The Swiss Flotilla 6 From Extraordinary to Ordinary Burden From Divine Punishment to State Necessity Military Knowledge Attitudes Violence A Precarious Existence Motives Geographic Origins Social Origins Campaign Communities Regulation Soldiers’ Identities ‘Camp Followers’ Medical Care and Welfare An Iron Century Human Impact War Finance Economic Impact Part III: Professionalizing War 7 Habsburgs and Hohenzollerns Austria Overstretched, 1714–39 Inner German Rivalry in a European Context Turkish and Mediterranean Wars, 1716–20 The War of the Polish Succession, 1733–5 The Turkish War, 1735–9 Imperial Civil Wars, 1740–63 Prussia’s Seizure of Silesia The War of the Austrian Succession The Seven Years War The Threat of Partition, 1764–91 The Military Imbalance The First Partition of Poland, 1772 The War of the Bavarian Succession, 1778–9 Austria’s Last Turkish War, 1788–90 Fighting for Survival, 1792–1815 The French Revolutionary Wars, 1792–1802 The End of the Empire The Rheinbund Switzerland Settling with Prussia, 1806 The War of the Fifth Coalition The War of Liberation, 1813–15 Change and Continuity 8 Professionalizing War By Royal Command Army Command War Ministries General Staffs Intelligence The Cadre System Officer Appointment Volunteers Militia Conscription Revolutionary Challenges The German Response Prussian Conscription Horse and Musket Size Infantry Cavalry Light Troops Artillery Technical Troops and Fortifications Ventures at Sea A Minor Role Austria’s Mediterranean Fleets Prussia’s Baltic Flotilla 9 Socialization of the Military Enlightened War and its Critics Military Knowledge Attitudes to War Violence Life on a Minimum Wage Motivation Geographic Origins Social Backgrounds Garrison Communities Legal Status Soldiers as a Corporate Group Medical Provision and Welfare Religion Not so Limited War The Human Impact The Financial Burden Economic Impact Part IV: Nationalizing War 10 War and Nation-Building Guardians of Order, 1815–51 Central Europe after Napoleon The German Confederation The Swiss Confederation Foreign Service and its Complications The Challenge of Revolution The Sonderbund War, 1847 Revolutionary War, 1848–51 The Schleswig-HolsteinWar, 1848–51 Excluding Austria, 1852–69 Austro-Prussian Rivalry Austria’s Setbacks in the 1850s The Second Schleswig-Holstein War, 1864 The Confederation’s Destruction, 1866 Forging Imperial Germany, 1870–1 War with France War with the French The German Empire Strategic Dilemmas, 1872–1914 New Alliances The ‘Short War Illusion’ Weltpolitik Calls for War The July Crisis 11 Nations in Arms A Genius for War? The Rise of the General Staff Napoleon’s Legacy for Germany States’ Rights Command during the Restoration Era, 1815–48 Mid-Century Disorganization General Staffs Operational Command Intelligence Line and Landwehr The Politics of Recruitment Militias and Civic Guards Long-Service Armies in Austria and the German States Prussia’s Short-Service Model The Roon Reforms Later Nineteenth-Century Pressures Rifles and Railways Size and Higher Organization Infantry Cavalry Artillery Specialist Troops Railways Fortifications Colonial Forces Luxury Fleets Developments to 1851 Mid-Century Reorganization Strategic and Technical Dilemmas after 1871 Heading into Open Waters, 1891–1905 Dreadnoughts, 1906–14 The View from 1914 12 Serving the Nation Dreams of Short Wars Military Knowledge Attitudes to War The Fear of Peoples’ War Colonial Violence and Genocide Duty and Reward Motivation Social Origins Part of Life Martial Law Soldiers’ Identities Marital Relations and Social Life Medical Care Care of Veterans The Treatment of Prisoners Limited War Human Losses War Finance Economic Impact Naval Construction Part V: Democratizing War 13 Demagogues and Democrats The First World War 1914–18 The ‘Spirit of 1914’ The Global War Stuck in the Mud The Duo Habsburg Failure The Victory Peace Stalemate Bad Choices Russia’s Defeat The Final Throw Collapse Revolution and Dictatorship, 1919–38 Stabbed in the Back? Fear of the Left The Freikorps Versailles Peace Implementation The Reichswehr The Ruhr and Rearmament Nazi Germany The Black Order The Wehrmacht Anschluss The Second World War, 1939–45 From Munich to War Poland War in the North and the West Switzerland From West to East Operation Barbarossa Case Blue Defeat in the Mediterranean Retreat in the East The End The Cold War, 1945–90 Civilian Powers? Occupation and Denazification Two Germanies Rearmament Cold War Strategy Reunification New Challenges since 1991 The Elusive Peace Dividend From Kosovo to Afghanistan European Security 14 From Total War to the End of War? Command in the Information Age The Last Warlords Civilian Control Intelligence Citizen Soldiers Conscription Military Service under National Socialism New Citizen Soldiers Female Volunteers Material Battles Size Tactics Gas Warfare Breakthrough Tactics Cavalry Motorization Tanks Fortifications Post-War Dilemmas Reform and Transformation In Search of a Role: The Germans at Sea The Surface Fleets U-Boats The Grand Scuttle Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine The U-BoatWar Post-WarNavies Air Power First Flight Air Power in the First World War Flight of the Phoenix Special Forces Bombing Air Defence Wonder Weapons Nuclear Weapons New Air Forces 15 Citizens in Uniform Total War and its Legacy Military Education Military Thought Blitzkrieg Violence War Crimes German Resistance to the Nazis Coming to Terms with the Past The Peace Movement Ordinary Men and Women Motivation Geographical Origins Jewish Soldiers Social Origins Women in Arms Armed Forces and Society Legal Status Innere Führung Tradition Occupation Medical Care and Military Welfare Prisoners Spiralling Costs Death and Displacement War Finance The War Economy The Hunger Blockade The Nazi War Economy Post-WarEconomies War Industries Outlook Notes Abbreviations Introduction 1. Warlords 2. Forming Armies 3. Going for a Soldier 4. Restraining the War Monster 5. Permanent Armies 6. From Extraordinary to Ordinary Burden 7. Habsburgs and Hohenzollerns 8. Professionalizing War 9. Socialization of the Military 10. War and Nation-Building 11. Nations in Arms 12. Serving the Nation 13. Demagogues and Democrats 14. From Total War to the End of War? 15. Citizens in Uniform Index "German military history is typically viewed as an inexorable march to the rise of Prussia and the two world wars, the road paved by militarism and the result a specifically German way of war. Peter Wilson challenges this narrative. Looking beyond Prussia to German-speaking Europe across the last five centuries, Wilson finds little unique or preordained in German militarism or warfighting. Iron and Blood takes as its starting point the consolidation of the Holy Roman Empire, which created new mechanisms for raising troops but also for resolving disputes diplomatically. Both the empire and the Swiss Confederation were largely defensive in orientation, while German participation in foreign wars was most often in partnership with allies. The primary aggressor in Central Europe was not Prussia but the Austrian Habsburg monarchy, yet Austria's strength owed much to its ability to secure allies. Prussia, meanwhile, invested in militarization but maintained a part-time army well into the nineteenth century. Alongside Switzerland, which relied on traditional militia, both states exemplify the longstanding civilian element within German military power. Only after Prussia's unexpected victory over France in 1871 did Germans and outsiders come to believe in a German gift for warfare--a special capacity for high-speed, high-intensity combat that could overcome numerical disadvantage. It took two world wars to expose the fallacy of German military genius. Yet even today, Wilson argues, Germany's strategic position is misunderstood. The country now seen as a bastion of peace spends heavily on defense in comparison to its peers and is deeply invested in less kinetic contemporary forms of coercive power"--Front dust jacket flap