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Diplomacy and the Military in France and Prussia, 1870

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2008

Dennis E. Showalter
Dennis E. Showalter
Affiliation:
Colorado College
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Extract

It is a textbook cliché that the diplomatic history of Europe between 1815 and 1914 was characterized by the increasing prominence of military men and military considerations in policy-making. It is almost as generally accepted that the Franco-Prussian War was a milestone in the development of this process, particularly in the new German Empire. What must not be overlooked in the search for future portents, however, is the consistently minor role soldiers on both sides actually played in the diplomacy of 1870. This essay offers some generalizations on the background and structure of the relationships between soldiers and statesmen during the Franco-Prussian War.

Type
Articles
Information
Central European History , Volume 4 , Issue 4 , December 1971 , pp. 346 - 353
Copyright
Copyright © Conference Group for Central European History of the American Historical Association 1971

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References

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Historical Association, Boston, December 28, 1970.

1. Cf. the following standard English-language sources: Holborn, Hajo, A History of Modern Germany, 1840–1945 (New York, 1969), pp. 218ff.;Google ScholarCraig, Gordon A., The Politics of the Prussian Army (Oxford, 1955), pp. 204ff.;Google ScholarSimon, Walter M., Germany: A Brief History (New York, 1969), pp. 297ff.;Google ScholarPflanze, Otto, Bismarck and the Development of Germany (Princeton, 1963), pp. 458ff.;Google ScholarHoward, Michael, The Franco-Prussian War (London, 1961);Google ScholarRitter, Gerhard, The Sword and the Scepter, trans. Norden, Heinz (2 vols., Coral Gables, Fla., 1969–1970), I, 187ff.; II, passim.Google Scholar

2. Chalmin, Pierre, L'Officier français de 1815 à 1870 (Paris, 1957), Annex 2.Google Scholar

3. Ibid., pp. 251–52; Ralston, D. A., The Army of the Republic (Cambridge, Mass., 1967), p. 14.Google Scholar

4. Howard, Franca-Prussian War, p. 250.

5. Ritter, Sword and Scepter, I, 184.

6. von Moltke, Helmuth, Militärische Korrespondenz, ed. Generalstab, Grosser, Kriegsgeschichtliche Abteilung I (Berlin, 1896), III, 66ff.;Google ScholarEberhard, Kessel, ed., Helmuth von Moltke: Gespräche (Hamburg, 1940), p. 105.Google Scholar

7. Pflanze, Bismarck, pp. 361–63, 458.