Chapter XXVII: Part II: Military System and Schools in Prussia (7)

Permission to follow the courses of the school involves for every officer the obligation to serve two years in the army for every year passed in the school.

Although the complete course is for three years, officers do not always continue it for more than one year. At the end of the year those only are allowed to return who have shown themselves deserving of this favor. Students lose the right of continuing their studies who neglect their lectures, or show indifference and a want of interest in their work, who come often too late, avoid the duties imposed upon them, or endeavor to escape their examinations.

PRUSSIAN STAFF IN 1869.[11]

[Footnote 11: By Col. Beauchamp Walker, C. B. 1869.]

The Prussian Staff (_Generalstab_) which has been completely reorganized since the war of 1866, subserves the double purpose of providing staff officers for the duties of the active army, and of collecting and arranging the statistical, geographical, and historical information necessary for the operations of war; further, it is the school in which young officers temporarily detached from their regiments, after a course of instruction at the Military Academy, have their qualifications tested before admittance to this branch of the army, and the principal office of the trigonometrical survey of the Eastern Provinces.

The head-quarters of this organization are at Berlin, where a large building is appropriated to the various offices and departments, in which the chief of the staff, General von Moltke, resides. It has two establishments:--

1. The peace-establishment, divided into--
_A._ Chief _état_, subdivided into
(_a._) The staff of the commands.
(_b._) The general staff, or _grosser Generalstab_.
_B._ The accessory _état, neben Etat_.
2. The war establishment.

The staff of the commands is so complete during peace as to require a very unimportant augmentation, and that chiefly in the lower grades, on the outbreak of war; the framework not only exists, but the officers comprising it are already acquainted with the generals under whom they serve, and with the officers and troops with whom they have to communicate.

At the head-quarters of each corps there are: a chief of the staff--sometimes a Major-General, more frequently a Colonel, exceptionally a Lieutenant-Colonel--a field officer, and a captain; at that of each division a field officer; there is also a chief of the staff with the General Inspection of the artillery. The subordinate duties are performed by the aides-de-camp, of whom there are two at the head-quarters of each corps, and one with each division and brigade; but these officers are not included in the establishments of the general staff, and wear the uniform of their respective regiments; are in no sense of the word aides-de-camp as existing in the English army; they bear the designation of _Adjutant_, and may more properly be compared to our Deputy Assistants and Brigade Majors: indeed the solitary Adjutant is the only assistant to the Major-General in the performance of the brigade duties. In the time of war the staff is further supplemented by _Ordonanz Offiziere_ attached as aids to the general officers in command.

The _Grosser Generalstab_ includes the officers of the staff who are not employed with the commands, and is stationed in Berlin under the personal direction of the chief of the staff. The _Neben_ or _accessory Etat_ includes the officers employed in the strictly scientific work allotted to this department.

The combined staff at head-quarters is subdivided as follows:

_a._ The three Sections;
_b._ The section for military history;
_c._ Trigonometrical section;
_d._ Topographical section;
_e._ Geographical-statistical section;
_f._ The map-room.

The three sections have the object of collecting and arranging information respecting the home and foreign armies. The home subjects to be treated are the means and warlike institutions of the State, its fortresses, magazines, ports, inland communications, the organization, recruiting, mobilization, armament, equipment, and drill of the army. The warlike systems of foreign nations, the strength and organization of their armies, regulations, and drill, the distribution of the troops, state of preparation for active service, and their systems of reinforcement and reserves, are the further subjects of inquiry. For these purposes the work is divided as follows, according to the division into--

_1st Section._--Austria, Russia, Sweden and Norway, Denmark, Turkish Empire, Greece, Asia.

_2d Section._--Prussia and North Germany, South Germany, Italy, Switzerland.

_3d Section._--France, Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, America.

The number of officers actually belonging to the two categories of principal and accessory establishments of the staff is 115, of whom 94 belong to the first, and 21 to the second named branch. In the first there are 17 chiefs of the staff--viz., 13 with the army corps, one with the General Inspection of the artillery, and three at the head of the three sections--47 field officers, and 29 captains. In the accessory establishment there are four chiefs, five field officers, and 12 captains.

The office establishment, inclusive of the Engineer geographers--who are non-commissioned officers of the Artillery or Engineers serving permanently in the trigonometrical section in place of the officers who were till recently employed temporarily in this office, and of whom there are at present 10--consists of 18 permanent officials, not including a head messenger, two chancery servants, two house servants, and a porter.

The supernumeraries comprise 40 officers attached for a year, 20 for duty with the staff generally, the remainder for surveying; 34 surveyors who are only employed during about five months in each year, and 41 draughtsmen.

The pay of the permanent staff amounts to 206,150 thalers, or 30,922_l._ 10_s._, the material expenses being 62,250 thalers, or 9,339_l._ 10_s._ Of this latter sum about two-thirds is required for office and surveying expenses; 17,000 thalers, or 2,550_l._, are allowed for the annual journeys of instruction undertaken by the staff, and 3,000 thalers, or 450_l._, for allowances to officers traveling for scientific or professional purposes.

The actual sum disbursed for office and surveying purposes is 47,450 thalers, or 7,417_l._ 10_s._, of which 7,000 thalers, or 1,050_l._, are recovered by the sale of maps and works published by the staff, 2,000 thalers, or 300_l._, being derived from the profits of the bi-weekly military paper, “_Militair Wochen Blatt_.”

Besides the duties already mentioned, the staff at head-quarters undertakes:

1. The training of officers for staff purposes. To this end young officers who have passed the prescribed three years at the Military Academy, “_Kriegs Akademie_,” are attached for a year to the different sections, where they are required to draw up reports on strategical and tactical questions, critical reports on the military events of past eras, descriptions of the ground embraced in military operations, and of the military organization of foreign countries. These essays, when of special value, are laid before the chief of the staff.

2. The preparation of printed reports on foreign armies, which are
distributed to the staff officers employed elsewhere.

3. The contribution of papers on professional subjects to the
“_Militair Wochen Blatt_,” or military paper.

This publication, which appears twice a week, was formerly edited in the office of the staff, but has lately been in the hands of a responsible editor, a colonel on half-pay, who stands, however, in intimate connection with the office. The contribution required from the staff is twenty sheets of printed matter annually from the various departments, a much larger amount being furnished, from which the chief selects what he considers suitable for publication.

4. Military tours of instruction, for which a sum of 2,550_l._ is
annually granted.

All the officers who can be spared from the duties of the office take part in these tours, as also a few staff officers called in from the commands, and a selection from the commanders of regiments.

They are also made on a smaller scale by the staff of the Corps, augmented by regimental officers attached for instruction, under the superintendence of the respective chiefs of the staff.

For the tour superintended by General Von Moltke, the theatre of operations and certain conditions likely to influence them are indicated, a supposed strength is given to two opposing armies, their depots and means of reinforcement are clearly laid down, and the influence likely to be exerted by the movements of other armies or bodies of troops on their flanks are taken into calculation. According to these data the senior officers present make their plans of manœuvre, employing their juniors in the preparation of all the subordinate arrangements, the movements of the troops, the selection of positions for attack or defense, the arrangements for supply, and for retaining a communication with the base. All these measures are carried out on the spot, and daily reports are made to the superintending officer, which, when necessary, are accompanied by such rough sketches as are usual during the progress of a campaign.

From these materials he is enabled to form an idea in what degree the spirit of the operations has been grasped by the directing officers, and in how far their juniors are instructed in the details of duties which they may hereafter be called on to perform.

5. A large share in the military education of the army generally, by taking part in the lectures given in the various educational establishments, and by acting as members of the commissions of examination and of studies.

6. Officers of the head-quarter staff are also detached to attend the annual corps manœuvres, those taking place in foreign countries, or the active campaigns of friendly allied nations.

Of the three sections into which the head-quarter staff is divided, the railway department forms part of the second of these sections, the chief of which selects an officer to preside over and superintend the working of it, and gather materials on inland and foreign railway communication. Certain officers are attached permanently, similarly, in fact, to those belonging to the sections of the accessory establishment, who have not only to make themselves theoretically masters of their subject, but by traveling on the various lines acquire practical acquaintance with the working of railway transport in all its phases. With a view to diffusing this knowledge as largely as possible, all officers of the staff have since 1867 been required to attend a six weeks’ course of study with this branch.

The section of military history has charge of the war archives of the Prussian army and of the library of the general staff, for additions to which latter a sum of 1,100 thalers, or 165_l._, annually, is voted.

The staff of the section is occupied not only with subjects of recent and immediate interest, but with the study and arrangement of materials belonging and relating to the wars of earlier date, of which there is a valuable collection, consisting of reports, day-books, plans, and other documents, many of them legacies of the prominent actors in the scenes to which they relate. The library is well supplied with the most important works in all languages on military history, tactics, geography, and military science.

The trigonometrical and topographical sections stand in intimate connection with each other. Since 1865 the former is charged with the survey of the Eastern Provinces, a work which it is hoped will be concluded in ten years, under the direction of the chief of the staff.

Under the present organization there are always forty young officers attached to the head-quarter staff, but only for one year, their absence from regimental duty having proved detrimental, while the current work is naturally better executed when carried out by permanent _employés_, thus avoiding the interruption caused by constant reliefs.

The geographical-statistical is a new section, the necessity for which arose from the overcrowding of other branches, particularly of the map-room. So much material had accumulated in the other branches that it was found necessary to establish a section in which the scattered information could be condensed in the form of statistics. To this end the former geographical subsection was altered into its present form with an enlarged sphere of work, and the charge of the collection of maps was transferred to it from the map-room, which had become so much overcrowded with old materials as to have neither room nor time for the ordinary business of taking charge of the current surveys and of the maps and charts intended for distribution to the army.

With a view to facilitating the collection of the best geographical and statistical materials all the sections are placed _en rapport_ with the new section, to which they are required to forward all special material coming under notice, and all books or pamphlets which contain geographical or statistical information. This section stands also in constant communication with the civil statistical bureau.

The duties of the “_Plankammer_” (map-room) are now restricted to the care of the topographical instruments of the original surveys of the topographical section, of new maps prepared for distribution, and of the financial business of the general staff. All the scientific duties of the map-room have passed over to the geographical statistical section.

There is no regulation on the admission of officers to the staff, nor is there any direct preliminary examination. They are selected from:--

1. Those who have completed the prescribed course at the Military Academy.

2. Those who notify their desire to enter the staff.

3. Those who are recommended by their superiors as officers likely to become useful staff officers.

The year of probation at head-quarters, already mentioned, affords the opportunity of forming an opinion as to the capabilities of these officers, who at its conclusion return to their regiments, where they are usually employed as adjutants, or, on the occurrence of vacancies, with the brigades, divisions, or corps.

PRUSSIAN MILITARY EDUCATION IN 1869-70.

CHANGES SINCE 1856.

The following remarks are gathered from the “Report of the Military Education Commission presented to both Houses of Parliament,” in 1870, in continuation of the Report submitted in 1856, on the Systems of Military Education in France, and Prussia.

1. The chief alterations that have taken place in the system of
military education in Prussia since 1856, are as follows:--

(_a._) All the educational establishments have been very much enlarged, owing to the increase in the army which has taken place since 1866.

(_b._) The educational requirements for a commission remain in principle the same as they were--the double examination for the rank of officer, and the exaction from every candidate for a commission of proof of both general and professional knowledge being still the peculiar feature of Prussian military education. There has been, however, a constant tendency to raise the standard of the preliminary examination in subjects of general knowledge, and to insist more strongly upon a sound liberal education as a condition of obtaining a commission. The number of _Abiturienten_, or men who have passed through the complete course at a public school, entering the army annually is now four times as great as it was in 1856, and there is the strongest wish still further to increase their number.

(_c._) The Cadet Schools in their general character are unaltered; the introduction of the peculiar class of the Ober-prima in the Upper Cadet School at Berlin is the most important modification made in their organization. The proportion of officers supplied by the Cadet Schools continues much the same as it was in 1856. The feeling in the army, however, against preparatory military schools appears to be increasing; a strong opinion is entertained as to the narrowing effects upon the mind of exclusive class education; and a preference is very generally exhibited for officers who have had the ordinary education of civil schools. At the War Schools (_Diossi, on Schools in 1856_), the Artillery and Engineer School, and the War Academy (_Staff School in 1856_), a decided opinion was expressed as to the intellectual superiority of the _Abiturienten_ over those who have been educated in the Cadet Corps.

(_d._) The arrangements for the professional instruction of officers of corps have been very much altered. These officers now have their education up to the time of obtaining their commissions in common with candidates for the line; their _special_ instruction does not commence at the Artillery and Engineer School until they have been in the service three or four years. For the Artillery, the course at this school has been reduced to one year, and made strictly practical in character.

(_e._) The course of instruction at the War Academy, or Senior Department, has been considerably modified; though still comprising many subjects of an entirely unprofessional character, their number has been reduced; the attention of the students is more concentrated upon military studies than formerly, and a larger amount of time is devoted to practical work. In short, the object has been to render the instruction less purely theoretical than it formerly was.

(_f._) The most important change, however, which has been made is in regard to the War Schools--the Schools at which officers of all arms receive their _professional_ instruction. Since 1856 they have been entirely re-organized, and placed under the direct control of the Central Educational Department; a much higher class of teachers are employed; the character of the instruction has been greatly improved; and attendance at one of these schools is, with rare exceptions, made compulsory upon every one before obtaining a commission. These schools hold a most important position in the Prussian system of military education, and the greatest pains are bestowed on making them answer the purpose for which they are intended--that of giving a thoroughly practical instruction in military subjects to candidates for commissions. The improvements made in the War Schools show the greatly increased importance attached of late years in Prussia to the professional instruction of officers.

2. However different the French and Prussian systems may be in some respects, they both agree in this--that no attempt is made to give a special military education at an early age, that a general education is made the ground-work of the professional training, and that at least up to the age of 17 or 18 the future officer receives the same kind of education as the civilian, and in the great majority of cases receives it at the ordinary schools of the country. In Austria, also, the same principle seems now to have been adopted. The cadet schools in Prussia are no exception to the rule, for the instruction at them, except in the two upper classes at Berlin, is the same as at civil schools. The principle of deferring military education to a comparatively late age is, indeed, in Prussia carried even to a greater extent than in France, for all professional instruction is postponed until after the service has been entered, and regimental duty been performed for nearly a year. The few who enter the army from the Ober-prima and Selecta of the Cadet Corps (not amounting to 70 each year) are the only individuals who receive any military instruction before joining the service, and in their case this special instruction does not commence until the age of 17. So strongly is this principle insisted upon, that even for the artillery and engineers there is no preparatory military education, and the special instruction of the officers of these arms is not given until after they have been some years in the service. The idea in Prussia is that a young man can derive no advantage from studying the _theory_ of the military profession until he has learnt the _practice_ of it. “What use can it be,” it was said, “to talk to a lad of the principles of tactics, when he does not even know the movements of a battalion, and perhaps has never seen one on parade?”

3. After, however, entering the service _all_ the officers of the Prussian army receive a careful professional instruction--that given at the War Schools. The course is of an essentially practical character, comprising only strictly military subjects, and excluding such studies as mathematics and even languages.

4. The officers of the staff do not necessarily receive any special training previous to their appointment; but in Prussia this is of less importance, as from the professional education which every officer has had, those appointed to the staff, even if they have not passed through the Senior Department, must at least be acquainted with field sketching and military regulations, and know something of fortifications and artillery. Moreover, after appointment, means are taken in the “staff expeditions” which occur annually, to instruct them in their practical duties, and (as is the case also in France with the officers of the Staff Corps) to insure their keeping up the knowledge of field sketching and reconnaissance which they had previously acquired.

5. The connection which exists in Prussia between the military system and the general education of the country is remarkable. _Portefée-fahnrich_, examinations are not only based on the course of instruction at civil schools, but have been also used as a means of raising the character of the education given at these schools. On the one hand, the advantages offered to _Abiturienten_ and to those who have been at a university, indicate a wish to encourage men of liberal education to enter the army as officers; on the other hand, by making exemption from the ordinary period of compulsory service in the ranks dependent (among other conditions) on educational attainments, the military system has been employed as an engine for stimulating education among the middle classes.

6. The general management of military education is vested in a single officer, the Inspector-General. He is assisted by two Boards or Councils, the Board of Studies in matters connected with the general system of instruction, and the Supreme Examination Board in regard to the examinations and qualifications for commissions. The system of education has been still further centralized since 1856, especially in the case of the War Schools; and much of the progress that has been made is ascribed to the unity now given to the whole system of instruction. At the same time each of the educational institutions has its own Board of Studies, similar to the _conseils d’instruction_, at the French schools, who are charged with the general control of the course of study and with the duty of making suggestions for its improvement. Several of the professors, both civil and military, are always members of this Board; so that the benefit of their practical experience is secured, and the control of the instruction is never left entirely in the hands of one man, nor even exclusively of military men. The introduction of the civilian element into these Boards is deserving of notice; not merely the professors of the schools, but eminent men connected with the University of Berlin are employed upon them, and have a voice in determining the system of military education.

7. In discipline the heads of the various schools are almost entirely supreme. At the War Schools the young men are subject to military law, being already in the army; at the Cadet Schools this is not the case, but the discipline is strictly military in character. At both establishments the regulations are extremely stringent, and the slightest irregularity entails punishment. But the importance attached to the exercise of moral influence over the pupils, the personal interest taken in them, and the kindly relations existing between them and the officers, make the system of discipline much less rigidly military than it is at the French schools. Both at the War Schools and the Cadet House, specific punishments are attached to idleness.

8. In the appointment of the heads of the various schools and of the subordinate officers employed at them, great attention seems to be paid to selecting individuals fitted for the posts both by educational experience and by personal qualities. There appears to be rather a general opinion that the instructors at most of the schools are underpaid, and that this, combined with the preference frequently given to active military life, prevents the posts being much sought after by the ablest officers. On the other hand, however, selection for such appointments is always regarded as a distinction; and in the Prussian army mere honorary distinctions, altogether irrespective of material advantages, are held in much higher estimation than is probably the case in any other service.

9. The most marked point of contrast between the French and Prussian systems of military education consists in the thoroughly competitive character of the former. In Prussia the principle of competition, though to a certain extent recognized, is little applied in practice, and never perhaps fully and strictly carried out. For promotion to the highest class (the Selecta) of the Berlin Cadet house there is considerable competition among the pupils, and admission to the War Academy is obtained by competitive examination open to all the officers of the army; but even in these two cases personal and other considerations come more or less into play, and the rewards can not be said to be thrown open to pure competition. All the other military examinations are simply qualifying, and there is no attempt to afford the stimulus of publishing a list of the candidates arranged in order of merit. In fact the term “competitive examination” scarcely seems to be understood in Prussia. The pecuniary assistance afforded by the State for the education of boys in the Cadet Schools is dependent solely on the circumstances and services of the father, not on the abilities of the candidate himself.

10. The objections expressed to the further introduction of a competitive system appear to be universally entertained in the Prussian army. The object in Prussia seems to be, not to attempt to establish an accurate _comparison_ of the educational attainments of a number of individuals, but to form a _general estimate_ of the abilities, character, and military capacity of each. The army generally are not considered to be losers by the rejection of the competitive principle; the system of inspections and of reports from inspecting officers is so elaborate, and so many checks are provided, that the character and abilities of individual officers are well known; and appointments, certainly as a general rule, are said to be made on the ground of real merit.

11. There appears to be less strictness in enforcing the regulations connected with military education in Prussia than in France. The regulations themselves are very stringent, but exceptions are constantly sanctioned--for instance, in the length of time which a pupil is permitted to remain in the same class of the Cadet Schools, in the number of failures allowed in the various examinations, &c.

12. The very great care bestowed upon the method of instruction at all the Prussian military schools, is extremely remarkable. Individual instructors are not left to follow out their own ideas of teaching, but careful regulations are issued for their guidance by the Inspector-General of Education, to which all are required strictly to conform. The system of small classes in striking contrast to the French plan of lectures to large numbers, is a remarkable instance of the anxiety to devote attention to individual students, and to adapt the instruction to varieties of ability. But the most remarkable feature of the system of teaching is the care bestowed upon the higher objects of education, upon forming and disciplining the mind and encouraging habits of reflection. The regulations for the instructors at the various schools over and over again assert that the great object to be kept in view is, not merely to impart a certain amount of positive knowledge, but to develope the intellectual faculties and to cultivate powers of thought and reasoning. The teachers are warned to avoid minute details and barren facts, which merely burden the memory and are soon forgotten, and to direct attention to broad principles, which will lay the foundation for further individual study in after life. With the same object in view, the examination questions are calculated, not merely to serve as an exercise of the memory, but to test an intelligent acquaintance with a subject, and the power of turning knowledge to a useful purpose.

[Errata for Part II (Prussia):
_The spelling “militair” (for expected “militär”) occurs frequently
in this section._

Out of its twenty first directors
twenty-first
“appeared to him in painful contrast
_“ missing_
instead of the examination for the Swordknot, being declared
Swordknot.
for the commission of second lieutenant.
lieutentant
[The annual cost to the state of the military schools in 1856]
| 5,872 | 250 | 5,922 | [first row]
| 146,132 | 108,777 | 254,909 | [totals]
_the sums will come out right if the first-row total is corrected
to 6122, _and_ 4 is added to some item in the middle column (and
hence the third-column total)_
or unsatisfactory (_ungenügend_.)
the principles of plan drawing (_Terrain-Darstellung_;)
_both closing ) missing_
3. Topographical survey of a locality (theoretically and practically,)
theorectically
the average number at a lesson would not be more than twenty-three.
more that
appointed by the _Curatorium_ as his assistant.
_Cutatorium_
twelve military and eleven civilian professors and teachers.
_partial word “teach-/” missing at page break_
Besides military subjects, it includes a very full
_partial word “sub-/” missing at line break_
At their meetings, all matters relating to instruction
_text has “in-/instruction” at line break_
pupils employed as superintendents receive small pecuniary allowances
recieve
The following plan of instruction was prepared by Dr. Harnisch
. invisible
with the mode of discovery and cure of the same
_text has “of / of” at line break_
PROGRAMMES OF THE PRINCIPAL SUBJECTS
PRINCIPLE
3. Problems on field fortification
8.]

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