Chapter I: The Spirit of Prussian Military Institutions

The general staff has been described as the "brain of an army." The metaphor is peculiarly apt, for the staff, like the human brain, is not independent but a part of an organic whole. It can perform its functions only in connection with a body adapted to its control, and united with it by the ramifications of a nervous system. How then is the Prussian army adapted to receive the impulses conveyed from its intellectual centre?

An army is what its officers make it, and in the Prussian army the officers take their profession seriously. It may be doubted whether there is in the world any body of men so entirely single-minded in their devotion to duty. Most of them are, according to English notions, ridiculously poor. Their pay is small, and they have never made the acquaintance of luxury.

In 1874 the emperor in an official address to the army wrote, "The more general the spread of luxury and comfort, the more solemnly is the officer confronted by the duty never to forget that his honourable position in the state and in society has not been gained and cannot be maintained by material wealth. Not only does an enervating mode of life damage the combatant qualities of an officer, but the pursuit of gain and comfort would dangerously undermine the very ground upon which the officer's position is built up."[1] These words fairly express the spirit of those to whom they were addressed, and many an officer takes a pride in his poverty, and starves with cheerfulness and even with merriment. Some of the superior officers have set the example by abandoning the dearly-loved cigar, and a Prussian officer's mess has decidedly no attractions for the gourmet.

"Teacher and leader in every department is the officer. This implies that he is superior to his men in knowledge, experience, and strength of character. Without fearing responsibility, every officer in all circumstances however extraordinary is to stake his whole personality for the fulfilment of his mission, even without waiting for orders."[2] This is the foundation stone of Prussian discipline, the secret by which is secured "the legitimate ascendency of the officers, the justified confidence of the soldiers, the daily interchange of mutual devotion, the conviction that each one is useful to all and that the chiefs are the most useful of all."[3] The attainment of the ideal thus officially set up is facilitated by the system of promotion. The principle of seniority, without which no public service can be a profession or offer a career, is allowed its legitimate place, being modified only by the retirement of the incapable, and by special selection for the general staff. "It is necessary that the higher commands should be attained only by such officers as unite distinguished abilities and military education with corresponding qualities of character and with bodily activity."[4] Moreover, "it is the special duty of the general commanding to see that all the commandants of fortresses, all the commanders of divisions, brigades, regiments, and battalions, and all the field-officers in the district of his army-corps, retain their posts only so long as they have the bodily activity necessary for service in the field, and the knowledge and capacity needed for their several particular callings. The moment he notices in this respect the slightest change to the detriment of my service, it is his duty, for which he will be held responsible, to inform me. He must also send me the names of all officers who distinguish themselves or are fit for a higher post."[5]

The first feature, then, of the Prussian system is the method by which it is attempted, with considerable success, always to put the right man in the right place, and having done so, to see that he keeps up to the mark.

[1] _Verordnung über die Ehrengerichte der Offiziere im Preussischen Heere_, May 2nd, 1874.

[2] _Felddienstordnung_, 1887, § 6.

[3] Taine, _L'Ancien Régime_, p. 108.

[4] Cabinet order of May 8th, 1849.

[5] Cabinet order, _i.e._ King's order in Cabinet of March 13th, 1816.