German War Planning, 1891-1914: Sources and InterpretationsThe great deficiency in the discussion of German war planning prior to the Great War has been the dearth of reliable primary sources. Practically nothing was made public before the German Reichsarchiv was destroyed in April 1945, and this problem is compounded for Anglophone historians by the fact that the most interesting secondary literature was printed in German periodicals in the early 1920s. This book makes available in English translation many of the documents concerning German war planning before 1914 that survived the war, but were kept closely guarded by the East German army archives, and only became available with the fall of the wall. Included are the only archival history of German war planning, Wilhelm Dieckmann's Der Schlieffenplan, Hellmuth Greiner's secret history of the German west front intelligence estimate from 1885 to 1914, and two of the younger Moltke's General Staff exercises. The book also presents other little-known documents found in other German archives as well as the most important parts of the 1920s literature concerning the debate on the German war plan. The picture of German war planning which now emerges is both more complex and more credible than the previous single-minded emphasis on the 'Schlieffenplan'. TERENCE ZUBER has also written Inventing the Schlieffen Plan/ and The Moltke Myth; born in Cleveland, Ohio, he is currently living in Wurzburg, Germany. |
What people are saying - Write a review
We haven't found any reviews in the usual places.
Contents
The German Intelligence Estimate in the West | 7 |
German 1914 estimate of French deployment 467 | 46 |
Der Schlieffenplan | 49 |
Operations against Russia | 122 |
Eastern Front | 124 |
Part | 131 |
2nd 1902 Ost | 143 |
1st 1904 West | 155 |
NovemberDecember 1905 Kriegspiel West 1767 | 177 |
Part | 187 |
Ritters Schlieffen plan 1901 | 190 |
Moltkes 1908 Generalstabsreise West | 207 |
Part | 221 |
5th Army Aufmarschanweisung | 228 |
Wenningers Description of the German War Plan | 240 |
The Development of the German Operational Concept | 245 |
First 1904 Generalstabsreise West 1589 | 159 |
NovemberDecember 1905 Kriegspiel Ost | 169 |
Common terms and phrases
3rd Army 3rd Department 4th Army able according active corps addition advance appeared artillery assumed attack bank battalions batteries battle beginning Belgian Belgium brigades British cavalry divisions changes Chief commander completely concept concerning conduct considerable considered continue covering crossing decisive defeat defensive Denkschrift deploy deployment Dieckmann footnote direction documents east enemy entire envelopment estimate expected fact field flank forces fortifications fortress four France French front further German German army Greiner immediately included increase infantry initially intent Italy Landwehr left wing Lorraine Metz Meuse military mission mobilization Moltke Moselle moved movement necessary offensive operations position possible prepared probably question rail rear reinforced remained reports reserve corps reserve divisions Rhine right wing Russian Schlieffen plan side situation Staff strength strong success territorial troops units Verdun withdraw
Bibliographic information
| Title | German War Planning, 1891-1914: Sources and Interpretations Volume 21 of Warfare in history, ISSN 1358-779X |
| Authors | Terence Zuber, Retired United States Army Officer Terence Zuber |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | Boydell Press, 2004 |
| ISBN | 1843831082, 9781843831082 |
| Length | 312 pages |
| Subjects | › › History / Europe / Germany History / Military / Strategy History / Military / World War I |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |