Online Encyclopedia
Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.
MOLTKE, HELMUTH CARL BERNHARD, COUNT ...
Online EncyclopediaEncyclopedia Home :: MOL-MOS
del.icio.us it!
|
See also:MOLTKE, HELMUTH CARL BERNHARD, See also:COUNT VON (1800-1891) , Prussian See also: He was well received at court and in the best society of Berlin. His tastes inclined him to literature, to See also:historical study and to travel. In 1827 he had published a See also:short See also:romance, The Two See also:Friends. In 1831 it was followed by an See also:essay entitled See also: During the summer he made extensive reconnaissances and surveys, See also:riding several thousand See also:miles in the course of his journeys, navigating the dangerous rapids of the See also:Euphrates, and visiting and mapping many districts where no See also:European traveller had preceded him since See also:Xenophon. In 1839 the army moved south to meet the Egyptians, but upon the approach of the enemy the general became more attentive to the prophecies of the mollahs than to the See also:advice of the Prussian captain. Moltke resigned his See also:post of staff officer and took charge of the See also:artillery, which therefore, in the ensuing See also:battle of Nezib or Nisib, was the last portion of the Turkish army to run away. The See also:Turks were well beaten and their army dispersed to the four winds. Moltke with See also:infinite hardship made his way back to the See also:Black See also:Sea, and thence to Constantinople. His See also:patron Sultan Mahmoud was dead, so he returned to Berlin where he arrived, broken in See also:health, in See also:December 1839. When he See also:left Berlin in 1834 he had already " the courtier's, soldier's, See also:scholar's See also:eye, See also:tongue, See also:sword." When he returned it was with a mind See also:expanded by a rare experience, and with a character doubly tempered and annealed. While away, he had been a See also:constant See also:letter-writer to his See also:mother and sisters, and he now revised and published his letters as Letters on Conditions and Events in See also:Turkey in the Years 1835 to 1839. No other book gives so deep an insight into the character of the Turkish See also:Empire, and no other book of travels better deserves to be regarded as a German classic. One of his sisters had married an See also:English widower named Burt, who had settled in Holstein. Her step-daughter, See also:Mary Burt, had read the traveller's letters, and when he came See also:home as a wooer was quickly won. The See also:marriage took See also:place in 1841, when Mary was just turned sixteen. It was a very happy See also:union, though there were no children, and Moltke's love-letters and letters to his wife are among the most valuable materials for his See also:biography. On his return in 1840 Moltke had been appointed to the staff of the 4th army See also:corps, stationed at Berlin; he was promoted See also:major on his See also:wedding day. The fruits of his Eastern travels were by no means exhausted. He published his maps of Constantinople, of the Bosporus and of the Dardanelles, and, jointly with other German travellers, a new See also:map of See also:Asia See also:Minor and a memoir on the See also:geography of that country, as well as a number of periodical essays on various factors in the Eastern Question. In 1845 appeared The Russo-Turkish Campaign in Europe, 1828—29, described in 1845 by See also:Baron von Moltke, Major in the Prussian Staff, a See also:volume which was recognized by competent See also:judges as a masterpiece of military See also:history and See also:criticism. Moltke at this See also:period was much occupied with the development of See also:railways. He was one of the first See also:directors of the See also:Hamburg—Berlin railway, and in 1843 published a See also:review See also:article entitled What Considerations should determine the Choice of the Course of Railways? which reveals a mastery of the technical questions involved in the construction and working of railway lines.
In 1845 Moltke was appointed personal See also:adjutant to Prince See also: In 1855 he was appointed first adjutant to Prince See also:Frederick William (afterwards See also:crown prince and emperor), whom he accompanied to See also:England on his See also:betrothal and marriage, as well as to See also:Paris and to St See also:Petersburg to the See also:coronation of See also: The plan was mismanaged in the See also:execution, and the Danish army escaped to the fortresses of See also:Duppel and See also:Fredericia, each of which commanded a retreat across a strait on to an See also:island. The See also:allies were now checked; Duppel and Fredericia were besieged by them, Duppel taken by See also:storm, and Fredericia abandoned by the Danes without See also:assault; but the war showed no signs of ending, as the Danish army was safe in the islands of See also:Alsen and Funen. On the 3oth of See also:April Moltke was sent to be chief of the staff to the commanderin-chief of the allied forces, and, so soon as the See also:armistice of May and See also:June was over, persuaded Prince Frederick See also: Only one army corps could be moved along one road in the same day; to put two or three corps on the same road meant that the See also:rear corps could not be made use of in a battle at the front. Several corps stationed See also:close together in a small See also:area could not be fed for more than a day or two. Accordingly he inferred that the essence of strategy See also:lay in arrangements for the separation of the corps for marching and their concentration in time for battle. In See also:order to make a large army manageable, it must be broken up into See also:separate armies or See also:groups of corps, each See also:group under a See also:commander authorized to regulate its movements and action subject to the instructions of the commander-in-chief as regards the direction and purpose of its operations. In the strategy of 1866 the conspicuous points are: (1) The concentration of effort. There were two groups of enemies, the Austro-Saxon armies, 270,000; and the See also:north and south German armies, 120,000. The Prussian forces were 64,000 short of the adverse See also:total, but Moltke determined to be See also:superior at the decisive point against the Austro-See also:Saxons; he therefore told off 278,000 men for that portion of the struggle, and employed only 48,000 men in Germany proper. His brilliant direction enabled the 48,000 to See also:capture the Hanoverian army in less than a fortnight, and then to attack and drive asunder the south German forces. (2) In dealing with Austro-See also:Saxony the difficulty was to have the Prussian army first ready —no easy See also:matter, as the king would not mobilize until after the Austrians. Moltke's railway knowledge helped him to See also:save time. Five lines of railway led from the various Prussian provinces to a See also:series of points on the See also:southern frontier on the curved See also:line See also:Zeitz-See also:Halle-See also:Gorlitz-See also:Schweidnitz. By employing all these railways at once, Moltke had the several army corps moved simultaneously from their See also:peace quarters to points on this curved line. When this first move was finished the corps then marched along the See also:curve to collect into three groups, one near See also:Torgau (See also:Elbe army), another at the See also:west end of Silesia (first army, Prince Frederick Charles), the third between Lands-hut and See also:Waldenburg (second army, crown prince). The first army when formed marched eastwards towards Gorlitz. The small Saxon army at See also:Dresden now had the Elbe army in its front and the first army on its right flank, and as it was out-numbered by either of them, its position was untenable, and so soon as hostilities began See also:fell back into Bohemia, where it was joined by an See also:Austrian corps, with which it formed an advance guard far in front of the Austrian See also:main army concentrated near See also:Olmutz. The Elbe army advanced to Dresden, left a See also:garrison there, and moved to the right of Prince Frederick Charles, under whose command it now came. (3) Moltke now had two armies about roo miles apart. The problem was how to bring them together so as to catch the Austrian army between them like the French at Waterloo between See also:Wellington and See also:Blucher. If, as was thought likely, the Austrians moved upon Breslau, the first and Elbe armies could continue their eastward march to co-operate with the second. But on the 15th of June Moltke learned that on the 11th of June the Austrian army had been spread out over the country between Wildenschwerdt, Olmutz and Briinn. He inferred that it could not be concentrated at Josefstadt in less than thirteen days. Accordingly he deter-See also:mined to bring his own two armies together by directing each of them to advance towards See also:Gitschin. He foresaw that the march of the crown prince would probably bring him into collision with a portion of the Austrian army; but the crown prince had 100,000 men, and it was not likely that the Austrians could have a stronger force than that within reach of him. The order to advance upon Gitschin was issued on the 22nd of June, and led to one of the greatest victories on See also:record. The Austrians marched faster than Moltke expected, and might have opposed the crown prince with four or five corps; but See also:Benedek's See also:attention was centred on Prince Frederick Charles, and he interposed against the crown prince's advance four corps not under a See also:common command, so that they were beaten in detail, as were also the Saxons and the Austrian corps with them, by Prince Frederick Charles. On the 1st of See also:July Benedek collected his already shaken forces in a defensive position in front of See also:Koniggratz. Moltke's two armies were now within a march of one another and of the enemy. On the 3rd of July they were brought into action, the first against the Austrian front and the second against the Austrian right flank. The Austrian army was completely defeated and the campaign decided, though an advance towards See also:Vienna was needed to bring about the peace upon Prussia's terms. Moltke was not quite satisfied with the battle of Koniggratz. He had tried to have the Elbe army brought up to the Elbe above Koniggratz so as to prevent the Austrian retreat, but its general failed to accomplish this. He also tried to prevent the first. army from pushing its attack, hoping in that way to keep the Austrians in their position until retreat should be cut off by the crown prince, but he could not restrain the impetuosity of Prince Frederick Charles and of the king. During the negotiations See also:Bismarck, who dared not See also:risk the active intervention of See also:France, opposed the king's wish to annex Saxony and perhaps other territory beyond what was actually taken. Moltke would not have hesitated; he was confident of beating both French and Austrians if the French should intervene, and he submitted to Bismarck his plans in See also:case of need for the opening moves against both French and Austrians. After the peace, the Prussian See also:Diet voted Moltke the sum of £30,000, with which he bought the See also:estate of Creisau, near Schweidnitz, in Silesia. In 1867 was published The Campaign of I866 in Germany, a history produced under Moltke's personal supervision, and remarkable for its See also:combination of accuracy with reticence. On the 24th of December 1868 Moltke's wife died at Berlin. Her remains were buried in a small See also:chapel erected by Moltke as a See also:mausoleum in the See also:park at Creisau. In 187o suddenly came the war with France. The See also:probability of such a war had occupied Moltke's attention almost continuously since 1857, and a series of See also:memoirs is preserved in which from time to time he worked out and recorded his ideas as to the best arrangement of the Prussian or German forces for the opening of the campaign. The arrangements for the transport of the army by railway were annually revised in order to suit the changes in his plans brought about by political conditions and by the growth of the army, as well as by the improvement of the Prussian system of railways. The great successes of 1866 had strengthened Moltke's position, so that when on the 15th of July 1870 the order for the mobilization of the Prussian and south German forces was issued, his plans were adopted without dispute and five days later he was appointed " Chief of the general staff of the army at the head-quarters of his See also:Majesty the King " for the duration of the war. This gave Moltke the right to issue in the king's name, though of course not without his approval, orders which were See also:equivalent to royal commands. Moltke's plan was to assemble the whole army to the south of See also:Mainz, this being the one See also:district in which an army could best secure the See also:defence of the whole frontier. If the French should disregard the See also:neutrality of Belgium and See also:Luxemburg, and advance on the line from Paris to See also:Cologne or any other point on the See also:Lower See also:Rhine, the German army would be able to strike at their flank, while the Rhine itself, with the fortresses of Coblenz, Cologne and See also:Wesel, would be a serious obstacle in their front. If the French should attempt to invade south Germany, an advance of the Germans up either See also:bank of the Rhine would threaten their communications. Moltke expected that the French would be compelled by the direction of their railways to collect the greater See also:part of their army near See also:Metz, and a smaller portion near See also:Strassburg. The German forces were grouped into three armies: the first of 6o,000 men, under See also:Steinmetz, on the Moselle below Troves; the second of 131,000 men, under Prince Frederick Charles, See also:round Homburg, with a reserve of 6o,000 men behind it; the third under the crown prince of 130,000 men, at See also:Landau. Three army corps amounting to 1oo,00o men were not reckoned upon in the first instance, as it was desirable to keep a considerable force in north-eastern Germany, in case Austria should make common cause with France. If, as seemed probable, the French should take the initiative before the German armies were ready, and for that purpose should advance from Metz in the direction of Mainz, Moltke would merely put back a few miles nearer to Mainz the points of debarcation from the railway of the troops of the second army. This measure was actually adopted, though the anticipated French invasion did not take place. Moltke's plan of operations was that the three armies while advancing should make a right See also:wheel, so that the first army on the right would reach the bank of the Moselle opposite Metz, while the second and third armies should push forward, the third army to defeat the French force near Strassburg, and the second to strike the Moselle near See also:Pont-a-Mousson. If the French army should be found during this advance in front of the second army, it would be attacked in front by the second army and in flank by the first or the third or both. If it should be found on or north of the line from See also:Saarburg to See also:Luneville, it could still be attacked from two sides by the second and third armies in co-operation. The intention of the great right wheel was to attack the See also:principal French army in such a direction as to drive it north and cut its communications with Paris. The fortress of Metz was to be observed, and the main German forces, after defeating the chief French army, to march upon Paris. This plan was carried out in its broad outlines. The battle of Worth was brought on prematurely, and therefore led, not to the capture of See also:MacMahon's army, which was intended, but only to its total defeat and hasty retreat as far as Chalons. The battle of Spicheren was not intended by Moltke, who wishedto keep See also:Bazaine's army on the See also:Saar till he could attack it with the second army in front and the first army on its left flank, while the third army was closing towards its rear. But these unintended or unexpected victories did not disconcert Moltke, who carried out his intended advance to Pont-a-Mousson, there crossed the Moselle with the first and second armies, then faced north and wheeled round, so that the effect of the battle of See also:Gravelotte was to drive Bazaine into the fortress of Metz and cut him off from Paris. Nothing shows Moltke's insight and strength of purpose in a clearer See also:light than his determination to attack on the 18th of See also:August, when many strategists would have thought that, the strategical victory having been gained, a tactical victory was unnecessary. He has been blamed for the last See also:local attack at Gravelotte, in which there was a fruitless heavy loss; but it is now known that this attack was ordered by the king, and Moltke blamed himself for not having used his influence to prevent it. During the See also:night following the battle Moltke made his next decision. He left one army to invest Bazaine and Metz, and set out with the two others to march towards Paris, the more southerly one leading, so that when MacMahon's army should be found the main See also:blow might be delivered from the south and MacMahon driven to the north. On the 25th of August it was found that MacMahon was moving north-See also:east for the See also:relief of Bazaine. The moment Moltke was satisfied of the accuracy of his See also:information, he ordered the German columns to turn their faces north instead of west. MacMahon's right wing was attacked at See also:Beaumont while attempting to See also:cross the See also:Meuse, his advance necessarily abandoned, and his army with difficulty collected at See also:Sedan. Here the two German armies were so brought up as completely to surround the French army, which on the 1st of See also:September was attacked and compelled to raise the See also: On the 29th of October 1870 Moltke was created See also:graf (count or See also:earl), and on the 16th of June 1871, field marshal. After the war he superintended the preparation of its history, which was published between 1874 and 1881 by the great general staff. In 1888 he resigned his post as chief of the staff. In 1867 Moltke was elected to the North German Diet, and in 1871 to the Reichstag. His speeches, dealing mostly with military questions, were regarded as See also:models of conciseness and relevancy. He died suddenly on the 24th of April 1891, and after a magnificent funeral ceremony at Berlin his remains were Iaid beside those of his wife in the chapel which he had erected as her See also:tomb at Creisau. As a strategist Moltke cannot be estimated by comparison with Frederick or Napoleon, because he had not the authority either of a king or of a commander-in-chief. While it is doubtful whether he can be convicted of any strategical errors, it seems beyond doubt that he never had to See also:face a situation which placed any See also:strain on his See also:powers, for in the campaigns of 1866 and 187o his decisions seemed to be made without the slightest effort, and he was never at a loss. He had a tall spare figure; and in his latter years his tanned features had received a set expression which was at once hard and See also:grand. He was habitually taciturn and reserved, though a most accomplished linguist, so that it was said of him that he was " silent in seven See also:languages." The stern school of his See also:early life had given him a rare self-See also:control, so that no indiscreet or unkind expression is known to have ever fallen from him. Long before his name was on the lips of the public he was known in the army and in the staff as the " See also:man of See also:gold," the ideal character whom every one admired and who had no enemies. See also:AUTIIoRITIEs.—Gesammelte Schriften and Denkwiirdigkeiten See also:des General Feldmarschalls Grafen Helmuth von Mcltke (8 vols., Berlin, 1892-1893) ; Moltke's militarische Werke (Berlin, 9 vols., 1892-1900) ; Feldmarschall Moltke, by Max Jahns (3 vols., Berlin, 1894-1900) ; Feldmarschall Graf Moltke: Ein militarisches Lebensbild, by W. Bigge, Oberst, &c. (2 vols., See also:Munich, 1901). (H. S. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML. Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide. |
|
|
[back] MOLTKE, ADAM WILHELM, COUNT (1785-1864) |
[next] MOLUCCAS, or SPICE ISLANDS |