The Enlightened Soldier: Scharnhorst and the Militarische Gesellschaft in Berlin, 1801-1805

by Charles E. White (Author)

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ISBN-13: 978-0275929367

ISBN-10: 0275929361

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This volume explores the essence of German military professionalism as exemplified by the nineteenth century Prussian German Staff. The study focuses on the most important Prussian military reformer--Gerhard Johann David von Scharnhorst, who in 1801 founded the Militarische Gesellschaft (Military Society) in Berlin. The Gesellschaft became the focal point for the transformation of the Prussian army from a robotic war machine into a modern fighting force that was instrumental in defeating Napolean in 1813 and in 1815. The author examines the following elements of this military society: its membership; the specifics of its agenda; the intellect, imagination, and habits of thought, reflection, and objective analysis of its members; Scharnhorst's particular contributions.

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About the Author

CHARLES E. WHITE is the Historian of the United States Army Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia, where he teaches miliary history.

Hardcover: 259 pages
Publisher: Praeger (November 17, 1988)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0275929361
ISBN-13: 978-0275929367
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Customer Reviews: 5 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,644,777 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3023 in History of Technology
- #3589 in Military Strategy History (Books)
- #805 in Military Sciences

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Not an original copy, not worth this price

December 29, 2018

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Besides the book being fantastic, shoppers need to understand that the high price of this book (normally) is due to the very rare aspect of finding Charles White’s book since it is out of print. When ordering i quickly realized that this product is a digital copy, reprinted, and advertised as an original. Definitely not worth this price. i give it 2 stars (vice 1) since the seller refunded the money quickly.

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An intellectual military tradition.

December 11, 2008

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This book highlights the dawn of the intellectual military tradition in Prussia that created an officer corps that *thought* and focused upon the result to be obtained rather than simply following processes.

Gerhard Von Scharnhorst emerges after Prussia's disasterous loss to Napolean to spark a new way in which officers, down to the lowest rank, are to approach their profession. He began with the "military society" wherin officers thought about war as a science rather than an art. Officers were responsible for their own intellectual development. They wrote papers, debated, explored and challenged each other. Von Scharnhorst led the deveopment of a military that consistently out-thought their opponents because they didn't simply follow orders. Officers, at every level, were focused upon the result to be obtained - even if this required *disobeying* orders from above in favor of what the situation in front of them required.

This doesn't mean that everyone acted on his own, but rather fulfilled the commander's *intent* by doing what is actually needed to produce a result that will facilitate the higher commander's desired result. They saw war as a creative act which required an intellectual framework and trust both down to a subordinate and upwards to the higher commander. As a result, they were consistently able to make decisions faster that their opponents.

This not the story of battles and campaigns. Rather, it is the story of reforming a system that no longer produced the desired result. It is the story of men who think about their profession and where disagreement and strenuous debate are not only tolerated, but encouraged. Compare that with the intellectual environment in the US Army between the world wars that threatened the careers of young Dwight Eisenhower and George Patton for simply *writing* about new technologies (such as the armored vehicle) and how they might challenge existing tactics and traditional combat arms.

This book should be read by every American military professional from lowest rank to highest as well as our political leaders. I heartily recommend this book to all interested in military science.

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Zach Roth

An excellent introduction

January 2, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

A must-read for anyone looking to understand proper military organization and how we could institute it in the US. Highly recommend.

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A Brilliant Book about the Foundations of Prussian Military Intellectualism

December 5, 2018

Format: Hardcover

Charles Edward White’s The Enlightened Soldier: Scharnhorst and the Militärische Gesellschaft in Berlin, 1801-1805 examines the Prussian military reforms that occurred under the direction of Gerhard Johann David von Scharnhorst during the Napoleonic Wars. White had studied history at Duke University and the United States Military Academy and served as the historian for the United States Army Infantry School at Ft. Benning, Georgia.

White notes in the preface to his work that in writing the book he intended to “discover the essence of German military professionalism as exemplified by the nineteenth century Prussian General Staff.” White explains in the introduction that Prussia’s military disaster at Jena and Auerstedt in 1806 proved a catalyst for reform. The kingdom had for too long believed that the military legacy and traditions of Frederick the Great were enough to ensure victory in any future war. However, Napoleon’s army with its revolutionary merit-based system proved far superior to the outdated and outclassed Prussian military. The work then demonstrates Prussia’s efforts to create a military that could defeat the French in the event of another Franco-Prussian war. Scharnhorst stood at the heart of this reform. White offers, “In the minds of most contemporaries, Scharnhorst was the indispensable driving force behind the remarkable rejuvenation of the Prussian army.”

White considers Scharnhorst’s early life and career in the German state of Hanover. As a young man Scharnhorst attended Count Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst zu Schaumburg-Lippe-Bückenburg’s military academy, and the old officer instilled important lessons about war and military organization in his pupil. One major concept that the count introduced to Scharnhorst was Bildung, a word that loosely translates as “culture.” This idea meant that military training and preparedness were essential tools to soldiers, and that the intellectual pursuit of understanding war was paramount for officers. While serving in the Hanoverian army, Scharnhorst authored influential works on the nature of war, including his Handbuch für Officiere in den anwendbaren Theilen der Kriegswissenschaften, that offered clear views on the role of the various arms in the military and the methods that should be employed, and the Neues Militärisches Journal, that presented the nexus of politics and war, and was published in several volumes. Further, the Journal recognized “that the political order played a key role in the effective utilization of the state’s military potential.”

Scharnhorst believed that in Prussia his ideas could flourish in a way that was impossible in the smaller Hanoverian army. He soon resigned his commission and accepted a Lt. Colonelcy in the Prussian army that also included the promise of ennoblement. Although Scharnhorst’s un-Prussian demeanor initially won him few friends in Berlin, he soon impressed his fellow officers with his intelligence and competence. White asserts that Scharnhorst’s creation of the Militärisches Gesellschaft, Military Society, proved an important step toward realizing Prussian military reform. White relates that informal, volunteer organizations dedicated to discussing military topics was nothing new. However, Scharnhorst’s society held the concept of Bildung as the core theme. White explains that “part of the lure was the opportunity for young officers to meet and learn from older and more experienced soldiers.” Like reformers in most ages, Scharnhorst met with conservative suspicions about his program. White asserts that the openness of the society was meant to allay elites’ fears that the movement was revolutionary, and indeed it was intended to disseminate experienced officers’ views.

White argues that Scharnhorst’s boundless energy and drive ensured that the society became Prussia’s major intellectual institution regarding military affairs. The society began to publish a journal written by and for Prussian officers that became hugely successful, and eventually another journal was published for public consumption. One of the views that Scharnhorst and the society championed was that France’s military success was not simply a matter of its martial prowess, but also stemmed from revolutionary political change that allowed common soldiers the opportunity for advancement and leadership. White notes, “French military superiority was the direct result of a new social and political order.” He further explains that “A contract between the government and people in France had unleashed the latent power of the individual. Careers were now open to men of talent and ability, giving the state enormous potential and power.” Therefore, Scharnhorst’s program rejected the idea of a single aristocratic commander exerting direct authority over his army and called for an organization of professional experts to run military units in conjunction with the commanding officer.
King Frederick William III generally supported Scharnhorst, but the army had still not adopted most of the reformer’s ideas by the time of Jena and Auerstedt in 1806. The defeat left a deep, humiliating scar on Prussia and proved the major impetus for the implementation of Scharnhorst’s views. August von Gneisenau was one member of the society who shared Scharnhorst’s outlook and worked toward reform. Gneisenau’s reputation had been bolstered during the war with France by his bold defense of Kolberg, and he joined Scharnhorst and Friedrich Karl Reichsfreiherr von Stein to champion the creation of a merit-based general staff system and technical military education for officers. White asserts that “Leadership would be equally attainable for all classes, not just the nobility.”

White considers the campaign against Napoleon in 1813 as it provided the testing ground for the reformers’ efforts. Unlike 1806, every army commander from division to corps to army had a professional staff system in place to plan and offer advice. These staff officers had been the product of Scharnhorst’s military education system. White notes that the reformers’ success owed much to Prussian Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. White maintains, “Blücher had the good sense to recognize his own educational shortcomings while appreciated those of Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Throughout the campaign, he relied implicitly on their judgement, creating an atmosphere that allowed plenty of room for both to operate.” Further, White asserts that the German idea that the relationship between a commander and his staff was not unlike a marriage began here.

White affirms that with regard to the military systems he put in place Scharnhorst alone among the Allies rivaled Napoleon as a leader. After Scharnhorst’s death in June 1813, the organization he created allowed Gneisenau to continue his work. The staff officer authored the Trachenberg Plan, a scheme that called for Allied armies to avoid direct conflict with Napoleon while they attacked his supporting armies. Indeed, the new Prussian General Staff matched Napoleon’s genius in operational planning and execution. During the 1815 Waterloo campaign, Scharnhorst’s system again paved the way for Allied victory. White offers Gneisenau’s decision to withdraw to Wavre after the Prussian defeat at Ligny as evidence of the success of the general staff system. He notes, “By withdrawing to Wavre, he placed the Prussian army in a position either to support the English or to retire to Liege, whatever the situation dictated.” This decision ultimately led to the Prussian arrival on the field of Waterloo at the battle’s critical moment. White explains that the educational system that Scharnhorst created in Prussia played a key role in the downfall of Napoleon. He states that “Scharnhorst mobilized Prussia’s military brain power and shaped it into an effective instrument of war.”

White records an impressive list of sources and relates in the bibliography that Scharnhorst’s papers are one of the few German collections to survive the Second World War. He employs Scharnhorst’s personal and professional correspondence, as well as his voluminous writings. White also mines the works of contemporaries such as Carl von Clausewitz, Blücher, and Gneisenau. In addition to the vast wealth of German primary and secondary sources, White’s work benefits from several English language works including David Chandler’s The Campaigns of Napoleon: The Mind and Method of History’s Greatest Soldier, Gordon Craig’s The Politics of the Prussian Army, 1640-1945, and Trevor N. Dupuy’s A Genius for War: The German Army and General Staff, 1807-1945, to name but a few.

White’s book is a rare combination of solid academic study and thoroughly engaging writing. Throughout the book, White expertly makes his case for the centrality of Scharnhorst in the development of Prussian military theory and operations, and the wider contributions of the reformers in general. White’s frequent employment of excerpts from Scharnhorst’s letters and writings support this thesis and illuminate the Prussian and Allied process to ultimately defeat Imperial France. White demystifies the evolution of the Prussian General Staff system and brilliantly illustrates the reformers’ hard work, dedication, and intelligence in creating it. The result is a magisterial book that Napoleonic experts and students new to the field should embrace.

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The Enlightened Soldier: Scharnhorst and the Militarische Gesellschaft in Berlin, 1801-1805