During thirty years as the Prussian chief of the general staff, Helmuth yon Moltke led the unification of the German states and established Germany as the dominant European power. Moltke is credited as being the innovator of the modern military staff system. He also perfected a rapid-mobilization system using rail systems and improved command and control of field operations through unit organizations and the use of the telegraph.
Born on October 26, 1800, in Parchim, Mecklenburg, to an impoverished minor Prussian aristocratic family, Moltke received his initial military training at the nearby Copenhagen Royal Cadet Academy. Moltke briefly served in a Danish infantry regiment after graduation, but following a visit to Berlin in 1821, he decided that prospects of advancement were greater in the Prussian army. Because of his birthplace and his father’s Prussian heritage, Moltke received a commission as a lieutenant in the Eighth Infantry Regiment.
Moltke made a favorable impression, becoming known for his excellent grasp of military doctrine and tactics. Financial difficulties continued, however, and to supplement his meager military salary, he began writing articles and translating previously published works. In only eighteen months during die early 1830s he completed a German translation of nine volumes of Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Moltke would later note that he never received full payment for his translation from the publisher but that the knowledge he gained during the project made it more than worthwhile.
During his first decade as a Prussian officer, Moltke attended the army’s war college and served several years with his regiment, where he continued to make his mark as an efficient staff officer. In 1835, Moltke journeyed to Turkey to act as an adviser to Sultan Mahmud II. His orders were only to assist in the modernization of the Turkish army, but in 1839, Moltke joined the campaign of Hafiz Pasha against the Egyptians in Syria. The Turkish commander failed to follow Moltke’s advice at Nezib on June 24, 1839, and withdrew in defeat. Moltke personally took charge of the Turkish artillery and covered the retreat.
Moltke returned to Prussia and wrote what became a bestseller about his experiences in Turkey. For the next two decades Moltke continued his diligent work on the general staff. His contributions as an aide to Prince Frederick, his efforts against a brief revolt in 1848, and his continued superior staff work gained Moltke the appreciation and confidence of Prussia’s leaders. Moltke continued to progress through the ranks, his long-term friendship and loyalty to the Prussian royalty being rewarded in 1857, at age fifty-seven, with his appointment as chief of the general staff.
While Moltke’s rise had been long and steady, it paralleled the diminishing power of Prussia itself. Moltke was determined to regain Prussian military prominence and to use its strength to unite the German Empire. To accomplish his objective, Moltke had to build political partnerships as well as increase the efficiency of the military. He formed a military-leadership triumvirate of himself, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, and Minister of War Albrecht von Roon that would meet, and then exceed, his original objective as they redrew the map of Europe, with a united Germany as the region’s power.
Moltke based his reorganization of the army on his realization that future wars would involve large forces spread over a great geographic area. To increase flexibility, he divided the Prussian army into three combat units supported by a rail-transport department. Moltke’s plan called for a large standing army of up to a half million soldiers and twice that many reserve forces he could quickly activate. Both active and reserve units would be transported by the extensive German rail system via multiple routes and converge near prospective battle sites.
Instead of frontal assaults, Moltke trained his subordinate generals to coordinate their attacks on the flanks and to surround the -enemy and then attack weak points identified by reconnaissance and probing attacks. Moltke owed his success to flexibility. He did not rigidly follow his original plans and often stated that no plan survives the first five minutes’ encounter with the enemy. To control overall these separate armies, Moltke created a staff headed by a War College graduate who answered only to him. Separate staff sections managed noncombat functions, such as transportation and supplies, and responded directly to the staff chief.
The use of railroads to rapidly move troops in order to concentrate combat power and surprise opponents had its roots in the American Civil War. Moltke studied writings about the conflict and sent observers to the United States to note the advancements. Moltke’s observers provided information not only on the use of railroads but also of the telegraph in coordinating widespread forces and in quickly communicating orders to commanders engaged in combat. While neither rail mobility nor the military use of the telegraph originated with Moltke, he would refine their use to a science by organizing transportation and signal units to control their resources and coordinate their use.
In 1864, Moltke’s new organization and mobility, while still in its infancy, proved immediately successful when Prussia invaded and defeated Denmark in a matter of weeks. Using the lessons learned in the brief war. Moltke continued his refinements and in 1866 invaded Austria. In the initial fight at Langensalza on June 27-29, 1866, Moltke guided his army by telegraph messages to subordinate commanders to surround and destroy the Hanoverian army of more than two hundred thousand. On July 3, Moltke failed to completely surround the Austrian force at Koniggratz, but the retreating Austrians lost forty-five thousand men, compared to ten thousand Prussian casualties. Only seven weeks after the war began, Austria surrendered, and Prussia controlled what became known as the Northern German Confederation.
With Prussia now in control of Germany, neighboring France righdy began to feel threatened. After a series of diplomatic efforts failed to maintain the peace, Moltke quickly assembled an army of a half million men and invaded France. Before the French could mobilize, the Prussian army surrounded and defeated Sedan on September 1 and Metz on October 27, 1870, capturing a quarter million French soldiers. Moltke moved on to besiege Paris, forcing the French to surrender.
Following the victory, Moltke was made a count, was promoted to the rank of field marshal, and remained as chief of the general staff until he retired in 1888. So complete was his victory over the French and so powerful was the German army that Moltke and his country experienced decades of peace because no country attempted to threaten their superiority.
Moltke, ninety, died on April 24, 1891, in Berlin. Helmuth Johann von Moltke, his nephew, served as the chief of the general staff but was replaced after the German defeat in World War I’s Batde of the Marne. His great-great-nephew, also named Helmuth, was executed during World War II as a conspirator in the assassination plot against Adolf Hitler .
Moltke succeeded in uniting Germany and establishing an organization and military tradition that ensured German domination well into the twentieth century. His staff model of assigning skilled officers responsibility for specific areas, such as personnel, operations, and logistics, remains in widespread use today.