German Wars: A Concise History, 1859-1945 - Hardcover

Palmer, Michael A.

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38 ratings by Goodreads

9780760337806: German Wars: A Concise History, 1859-1945

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0760337802 ISBN 13: 9780760337806

Publisher: Zenith Press, 2010

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The German Wars: A Concise History, 1859-1945 outlines the history of European warfare from the Wars of German Unification to the end of the World War II. The title aside, the book is not be another history of the German military; it takes a much broader approach looking at political, social, economic, and military developments across Europe, and the United States during the period. The “German War” part of the title is there because Germany plays the central part in the story. But the key element threading its way through this volume is the Industrial Revolution.

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From the Inside Flap:

What was it about the German Way of War that has resulted in a near universal acceptance of that nation’s battlefield excellence? How did a nation recognized for its military supremacy end up on the losing side of two world wars? Author Michael Palmer offers his two-part thesis:“First, the Germans, unlike the Americans, failed to mature strategically as their nation grew and became more powerful. Second, the Germans, along with virtually everyone else, misinterpreted the lessons of their own successes against Denmark (1864), Austria (1866), and France (1870) and concluded that they had to and could successfully wage short, decisive wars in the age of industrial warfare. Reality caught up with them during the years of 1914 to 1918 and 1939 to 1945, and the world, the Germans included, paid a horribly steep price for that mistake.” Palmer describes the major battles and events of every major German war during this period, offering insight and analysis to help the reader sort out the causes and effects of each war, including: The Franco-Prussian War: “France, an empire, became a republic. The Prussian king became the emperor of a new national German empire. The destruction of French power allowed the Italians to complete the unification of their country.” World War I: “When peace finally came, the Versailles treaty restricted the Weimar Republic, which had replaced the kaiser’s Second Reich, to an army of 100,000 men, a force easily outnumbered by the Poles. They even had to dismantle their infamous general staff.” World War II: “Tactically, the Germans retained their superiority until the end of the war. But here, too, the German advantage declined as the war progressed, and Allied tactics improved as their armies learned from experience much of what the Germans had learned from study during the 1920s.”

From the Back Cover:

In the decades leading up to World War II, the world was in awe of the Prussian-German military, seeking to emulate what esteemed German military history scholar Robert M. Citino has termed “the German Way of War.” Military professionals around the globe became fluent in the tactical jargon: bewegungskrieg, schwerpunckt, auftragstaktik, fingerspitzengefuhl, and of course, blitzkrieg. At the same time, German warfare would become closely associated with the bloodiest and cruelest era in the history of mankind. The German Wars: A Concise History, 1859–1945 outlines the history of European warfare from the Wars of German Unification to the end of World War II. Author Michael A. Palmer looks at political, social, economic, and military developments across Europe and the United States during this crucial period in world history.

The German wars would have a lasting impact in the modern age. As Palmer writes, these wars "brought to an end and revealed the shortcomings of the classical era of modern Western military thought. But the regressive slide toward premodern and primitive warfare, in combination with the fruits of the industrial and scientific revolutions, places the world on the edge of an abyss."

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