Franco-Prussian War

by Michael Eliot Howard

Book Overview

In 1870 the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck ordered the Prussian Army to invade France, inciting one of the most dramatic conflicts in European history. It transformed not only the states-system... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0880294329
• ISBN13: 9780880294324
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Dorset Press
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Exquisite Narrative

Sir Michael Howard was a gifted writer, but an even better researcher and historian. The comprehensive picture of a very complex interaction between France and Germany is transformed by Sir Michael into flowing, lucid prose. Unbiased and very insightful into the salient contributions towards failure and success that would go unnoticed in a work focused solely on the big events. This is a fabulous story!

Military history as it should be written

The Franco-Prussian War is an unusual conflict in that it is in many ways a study in contrasts. Historically, it set the stage for two twentieth century conflagrations even as it settled scores from the early nineteenth century. Politically, it marked the zenith of French national influence, and the ascendancy of a united German power. Finally, militarily, it offered the first widespread use of breech-loading rifles and modern artillery, even as it often languished in the tactics of an earlier age.It takes a broad brush to capture all of these elements, and in this book, Michael Howard has succeeded admirably. He has taken an often overlooked conflict and placed it squarely at the crossroads of modern Europe, and a new, more terrible type of war. For while the American Civil War (or even the Crimean War) is often referred to as the first modern war, it is in fact in the Franco-Prussian War that we see all the key elements of modern warfare: national mobilization, citizen soldiers under the guidance of a professional general staff, and the ascendancy of industrialization in both transport and new, more destructive, weapons. At the same time, newer, more insidious developments in the form of guerrilla warfare and the targeting of civilians centers for strategic reasons first make their appearance on a large scale.Arising out of French objections to the Prussian selection of the Spanish monarch, this war, like many before and since, arose out of a complete lack of French appreciation for the changes that had overtaken the battlefield. While the French had relied on a small, professional army, the Prussians had adopted a model of mandatory service that allowed them to raise massive, reasonably competent forces with unprecedented speed. Thus, when hostilities broke out the French, who had assumed an easy victory, were caught on their heels and never regained the initiative.Thus from the summer of 1870 through the depths of winter and into 1871, the story of the Franco-Prussian War is the story of the courage of the French soldier being failed utterly by inept leadership. It wasn't in the strength of Prussian arms, or in the courage of its soldiers that the war was won; rather, it was in the ability of the centralized Prussian command structure to adapt rapidly to events when their French counterparts were still in the dark that victory was secured.Thus, while Howard's writing on the actual combat is vivid, it is in his appreciation of the fundamentally new Prussian way of war that he is most successful. From the king, through the Bismarck and Moltke, and on down through the rest of the senior command, he paints a vivid portrait of Prussian ideals and ambition. Conversely, he is equally successful at capturing the decrepitude and ineptness of a fragmented French government that lost the war in its opening days, and then prolonged it, to the never ending suffering of its soldiers, long after all hope was lost. Likewise along these lines, How

The French Military Debacle of 1870

"It seems in retrospect as though fate had decided that there should be no humiliation which the French army should be spared." That one sentence accurately captures the tenor of Michael Howard's masterful history of the Franco-Prussian War. First published in 1961-and representing Howard's debut as a military historian - his history of the stunning Prussian victory over the heavily favored French has stood the test of time and rightfully confirmed his place as one of the preeminent historians of war in the twentieth century.Howard tells the story of the war primarily from the French perspective, and it is a stinging indictment of that country's political and military system at that time. Disgraced French commanders such as Bazaine or Bourbaki are more pitied by Howard than criticized for their performance. He argues that primary fault for the disasters that befell the French armies were more the product of a defective French military system that put such incompetent men in command of large armies, rather than the fault of the incompetent commanders themselves.Only occasionally does Howard divert his attention to the Prussian side, and when he does it is most often to discuss the friction generated between Moltke and Bismark or to describe the usually quick and effective Prussian reaction to halting or diffident French moves. However, Howard seems to place no stock in the notion of a German genius for war. For instance, he is quick to point out the many mistakes Moltke's army made, particularly in the early days of the conflict, and notes that more often than not the French troops gave just as good as they got in open battles with the Germans.In many ways, the Franco-Prussian War marked the culmination of the dramatic military reforms begun by Scharnhorst after the disastrous defeat at the hands of Napoleon at the Battle of Jena in 1806. Prussian improvements in military recruitment, training and organization, and most notably the development of a General Staff responsible for managing the immense requirements of modern war were all brought to bear on the French and in many accounts is credited with the stunning victory. Howard recognizes the revolutionary implications of the railroad, telegraph and rifled weaponry, and also notes the decisive influence Prussian military planning and organization had in the conflict. Indeed, he notes that the war was a watershed event in military history. On the one hand, the conflict included perhaps the last successful cavalry charge in history, as well as the final employment of Vauban's time-honored siegecraft techniques developed in the 17th century. Yet, the war also held some harbingers of future warfare, such as the deliberate bombardment of civilian populations at Strasburg and Paris in an attempt to undermine civilian morale and storm troop tactics developed to minimize casualties in attacking positions defended by troops with rapid firing rifled weaponry. Nevertheless, in the final analysis,

The Franco Prussian War

The Franco Prussian War of 1870-1871 was one of the most important wars of The Nineteenth century. This war would set the stage for what European wars would be like from then on. It also optioned for Germany a respect and imitation for years to come. In this book many subjects are discussed. First the different technologies and reforms of the French and Prussians are chronicled. Then the different mobilizations of both sides, their battle plans and the concentrations of the armies before fighting started. Then the first engagements are described in great detail. Then the great battle of Sedan is laid out for all to see. Then the siege of Paris and the war in the south and west of France is told in great description. Lastly the last battles of Orleans are described and then the following peace treaty is laid out. In conclusion the Franco Prussian War by Michael Howard is a good book for anyone interested in history or politics. If the book has any problems it may be the lack of translation of French and German in the text and in the footnotes. Despite this problem the book represents the Nineteenth century very well.

An overview of the progress of the Franco-Prussian war

I have read only the 1961 edition, so my apologies for any discrepancies between that and the current edition. A concise overview of the contemporary political and technical scene precedes a series of detailed accounts of major clashes in the war. The engagements are detailed to the extent of considering unit actions, down to regiments, and the terrain over which they operated. Leading figures on either side are appraised, usually scathingly. Translations into English are the norm, except in footnotes. The tone of the book, to the reviewer, was somewhat condescending towards civil authorities. In reply, it could be said that the book is primarily a military history. Still, the reviewer feels that a more expansive consideration of the political causes and consequences of the war, on both sides of the Rhine, would have been useful. Considering the book as a detailed study of the clash of arms that led to an astonishing tabula rasa in Europe and the World, "The Franco-Prussian War - The German Invasion of France 1870-1871" will be found very enlightening.