Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-11-08
VON MOLTKE'S BOOK.
Lord WOlseley Is Not at all
Complimentary in His
Review of 1t.
CALLS 1T A B0IL-D0WN
Of the Elaborate Staff History of
the Franco-German War.
NOT A BELIEVER IN PEACE.
The Field Nsrshal's Opinion Of Standing
Armies for Europe.
'ALLS 1T A BOIL-D0WN
NOT A BELIEVER In PEACE.
The Field MarShals Opinion Of Standing
Armies for Europe.
INTERESTING POINTS OF THE WORK


from Lord Wolseley, the great English
military authority, his review of Field
Marshal Count Won Moltke's posthumous
work on the Franco-German War Of 1S.0-l
The review is as follows:
In the preface, written By his nephew,
who edited the work in German, we are
told that when pressed to write an account
of the Franco-German War, Won Moltke
said: "You have the history Of the cam
psign, Published by the general staff.
Everything is contained in it. To be sure, "
be added afterwards, sit is for the create,
number of readers too detailed, and written
too technically. An abstract of it must be
made some day."
That great military work. the German Of
fetal staff book of the Franco-German war,
With its enormous length and ponderous de.
tail, lisa WEAKNESS of the flesh to many. Few
I think, have ever read it through without
come long break in the task, not even those
who most feel its great value as material tor
sound, useful study and genuine criticism.
A short, light book on the war. by the great
soldier who planned its operation and daily
directed them, ought to be delightful read.
ing to the student. wearied with the length
snc detail OF the official history.
Disappointed With the Work.
But I confess to feeling of disappoint-
ment with this book by Count Won MoItke.
The military student, who is well-up in the
German staff history, will find nothing here
he did not know before. That official his
tory is, throughout every chapter, SO i'm
pressed with Noltke's supervising genius,
and was put together so Immediately under
his direct superintendence, that it would in
deed be strange if ANYTHING he had to tell
about the war had not been inserted in that
most comprehensive work. 1t is therefore,
but natural there should be strong family
likeness between the two--a close similar
ity, not only in style, but in matte.
To me, the Field Marsnal's book is little
If anything more than the popular Sab
stract" which he said-as quoted above
must sooner or later be made of the great
staff history. 1t is, think, 10 be much re-
gretted he should himself have made this
epitome of book, that was compiled and
written so Immediately under his close per-
son8l supervision. Throughout the work
be writes with the clearness of style. di-
rectness and simplicity of diction, for which
he is famous among the German literary
men of the day. His narrative has at places,
/ admit, special character of its own, but
in other parts the very words of the official
history are reproduced. l strive to regard
II, not SO much as history, as the special
contribution of the chief of staff, the direct
Ing genius of the war, TO that history.
1t Is Merely an Abstract.
Those who, like myself, revere the men,
cry Of this great patriot soldier, and who
prize his military writings beyonds measure,
feel q twinge Of regret that in his very old
age he should have been induced to devote
himself to this "abstraet"-a work scarcely
worthy of so great q man. The fact that he
did write it, however, will lend it a special
interest as being the last words of so high
On authority upon a subject of which he
knew more than any other living man. It
Is essentially his own view of the war, as it
presented itself to him in the field when he
was the guiding spirit of the Kings Head
quarters. Or perhaps it would be more ac-
curate to say that it contains so much of his
views as he considered il advisable tor
public reasons 10 make generally known.
1t wants brightness, and this dreary
translation serves to make it seem duller
than il really is. Let anyone follow the lie
Mans campaign in this translation, or eom-
pare General Werder's Southeastern cam
psign with the same story as told in the of.
fetal history, and | think he will turn with
yawn from the dry skeleton now present.
cd to him, in this cold, spiritless summary
OF great events and of famous victories 1t
was only Won Moltke and very few others
carefully educated under him who could
have boiled down, as it we're, the mass of re-
ports received from generals and other Off
GERS of what they daily saw and did into the
staff history of the war. Bnt there are any
number Of educated officers in every regular
army who could equally we'll have written
this precis Of il.
What Won MoItke Might Have Told
He gives US very little that is based upon
. comparison of the evidence collected and
published since the appearance of the Off
cial account with that account itself He
does not tell us what views he entertains re-
garding the various corrections which iudi-
vidusls have asserted to be necessary in
many parts of the staff history. We do not
know If he accepts or rejects those correc-
tions, and he throws no light upon many OF
the moot points we should like to have ques.
toned him about
He had the military history of all ages at
his hngers' ends, and no one ever knew
more thoroughly the details of all the cam
paigns of Frederick the Great and of Ma
poleon. 1t would have been Of the deepest
Interest to know if he thought his method
of strategy differed from that of those two
great conquerors, and if SO, in what re-
spect; to have had from his pen a compari-
son between the strategy OF Frederick the
Great in his invasion of Bohemia in the last
century, and that adopted in 1866 which so
closely resembled it; to learn what he
thought Of Napoleon's severe criticism of
FredericS's operations then, and whv it was
that with such an adverse opinion from such
a master before him, he ventured upon that
invasion on almost identical lines ? The
Staff History is necessarily very guarded in
the care with which all criticism is avoided
of the conduct and proceedings of the chief
sectors in the war. But in this abridgment,
Won Moltke from time to time, in his very
quiet way, allows the reader who is
Well versed In the Events,
to see thst he thinks certain definite mis-
takes were upon occasions made by the COM
msnders of armies. The careful student of
his pages can be in no doubt as to his
meaning. On one occasion he most frankly
ADMITS that he himself might have acted
better than he did. l propose to pick out
and show the bearing of these and some
other of his minor criticisms. Until a bet
ter translation OF his work is given us, or
until the present one is thoroughly revised
throughout bv some soldier we'll acquainted
with the events and several phases of the
Franco-Germsn War, his criticisms are the |
only points worth the attention of the
English reader
Won Moltke was no believer in reign of |
universal peace in this world of ours as it is |
still constituted. At one time there we're |
many good people who devoted time and |
money to the duty of warning England |
that the end of the world was close at hand |
That mania has been replaced by . craze to
maxi all civilized nations believe that war |
VIII very soon cease forever to trouble the |
world. This craze Ia hH no meana new L