Understanding the Prussian-German General Staff System

by Christian O.E. Millotat

Colonel Christian Millotat of the German Army wrote this 1992 study at the U.S. Army War College for the Strategic Studies Institute. It traces the Prussian-German General Staff from Scharnhorst and Gneisenau through Moltke, Schlieffen, Versailles and the Third Reich to the Bundeswehr of today — and explains what makes the German "commander's adviser" unlike any other staff officer in NATO. 18 sections.

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Understanding the Prussian-German General Staff System

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Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Between Condemnation and Admiration

Chapter 2: General Staff Officers in the Bundeswehr

Chapter 2: Ranks and Size of the Service

Chapter 2: Selection and Training

Chapter 2: The Commander's Adviser

Chapter 2: Esprit de Corps, Auftragstaktik, and Function Over Rank

Chapter 3: Scharnhorst and the Birth of the General Staff

Chapter 3: Gneisenau and the Consolidation of the Prussian System

Chapter 3: Moltke and Schlieffen

Chapter 3: Professional Training and the Bavarian Approach

Chapter 3: The General Staff in World War I

Chapter 3: After the Treaty of Versailles, 1920-33

Chapter 3: The General Staff in the Third Reich, 1933-45

Chapter 4: Effects and Ways

Chapter 4: Attempts to Abolish General Staff Officer Training

Chapter 4: Challenges

Chapter 5: Observations and Conclusion