Week 8: Wednesday, March 15
A private in one of the Prussian battalions of Grenadier Guards presents arms for an officer (ca. 1760).
1) In what specific ways did Louis XIV go about mastering the army and the state in France? In particular, what offices did he create? What administrative innovations did he promote? What type of spirit did he attempt to impose?
2) Why do historians often describe war during the absolutist period as "limited war"? In what ways was it limited and what factors limited it?
3) Many military historians claim the absolutist age of the 18th century witnessed the first "world wars." To what extent is this claim true? By the end of the century, who were the great European winners and losers in this competition?
4) What important, major ideas did Guibert consider and officers like Valliere and Griveauval implement?
5) From what you have read of Frederick the Great's Works, how did he seek to limit the impact of war and the army on Prussian society?
6) According to the excerpt from his Works, whom did Frederick recruit in his armies and why? What special problems did these recruits present? How did Frederick seek to solve these problems?
Other Questions
1) So far as Frederick the Great was concerned, what won battles?
2) How did the extensive losses associated with the Seven Years' War strain the military system created by Frederick? How did the Prussian experience during the Seven Years' War highlight the limits of the Frederican army?
3) If the state is so much stronger than ever before, what can we expect to see in warfare? Especially in states where an absolute monarch exercised great control?
At Hohenfriedberg (1745) during the War of Austrian Succession, Frederick the Great's Prussians scattered a Saxon force with an early morning surprise attack before turning on a nearby Austrian army and destroying it. This work by Carl Rochling, a famous German military artist of the late 19th century, depicts a battalion of grenadiers moving forward in the early morning to attack the Austrians. The painting captures something of the order and discipline to which all armies in this period aspired.
Of course, battle was still a messy thing. While fighting the Russians at the battle of Zorndorf (1758) during the Seven Years' War, Frederick attempted to rally his broken troops by seizing the standard of an infantry battalion and leading the troops himself. In the end, Frederick beat the Russians but at the cost of losing a third of his army.This depiction of Frederick's intervention captures something of the chaos that transpired on a battlefield during the Seven Years' War.
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Copyrighted by Hugh Dubrulle, 2006.
