Through Artillery from Thrust to Fire: How Prussian Military Thinking Anticipated Emergent Warfare in 1870

Abstract

Reassessing the reasons for the German military success over France in War of 1870 up to the Battle of Sedan, we relate on publications of contemporary artillery generals, such as Kraft zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen and put the topic into the broader context of warfare since the 1866 German War. We reject the idea of success, being simply based on armament or a special ‘soldierly spirit’, but argue that the main reason for military success was based on reorganization of the Prussian artillery, which paved the way to the future ‘battle of combined arms’ and the dominance of fire over thrust.