The Armies of Europe
illustrated / translated & revised by Count Gleichen ; from the German of
Fedor von Köppen 1890
In this post, dear reader, we take a brief pause from the "Pass in Review" project to share a mania of ours: old books, specifically, old books on military matters. The rise of the e-book has, ironically, led to a golden age of access to antiquarian tomes--texts that would otherwise be impossible to find or that would be beyond one's means to purchase. The above book, for instance, would cost roughly $300.00 USD (if you could find one). However, one can access it online for free. This brings up another point: I'm not very interested text-only re-digitized versions. Given that I collect old books, I am seeking an authentic reading experience. Therefore, I stick with e-books that have been scanned in their original form. Happily, the number of these has grown over the years. I find most on the Internet Archive Most books will have several options for downloading (if you scroll down and look to the lower right on the book's page, you will see them). You can also read them online if you don't want to download. I download the pdf to my Ipad, choosing the "Open it in iBooks" prompt when that pops up. The pdf in that application renders a very authentic read. I sometimes double up and fetch a digital version of a book that I own so that I can have a handy traveling copy. Enough explanation. Here are a few books of the moment (19th Century)...
The first book I'll ramble about, pictured above, is Armies of Europe.
You can find Armies of Europe here in the Internet Archive
and here the OpenLibrary
As usual, you may clix pix for BIG PIX...
The book has a chapter on all of the major armies of the era, accompanied by color plates and line illustrations, all perfectly rendered in the pdf version. As such, it is a wonderful read and resource.
Each chapter concludes with a comment on the place of the army in Europe--a sort of speculative rumination. What makes this interesting is the time frame. Written in 1890, only two years after Wilhelm II became Kaiser of Germany, these present an interesting snapshot of the brief period when everyone was anticipating a major war but the trajectory of Imperial Germany was still a matter of speculation. Given the author, these snapshots also reveal an intereseting Germanic slant at times. Here are a few passages:
On the German Army:
Although this tremendous Army of close on two million of
well-trained and well- armed men may at first sight appear a menace to the
peace of the world, still we must remember that Germany is absolutely obliged,
for the preservation of her very existence, to keep up these huge forces, and
that she has no intention of using them
except for that purpose.
As an old national proverb has it:"He who wants to come to grief in war had better try a
fall with Germany."
On the German Navy:
Although the Imperial Navy is not yet strong enough to compete successfully with those of other great naval powers on the open sea, still one great object has been gained, i.e., the protection of trade and the merchant service... Germany is also now enabled to enter into commercial and political relations with distant countries, and to make the German flag respected in all parts Of the world...It is difficult to forecast the probable development of the German Navy, for the colonies which the country has recently founded and is still founding will increase its task and may lead to the formation of a much larger fleet.
You can find Armies of Europe here in the Internet Archive
and here the OpenLibrary
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