Browsing the net I came across these by Frederick Engels, which was quite a surprise as I never knew he had written anything such as this. Has anyone read them?
www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1870/notes-war/index.htm
Further browsing dug up this review of these works of Engels by Trotsky, again new to me.
www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1924/03/engels.html
Now I know many people are not fans of the politics of these two :D, can we keep any discussion to the content and not the people?
Cheers
Ian
I think he wrote for one of the British papers, but would have to check my Bruce Weigle books as I know he is mentioned in those.
Glanced through the first one and it looked pretty interesting so I have bookmarked the site. Many thanks for posting.
Engels had a keen interest in military affairs, his friends called him 'The General'. Like most pundits he completely misread 1866, forecasting a crushing Austrian victory.
Edited.
But he wasn't a Marxist, he was an Engelist!
In 1866 he wrote his articles for the Manchester Guardian, in 1870-71 for the Pall Mall Gazette.
And everyone got 1866 wrong, so they're all wrong whether on the side of privilege or people :D
Except Moltke, and he was still terrified the Prussians would lose!
I'll see if I can have a chug through those articles whilst working, cheers :)
Actually Blumenthal called it pretty correctly, certainly at the tactical level.
The von Blumenthal who ran 2nd Army? I'm not surprised, he seems to be the under appreciated genius behind the Prussian Army and responsible for making sure Moltke's plans and schemes actually worked in practise :)
He certainly thought he was a genius that's for sure.
And the only thing more dangerous than a General who thinks they are a genius is (insert lieutenant jokes here)!
Reminds me of the rank chart I first read in Milligans memoirs many years ago...
QuoteGeneral- Leaps over tall buildings in a single bound, is more powerful than a locomotive, is faster than a speeding bullet, walks on water, gives policy to God.
Colonel- Leaps short buildings with a single bound, is more powerful than a switch engine, is just as fast as a speeding bullet, walks on water if the sea is calm, and talks to God.
Lt Col- Leaps short buildings with a running start and a favourable wind, is almost as powerful as a switch engine, is faster than a BB pellet, walks on ponds and talks to God if he can get the request approved.
Major- Barely clears a shed, loses tug of war with locomotives, can fire a speeding bullet, swims well, and is occasionally addressed by God
Captain- Makes high marks when trying to leap short sheds, is run over by locomotives, can sometimes handle a gun without inflicting self injury, can doggy paddle, and talks to animals.
Lieutenant- Runs into buildings, recognises locomotives 2/3 times, is not issued ammunition, can stay afloat if properly instructed, and talks to bushes and small trees.
Second Lieutenant- Falls over doorsills when trying to enter buildings, says "look a choo-choo", wets himself when given a water pistol, and mumbles to himself from time to time.
Sargeant Major- Lifts buildings out of the way, kicks locomotives off the track, catches speeding bullets with his teeth and chews ’em up, freezes water with a single glance, HE IS GOD.
;D ;D ;D ;D
Still makes me laugh
Same here !
Cheers - Phil.