10. Frederick the Great Made Prussia’s Army a Model for the Rest of Europe
As a general, Frederick the Great was a tactical genius who owed much of his success to the quick and skillful movement of his troops. The Battle of Leuthen, 1757, illustrates the effectiveness of his innovations. In that engagement, Frederick led 36,000 Prussians against an Austrian army of over 80,000 men. Despite the odds, he went on the offensive and won a stunning upset victory. To open the battle, Frederick attacked the Austrian right flank, and lured the enemy into shifting forces to meet that threat. Frederick then took advantage of hills in front of the Austrian position that masked his movements, and marched the bulk of his army to fall upon the Austrian left. In an oblique order attack – a version of Epaminondas’ tactics at Leuctra that concentrated forces on a single flank – Frederick wrong-footed his foes and shattered their left.
The Austrians suffered a crushing defeat, and lost 22,000 men to the Prussians’ 6000. At the time, only Frederick’s well-trained men were capable of such skilled battlefield maneuvers. Prussia’s army became a model for other European powers. However, military innovation does not stand still, and Frederick’s successors rested on that great king’s laurels, and failed to keep pace with new military developments. As a result, the Prussian army ossified, and was easily crushed by Napoleon in 1806 – 1807. After his victory, the French Emperor stopped by Frederick’s tomb, and paid him a great compliment when he told his officers: “Gentlemen, if this man was alive, I would not be here“.
