Battle of Koniggaratz 1866

<p>The campaign conducted by General Helmuth von Moltke into Bohemia against the Austrians was the most brilliant of that era. The Koniggratz campaign is a classic example of the art of war practiced at the operational level. The Chief of the General Staff Moltke is considered as operational genius probably the greatest ever produced by Prussia. He developed the Prussian campaign plan for the attack into Bohemia which led to the total collapse of the Austrian Army in approximately two weeks. The campaign is a good example of the operational level of war with the ultimate strategic goal of German national unity. Also the campaign offers an outstanding example of the offense operating on exterior lines and the use of the most advanced technology in the era in every phase of the campaign. With operational art as the focus the importance of defining a clear operational end state and of balancing the end state with means ways and risk will be analyzed. This analysis includes a discussion of Moltke's application of certain theoretical aspects of operational art: these include exterior lines of operation center of gravity offense decisive battle and the interrelationship of strategic operational and tactical activities.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p><br>