Summary Of The German Way Of War By Robert Citino

Robert Citino’swork, The German Way of War, offers an insightful analysis of what the author describes as the German way of war. Operational maneuver is used by Citino to describe the approach taken by the Germans in war. The author manages to trace the German approach to war to historical events and eras. Frederick William I’s 17th century engagements, the Great Elector, Hohenzollern Dynasty, and World War II are all incorporated in an attempt to understand the German way of war.

According to Citino(2005) historians should diverge away from analyzing what one ought to have done during military engagements. Instead, they should have an in-depth analysis of the reason why the parties did what they did (269).The author modifies certain generally acceptable aspects of German war operations. Germans are presented as a nation which takes war as a science rather than an art. Auftragstaktik refers to the intellectual approach taken by the Germans to analyze all their military engagements. Under this approach, Citino emphasizes that, the generals create which are geared towards enabling field officers win the war. The field officers are able to maximize flexibility

For instance, the Germans emphasized on staff balance and operational flexibility without necessarily having concrete coordination.This was not imaginable in an era where technology and communication was not advanced. The central position of Germany is also looked into while analyzing the German art of war. Like Persia, Germany’s central position, its scarcity of resourcesand its engagement in short wars also led to the success with its offensive approach. Citino notes that these short wars enabled the Germans to be agile and quick while attacking with fearlessness. While this tactic enabled the Germans to have operational maneuver, they had to act aggressively and take up the earliest opportunity to attack the opponent to