I. The overall level of education warring armies

We offer three scientist for the uneducated - not three - come on five, ten!

In 1866, after the defeat of Austria in Europe, reiterated that, together with quick-gun - Austrians won Prussian schoolteacher, and this is not an empty phrase. Superiority mental development Prussian soldiers who passed through the compulsory popular school - is beyond question: illiterate shelves in the Prussian army, with very few exceptions, there is absolutely, in addition to rekrutskaya service, mandatory for all classes States, almost without any exceptions and limitations , Drew the ranks of troops, in the form of free-defining - a significant number of highly educated and developed people. From this environment the most part go individual and technician NCOs, which in our view, reportedly disciplined Prussian army of the remarkable nature consciously understood and debt service obligations and the executive, which are so necessary to achieve military objectives.

With such a composition of the army, part of the troops are not soulless machines, not machines, operating only on the team, reaching for the commander and morally lost with the loss of officers - but conscious combat units by the end of performing their intended purpose and, at the same time Able to enjoy all the random changes in the course of battle. If we lose a part of all of its officers, and that happened more than once in the bloody battles of this war - it did will conduct in the battle and withdrew from it, almost in the same manner and with almost the same ability to survivors senior non Officers or even the series.

Mandatory folk school attached to the special nature of the general compulsory military service all over Germany, enabling it to stand in the event of war, not hordes Huns and Vandals, who in fact there was also a general compulsory military service - a structured army, perfectly organized, in which each knowingly and with understanding the case to perform its responsibilities.

Regardless of the general education of lower ranks of Prussian army, is due to the superiority of its highly educated corps of officers for whom the education received in the cadet corps and civilian educational institutions, is the only preparation for the further development of individual reading and permanent employment of military science, in theory, and in practice.

In the outskirts of Paris, each of the divisions of the Federal Army, adheres to this city, has one and sometimes two F observational item, arranged in the highest buildings, where you can monitor the movements of the enemy.

On these points is usually a young officer with the rank of Poruchik, with one or two non-commissioned officers seconded from one of the regiments of the division. The appointment of these officers, as noted above - to monitor all movements of the enemy, keep a daily log all incidents of the day and communicate their superiors about any changes in the location of enemy troops and their movements.

Each time, as happened to us happen to like observational paragraph, could not not pay special attention to a full understanding of the case and the accuracy with which young officers explained to us, first on the map, and then out of the window, on the ground, the location of those divisions, to which they belonged, and the enemy troops as well as all the enemy movement in recent times. This phenomenon is not accidental: each of the company and battalion commanders with whom we had to meet with the same sophisticated understanding of the case and with the same ability to read a map - to explain the terrain on which they are part of the purpose and designation orders, to which they belonged.

If we compare the Prussian army, almost all literate, with armieyu French, which, in later reports, no more than 60% able to read and write, if we compare the Prussian officer, thoroughly educated, strong technician and seriously trained theoretically and practically, to Performance - with officers of the French army, which, in recent times, to engage in their service drew little attention - it will not be any doubt that the German school teacher was indeed a critical element in a series of successes Prussian arms that so surprised Europe.

Then, turning to comparative essays armed forces of Germany and France, we allow ourselves vdatsya in more details about the first, as in mind the overall interest by organizations Prussian army as well, especially in the attention that the general compulsory military service is introduced now, and in our homeland.

But, kratkovremennosti our observations, we do not have the opportunity to conduct a parallel between the warring armies, we allow ourselves to make just the idea that the Prussian army is remarkable how much his education and military order, so in our opinion, the opponents of its lack these qualities.