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Fighting skillfully on multiple fronts is an important facet of his approach. Contrary to the reader's assumptions, during this time of history, Prussia was the underdog in a time when warfare was a highly regimented and rule-governed practice. Frederick had to find a way to deploy a multitude of different types of armaments, divisions of the army, and ways to position an attack. Also, attacking by night and surprise was a key part of Frederick's approach.
It is interesting to note that, although Frederick was a king, the book gives most attention to his role as a general. He clearly saw success at warfare as equally important in his struggle to lead a successful nation. The book leaves out political administration, for the most part, or the moral reasons to embark or not embark upon war, as it is a primary source and instructional manual for warfare, rather than a prose history, or a document seeking to give a balanced or even a biased perspective of the Seven Years War. In discussing how to bolster the morale of his troops, for example, Frederick had a cool practical intention in keeping the 'common man' healthy, yet the desire to army free from desertion (by avoiding night marches and taking role-call and punishing deserters without mercy) the ethics of the role of the soldier are of little interest to him, except in terms of how to anticipate how climate or hunger might affect a campaign.
According to Ludwig Reiners Frederick the Great: A Biography, even the opposing Austiran emperor...
There are no circumlocutions, he gives factual and historical proof of the assertions he makes, for he is well versed in history... [He is]a genius and a man who talks admirably." (Reiners, 1960, excerpted on Wikipedia) Frederick's occasional lack of concern for the morals of warfare may alienate a modern reader, such as his demand troops be employed at all times to reduce the risk of mutiny, and his calculations of how to overcome a town may be off-putting, but the book is an important snapshot of how warfare was viewed at a particular point in human history, and shows the nascent efficency of the German approach to battle.
Works Cited
Chickering, Roger. Imperial Germany and the Great War. London: Cambridge
University Press, 1998.
Craig, Gordon. The Politics of the Prussian Army. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1964.
Howard, Michael. The Franco-Prussian War. New York: Routledge, 2001.
Luvaas, Jay (Editor). Frederick the Great on the Art of War. New York; Da Capo Press:
First Da Capo Press Edition, 1999.
Reiners, Ludwig. Frederick the Great: A Biography. Putnam. New York, 1960.
Excerpted in part on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_II_of_Prussia#Warfare
Works Cited
Chickering, Roger. Imperial Germany and the Great War. London: Cambridge
University Press, 1998.
Craig, Gordon. The Politics of the Prussian Army. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1964.
Excerpted in part on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_II_of_Prussia#Warfare
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