Albrecht Theodor Emil Graf von Roon (30 April 1803 – 23 February 1879) was a
PrussiaPrussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n soldier and statesman. As Minister of War 1859–1873 Roon, along with
Otto von BismarckOtto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
and
Helmuth von MoltkeHelmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke was a German Field Marshal. The chief of staff of the Prussian Army for thirty years, he is regarded as one of the great strategists of the latter 19th century, and the creator of a new, more modern method of directing armies in the field...
, was a dominating figure in Prussia's government during the key decade of the 1860s, when a series of successful wars against Denmark, Austria and France led to German unification under Prussia's leadership. A conservative and reactionary supporter of the monarchy, he was an avid modernizer who worked to improve the efficiency of the army.
Education
Roon was born at
PleushagenPleśna is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Będzino, within Koszalin County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. It lies approximately west of Będzino, west of Koszalin, and north-east of the regional capital Szczecin....
, near Kolberg (Kołobrzeg), in
PomeraniaPomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
. His family was of
FlemishFlanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
origin, and had settled in Pomerania. His father, an officer of the
Prussian armyThe Royal Prussian Army was the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.The Prussian Army had its roots in the meager mercenary forces of Brandenburg during the Thirty Years' War...
, died in poverty during the French occupation (see
Napoleonic WarsThe Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
), and the young Roon was brought up by his maternal grandmother in a country ravaged in the War of Liberation.
Roon entered the corps of cadets at Culm (Chełmno) in 1816, from where in 1818 he proceeded to the military school at
BerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, and in January 1821 received a commission in the 14th (3rd Pomeranian) regiment quartered at Stargard in Pomerania. In 1824 he went through the three years higher course of study at the General War School in Berlin (later called the Prussian Military Academy), where he improved his general education. In 1826 he was transferred to the 15th regiment at
MindenMinden is a town of about 83,000 inhabitants in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The town extends along both sides of the river Weser. It is the capital of the Kreis of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detmold. Minden is the historic political centre of the...
.
Publications
Also in 1826, he was appointed an instructor in the military cadet school at Berlin, where he devoted himself especially to the subject of military geography. He was a student of the noted geographer
Carl RitterCarl Ritter was a German geographer. Along with Alexander von Humboldt, he is considered one of the founders of modern geography. From 1825 until his death, he occupied the first chair in geography at the University of Berlin.-Biography:Ritter was born in Quedlinburg, one of the six children of a...
who taught at the Berlin military school. In 1832, Roon published the well-known
Principles of Physical, National and Political Geography, in three volumes (
Grundlage der Erd-, Völker- und Staaten-Kunde), which gained him a great reputation, and of which over 40,000 copies were sold in a few years. This work was followed in 1834 by
Elements of Geography (
Anfangsgrunde der Erdkunde), in 1837 by
Military Geography of Europe (
Militärische Landerbeschreibung von Europa), and in 1839 by
The Iberian Peninsula (
Die Iberische Halbinsel).
Early military career
In 1832, Roon rejoined his regiment, and was afterwards attached to the headquarters of
General von Müffling'sFriedrich Karl Ferdinand Freiherr von Müffling, called Weiss was a Prussian generalfeldmarschall-Biography:Born in Halle, Muffling entered the Prussian army in 1790....
corps of observation at
KrefeldKrefeld , also known as Crefeld until 1929, is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its centre lying just a few kilometres to the west of the River Rhine; the borough of Uerdingen is situated directly on the Rhine...
, when he first became aware of the very inefficient state of the Prussian army. In 1833 he was appointed to the Topographical Bureau at Berlin, in 1835 he entered the
General staffThe German General Staff was an institution whose rise and development gave the German armed forces a decided advantage over its adversaries. The Staff amounted to its best "weapon" for nearly a century and a half....
, and in the following year was promoted captain and became instructor and examiner in the military academy at Berlin. In 1842, after an illness of two years brought on by overwork, he was promoted to major and attached to the staff of the VII Corps, in which post he was again impressed with the inefficiency of the organization of the army, and occupied himself with schemes for its reform. Two years later, as tutor to Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia, he attended him at Bonn University and in his European travels. In 1848 he was appointed chief of the staff of the VIII Corps at
KoblenzKoblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
. During the disturbances of that year he served under
Prince WilliamWilliam I, also known as Wilhelm I , of the House of Hohenzollern was the King of Prussia and the first German Emperor .Under the leadership of William and his Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Prussia achieved the unification of Germany and the...
, later king and emperor, in the suppression of the insurrection at
BadenBaden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
, and distinguished himself by his energy and bravery, receiving the 3rd class of the order of the Red Eagle in recognition of his services. While attached to the Prince's staff at that time he broached to him the subject of his schemes of army reform. In 1850 came the revelation of defective organization and efficiency which led to the humiliating treaty of Olmütz. In the same year Roon was made a lieutenant-colonel, and in 1851 full colonel.
His army reform: the “System”
Promoted to major-general in 1856 and lieutenant-general in 1859, Roon had held several commands since 1850 and had been employed on important missions. Prince Wilhelm became regent in 1858, and in 1859 he appointed Roon a member of a commission to report on the reorganization of the army. During the Austro-Sardinian War he was charged with the mobilization of a division. At the end of 1859, although he was a junior lieutenant-general in the army, he succeeded
Eduard von BoninEduard von Bonin was a Prussian general who served as Prussian Minister of War from 1852–54 and 1858-59.-Life:...
as
war ministerThe Prussian War Ministry was gradually established between 1808 and 1809 as part of a series of reforms initiated by the Military Reorganization Commission created after the disastrous Treaty of Paris. The War Ministry was to help bring the army under constitutional control, and, along with the...
. Two years later, in 1861 the ministry of marine was also entrusted to him.
Supported by Edwin von Manteuffel and the new Prussian Chief of Staff
Helmuth von MoltkeHelmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke was a German Field Marshal. The chief of staff of the Prussian Army for thirty years, he is regarded as one of the great strategists of the latter 19th century, and the creator of a new, more modern method of directing armies in the field...
, Roon drew up plans to adapt
Scharnhorst'sGerhard Johann David Waitz von Scharnhorst was a general in Prussian service, Chief of the Prussian General Staff, noted for both his writings, his reforms of the Prussian army, and his leadership during the Napoleonic Wars....
system to Prussia's altered circumstances. To attain this he proposed an increase in universal military service to three years, with new regiments raised and a reduced role for the reserve (
LandwehrLandwehr, or Landeswehr, is a German language term used in referring to certain national armies, or militias found in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. In different context it refers to large scale, low strength fortifications...
), whose role in the War of Liberation (1813) was still celebrated in nationalist myth. Roon's proposals for army reorganization met with strong opposition from the Prussian Landtag, which was dominated by the Progressive Party (i.e. liberals), who wanted parliamentary control over the military budget. It took years of political fighting and the strong support of the new Prime Minister
Otto von BismarckOtto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
and Moltke, before he carried the day.
National hero
After the successful outcome of the Second Schleswig War of 1864, Roon went from being the most-hated man in Prussia to a popular man in the country.
At the start of the
Austro-Prussian WarThe Austro-Prussian War was a war fought in 1866 between the German Confederation under the leadership of the Austrian Empire and its German allies on one side and the Kingdom of Prussia with its German allies and Italy on the...
, Roon was promoted general of infantry. He was at the decisive victory at
KöniggrätzThe Battle of Königgrätz , also known as the Battle of Sadowa, Sadová, or Hradec Králové, was the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian War, in which the Kingdom of Prussia defeated the Austrian Empire...
, under the command of
MoltkeHelmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke was a German Field Marshal. The chief of staff of the Prussian Army for thirty years, he is regarded as one of the great strategists of the latter 19th century, and the creator of a new, more modern method of directing armies in the field...
. He received the
Black EagleThe Order of the Black Eagle was the highest order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Prussia. The order was founded on 17 January 1701 by Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg . In his Dutch exile after WWI, deposed Emperor Wilhelm II continued to award the order to his family...
at
NikolsburgMikulov is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic with a population of 7,608 . It is located directly on the border with Lower Austria. Mikulov is located at the edge of a hilly area and the three Nové Mlýny reservoirs...
on the road to
ViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. His army system was adopted after 1866 by the whole
North German ConfederationThe North German Confederation 1866–71, was a federation of 22 independent states of northern Germany. It was formed by a constitution accepted by the member states in 1867 and controlled military and foreign policy. It included the new Reichstag, a parliament elected by universal manhood...
. In later years, his army system was copied throughout continental Europe.
During the
Franco-Prussian WarThe Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
in 1870-71, Roon was in attendance on the (then) king Wilhelm. The war was a great victory for Prussia and Roon's contribution to success was considerable. He was created a
GrafGraf is a historical German noble title equal in rank to a count or a British earl...
(count) on January 19, 1871, just after Moltke. In January 1873, he succeeded Bismarck (who continued to be Imperial Chancellor) as Prime Minister of Prussia. Ill-health compelled him to resign later that year, handing the job back to Bismarck. Roon was promoted to
field marshalField Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
on January 1, 1873.
Roon died in Berlin on February 23, 1879.
Memorials
The
armored cruiserThe armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...
SMS RoonSMS Roon"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff", or "His Majesty's Ship" in German. was the lead ship of her class of armored cruisers of the Imperial German Navy. The ship was authorized under the second Naval Law in 1902, and built at the Imperial Dockyard in Kiel at the cost of 15.3 million...
, completed in 1906, was named for Albrecht von Roon.
External links