What do you think?
Rate this book
The Kaiser's Army: The German Army in World War One
In this comprehensive book, David Stone describes and analyses every aspect of the German Army as it existed under Kaiser Wilhelm II, encompassing its development and antecedents, organisation, personnel, weapons and equipment, its inherent strengths and weaknesses, and its victories and defeats as it fought on many fronts throughout World War I.The book deals in considerable detail with the origins and creation of the German army, examining the structure of power in German politics and wider society, and the nation's imperial ambitions, along with the ways in which the high command and general staff functioned in terms of strategy and tactical doctrine. The nature, background, recruitment, training and military experiences of the officers, NCOs and soldiers are examined, while personal and collective values relating to honour, loyalty and conscience are also analysed. There is also an evaluation of all aspects of army life such as conscription, discipline, rest and recuperation and medical treatment. In addition the army's operations are set in context with an overview of the army at war, covering the key actions and outcomes of major campaigns from 1914 to 1918 up to the signature of the Armistice at Compiègne. For anyone seeking a definitive reference on the German Army of the period – whether scholar, historian, serving soldier or simply a general reader – this remarkable book will prove an invaluable work.
769 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 24, 2014
16 people are currently reading
112 people want to read
About the author
David Stone
11 books2 followersDavid John Anthony Stone is an established military author and historian and a former British army officer. Most of his books on various aspects of military conflict have been written and published since he retired from active military duty in 2002, including several studies on the Prussian and German armies throughout the course of history: an area in which his particular expertise is today acknowledged both in the UK and abroad.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 13, 2016
Col Stone has written one of those books that could legitimately be subtitled, to paraphrase a famous ‘60s title, “Everything you ever wanted to know about …, but were afraid to ask.” With this book the author looks at the inner working of the German Army in World War I.
Starting with an overview of how the German Army developed between the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1 to the opening of World War I, the author traces how the doctrines of the Army changed over those 45 yrs. He also points out the Army had almost no practical experience to temper those changes. The Army only fought in three brief engagements – two colonial rebellions in Africa and the Boxer Rebellion in China. He telling this part of the story the author also explores the outsized effect the Army had on German Society. One anecdote he sites from the Boxer Rebellion is how the Germans earned their nickname in World War I. As the troops departed for China, the Kaiser exhorted them to "Make for yourselves reputations like Attila the Hun. Spare none!" The troops did just that, gaining a reputation for plundering, killing and looting that earned them their nickname in WWI, "the Hun."
The next section of the narrative gives an overview of combat operations in the World War. He not only gives on overview of what was happing in France, but does an excellent job of highlighting the other theaters where German Army found itself fighting, including Southern Africa and the Far East. I felt his telling of the African Theater was the best of the combat overviews.
The author then goes into how the Army was organized, equipped, uniformed, fed and watered and transported to the fighting fronts. This portion of the book really gets down to the details. For example, Col Stone details the change in the uniforms of the soldiers, including the differences in quality between the officers and their men, the difficulty of manufacturing and how design changes were incorporated to ease that, the differences between the Prussian Army and the Bavarians etc. In detailing the uniforms, the author has included several pages of full color illustrations of uniforms, cap badges, helmet plates for the “Pickelhaube” helmets.
The author also details the organization of the army and how it was equipped. This includes the increase of the number of machine guns in the infantry regiments, the development of flamethrowers, the development of the famous German Stahlhelm etc. The author takes each branch in turn and looks at the training, equipping, manning and tactics used by that branch. He just doesn’t look at the combat arms (to use a US Army term), but all the service branches as well. It almost seems that the number of bandages the infantry battalion medical officer was authorized is listed!
This level of detail leads to the main criticism I have of the book – it reads like a text book. All that detail makes the reading dry and I found myself rereading sections to get the information. This is an excellent reference book, but not for the general audience. Because of the dry reading, I give this a 3.5 rating if Goodreads allowed, so I’ve rounded up.
Starting with an overview of how the German Army developed between the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1 to the opening of World War I, the author traces how the doctrines of the Army changed over those 45 yrs. He also points out the Army had almost no practical experience to temper those changes. The Army only fought in three brief engagements – two colonial rebellions in Africa and the Boxer Rebellion in China. He telling this part of the story the author also explores the outsized effect the Army had on German Society. One anecdote he sites from the Boxer Rebellion is how the Germans earned their nickname in World War I. As the troops departed for China, the Kaiser exhorted them to "Make for yourselves reputations like Attila the Hun. Spare none!" The troops did just that, gaining a reputation for plundering, killing and looting that earned them their nickname in WWI, "the Hun."
The next section of the narrative gives an overview of combat operations in the World War. He not only gives on overview of what was happing in France, but does an excellent job of highlighting the other theaters where German Army found itself fighting, including Southern Africa and the Far East. I felt his telling of the African Theater was the best of the combat overviews.
The author then goes into how the Army was organized, equipped, uniformed, fed and watered and transported to the fighting fronts. This portion of the book really gets down to the details. For example, Col Stone details the change in the uniforms of the soldiers, including the differences in quality between the officers and their men, the difficulty of manufacturing and how design changes were incorporated to ease that, the differences between the Prussian Army and the Bavarians etc. In detailing the uniforms, the author has included several pages of full color illustrations of uniforms, cap badges, helmet plates for the “Pickelhaube” helmets.
The author also details the organization of the army and how it was equipped. This includes the increase of the number of machine guns in the infantry regiments, the development of flamethrowers, the development of the famous German Stahlhelm etc. The author takes each branch in turn and looks at the training, equipping, manning and tactics used by that branch. He just doesn’t look at the combat arms (to use a US Army term), but all the service branches as well. It almost seems that the number of bandages the infantry battalion medical officer was authorized is listed!
This level of detail leads to the main criticism I have of the book – it reads like a text book. All that detail makes the reading dry and I found myself rereading sections to get the information. This is an excellent reference book, but not for the general audience. Because of the dry reading, I give this a 3.5 rating if Goodreads allowed, so I’ve rounded up.
November 26, 2023
In 1914, amidst much fanfare, The German Empire was at war with Russia, France and Great Britain. Its army, one of the strongest, if not the strongest in the world marched once again. However, as history showed, what was planned as a rapid march into Paris then a U-turn to Saint Petersburg turned into muddy hell crisscrossed with barbed wire and trenches, where artillery shells lobbed quite liberally, both explosive and poison-gas-filled. And we are talking about the Western Front only.
This book described the German Army in World War I quite comprehensively, from its rather complacent military psyche buoyed victory over France in 1871, the failure of German High Command’s failure in keeping its strategies and tactics up to date with technological in weaponries, to small details such as organization, defensive fortification architecture, weaponries and even logistics of the German Army at the time. While the history of World War I is a topic I am quite familiar, it is the details that I am focusing on this book, making it a valuable reading for everyone interested in this topic.
This book described the German Army in World War I quite comprehensively, from its rather complacent military psyche buoyed victory over France in 1871, the failure of German High Command’s failure in keeping its strategies and tactics up to date with technological in weaponries, to small details such as organization, defensive fortification architecture, weaponries and even logistics of the German Army at the time. While the history of World War I is a topic I am quite familiar, it is the details that I am focusing on this book, making it a valuable reading for everyone interested in this topic.
February 11, 2020
By far the most comprehensive book on the Imperial German army that one could read. Perfect for any historians, reenactors, or readers who for some reason need information pertaining to the German side of World War 1.
Read
March 2, 2017Excellent book with plenty of information.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews