Das deutsche Kriegswesen der Urzeiten

The unbridled love for independence, the tribal jealousy, and the envious special desires of the German tribes of ancient times did not allow for the formation of a self-contained political state unit. Only the constant necessity to defend against the aggressive advance of the Roman world power, for which the military strength of individual tribes was insufficient, led to the need to unite the related forces repeatedly in order to achieve this common national goal, despite all temporary internal divisions and disputes. The general national consciousness, rooted in the same language, customs, and beliefs, which broadly served as a unifying spiritual bond among all the tribes, was therefore nourished and strengthened more by military service than by any other branch of public life. The glue of the countless streams of blood shed on numerous battlefields during those 700 years of fierce struggles continually reconnected the loose internal ties between the individual tribes into a unity of the German people, keeping alive in all tribes the feeling that they formed one large nation against the common enemy and shared a common homeland.

This book on the German military of ancient times and its connections and interactions with the contemporary state and public life is an unaltered reprint of the original edition from 1860.