Paul Bronsart von Schellendorf
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Paul Bronsart von Schellendorf (1832 - 1891), Prussian general, was born at Danzig in 1832. He entered the Prussian Guards in 1849, and was appointed to the general staff in 1861 as a captain; after three years of staff service he returned to regimental duty, but was soon reappointed to the staff, and lectured at the war academy, becoming major in 1865 and lieutenant colonel in 1869. During the Franco-Prussian War (1870) he was chief of a section on the Great General Staff, and conducted the preliminary negotiations for the surrender of the French at Sedan. After the war Bronsart was made a colonel and chief of staff of the Guard army corps, becoming major-general in 1876 and lieutenant general (with a division command) in 1881. Two years later he became war minister, and during his tenure of the post (1883-1889) many important reforms were carried out in the Prussian army, in particular the introduction of the magazine rifle. He was appointed in 1889 to command the I Corps at Königsberg. He died on the 23rd of June 1891 at his estate near Braunsberg.
Writings
Bronsart's military writings include two works of great importance: Ein Ruckblick auf die taktischen Ruckblicke (2nd ed., Berlin, 1870), a pamphlet written in reply to Captain May's Tactical Retrospect of 1866; and Der Dienst des Generalstabes (1st ed., Berlin, 1876; 3rd ed. revised by General Meckel, 1893; new ed. by the author's son, Major Bronsart von Schellendorf, Berlin, 1904), a comprehensive treatise on the duties of the general staff. The third edition of this work was soon after its publication translated into English and issued officially to the British army as The Duties of the General Staff. Major Bronsart's new edition of 1904 was reissued in English by the General Staff, under the same title, in 1905.
References
| Preceded by: Georg von Kameke | Prussian Minister of War 1883–1889 | Succeeded by: Julius von Verdy du Vernois |