Wenn wir den Begriff 'Krieg' hören, denken wir vor allem an den Zweiten Weltkrieg. Doch in allen Epochen der deutschen Geschichte gab es kriegerische Auseinandersetzungen. Die 24 Schlachten dieses Bandes zeigen Kriege, die, von der Antike bis ins 20. Jahrhundert, gleichsam vor unserer Haustür stattfanden. Die Texte, Abbildungen und Karten werden ergänzt durch Augenzeugenberichte – sie holen die dramatischen Geschehnisse, vor allem aber die betroffenen Menschen ganz nah heran.
Although the war of 1870–71 has gone down in history as the 'Franco-Prussian War', nearly half of the German troops sent to the frontier were from other German states – both the willing members of the North German Confederation and the southern states who were in some cases more hesitant about accepting Prussian domination. Some contingents had only one or two regiments – though these might be of high quality, like the 'Black Brunswickers'; others provided whole army corps, like Bavaria and Saxony. This book lists and illustrates the organization and varied uniforms of all these allied contingents, most of which fought well when it came to the test of battle.
In 1870 Bismarck, Prime Minister of Prussia, engineered a war with France that would result in the fall of the Second Empire. It was the first modern European war and saw the use of bolt action rifles, machine guns, railway transport and professional general staffs.