Roon, Albrecht von

(1803–1879)

   Prussian war minister from 1859 to 1873, Albrecht von Roon joined the Prussian army in 1816. In 1835, he entered the general staff. Recognizing the army’s inefficiency, he occupied himself with schemes for reform. In 1859, Roon became war minister. His proposals to create an armed nation by a universal three years’ service met with strong opposition. It was not until after heavy fighting against a hostile parliament that Roon succeeded. It required the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 to convert opposition into support. Roon’s system produced convincing results in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870–1871. After that, Roon’s ideas were copied throughout Europe. Roon was created a count and a field marshal, and in 1871, he succeeded Otto von Bismarck as Prussian prime minister for one year.

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   FURTHER READING:

    Citino, Robert M. The German Way of War: From the Thirty Years War to the Third Reich . Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2005; Wawro, Geoffrey. The Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870–1871 . New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

   MARTIN MOLL