German Railroad Strategy
General Helmuth von Moltke
Germany was the first nation which planned an extensive system of strategic railway transport designed to move troops from the military centers to the borders. The plan, proposed in 1842 by General Helmuth von Moltke, covered all German and Prussian territory, with branches reaching Turkey and South West Africa, the next planned objectives of Germany colonialism.
In the following years, the European side of their railway system was realized with accommodations, depots and other infrastructures needed to support a moving army, while the Asian and African branches were lost by Germany in colonial wars.
The German railway system helped Prussia win two wars in the nineteenth century: the Austro- Prussian War (1866) and the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71). Neither France nor Austria was prepared to move many troops and supplies along their railway systems: cars accumulated at railheads, troops were gathered, but without supplies and food, and other similar problems derived from scarce coordination between railway companies and the armies led both nations not to be ready when wars started.
General Helmuth von Moltke
