ABSTRACT
In the Age of Reason warfare and the military machines were managed in two ways. One was the style of Frederick Great, and the other was followed by everyone else.
From the beginning, Frederick concentrated the control of politics and strategy in his person. During the winter of 1760-1 his friend d’Argens got into the habit of dropping into the king’s headquarters at Leipzig after the daily concert, and one evening he discovered the king sitting on the floor, feeding his greyhounds with stew from a dish. He had a little stick, with which he maintained order among the pack, and pushed the best morsels in the direction of his favourite bitch. D’Argens clapped his hands and exclaimed:
Five great powers of Europe have sworn to destroy you, the Marquis of Brandenburg. They think that you must surely be hatching some deadly plot for the next campaign, collecting the funds to see it through, assembling your stores of food and forage, or launching negotiations to divide your enemies and gain yourself new allies. Nothing could be further from the truth! Here you are sitting peacefully in your room, feeding your dogs! (Nicolai, 1788-92, I, 46)
The operational advantages of such a centralisation of power were priceless, but they exacted a heavy penalty of Frederick in terms of isolation and strain. He was prostrated by psychosomatic collapse on several occasions in the Seven Years War, and during those terrible episodes he removed himself from human contact for days at a time.
