ABSTRACT
The period round 1640, in which the Prusso-Brandenburgian Army was born, saw the beginnings of what was later to be referred to by the comprehensive term Generalstabsdienst, or “General Staff Service”. Strangely enough, the Prussian Army continued, while these changes were in progress, to be the accepted model for Europe, so much so that immediately before the Revolution the French Minister of War was considering the introduction of Prussian drill regulations and the Prussian military organization into France. The Swedish Army stood at this time in high repute in Northern Europe, and it was on that model that the Great Elector may be presumed to have based himself in creating a so-called Quartermaster-General’s Staff. In Prussia, however, the Great Elector was his own Generalissimo and his own Chief of Staff. The First Adjutant-General of the infantry, Colonel von Geusau, himself later became head of the Quartermaster-General’s staff.
