The Evolving Meaning of Strategy

As early as 1916 Sir William Robertson argued that the field service regulations, published in 1909 and still valid throughout the war, would need replacing. In Germany Wilhelm Göner appointed First Quartermaster General in the Orbister Herasleitung devoted much of his time after the war to explaining the causes of Germany's defeat. He found his answers less in how the war had ended and more in how it had begun. Before 1914 the Prussian General Staff had vigorously rebutted the interpretation of strategy offered by Hans Delbrück who pioneered academic study of military history.