Western Boundary, and Other Essays

Moltke’s The Western Boundary was originally published in the journal Deutsche Vierteljahrsschrift in 1841. The essay came in the wake of calls the previous year by Adolphe Thiers—at the time Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of France—to annex the left bank of the Rhine in ‘satisfaction’ after France’s capitulation to Britain and Russia over the ‘Oriental question’. Helmuth von Moltke here examines Franco-German relations from the fall of the Roman Empire to undercut narratives then emanating from France. Holland and Belgium in their Mutual Relations was published in a brochure format in 1830. It concerns the situation in Belgium kicked off by the French Revolution of that year. Considerations in the Choice of Railway Routes from 1843 is an early study of railways through a technical and economic set of lenses. Railways would go on to be a vital cornerstone of German mobilization and strategic planning—and an important component of his own military thought. Moltke first became interested in railways in 1841 when the Berlin–Hamburg railway extended him the offer of a seat on the board of directors. He left the board in 1844 but would continue to dwell on the subject for decades to come. - Summary by Alister