General military newspaper

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General military newspaper

Area of ​​Expertise military
language German
publishing company Zernin ( Germany )
Headquarters Darmstadt
First edition 1826
attitude 1902
Frequency of publication weekly
editor Society of German Officers and Military Officials
ZDB 501146-2

The Allgemeine Militär-Zeitung was a military trade journal that appeared in 77 years in German-speaking countries from 1826 to 1902. It was published by the "Society of German Officers and Military Officials". From 1826 to 1859 it was published by Leske im Darmstadt , then by Zernin, also in Darmstadt.

The "Allgemeine Militär-Zeitung" was founded in 1826 on the basis of the Allgemeine Zeitung , which also appeared nationwide in German-speaking countries. In total, it was distributed in 39 individual states, making it one of the most influential specialist journals alongside the Austrian military magazine and the military weekly . The latter were published in Vienna and Berlin . Its founder and editor-in-chief was Friedrich Wilhelm Zimmermann (1789-1859), who however preferred to remain anonymous until he left the editorial office.

In its first edition the editors outlined the task of the newspaper as follows: "The AMZ has the provision, the latest facilities and regulations in the armies and troop corps of all states and the new phenomena in the military world in general for general knowledge quickly and with the greatest possible completeness A continuous daily report on everything that is happening militarily in the various countries can be called a real need of our time. [...] Your aim is to bring the various armies (especially the individual departments of the German Armed Forces ) closer together to make known and to make the good the common property of all armies. " (AMZ 1/1826, column 1)

Accordingly, no day-to-day political issues should be discussed. As early as the second year, officers from all German states and Austria were invited to contribute to the newspaper. Soon afterwards there were various articles on international army facilities and their possible improvements, as well as articles from the French magazine Le Spectateur militaire . The newspaper also provided a platform for free discussion. In order to facilitate this exchange of views, the names of the authors of all contributions were kept secret, which is still difficult for research today.

Up until the summer of 1842, two issues of the “Allgemeine Militär-Zeitung” were published a week, and then until the end of 1854 even three issues. From 1855 until it was discontinued in 1902, only one issue per week was published. The sheet was initially published by the “Karl Wilhelm Leske” publishing house before switching to the “Eduard Zernin” publishing house in 1857. The 1850s meant more trouble for the newspaper. The officer corps' lack of contemporary interest in theoretical education led to a decline in demand, which was a major reason for the lower number of weekly expenses.

In 1859 three bourgeois-enlightened officers came to the management of the "Allgemeine Militär-Zeitung": Major Karl Brodrück (fallen in 1866), Captain Julius Königer († 1866), and Captain Wilhelm von Plönnis († 1871). Under her leadership, the newspaper regained its strength. Thematically, she now campaigned for a greater unification of the Federal Army by proposing, among other things, the establishment of German military academies . She also campaigned for the abolition of corporal punishment for soldiers . In addition, in 1832 it was one of the first specialist journals to point out the importance of the recently published work by General Carl von Clausewitz (1780–1831), who was still completely unknown . After the Austro-Prussian War (1866), in which the newspaper lost a large part of its employees, the "Allgemeine Militär-Zeitung" also served as a discussion platform for the former commanders-in-chief.

From 1867 to 1902, Lieutenant Colonel Gebhard August Eduard Zernin was the chief editor. In 1870 he acquired all the rights to the newspaper and was therefore editor, owner and publisher in one person. Under his leadership the "Allgemeine Militär-Zeitung" got a "Prussian tone" (he himself came from Brandenburg), and by 1875 it had a circulation of 1000 copies. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, the newspaper mainly dealt with the reappraisal of the same, but also combined the goal of spiritually unifying the new Imperial Army. Soon afterwards the "Military Time Issues" appeared as supplements in which larger essays could be published.

But from 1900 the number of subscribers decreased significantly. In the summer of 1902, Zernin announced the closure of the newspaper. The reasons he gave were the rising production costs and a personal eye problem.

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