Berthier - Napoleonův nepostradatelný maršál – Šťovíček Michal (2022)

Louis Alexandre Berthier holds a special place among Napoleon's marshals. From 1796, in his roles as Chief of Staff of the Italian Army, Minister of War, and Chief of the General Staff, he became Napoleon's closest military collaborator for a full 18 years, effectively the second highest military official of the empire. His significance for modern military art is immense: he developed entirely new principles and methods of staff work, created and managed a comprehensive functional and operational staff structure for the entire army, and is thus regarded as the first modern Chief of Staff. Together with Napoleon, he formed a duo that directly influenced the development of military affairs. He was an indefatigable worker with a phenomenal memory and remarkable resilience, a powerful and ingenious organizer, and a planner of entirely new and unprecedented dimensions. He penetrated Napoleon's thinking and command style, was able to independently issue continuous quantities of precise and clear orders for combat, movements, logistics, and all military services according to his directives, while simultaneously requiring and processing stacks of reports and communications from all military branches as necessary materials for Napoleon's command. He was thus a versatile immediate organizer and mover of Napoleon's armies, but at the same time...