‘Sharp like cut iron’: Albrecht von Stosch and the beginning of naval wargaming in the German navy

Abstract

The Seekriegsspiel, a naval version of the Prussian Kriegsspiel, was officially introduced to the German navy in 1876 by the then chief of the German admiralty, Albrecht von Stosch. Intended as an instrument to professionalize the navy’s officers’ corps, it was used not only as an educational but also an analytical instrument; right up to the outbreak of First World War Kriegsspiele were used to evaluate war plans. The 1876 Seekriegsspiel included both a strategic and a tactical element, with the former being considered at the time to be of more value than the latter. In 1879, Philip Colomb RN published a tactical naval wargame that soon found an interested audience among German officers, and by 1880 a German translation produced by a somewhat colourful Austro-Hungarian officer was in wide circulation. The paper provides a brief overview over the developmental history of the Seekriegsspiel and discusses its differences to the Kriegsspiel used by the army.