Goltz entered the Prussian infantry in 1861 as a second lieutenant with the 5th East Prussian Infantry Regiment Number 41, in
Königsberg (now
Kaliningrad). During 1864 he was on border duty at
Toruń, after which he entered the
Berlin Military Academy, but was temporarily withdrawn in 1866 to serve in the
Austro-Prussian War, in which he was wounded at
Trautenau. In 1867 he joined the
topographical section of the general staff, and at the beginning of the
Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 was attached to the staff of
Prince Frederick Charles, commanding general of the Prussian
Second Army. He took part in the battles of
Vionville and
Gravelotte and in the
siege of Metz. After Metz fell he served under
Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia in the campaign of the Loire, including the battles of
Orleans and
Le Mans. Goltz was appointed professor at the military school at
Potsdam in 1871, promoted to captain, and placed in the historical section of the
general staff. It was then that he wrote
Die Operationen der II. Armee bis zur Capitulation von Metz (
The Operations of the Second Army until the surrender of Metz) and
Die Sieben Tage von Le Mans (
The Seven Days of Le Mans), both published in 1873. In 1874 he was appointed first general staff officer (Ia) of the 6th Division, and while so employed wrote
Die Operationen der II. Armee an der Loire (
The Operations of the Second Army on the Loire) and
Léon Gambetta und seine Armeen (
Léon Gambetta and his armies), published in 1875 and 1877 respectively. The latter was translated into French the same year, and is considered by many historians to be his most original contribution to military literature. Goltz stressed how, despite the rapid initial victory against the Imperial French forces at the
Battle of Sedan, the new French Republic had been able to mobilise national will for a ("War of the People") which dragged on for many more months (the
Siege of Paris, the campaign of the Loire and the partisans behind German lines, the latter tying down 20% of German strength), the implication being that it was therefore unrealistic to expect a quick victory over France in any future war. Goltz, who wrote with open admiration about
Léon Gambetta's efforts to raise new armies after September 1870, argued that the French "people's war" might have been successful had Gambetta been able to better train his new armies. Goltz argued that henceforward a new age in war had begun, that of the "nation in arms," where the state would seek to mobilize the entire nation and its resources for war, what today might be called
total war. The views expressed in the latter work were unpopular with the powers that be and led to Goltz's being sent back to regimental duty for a time, but it was not long before he returned to the military history section. In 1878 Goltz was appointed a lecturer in military history at the military academy in Berlin, where he remained for five years and attained the rank of major. He published, in 1883,
Roßbach und Jena (new and revised edition,
Von Rossbach bis Jena und Auerstadt, 1906) and
Das Volk in Waffen (
The Nation in Arms), both of which quickly became military classics. The latter also became the theoretical handbook of the
Argentine Army, and in 1910 Goltz headed the German diplomatic mission to the
Argentina Centennial. During his residence in Berlin, Goltz contributed many articles to military journals. The ideas that Goltz first introduced in
Léon Gambetta und seine Armeen were further expanded in
The Nation in Arms, where he argued: So to win war in the future would require that "the great civilized nations of the present bring their military organization to ever greater perfection." To that end, Goltz thought society needed to be militarized in peacetime on an unprecedented level, and what was required was "the full amalgamation of military and civilian life." Goltz was a militarist,
Social Darwinist and ultra-nationalist who believed war was necessary, desirable and inevitable. In Goltz's Social Darwinist perspective, just as "survival of the fittest" prevailed in nature, the same principle applied to international relations with "strong" nations rightfully devouring "weak" nations. Goltz, who saw the carnage of war as the most beautiful thing in the world wrote: "It [war] is an expression of the energy and self-respect which a nation possesses.... Perpetual peace means perpetual death!" ==Service with the Ottoman Empire==