Jacques-Antoine-Hippolyte, Comte de Guibert (12 November 1743 – 6 May 1790) was a French general and military writer. Born at Montauban, he accompanied his father in wars before he became a general himself. In 1770, he published an essay on tactics which was very influential in his time.
Biography
He was born at
Montauban
Montauban (, ; ) is a commune in the southern French department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, and the sixth most populated of Oc ...
, and at the age of thirteen accompanied his father, Charles-Benoît, comte de Guibert (1715–1786), chief of staff to
Maréchal de Broglie, throughout the Seven Years' War in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, and was awarded the cross of St Louis and then promoted to the rank of colonel in the expedition to
Corsica
Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...
(1767).
In 1773 he visited
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
and was present at the Prussian regimental drills and army manœuvres;
Frederick the Great
Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled ''King in Prussia'', declaring himself ''King of Prussia'' after annexing Royal Prussia ...
, recognizing Guibert's ability, showed great favour to the young comte and freely discussed military questions with him. Guibert's ''Journal d'un voyage en Allemagne'' was published, with a memoir, by Toulongeon (Paris, 1803). His ''Défense du système de guerre moderne'', a reply to his many critics (Neuchâtel, 1779) is a reasoned and scientific defence of the Prussian method of tactics, which formed the basis of his work when in 1775 he began to co-operate with the
count de Saint-Germain in a series of much-needed and successful reforms in the French army. During those years, he also won the love of
Julie de Lespinasse, whose love letters to him, later published, are still read today.
In 1777, however, Saint-Germain fell into disgrace, and his fall involved that of Guibert who was promoted to the rank of maréchal de camp and relegated to a provincial staff appointment.
In his semi-retirement he vigorously defended his old chief Saint-Germain against his detractors.
On the eve of the
Revolution
In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...
he was recalled to the War Office, but in his turn he became the object of attack and he died, practically of disappointment, on 6 May 1790.
Writings
In 1770 he published his ''Essai général de tactique'' in London, and this celebrated work appeared in numerous subsequent editions and in English, German and even Persian translations (extracts also in Liskenne and Sauvan, ''Bibl. historique et militaire'', Paris, 1845). Of this work (for a detailed critique of which see Max Jahns, ''Gesch. d. Kriegswissenschaften'', vol. iii. pp. 2058–2070 and references therein) it may be said that it was the best essay on war produced by a soldier during a period in which tactics were discussed even in the salon and military literature was more abundant than at any time up to 1871.
Apart from technical questions, in which Guibert's enlightened conservatism stands in marked contrast to the doctrinaire progressiveness of
Mesnil-Durand,
Folard and others, the book is chiefly valued for its broad outlook on the state of Europe, especially of military Europe in the period 1763–1792. One quotation may be given as being a most remarkable prophecy of the impending revolution in the art of war, a revolution which the "advanced" tacticians themselves scarcely foresaw. "The standing armies, while a burden on the people, are inadequate for the achievement of great and decisive results in war, and meanwhile the mass of the people, untrained in arms, degenerates. ... The hegemony over Europe will fall to that nation which ... becomes possessed of manly virtues and creates a national army"—a prediction fulfilled almost to the letter within twenty years of Guibert's death.
Other works of Guibert, besides those mentioned, are: ''Observations sur la constitution politique et militaire des armées de S. M. Prussienne'' (Amsterdam, 1778), ''Eloges'' of Marshal Catinat (1775), of
Michel de l'Hôpital (1778), and of Frederick the Great (1787). Guibert was a member of the
Académie française
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
from 1786, and he also wrote a tragedy, ''Le Connétable de Bourbon'' (1775) and a journal of travels in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. His final work was ''De la force publique considérée par tous ses rapports'' (Paris: Didot l'aîné, 1790) in which he contradicted several of the postulates on militias and professional armies. Guibert's writing on the subject - pondering the advantages and disadvantages of militias/conscript armies and mercenaries/professional forces until this day cover most fundamental arguments on the subject.
Guibert distinguished between "tactics" and "grand tactics" (which scholars today would refer to as
grand strategy) in ''General Essay on Tactics.''
Notes
;Attribution
Bibliography
Guibert's works
*Guibert: ''Guibert's '' General Essay on Tactics, trans. Jonathan Abel (Leiden: Brill, 2021)
*Anon. (Guibert): ''Essai général de la Tactique'' (London: chez les libraires associés, 1772)
*translated by Lieutenant Douglas: ''A General Essay on Tactics'' (Whitehall: J.Millar, 1781)
*For translations of excerpts of both the ''Essai général de la Tactique'' and ''De la force publique'' into modern English, see Beatrice Heuser, ''The Strategy Makers: Thoughts on War and Society from Machiavelli to Clausewitz'' (Santa Monica, CA: Greenwood/Praeger, 2010), , pp. 147–170.
Secondary Literature
*Jonathan Abel, ''Jacques-Antoine-Hippolyte, comte de Guibert: Father of Napoleon's Grande Armée'' (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2016)
*Ethel Groffier, ''Le stratège des Lumières : Le comte de Guibert (1743-1790)'', Honoré Champion Éditeur, Paris (2005), 432 pages ()
*Lucien Poirier, ''Les voix de la Stratégie'' (Paris: Fayard, 1985)
*See Toulongeon, ''Eloge véridique de Guibert'' (Paris, 1790); Madame de Stäel, ''Eloge de Guibert''; Bardin, ''Notice historique du général Guibert'' (Paris. I836); Flavian d'Aldeguier, ''Discours sur la vie et les écrits du comte de Guibert'' (Toulouse, 1855); Count Forestie, ''Biographie du comte de Guibert'' (Montauban, 1855); Count zur Lippe, "''Friedrich der Grosse und Oberst Guibert''" ''Militaer-Wochenblatt'' 9 and 10 (1873).
*Beatrice Heuser: "Guibert (1744-1790): Prophet of Total War?", in Stig Förster & Roger Chickering (eds.): ''War in an Age of Revolution: The Wars of American Independence and French Revolution, 1775-1815'' (Cambridge University Press, 2010), pp. 49–67.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guibert, Jacques Antoine Hippolyte, Comte de
1743 births
1790 deaths
French generals
French military writers
Members of the Académie Française
French male non-fiction writers