338 FREDERICK AND WAR
directions with his orders, and a solemn silence descended on
the scene. Everybody stood hushed and mute in rank and file,
their eyes on the single man at their head. An old grenadier
once said: 'It was if our Lord God had descended to earth in a
blue coat!' (Hildebrandt, 1829-35, VI, 30)Discipline was in its turn an aspect of Subordination, an untrans-
latable term which in the Prussian service had connotations of
responsiveness and harmony, and the smooth articulation of a chain
of command which reached from the sovereign of the private soldier.
The personal leadership of Frederick and the generals had something
to do with it, and so did simplicity of life and a lack of ceremony. The
ultimate reward was reaped on the battlefield: 'When you open fire,
you cause a massacre. When you bring your cavalry into play, you
annihilate the enemy amid scenes of frightful butchery' ('Principes
G£n6raux\ 1748, Oeuvres, XXVIII, 6-7; see also 'Testament Polit-
ique', 1752, Frederick, 1920, 86-7; 'Regies de ce qu'on exige d'un bon
commandeur de bataillon en temps de guerre', 1773, Oeuvres, XXIX,
57; Guibert, 1778, 390; Moore, 1779, II, 147; Riesebeck, 1784, II, 141;
Mirabeau-Mauvillon, 1788, 61; Lossow, 1826,101; Toulongeon (1786),
1881, 166; Marshal Belle-Isle, quoted in Gr. Gstb., 1890-3, II, 40).
Among the native troops, the discipline and Subordination were
reinforced by what was called the 'military spirit' (see Warnsdorff, in
Volz, 1926-7, II, 290-1). This was a compound of many instincts and
impulses. The Prussian officer admired a certain austerity of tempera-
ment, as manifest, for example, in the ideal of Contenance Halten
(the stiff upper lip) under fire, or the rejection of decorations and
orders of chivalry as an inducement for an officer to do his duty. The
other ranks were moved by religious allegiance, the 'small unit
cohesion' of the military sociologists, and local and national loyalties
such as those that were evident in the Pomeranians of the regiment of
Manteuffel (17), 'upright and cheerful, strong and reliable, and loyal
to their prince - in other words honest men after the old German style'
(Haller, 1796, 327).
The king himself, frenchified to the fingertips, was not unrespon-
sive to racial pride: 'Our Northern peoples are not as soft as the
Westerners. The men in our country are less effeminate, and con-
sequently more virile, and more hard-working and patient, if also, I
must admit, somewhat less refined' (to Voltaire, 5 December 1742,
Oeuvres, XXII, 121-2).
Outward appearances were a matter of some importance, and
'only unreflective folk would consider this splendour as something
useless: on the contrary, it increases the courage and morale of the
soldiers, and enhances the dignity of the army' (Archenholtz, 1974,