What is the history of the German general staff and the role it played throughout World War 2?

Answer 1

The Prussian General Staff was established in 1808 shortly after Jena. The first Chief of Staff was Gerhardt von Scharnhorst. In 1857 Helmut von Moltke Senior (1800-1891) was appointed to the post and transformed it into a hyper efficient military planning outfit that tried to 'war-game' for every likely scenario. Moltke also made a point of establishing the famous railways section. It was concerned with working out (1) special timetables (of special trains) to move Prussian soldiers and equipment to the front, and (2) studying the rail networks of foreign countries in order to work out where and how they would probably mobilize. It was this dedicated, obsessive planning that enabled the Prussians to inflict such a rapid and decisive defeat on the Austrian Empire in 1866 and on France in 1870-71. In the latter case, the commanders in the field failed to stick to the agreed 'war-game', and Moltke took personal command in the field. This difficulty also reappeared in WW1. It's said that after their defeat in 1870-71 the French asked, "What was the name of the general who defeated us?" Answer: "He was called 'General Staff' ". The traditon continued.

Answer 2

The German military high command were professional and new about military strategies. The problem was that Hitler all too often interjected himself too closely in everyday battle plans. Although Hitler, generally speaking, was better that Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt concerning actual field battles, he was not a true military professional. This hampered the generals war efforts.