Quoted by Friedrich Engels in Waldersee über die französische Armee, 1861
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French generals must be regarded as comparatively young and bodily active, intelligent, energetic, experienced in war and well adapted for it, though but a few have, so far, shown themselves unusually clever and well acquainted with the handling of large bodies of troops, and though neither the Crimean nor the Italian war have developed any extraordinary military genius.

— Friedrich von Waldersee

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "French generals must be regarded as comparatively young and bodily active, intelligent, energetic, experienced in war and well adapted for it, though but a few have, so far, shown themselves unusually clever and well acquainted with the handling of large bodies of troops, and though neither the Crimean nor the Italian war have developed any extraordinary military genius." in the context of "Quoted by Friedrich Engels in Waldersee über die französische Armee, 1861" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Friedrich von Waldersee" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

About Friedrich von Waldersee

Friedrich Gustav Graf von Waldersee (21 July 1795 – 15 January 1864) was a Prussian Lieutenant General and military author, and the uncle of Field Marshal Alfred von Waldersee. He served as Prussia's Minister of War from 1854 to 1858.