National Hero
After the successful outcome of the Second Schleswig War of 1864, Roon went from being the most-hated man in Prussia to a popular man in the country.
At the start of the Austro-Prussian War, Roon was promoted general of infantry. He was at the decisive victory at Königgrätz, under the command of Moltke. He received the Black Eagle at Nikolsburg on the road to Vienna. His army system was adopted after 1866 by the whole North German Confederation. In later years, his army system was copied throughout continental Europe.
During the Franco-Prussian War in 1870-71, Roon was in attendance on the (then) king Wilhelm. The war was a great victory for Prussia and Roon's contribution to success was considerable. He was created a Graf (count) on January 19, 1871, just after Moltke. In January 1873, he succeeded Bismarck (who continued to be Imperial Chancellor) as Prime Minister of Prussia. Ill-health compelled him to resign later that year, handing the job back to Bismarck. Roon was promoted to field marshal on January 1, 1873.
Roon died in Berlin on February 23, 1879.
Read more about this topic: Albrecht Von Roon
Famous quotes related to national hero:
“...America has enjoyed the doubtful blessing of a single-track mind. We are able to accommodate, at a time, only one national hero; and we demand that that hero shall be uniform and invincible. As a literate people we are preoccupied, neither with the race nor the individual, but with the type. Yesterday, we romanticized the ‘tough guy;’ today, we are romanticizing the underprivileged, tough or tender; tomorrow, we shall begin to romanticize the pure primitive.”
—Ellen Glasgow (1873–1945)