Karl von Strotha
Encyclopedia
Karl Adolf von Strotha was a Prussian officer and Minister of War
Prussian Minister of War
The Prussian War Ministry was gradually established between 1808 and 1809 as part of a series of reforms initiated by the Military Reorganization Commission created after the disastrous Treaty of Paris. The War Ministry was to help bring the army under constitutional control, and, along with the...

 from 1848 to 1850.

Strotha was born into an officers' family and joined the Prussian infantry in 1805 and participated in the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt
Battle of Jena-Auerstedt
The twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt were fought on 14 October 1806 on the plateau west of the river Saale in today's Germany, between the forces of Napoleon I of France and Frederick William III of Prussia...

. He was dismissed from active service due to the cutbacks in the army after the Prussian defeat, although he was made an ensign
Ensign (rank)
Ensign is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank itself acquired the name....

 in 1809. In 1811, Strotha was re-activated as Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 in the artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

y. During the War of the Sixth Coalition
War of the Sixth Coalition
In the War of the Sixth Coalition , a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Spain and a number of German States finally defeated France and drove Napoleon Bonaparte into exile on Elba. After Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, the continental powers...

 he was in the Guard Battery. He participated in the battles of Lützen
Battle of Lützen (1813)
In the Battle of Lützen , Napoleon I of France lured a combined Prussian and Russian force into a trap, halting the advances of the Sixth Coalition after his devastating losses in Russia. The Russian commander, Prince Peter Wittgenstein, attempting to undo Napoleon's capture of Leipzig, attacked...

, Bautzen
Battle of Bautzen
In the Battle of Bautzen a combined Russian/Prussian army was pushed back by Napoleon, but escaped destruction, some sources claim, because Michel Ney failed to block their retreat...

, Haynau
Chojnów
Chojnów is a small town in Legnica County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is located on the Skora river, a tributary of the Kaczawa at an average altitude of above sea level. Chojnów is the administrative seat of the rural gmina called Gmina Chojnów, although the town is...

, Kulm
Battle of Kulm
The Battle of Kulm was a battle near the town Kulm and the village Přestanov in northern Bohemia. It was fought on 29–30 August 1813, during the War of the Sixth Coalition...

, Dohna
Dohna
Dohna is a town in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, Saxony, Germany. It is located south of Heidenau. It is located in the Müglitz valley and lies west of the Eastern Ore Mountains. It was known as Donin in 1107, 1160 and until 1206. Donyn in from 1288 to 1408. Doneyn unwil 1454...

 and Leipzig
Battle of Leipzig
The Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations, on 16–19 October 1813, was fought by the coalition armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden against the French army of Napoleon. Napoleon's army also contained Polish and Italian troops as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine...

.

In 1815 Strotha was made a First Lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...

. A year later he was made a Captain and commander of a battery of artillery on horseback. He also traveled to several European countries. From 1827 to 1830 he commanded the artillery in Magdeburg
Magdeburg
Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....

. After that, he was a Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

 in a Guard artillery brigade. In 1842, Strotha was made a colonel and, in 1847 commander of the 3rd artillery brigade. In March 1848 he was made commander of the fortress of Saarlouis
Saarlouis
Saarlouis is a city in the Saarland, Germany, capital of the district of Saarlouis. In 2006, the town had a population of 38,327. Saarlouis, as the name implies, is located at the river Saar....

, and in May of the same year, was made a Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

.

In November 1848, Strotha became Minister of War in the Brandenburg government. He played a significant role in the military organisation of the counter-revolution, and had General Friedrich Graf von Wrangel
Friedrich Graf von Wrangel
Friedrich Heinrich Ernst Graf von Wrangel was a Generalfeldmarschall of the Prussian Army. He was nicknamed Papa Wrangel....

 march into Berlin. He later organised the fight against the revolutionaries in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

 and in Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....

, and the suppression of the Palatinate revolt.

In 1850 he submitted his resignation, due to differences of opinion between him and King Frederick William IV. His resignation was also caused by power disputes between the King and his minister. The King had made appointments without the minister's counter-signature that was usual in other ministries.

After his resignation as minister, Strotha was made a Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....

 in 1850, as well as commander of the 2nd Artillery inspection, and chairman of the artillery examination board, before retiring in 1854.

Strotha was a member of the first chamber of the Prussian parliament in 1849 and 1850, and was a member of the parliament of the Erfurt Union
Erfurt Union
The Erfurt Union was a short-lived union of German states under a federation, proposed by the Kingdom of Prussia at Erfurt, for which the Erfurt Union Parliament , lasting from March 20 to April 29, 1850, was opened...

 in 1850.

Strotha was the author of several works on military history.
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