The New International Encyclopædia/Roon, Albrecht Theodor Emil

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ROON, rōn, Albrecht Theodor Emil, Count von (1803-79). A Prussian field-marshal and war minister, born at Pleushagen near Kolberg. He was trained at the military school in Berlin, and in 1836 was appointed to the general stuff with the rank of captain. In 1858 he was commander of the Fourteenth Division, and six months later became lieutenant-general. In 1859 he was made Minister of War, and in 1861 became also Minister of Marine, holding that office for 10 years. The splendid effectiveness of the German army in 1866 and 1870-71 was due in very great measure to Von Roon's talents as an organizer and administrator. On January 1, 1873, he was made President of the Cabinet, and Field-Marshal. He resigned November 9, 1873, the ministry of war and the presidency of the Cabinet, as Bismarck found it necessary to combine his position as Imperial Chancellor with that of President of the Cabinet. Von Roon, who was a pupil of Karl Ritter, wrote a number of authoritative geographical works, the best known of which is the Anfangsgründe der Erd-, Völker- and Staatenkunde (1834). Consult: Waldemar Count Roon, Denkwürdigkeiten aus dem Leben des General-Feldmarschalls Grafen von Roon (2 vols., Breslau, 1892); id., Kriegsminister von Roon als Redner (ib., 1895-96).