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The Encyclopaedia Britannica defines it as a group of officers who assist a commander by shaping and disseminating his ideas, communicating his orders, and overseeing the execution of those orders. That body has its roots in ancient times, but it got its clear and solid foundations only at the beginning of the 19th century, when Gerhard von Scharnhorst realized that the Prussian army could defeat Napoleon's army only if it was thoroughly reorganized. Helmut von Moltke perfected the body on which Scharnhorst laid the foundations and created from him the institution that achieved German unification with iron and blood. Which body is it about? Listen in History on Thursdays.