Victory of the Losers - According to Heinrich von Kleist

At a late moment in the 18th century, Russian troops storm a citadel in northern Italy. They carry off the historical fleetingness of a victory that only the victims take note of. The disproportion between the bloody roar and the political impact triggers unease in the theme park of embarrassment. The inconsequentially foaming operation is repulsive. Heinrich von Kleist speculates on the effect by placing the military commotion in front of the rest of the novella with great attention to detail.
"For what is a novella but an unheard-of event?"
This is how Goethe summed up the novella in a remark recorded by Eckermann in 1827. The novella is a modern form without an ancient model. It demands the event of fateful significance as news.