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A review by maitrey_d
Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947 by Christopher Clark
5.0
The history of Prussia has been written, and re-written many times, but this one probably nailed it. As an Australian, now working at Cambridge University, the author Christopher Clark has "no obligation (or temptation) either to lament or celebrate the Prussian record". Instead Clark "aims to understand all the forces that made, and unmade Prussia."
The caricature of Prussia is more popular unfortunately, than the real thing according to Clark. As one contemporary put it, Prussia was not a state with an army, but an army with a state, "where it was quartered, so to speak". Clark takes great efforts to dispel this myth, and many others beside in this massive book.
Starting of with a brief introduction to the Mark of Brandenburg, the geographical area which houses Berlin and the heart of what we would call Prussia, Clark swiftly moves to the creation of Prussia proper with fortuitous marriage alliances and trades by the House of Hohenzollern. The trauma of the Thirty Years War on the Prussian and German psyche is also explored. I learnt a lot about early modern European history as Clark deftly weaves a story with all the early Prussian kings, especially Frederick II ( "the Great") and their interactions with the other European Great Powers. Half-way through, we tackle Napoleon and his long-lasting effects on the Iron Kingdom (especially, its sudden doubling in size, thanks to the addition of the Rhineland to Prussia after the congress of Vienna).
Clark doesn't cover just military and political history. A large portion is devoted to cultural history, he also males a strong case for Prussia as a center of Enlightenment especially under Frederick William I and his son Frederick the Great (almost all of the 18th Century and beyond). Prussia was also one of the first European states to emancipate the Jews, and Jews, Poles and other minorities are much discussed throughout the book. Religious movements such as those of the Pietists (a Lutheran sub-sect roughly half way between the Hohenzollerns who were Calvinists, and the public who were Lutherans) is also explained, especially the long lasting effects of the Pietist way of thinking on Prussia. Even the education reforms carried out by the state would have long lasting changes leading to very efficient bureaucracy. In fact, the cornerstone of the Western education system such as the inculcation of thinking, and emphasis on research and critical analysis, even in early schooling was a Prussian invention.
The last few chapters are devoted to the tumultuous 19th Century revolutions, culminating in the creation of Germany, thanks to Bismarck and a host of others. The problem of a Prussia-in-Germany, and how it was never solved, and also the conflicting chains of military and civilian command are very well explained.
The only criticism I can lay at the book's feet are the decades leading up to WWI, the chapters are quite jumbled, jumping from one instance to the other. However Clark is back to his best with Nazism and Prussianism, and how equating the two of them is absurd. Unfortunately Germany lost, and was dismembered by the Allied leaders who very much believed in that fact. Now, most of historical Prussia is in Poland, while East Prussia's erstwhile capital of Konigsburg is an Russian exclave of Kalningrad.
Overall, I'd like to think that the narration of this book has imbibed much that is good in Prussia, it is straight forward, very clear and objective. A landmark not only on the historiography of Prussia but also on how modern history books should be written.
The caricature of Prussia is more popular unfortunately, than the real thing according to Clark. As one contemporary put it, Prussia was not a state with an army, but an army with a state, "where it was quartered, so to speak". Clark takes great efforts to dispel this myth, and many others beside in this massive book.
Starting of with a brief introduction to the Mark of Brandenburg, the geographical area which houses Berlin and the heart of what we would call Prussia, Clark swiftly moves to the creation of Prussia proper with fortuitous marriage alliances and trades by the House of Hohenzollern. The trauma of the Thirty Years War on the Prussian and German psyche is also explored. I learnt a lot about early modern European history as Clark deftly weaves a story with all the early Prussian kings, especially Frederick II ( "the Great") and their interactions with the other European Great Powers. Half-way through, we tackle Napoleon and his long-lasting effects on the Iron Kingdom (especially, its sudden doubling in size, thanks to the addition of the Rhineland to Prussia after the congress of Vienna).
Clark doesn't cover just military and political history. A large portion is devoted to cultural history, he also males a strong case for Prussia as a center of Enlightenment especially under Frederick William I and his son Frederick the Great (almost all of the 18th Century and beyond). Prussia was also one of the first European states to emancipate the Jews, and Jews, Poles and other minorities are much discussed throughout the book. Religious movements such as those of the Pietists (a Lutheran sub-sect roughly half way between the Hohenzollerns who were Calvinists, and the public who were Lutherans) is also explained, especially the long lasting effects of the Pietist way of thinking on Prussia. Even the education reforms carried out by the state would have long lasting changes leading to very efficient bureaucracy. In fact, the cornerstone of the Western education system such as the inculcation of thinking, and emphasis on research and critical analysis, even in early schooling was a Prussian invention.
The last few chapters are devoted to the tumultuous 19th Century revolutions, culminating in the creation of Germany, thanks to Bismarck and a host of others. The problem of a Prussia-in-Germany, and how it was never solved, and also the conflicting chains of military and civilian command are very well explained.
The only criticism I can lay at the book's feet are the decades leading up to WWI, the chapters are quite jumbled, jumping from one instance to the other. However Clark is back to his best with Nazism and Prussianism, and how equating the two of them is absurd. Unfortunately Germany lost, and was dismembered by the Allied leaders who very much believed in that fact. Now, most of historical Prussia is in Poland, while East Prussia's erstwhile capital of Konigsburg is an Russian exclave of Kalningrad.
Overall, I'd like to think that the narration of this book has imbibed much that is good in Prussia, it is straight forward, very clear and objective. A landmark not only on the historiography of Prussia but also on how modern history books should be written.