Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947

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Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947 Pub. Date: 1/30/2009 Publisher: Harvard University Press
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Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947 Pub. Date: 9/15/2006 Publisher: Harvard University Press

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Overview

In the aftermath of World War II, Prussia--a centuries-old state pivotal to Europe's development--ceased to exist. In their eagerness to erase all traces of the Third Reich from the earth, the Allies believed that Prussia, the very embodiment of German militarism, had to be abolished.

But as Christopher Clark reveals in this pioneering history, Prussia's legacy is far more complex. Though now a fading memory in Europe's heartland, the true story of Prussia offers a remarkable glimpse into the dynamic rise of modern Europe.

What we find is a kingdom that existed nearly half a millennium ago as a patchwork of territorial fragments, with neither significant resources nor a coherent culture. With its capital in Berlin, Prussia grew from being a small, poor, disregarded medieval state into one of the most vigorous and powerful nations in Europe. Iron Kingdom traces Prussia's involvement in the continent's foundational religious and political conflagrations: from the devastations of the Thirty Years War through centuries of political machinations to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, from the enlightenment of Frederick the Great to the destructive conquests of Napoleon, and from the "iron and blood" policies of Bismarck to the creation of the German Empire in 1871, and all that implied for the tumultuous twentieth century.

By 1947, Prussia was deemed an intolerable threat to the safety of Europe; what is often forgotten, Clark argues, is that it had also been an exemplar of the European humanistic tradition, boasting a formidable government administration, an incorruptible civil service, and religious tolerance. Clark demonstrates how a state deemed the bane of twentieth-century Europe has played an incalculable role in Western civilization's fortunes. Iron Kingdom is a definitive, gripping account of Prussia's fascinating, influential, and critical role in modern times.

What People Are Saying

Charles S. Maier

Prussia was a project for state power invented by monarchs and landlords, generals and civil servants from the vulnerable provinces of north central Europe -- slowly mobilizing civic loyalties and reinvented for an age of German nationalism and encroaching democracy. In this epic volume, Christopher Clark enriches classic scholarship with the most recent findings to write Prussia's 500-year story from its unpromising Brandenburg origins through its manipulation by the Nazis and final dissolution by the postwar Allies as the byword for German aggression.
—Charles S. Maier, author of Among Empires: American Ascendancy and Its Predecessors

Geoff Eley

Chris Clark's new history of Prussia trumps all existing accounts. It commands four centuries of complicated history with extraordinary assurance. Its clear and confident argumentation, illuminating concreteness of detail, and sheer richness of texture make it the ideal general history.
—Geoff Eley, author of A Crooked Line: From Cultural History to the History of Society

James J. Sheehan

Clark's great accomplishment is to tell the story of the Prussian state's rise and fall in a splendid and compelling way. His interpretation is a sustained critique of the still widely accepted view of Prussia's deviation from the western norm that led to the catastrophes of war and dictatorship in the twentieth century. Iron Kingdom is by far the best account of Prussia in English and as good as anything I know in German as well.
—James J. Sheehan, President of the American Historical Association

James Simpson

This book is everything its subject is supposed not to be: it's sparkling, light-footed and intellectually supple at every turn. Even more refreshingly, it narrates the story of a Prussia that was itself the source of much that was socially and intellectually progressive. The history of Prussia is a history of the West: we are all Prussians one way or another. This humane book, with its unflagging narrative sweep and deftness of touch, reveals the truth of that surprising statement.
—James Simpson, author of Reform and Cultural Revolution

William Hagen

Lucid, learned, and light-touched, this comprehensive history of the Prussian state and the society it molded eclipses its rivals, both Anglo-American and German. Its well-crafted narrative form is reader-friendly, while the interpretation it offers will impress seasoned specialists with its sophistication, knowledgeability, and freedom from stereotype and ideas of predetermined destiny. It will be required reading for all students of the history of modern Germany.
—William Hagen, author of Ordinary Prussians: Brandenburg Junkers and Villagers, 1500-1840 Prussia was a project for state power invented by monarchs and landlords, generals and civil servants from the vulnerable provinces of north central Europe -- slowly mobilizing civic loyalties and reinvented for an age of German nationalism and encroaching democracy. In this epic volume, Christopher Clark enriches classic scholarship with the most recent findings to write Prussia's 500-year story from its unpromising Brandenburg origins through its manipulation by the Nazis and final dissolution by the postwar Allies as the byword for German aggression.

Editorial Reviews

Volker Ullrich

What is so captivating about Christopher Clark's book is not merely its confident mastery of an overwhelming mass of sources and literature, but also the variety of its methods and perspectives. The writer's expertise is in politics and military history. He dedicates much attention to the play of huge powers and battlefield activities. But the history of ideas is also duly represented.... The book has been enthusiastically received in the Anglo-Saxon press. And deservedly so. It is a remarkable achievement with which the 46 year-young Cambridge scholar has written himself into the premiere league of British historians.
—Die Zeit

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From The Critics

Mr. Clark, a senior lecturer in modern European history at Cambridge University, does an exemplary job. A lively writer, he organizes masses of material in orderly fashion, clearly establishing his main themes and pausing at crucial junctures to recapitulate and reconsider. Prussia, a self-invented artifact right down to its name, demands the kind of careful demythologizing that it receives from Mr. Clark, who gently but insistently exposes the flaws in most of the received wisdom about his subject. A result is an illuminating, profoundly satisfying work of history, brightened by vivid character sketches of the principals in his drama.
— The New York Times

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780674023857
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Publication date: 9/15/2006
Pages: 800
Product dimensions: 6.70 (w) x 9.30 (h) x 2.10 (d)

Meet the Author

Christopher Clark is Senior Lecturer in Modern European History at St. Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge. He is the author of Politics of Conversion: Missionary Protestantism and the Jews in Prussia 1728–1941 and Kaiser Wilhelm II, and the coeditor of Culture Wars: Catholic-Secular Conflict in Nineteenth-Century Europe.

1	The Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg	1
2	Devastation	19
3	An extraordinary light in Germany	38
4	Majesty	67
5	Protestants	115
6	Powers in the land	145
7	Struggle for mastery	183
8	Dare to know!	247
9	Hubris and Nemesis : 1789-1806	284
10	The world the bureaucrats made	312
11	A time of iron	345
12	God's march through history	388
13	Escalation	436
14	Splendour and misery of the Prussian revolution	468
15	Four wars	510
16	Merged into Germany	556
17	Endings	619

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random_skeptic

Posted January 18, 2010

Excellent History

The Iron Kingdom was an excellent book. It covered the entire span of Prussian history. From its humble origins as the small electorate of Brandenburg ruled by the relatively unimportant Hollenzollern family to the mighty kingdom of Prussia ruled by the same dynasty, the Iron Kingdom discusses dynastic politics, warfare, culture and statescraft. A good deal of time is spent on the Prussian Enlightenment and the reign of Frederick the Great. The Napoleonic era and the rise of the German Empire is also discussed in detail. Just a few of the important personalities discussed in this book are: Frederick the Great (mentioned above), Otto Von Bismark, Frederick William the Great Elector, William I, William II and Paul Von Hindenburg. The book is quite long and very detailed, especially in certain areas. Because of its length and in depth analysis, it may not appeal to all readers. However, any lover of Early Modern/Modern history will love this book. I have a much greater understanding of Germany because of reading this book.

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Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947

Overview

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Overview

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Editorial Reviews

Volker Ullrich

From The Critics

Product Details

Meet the Author

Table of Contents

Rating Distribution

Excellent History