Reddit Reddit reviews Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947

We found 11 Reddit comments about Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

History
Books
European History
German History
Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947
Used Book in Good Condition
Check price on Amazon

11 Reddit comments about Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947:

u/umapriyadarsi · 14 pointsr/history

TLDR: as General von Blumenthal, Chief of Staff of the Prussian I Army, put it about the austro-prussian war of 1866, ‘we just shoot the poor sods dead.’ This is repeated all over from Frederick the Great till unification of Germany.

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

u/Nrussg · 5 pointsr/AskHistorians

The German Confederation was created as a replacement for the Holy Roman Empire, and built on the same lines. The portion of Prussia you are talking about, called Ducal Prussia, is not actually part of the Holy Roman Empire. It was originally polish before falling under the principality of Brandenburg and eventually separating from Polish vassalage. Due to weird legalities, the Prince of Brandenburg eventually added the tittle of King in Prussia (Only the King of Bohemia was allowed to be both a king and a member of the Holy Roman Empire, so the Prince of Brandenburg was circumventing this rule by becoming king in territory technically outside the HRE.) Eventually people just started calling the Prince of Brandenburg the King of Prussia, but the territory was never brought in the HRE because of this technicality. When the lines of the Confederation were drawn they maintained this distinction.

Most of this info come from Iron Kingdom which is a great read, but you probably don't want to read 700 pages to answer a small question.

u/ac312 · 3 pointsr/history

Came here looking for Frederick. I'm reading Iron Kingdom now and I'm finding him to be an especially fascinating figure. I think I'll look for a good biography after I'm through with the other book.

u/dnd_in_op · 3 pointsr/history

I liked Iron Kingdom by Christopher Clark.

u/wonderb0lt · 2 pointsr/CasualConversation

I am more of a book person.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Iron Kingdom. Even though it focuses more on economics, The Age of Revolution is also a good read. And the aforementioned article on Metternich which gives you a nice story-telling device to the later coalition wars until the liberal revolution 1848

u/NewMaxx · 1 pointr/worldnews

I absolutely have to recommend The Coming of the Third Reich by Richard Evans for anyone wanting to better understand the process of Hitler's rise. There are many other books I would suggest that deal with causes earlier and external, such as The Twenty Years' Crisis, but I am specifically responding to a comment about WWI.

There is much relevant information on the causes of WWI and it is safe to say that there were a multitude of factors at play. If you were to ask me, however, I'd say one of the primary causes was the weakening of two empires - that of the Ottoman Empire (the "sick man of Europe") and the Austrian-Hungarian empire, the latter thanks to Prussia.

Vienna was long the vanguard of Europe against the Ottomans and the Balkans were always a hotbed of controversy and revolt. The most direct causes of the pre-WWI situation are seen in the wars of the 19th century, which included things like Italian and German (Prussian) unification, the Franco-Prussian War, The Crimean War, etc.

Obviously WWI was the death-knell of monarchism and the coming of age for nationalism, but I digress. Definitely a complicated subject but certainly the after-effects of it led directly to WW2. Wars have long been generational. It's safe to say that it had deeper roots than the Treaty of Versailles; I'd argue the Treaty was merely a symptom of the European multi-polar way of thinking.

u/GadsdenPatriot1776 · 1 pointr/politics

Well it wasn't just Rome. Glubb looked at eleven empires over the course of history. I copied a relevant summary from the end. It isn't just the administrative state that leads to the collapse of an Empire, to be fair.

As numerous points of interest have arisen in the course of this essay, I close with a brief
summary, to refresh the reader’s mind.
> (a) We do not learn from history because our studies are brief and prejudiced.

> (b) In a surprising manner, 250 years emerges as the average length of national greatness.

> (c) This average has not varied for 3,000 years. Does it represent ten generations?

> (d) The stages of the rise and fall of great
nations seem to be:

> The Age of Pioneers (outburst)

> The Age of Conquests

> The Age of Commerce

> The Age of Affluence

> The Age of Intellect

> The Age of Decadence.

> (e) Decadence is marked by:

> Defensiveness

> Pessimism

> Materialism

> Frivolity

> An influx of foreigners

> The Welfare State

> A weakening of religion.

> (f) Decadence is due to:

> Too long a period of wealth and power

> Selfishness

> Love of money

> The loss of a sense of duty.

> (g) The life histories of great states are amazingly similar, and are due to internal factors.

> (h) Their falls are diverse, because they are largely the result of external causes.

> (i) History should be taught as the history of the human race, though of course with emphasis on the history of the student’s own country.

EDIT: Holy crap I suck at formatting. I rarely comment, which is probably why.

The real question is how technology will either speed up, slow down. or prevent the same thing from happening to America.

Will definitely check this out! Is this the book you are referring to?

https://www.amazon.com/Iron-Kingdom-Downfall-Prussia-1600-1947/dp/0674031962

u/Carthonas · 1 pointr/history

https://www.amazon.com/Iron-Kingdom-Downfall-Prussia-1600-1947/dp/0674031962/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1484263214&sr=8-4&keywords=german+empire

This one takes you through the 30 years war all the way to the downfall and dissolution of the Third Reich. Pretty Prussia-Centric, but still damn good.