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Preußen: Geschichte eines Königreichs
Uwe A. Oster nimmt uns mit auf eine historische Reise in das alte Preußen: Vom barocken König Friedrich I., unter dem das Herzogtum Preußen 1701 zum Königreich erhoben wurde, bis hin zum letzten preußischen König und späteren deutschen Kaiser Wilhelm I. reicht der Bogen, den Oster spannt. Fesselnd und anschaulich erzählt er von einer Epoche, die Deutschland bis heute beeinflusst – im Guten wie im Schlechten.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
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December 7, 2018The rich also cry. For those of us of simple birth and moderate means we'd be inclined to count Bismarck coming along and making us the leader of a new German empire as one of the happiest days of our lives. Not so the Prussian King and unwilling Emperor Wilhelm I. For him Morgen ist der traurigste Tag meines Lebens. Morgen tragen wir das preussische Koenigtum zu Grabe.
In this popular history written by a journalist in a magazine style with lots of short, easily digestible sections under a clear heading the sense of identification that lay behind those words is never explicitly explored or addressed.
Despite the subtitle being 'History of a Kingdom' it really is a history of the Kings. Each chapter follows a King's reign down to his mortal end and there is a focus on wars and battles. Other things were happening in the Kingdom as the result of toleration, settlement, education and economic development but we only see them in relation to the Kings. As a result the events described can lack context. Frederick Wilhelm IV was described as being short of money which is incomprehensible within the confines of the book - he wasn't fighting wars so why can he be short of money!
The author ends the book in 1871 with the creation of the German empire and the source of Wilhelm I's heartfelt sorrow. I can see that there is an argument for doing this but it's not a choice that the author explains. Where is the debate on ending the book in 1918 with the end of the monarchy, or 1947 and the end of Prussia instead? On the other hand he doesn't start the book with Frederick I's coronation and the formal beginning of the kingdom either so it's not as though his approach is consistent.
As a history of the Kings of Prussia all the old favourite stories are here. Frederick Wilhelm I beating a passer by, telling him he should love him not fear him, Frederick II shouting at his soldiers fleeing the field of battle: 'do you want to live forever' and being told in return 'for eight groschen a day we've done enough today' & so on but now I've got the unsatisfied taste for a history of Prussia - more swamp draining, migration, newspapers being founded, education, the union of the Reformed and Lutheran churches (really shamefully passed over here), assimilation and the growth of a sense of a Prussian identity etc.
In this popular history written by a journalist in a magazine style with lots of short, easily digestible sections under a clear heading the sense of identification that lay behind those words is never explicitly explored or addressed.
Despite the subtitle being 'History of a Kingdom' it really is a history of the Kings. Each chapter follows a King's reign down to his mortal end and there is a focus on wars and battles. Other things were happening in the Kingdom as the result of toleration, settlement, education and economic development but we only see them in relation to the Kings. As a result the events described can lack context. Frederick Wilhelm IV was described as being short of money which is incomprehensible within the confines of the book - he wasn't fighting wars so why can he be short of money!
The author ends the book in 1871 with the creation of the German empire and the source of Wilhelm I's heartfelt sorrow. I can see that there is an argument for doing this but it's not a choice that the author explains. Where is the debate on ending the book in 1918 with the end of the monarchy, or 1947 and the end of Prussia instead? On the other hand he doesn't start the book with Frederick I's coronation and the formal beginning of the kingdom either so it's not as though his approach is consistent.
As a history of the Kings of Prussia all the old favourite stories are here. Frederick Wilhelm I beating a passer by, telling him he should love him not fear him, Frederick II shouting at his soldiers fleeing the field of battle: 'do you want to live forever' and being told in return 'for eight groschen a day we've done enough today' & so on but now I've got the unsatisfied taste for a history of Prussia - more swamp draining, migration, newspapers being founded, education, the union of the Reformed and Lutheran churches (really shamefully passed over here), assimilation and the growth of a sense of a Prussian identity etc.
January 30, 2024
Zeit Geschichte: Preußen
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews