A Short History of Prussia

by John S.C. Abbott

A Short History of Prussia introduces the reader to the rise of Prussia as a major military and political power under Frederick the Great. The book then covers the Napoleonic Wars and their impact on Prussia, culminating in the rise of Bismarck and the formation of Prussia as the core of the German Empire in the late 19th century.

Contents include:

Origin of the Monarchy
Fritz, and the Commencement of His Reign
The Seven-Years' War
The Partition of Poland, and the Invasion of France
Prussia and the French Revolution
Prussia Overwhelmed
Frederick William III. and the New Coalition
Struggles for Liberty
King William I.
The Chief Supporters of the Crown
Schleswig and Holstein
The Liberation of Italy
The German War
France Demands Her Ancient Boundary
The Policy of Count Bismarck
The Declaration of War
The Eastern Question
France Invaded
Prussian Victories and French Defeats
The Capture of Sedan
The Overthrow of the Empire
The Prisoner and the Exile
War, and Its Woes
The Germanic Empire
The Siege of Paris
The Political Embarrassments
Peace
The Commune

Genres: History, Germany, Historical

278 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1871

About the author

John Stevens Cabot Abbott (Andover Theological Seminary; Bowdoin College, 1825) was a historian, Congregationalist pastor, and pedagogical writer. With his brothers, including Gorham and Jacob Abbott, he was a co-founder of Abbott Collegiate Institute for Young Ladies in New York City.

Reviews

[J · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book claims to be a short history of Prussia, but it's really not. In the first part of the book, the author delivers an entire chapter to the childhood of Frederick the Great (or maybe his father), then when it's time for the Seven Year's War, all we get is a paragraph devoted to each year. Just before reaching halfway through the book, the focus turns to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, but the majority of the remainder is about France and Napoleon III. So, this book is half about Prussia, kinda sorta, then the other half about the fall of the Second French Empire. This book title is very misleading.

So even though there is a good bit about Bismarck and the rise of the German Empire, there is very little about the proclamation of the Empire and particularly the fate of Prussia after the war with France. All we learn is that Germany was the largest military force on the continent and tried to put a German prince on the throne of Spain.

Particularly disheartening about this book is the tendency of the author to rely on newspaper correspondence, letters, memoirs, etc. for his text. It gets redundant, as does the author's frequent appeal to God and other religious exhortations that must have been a product of the time when this book was written. When writing of the fall of Paris and the immediate aftermath, as the nation tried to form a new government, he is very biased towards the Left (he calls them all communists) and what they hoped to accomplish. Granted, it was probably as ugly as described, but I don't like my history full of opinions from the author.

Bypass this book as it's not worth the time to read. I learned very little about Prussia I didn't know already, and much more about the Second French Empire and Napoleon III. Not a bad trade off, necessarily, but probably better to get that information from a better, neutral source.

[Sir Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prussia was the northern province of Grmn
It was linked to england france
It pushed to take over germany
Wars with austria and Poland
Italian diplomacy
Then bismark and german chancellor
Then communism
Germany went from the state of prussia
To a global power house nation
In 200 years
Along side america

[Cidney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short History? Short history? I think not, the author thinks this is short!!

It felt like a tortuous read, I was bogged down with battle facts, facts about german emperors, prussian cruelty, weak and dithering frenchmen, so much so that I stopped reading it for a few days in the incredible belief that it would get better. It did not, when I arrived towards the end of the book with descriptions of the animals in the zoo and all the dogs, cats and rats wandering about the streets being eaten by the starving french I thought I would stop there. No, I ploughed on. I don't feel as if I learnt much more than I did at school about the Prussian wars and am beginning already to regret to wasting so much time in reading this, only to compare the barbaric Prussians with the Russians who are bombarding Ukraine at the moment, and all for what? Another despotic dictator who wants to rule a giant kingdom? Democracy flying out the window, more Putins emerging in other places. And all men! What a world we live in.

[Carl King · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learnt a lot more about France than Prussia. The guy is obviously a card carrying francophile.
His information about the revolution in Paris in 1871 was very interesting.
He discusses the damage that Napoleon (MkI) caused to the German people (and all of Europe) then discounts this in understanding why Prussia would have wanted a serious balwark against France.
No doubt Bismarck was a profound schemer, but then he had the Hapsburgs and various French, Russian, and British intriguers to learn from.
It is oly 291pp so I think it is worth a read, if only for the late 19th century, American, Christian bias to be better understood. Add to this the insights gained into the 'minds' of Paris blouses and I say it was OK.

[Toby Philpott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very Old Book - Old Wine in New Bottle

This book was written in 1870-1871. It is not a complete history of Prussia but ends with the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. It may be of curiosity to historians but is not interesting to casual readers and full of typos. Seems someone wanted to use an old book to make some cash.

[Matjaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Historry of Prussia or France

Specially in the last chapters I often asked myself: "What am I reading?" The book also end with an anticommunist chapter and a question of after-revolutionary French regime.

[Jill Dorr · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm a bit of a history nerd so when I saw this book in the kindle library, I jumped on the chance to read it and learn more about my Prussian heritage. Needless to say, I didn't learn much. The book is split about 10% Prussian history, 90% French military failures. Soooo the book doesn't lie, it's a short history, but it's also insanely boring and poorly written. If I took a drink of every spelling error or word I had to look up, I'd be at the bottom of the Rhine on my way to the Mediterranean. In addition, the book isn't in chronological order and there is no glossary or timeline to place the order or hierarchy of all of the people named in the book. I had to Wikipedia nearly all the people and places named as there wasn't a clear context or description of who the author was referring. Throughout most of the book I thought, Who is this person? Where is this city? What year is it? In short, do not read this insufferable book. If you are looking for a history of the Germanic Empire, look elsewhere.

[Ellen Turnbaugh]

Not really short--just thorough. If you love history, you'll like the way he presents it.

[Wayne S. Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read brings the circumstances to light for a modern audience.

Good work.brings history to life for the modern reader.A human can definitely go down to dark means in extreme circumstances.