Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Power of sm states:
held sway on battlefield: actual field armies ---> 40,000, wi/ reach of sm states
concentration on training, discipline, & equip lends advantage Chambers
545-547, 558-561
Sweden’s brief empire...
line of extraordinary rulers: Gustavus Adolphus 1611-1632
Queen Christina 1632-1654
Charles XII 1697-1718
Kingship hered., royal pwr freed
experts from west, war subsidized, novel army features, success 30 years war
Peace Westphalia: coastal regions gained
series wars: Baltic control ---> “Swedish Lake” - Denmark/Brandenburg remained indep.
1718: contracted to Swedish sphere (+ Finland and some Ger)
Successful trans from grt pwr to small
Prussia
“militarism”: milit needs, values permeate all spheres of life
Military State
origin: defensive in 30 yrs war
outlasted this ---> characteristic of country
idea standing army not unique: unique cuz: to maintain army govt had to direct
& plan life of country to supp. it
army dev life of own
older than Prussian state itself: 1657 Great Elector estab as 1st all Prussian inst.
civil inst dev later, mainly to supp army
army proved more durable than state: i.e. post napoleon, & post empire collapse
Development finances
Great Elector & successors repressed estates/assemblies in which landed arist main prt
--->Landlord agree accept ruler’s govt, army service for “hereditary subjeciton” v. peasant
Junkers preferred as officers: habit of command, ther4 bourgeois officers = rare
Law prohib sale of “noble” lnads ---> non nobles to preserv officer class
ther4 classes frozen by owning nonexchangable property
M.C. limited: no arist by landed gentry route--->little spirit independence
Pruss M.C. not wealthy (few old Ger towns in Prussia)
typical M.C. = govt official of some sort
honest, efficient, but deferred to nobles, in awe of army
Frederick William I (1713-1740)
Building Prussia 2
earthy, uncouth,disdained culture, cut royal exp by 3/4
i.e. coronation journey Koinigsburg: 2,547 thalers.....dad = 5 mill
fatherly German manner
prowled streets Berlin old seedy uniform
workaholic: expected same
loved army: always wore uniform, promoted officers in court hierarchy
increased it 40,000 ---> 83,000 -- used canton recruit system (“tall” unit – Potsdam Giants)
cadet corps 4 junker youths
Berlin: 100,000people/20,000 soldiers -- unmatched proprtion
Practically no wars....warchest 7,000,000 thalers
1740 Frederick II(the Great) inherited all -- will use to start War of the Austrian Succession w/strike
upon Silesia + army ---> 200,000 = now a grt pwr
Building Prussia 3