From the author of the acclaimed The Thirty Years War and Heart of
Europe, a masterful, landmark reappraisal of German military
history, and of the preconceptions about German militarism since
before the rise of Prussia and the world wars. German military
history is typically viewed as an inexorable march to the rise of
Prussia and the two world wars, the road paved by militarism and
the result a specifically German way of war. Peter Wilson
challenges this narrative. Looking beyond Prussia to
German-speaking Europe across the last five centuries, Wilson finds
little unique or preordained in German militarism or warfighting.
Iron and Blood takes as its starting point the consolidation of the
Holy Roman Empire, which created new mechanisms for raising troops
but also for resolving disputes diplomatically. Both the empire and
the Swiss Confederation were largely defensive in orientation,
while German participation in foreign wars was most often in
partnership with allies. The primary aggressor in Central Europe
was not Prussia but the Austrian Habsburg monarchy, yet Austria's
strength owed much to its ability to secure allies. Prussia,
meanwhile, invested in militarization but maintained a part-time
army well into the nineteenth century. Alongside Switzerland, which
relied on traditional militia, both states exemplify the
longstanding civilian element within German military power. Only
after Prussia's unexpected victory over France in 1871 did Germans
and outsiders come to believe in a German gift for warfare-a
special capacity for high-speed, high-intensity combat that could
overcome numerical disadvantage. It took two world wars to expose
the fallacy of German military genius. Yet even today, Wilson
argues, Germany's strategic position is misunderstood. The country
now seen as a bastion of peace spends heavily on defense in
comparison to its peers and is deeply invested in less kinetic
contemporary forms of coercive power.
General
| Imprint: |
The Belknap Press
|
| Country of origin: |
United States |
| Release date: |
February 2023 |
| Authors: |
Peter H. Wilson
|
| Dimensions: |
235 x 156mm (L x W) |
| Format: |
Hardcover
|
| Pages: |
976 |
| ISBN-13: |
978-0-674-98762-3 |
| Categories: |
Books
|
| LSN: |
0-674-98762-4 |
| Barcode: |
9780674987623 |
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