Iron and Blood: A Military History of the German-speaking Peoples Since 1500

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Iron and Blood: A Military History of the German-speaking Peoples Since 1500

Iron and Blood: A Military History of the German-speaking Peoples Since 1500

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The other type of reader is interested in what caused the great wars that defined European history over this period. 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.

Wilson does note the Taiping Rebellion and the millions who died there (in discussing how it contrasted with, say, the losses from the Franco-Prussian War or the War of the Triple Alliance).This astonishingly ambitious and detailed 900-page study of militaries in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland is not for the faint of heart. Given that other centuries saw guns develop from matchlock to flintlock whereas the twentieth century saw the invention of aircraft, tanks and dreadnoughts, this is understandable. The focus is on the consciousness of the German people now citizens about their military past, present, and future.

Prussian could have been wiped from the face of the earth in the 1750s and the fact that it wasn't is only partly down to a flash of Frederick the Great's genius (a recklessness that got him into trouble in the first place). Some readers might find the vast amount of information overwhelming, and at times, the narrative might meander into minute details that could have been condensed. Its military experience has also been extraordinarily varied: threatened and threatening; a mere buffer-zone, and a global threat.

Wilson looks to dispel the myth that the German military really is based on the Prussian model and that it was at its peak in the 2 World Wars. Military buffs ought to be aware that this work doesn't focus on battles, operational details, or military nuts and bolts.

Nor can I pretend that I have read all of this book - I have tried twice and have abandoned it not through any other reason than lack of time and also a failure to become as engaged with its subject as I had with his earlier books. Iron and Blood is a startlingly ambitious and absorbing book, encompassing five centuries of political, military, technological and economic change to tell the story of the German-speaking lands, from the Rhine to the Balkan frontier, from Switzerland to the North Sea. Wilson delves into literature, art, and philosophy, exploring how these expressions of German identity evolved over time.

Wilson attempts to give a one-volume treatment to the military history of the German states/Germany, covering over 500 years. I have never read a better background to the development of modern Switzerland with its unique military history, nor have I ever seen a work, even amongst those purporting to focus on the Hapsburg Empire(s), that more clearly highlighted their enormously underrated influence on the developing German way of war. Professor Wilson's work suggests very convincingly that this leads to a kind of myopic focus on Prussia to the detriment of the much bigger historical forces in play. Broken down into five sequential eras of military history, Wilson introduces the era, supplies extensive details embedded in a general telling of the history, and then closes the section by examining themes previously introduced along with analysis.

Prussia, meanwhile, invested in militarization but maintained a part-time army well into the nineteenth century. Why I started this book: Interesting approach to German military history, by including all German speakers from 1500 to the present. A DAILY TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022'No one interested in the history of Europe can afford not to read this stupendous book' Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph'Endlessly fascinating . He delves into the machinations of power politics, diplomacy, and the role of charismatic leaders, demonstrating how they profoundly impacted the destiny of the German-speaking peoples.Surprisingly, there is not wrap-up conclusion, which would have helped caged the analysis of the German military here. Starting in 1500 with the Holy Roman Empire describing the relationship between the electors and empire and between each other, reasons when the war was deemed as permissible, means to wage the war, day to day of the army, relationship between the army and the civilian, advances in weaponry and strategy and how those changed the face of war.



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