Jakob reviewed Iron Kingdom by Christopher Clark
None
4 stars
A comprehensive history of Prussia from its beginnings with the ascension of the Hohenzollern dynasty to the throne of the margraviate of Brandenburg in the 15th century to the abolishment of the entity called Prussia by the Allies in 1947. It touches on dynastic, economic, diplomatic, military, gender, political and social aspects of the history. Of course 700 pages are not enough space to cover all of these topics in depth for a period of half a millenium.
Especially for the time after the foundation of the German Reich in 1871 I think that social aspects fell a bit short. I feel that social developments have been rather important for Bismarck’s interior policy as well as for the development of Prussia as a stronghold of social democracy within the Reich throughout the Kaiserzeit and until the Nazi seizure of power, but Clark barely mentions social developments during this time span.
