World War
For many centuries, the territory of modern Germany was divided between over 300 German-speaking small and independent political units ruled by small absolute princes. Prussia, in eastern Germany, with Berlin its capital city, was one of these many countries.
The Prussian militarism started with Friedrich Wilhelm I, "The soldier king" of Prussia (1713-1740), then a small kingdom around Berlin, and developed for over 200 years, making Prussia one of the most militarist countries in history, "A military that has a state". Prussia was an efficient and strictly disciplined military-oriented state, with a militarist mentality and the world's most effective army. Prussia was initially just a small agricultural state with little resources, but "The soldier king" and his successors, with an impressive combination of merciless iron will and organizational talent, converted it to a modern Sparta. Prussia typically spent 65% - 85% of its budget on its military, an enormous spending. Such a system could be sustained for so long only by a combination of :
Strict, efficient, professional, and blindly obedient civil service that ran the state for its king, and for his strict, efficient, professional, and blindly obedient army. The backbone of Prussia's civil and military services were the Junkers, (the word means young lords in old German), the conservative and militarist aristocratic land owners, who were Prussia's officer Corps and held almost all the senior and medium-level civil positions.
An education system which produced hard working obedient people, aware of their duty and willing to sacrifice.
Expansion. Prussia's formidable military strength, and its willingness to use it, enabled its rapid territorial expansion by a skilled combination of military victories and power diplomacy. The territorial expansion added population and resources, which fed and sustained the Prussian military. In the 19th century, with the industrial age, Prussia's military advantage...
View Full Essay