After a reign of forty-eight years, Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, left behind him in 1688 a military and bureaucratic system that endured until 1945. F.L. Carsten describes how it was the army he had founded that accomplished, in 1871, the triumphant unification of the German Empire and fought the battles of the Third Reich.
The German Progressive Party was founded in 1861, writes F.L. Carsten, but “the Liberals desired the unification of Germany so ardently that they were willing to forego their political ambitions when Bismarck gained unification at the point of the sword.”
F.L. Carsten asks whether Germany has learned the lessons of 1918-1933.
Many German professional soldiers, writes F.L. Carsten, were staunch opponents of the Nazi regime.
The tall army recruits known as the Potsdam Giants, F.L. Carsten writes, played a considerable part in the British diplomacy during the early 18th century, and the efforts of the Prussian recruiting sergeants to procure men of the desired size extended to the British Isles.
