Review of Iron Kingdom by Christopher Clark

My personal copy of Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1640-1947.

Category: Non-fiction, history, European history
Page Count: 688
Year of Publication: 2006 (Paperback Edition)
Rating: 5/5
10-Word Summary: The rise and downfall of the Prussian state from 1600-1947.

About Iron Kingdom
Christopher Clark’s Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947 is a historical work of the highest tier. Clark writes an excellent summary of the entire history of Prussia from its humble beginnings as Brandenburg—an Electorate within the Holy Roman Empire—to its abolition by the Allies after Germany’s defeat in Second World War. The story of Prussia is a remarkable one, but what makes Iron Kingdom wonderful to read is Christopher Clark’s writing style, in which he details the unfolding of Prussian history without inserting any of his own views or prejudices.

One thing to note is that those who are looking for a detailed account of Germany will be disappointed, as Clark’s focus throughout the book is on the Prussian state, and not necessarily the German state; this means that other German states, such as Hanover or Bavaria, are not discussed unless they are in relation to Prussia. This doesn’t diminish Clark’s work, as the title makes it clear that Clark’s focus throughout the entire book is on Prussia. But if the reader is looking for a detailed work on the German state, then it may be best to look elsewhere, as only the final two chapters (out of seventeen) discuss the German state post-1871 unification.

One final disclaimer is that any reader who would like a detailed account of Germany during the First and Second World Wars will also be disappointed, as Clark’s focus in the last two chapters are on Prussian culture and politics post-1871 unification. Again, this does not diminish Clark’s work, but it is worth pointing out nevertheless.

Religion, the Military, and the Fredericks
At the risk of oversimplifying Clark’s work, I will state that there are three great themes that cover his book from start to finish: religion, the military, and the Fredericks.

To start, religion is a major theme of the first half of the book, and this makes sense given the time period in Europe. Though Clark doesn’t discuss the Protestant Reformation itself, he does an excellent job explaining the significance of the Reformation for the early Prussian state. The Holy Roman Empire was a Catholic state centered around the Catholic Habsburg Dynasty. The Protestant Reformation broke the religious unity of the empire, and though Habsburg Emperor Charles V (1519-1556) fought anti-Lutheran wars to keep a religiously united empire, he settled for the Peace of Augsburg in 1555 which “acknowledged the existence of Lutheran territories within the Empire and conceded the right of Lutheran sovereigns to impose confessional conformity upon their own subjects.” (Page 7)

It was Brandenburg Elector Joachim II (1535-1571) who would convert to the new Lutheran faith. Slowly but surely, Brandenburg would become a Lutheran state. But once Calvinism took hold of Western and Southern Germany, it would be Elector John Sigismund (1608-1619) who would convert to Calvinism, making Brandenburg-Prussia a bi-confessional state. This placed the Electorate in cultural opposition to the Catholic German south, and this opposition would continue even until the days of Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898), the famous statesman who would unify Prussia with thirty-nine other German states into the unified Germany of 1871. It was Bismarck who launched a Kulturkampf, a “struggle of cultures,” against the Catholics because of his belief that political Catholicism was the enemy of Prussia. Hence, the tension between Lutherans and Calvinists, Protestants and Catholics, plays a major role in understanding not just the history of Prussia but the greater history of Germany.

The military is another major theme. The Thirty Years’ War left the German lands devastated, and it was Frederick William the Great Elector (1640-1688) who oversaw the recovery and expansion of Brandenburg, ascending the throne during Swedish foreign occupation. It was he who rebuilt the military from three thousand men in the early 1640s to between twenty to thirty thousand men in the 1680s. Given that Prussia was a small, open territory with no natural frontiers for defense, an expansionist Swedish King Charles X to its north and an expansionist French King Louis XIV to its west, it’s safe to say that Prussia’s existence was dependent upon the strength of its military. Hence, from the beginning of the narrative Clark spares no pages in expounding on the importance and culture of the Prussian military.

And the final great theme of the book is the Fredericks. This is the first book on Prussian history that I have read, and I must say that it doesn’t help that every Prussian ruler beginning with Frederick William the Great Elector has Frederick as his first name. But Clark does a great job in explaining what each Frederick does, as well as the style of their rule. Nevertheless, a few Fredericks do stand out from the pack:

Frederick William the Great Elector (1640-1688) helped establish Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power after its devastation wrought during the Thirty Years’ War. Then there was Frederick the Great (1740-1786) who, among other great achievements, fought and defeated Austria during the Seven Years’ War, thereby annexing Silesia in the process and providing Prussia with money, produce, and subjects while weakening the Habsburgs in the Austrian Empire—who never quite got over the loss of Silesia. There was the Frederick William III (1797-1840) who was perceived as a weak ruler in the face of Napoleon’s conquest of Europe and was always indecisive as to whether to ally with Napoleon, commit to neutrality, or ally with Russia and the anti-Napoleon alliance of the other great European powers. And, finally, there was Frederick William IV (1840-1861) who lived through a politically tumultuous time of revolution where Prussian liberals demanded a constitution. William gave the liberals what they wanted and granted Prussia both a constitution and a parliament in the late 1840s, forever changing the political landscape of Prussia until its unification with the rest of the German states in 1871.

Should You Read Iron Kingdom?
Anyone looking for a detailed account of Prussian history written in a straightforward, matter-of-fact style will find this to be the perfect read. However, those seeking a book on strictly German history or on German history in relation to the First and Second World Wars would be better off looking elsewhere.