"We Germans Fear God, and Nothing Else in the World!" Military Policy in Wilhelmine Germany, 1890-1914
Journal: Digital Commons - East Tennessee State University (East Tennessee State University)
Year: 2019

Throughout the Second Reich’s short life, military affairs were synonymous with those of the state. Indeed, it was the zeal and blood of Prussian soldiers that allowed the creation of a unified German empire. After solidifying itself as a major power, things grew more complicated as the Reich found itself increasingly surrounded by hostile rivals. To the west, French humiliation over their catastrophic defeat in 1870-71 continued to fester while, in the east, Russian sympathies for the new empir