Christopher M. Clark

University Christopher Clark, MD

In the aftermath of World War II, Prussia--a centuries-old state pivotal to Europe's development--ceased to exist. In their eagerness to erase all traces of the Third Reich from the earth, the Allies believed that Prussia, the very embodiment of German militarism, had to be abolished. But as Christopher Clark reveals in this pioneering history, Prussia's legacy is far more complex. Though now a fading memory in Europe's heartland, the true story of Prussia offers a remarkable glimpse into the dynamic rise of modern Europe. What we find is a kingdom that existed nearly half a millennium ago as a patchwork of territorial fragments, with neither significant resources nor a coherent culture. With its capital in Berlin, Prussia grew from being a small, poor, disregarded medieval state into one of the most vigorous and powerful nations in Europe. Iron Kingdom traces Prussia's involvement in the continent's foundational religious and political conflagrations: from the devastations of the Thirty Years War through centuries of political machinations to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, from the enlightenment of Frederick the Great to the destructive conquests of Napoleon, and from the "iron and blood" policies of Bismarck to the creation of the German Empire in 1871, and all that implied for the tumultuous twentieth century. By 1947, Prussia was deemed an intolerable threat to the safety of Europe; what is often forgotten, Clark argues, is that it had also been an exemplar of the European humanistic tradition, boasting a formidable government administration, an incorruptible civil service, and religious tolerance. Clark demonstrates how a state deemed the bane of twentieth-century Europe has played an incalculable role in Western civilization's fortunes. Iron Kingdom is a definitive, gripping account of Prussia's fascinating, influential, and critical role in modern times.

The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947

Iron Kingdom

Le 28 juin 1914, dans Sarajevo écrasée de soleil, un certain Gavrilo Princip se réfugie à l'ombre d'un auvent pour guetter le cortège officiel de l'archiduc François-Ferdinand... Cinq semaines plus tard, le monde plonge dans une guerre qui entraînera la chute de trois empires, emportera des millions d'hommes et détruira une civilisation. Pourquoi l'Europe, apparemment prospère et rationnelle, était-elle devenue si vulnérable à l'impact d'un unique attentat perpétré à sa périphérie ? Quels formidables jeux d'alliances géopolitiques toujours fluctuantes et d'intérêts nationaux contradictoires se mêlaient-ils ? Quelles craintes ancestrales, quelles mythologies nationales animaient les opinions publiques et influencèrent les décisions des diplomates ? C'est ce que raconte cette fresque magistrale. Multipliant les points de vue et faisant dialoguer avec brio études classiques et sources inédites (en anglais, allemand, français, bulgare, serbe et russe), Christopher Clark replace les Balkans au coeur de la crise la plus complexe de l'histoire moderne et en décrit minutieusement les rouages. Plus clairement que jamais, il montre que rien n'était écrit d'avance : l'Europe portait en elle les germes d'autres avenirs, sans doute moins terribles. Mais de crise en crise, les personnages qui la gouvernaient, hantés par leurs songes et aveugles à la réalité des horreurs qu'ils allaient déchaîner, marchèrent vers le danger comme des somnambules.

été 1914, comment l'Europe a marché vers la guerre

Les somnambules

Das Buch gilt als eine der wichtigsten Neuerscheinungen zum 100. Jahrestag des Ausbruchs des Ersten Weltkriegs. Clark beschreibt darin minutiös die Interessen und Motivationen der politischen Akteure und zeichnet das Bild einer Welt, in der gegenseitiges Misstrauen, Fehleinschätzungen, Überheblichkeit, Expansionspläne und nationalistische Bestrebungen zu einer Situation führten, in der ein Funke genügte, den Krieg auszulösen.

wie Europa in den Ersten Weltkrieg zog

Die Schlafwandler

Christopher Munro Clark

Missionaries are people who operate on the border between their own community and another. The confessional frontier between the Christian and the Jewish communities in Prussia offers a privileged vantage-point from which to analyse the relationship between them. This is the first study to make comprehensive use of the archives and publications of the various Prussian institutions and societies that set out to convert Jews to Christianity. No other body of documentary evidence presents as informed and sustained a commentary on the 'Jewish Question' as it evolved in Prussia during the period covered by this book. Spanning over two centuries of protestant missionary activity, this book examines the ways in which theological, social, and racial themes intertwined in the relationship between the Christian majority in Prussia and the Jewish minority in its midst. These themes are analysed within the context of the rapidly changing relationship between religion and politics in the Prussian state, for 'Jewish Questions', as this book shows, were intimately connected with 'Christian Questions' of equal political and social consequence. This study sheds light on a facet of Jewish-German history that has been overshadowed by the rise of racial antisemitism and the ultimate tragedy of the Holocaust.

Christopher M. Clark

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