Origins of the Prussian Army (1640-1688) | History of Prussia #7

Frederick Wilhelm the Great Elector played a large role in the history of Brandenburg-Prussia. After all, he pulled Brandenburg out of the mud when it was, quite literally, on the verge of the abyss. One of the ways he did this was by creating Prussia’s standing army - a development that can be considered revolutionary at the time. When he became elector in 1640, throughout Europe, it was the norm to hire mercenaries to fight wars. The Elector began using conscription to professionalize his army and eventually the Prussian army would become known for its incredible discipline and disproportionate size to the population of Brandenburg-Prussia.

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The content of this video covers events, people or concepts via a lecture-style presentation that is educational and historical in nature. Every video is original content by House of History. The events relating to conflict in this video are portrayed in their historical context without either value judgment or an ideological message attached to it. There is no intent to shock, upset or disgust. The goal of my channel is to make interesting lecture-style videos, no more, no less.

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Sources:

Clark, C. M. (2006). Iron kingdom: the rise and downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947. Harvard University Press.
Clark, C. (2009). Kaiser Wilhelm II: a life in power. Penguin UK.
Clark, C. (2016). Fathers and Sons in the History of the Hohenzollern Dynasty. In Sons and Heirs (pp. 19-37). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Haffner, S. (2019). The rise and fall of Prussia. Plunkett Lake Press.
Koch, H. W. (2014). A history of Prussia. Routledge.
Pflanze, O. (2008). Bismarck: Der Reichskanzler (Vol. 2). CH Beck.
Steinberg, J. (2011). Bismarck: a life. OUP Oxford.

Photos, paintings and imagery: Public Domain, Wikicommons

#HouseofHistory #History #Prussia

[HikmaHistory]

Super fascinated by the Prussian military's development. Would also love to know about Prussia's modernisation in general.

[ThisisBarris]

Great video man! A nice break in what is otherwise a terribly boring day at work...

[buninparadise]

your new microphone: STATUS=legend


Great video!!!!

[levinb]

Frederick “the Winter King” IV of the Rhine Palatinate and his short parlay in power had amazing ripple effects across the modern age. Listen to Terrence McKenna speak of him for one example.

[toddbonin]

This is a splendid series. I’m thoroughly enjoying it ... especially as a Bonin (von Bonin of Prussia).

[Oversamma]

Thanks a lot for doing this video, highly interesting and top quality!

[knutdergroe]

You are improving with each new episode. Good job !

[JoeHynes]

rewatching these for the first time in 3 years

[julianpalmer]

When you initially asked us, who the GT Prussian Elector modeled his army upon; I incorrectly guessed, Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army, not Dutch Officers but then Spain taught them the tragic art of warfare; as The Ottomans taught them etc, etc

[BackFungame]

love your sharp recaps of european history

[ingolfleiblle]

Nations have an Army. Prussia developed into an Army having a nation. Step by step that morphed into the militaristic German Empire of Wilhelm the Second. The rest is History, tragic History.

[christdiedforoursins]

Thank you so much, very interesting, the art work is also increadable.

[verde]

I find it so interesting how we went from armored knights to men in tights with guns and pole arms by the 16th century lol

[sefermemisoglu]

In European theatre of history, the first regular modern army, with its uniforms and ranking systems, which was entirely subjected to the state, was invented by the Ottoman-Byzantine Empire if I’m not wrong?

[blugaledoh]

You wanna talk about the house of Habsburg?

[princekrazie]

You pronounce those Dutch names like a champion… Yor MUST be Dutch, right? Either that or Belgian.

[blugaledoh]

The HRE after 1600s is just a mess. Might as well dissolved such a troublesome entity.

[chaseskalon]

History of Early Poland-Lithuania? Maybe? Like in depth and multiple vids? I just thought it would make sense bc you covered Prussia and it was once Polish ruled..so maybe....just maybe? 😁