What is the meaning of Prussian spirit?

German scenery

Among the German states, Prussia is the only powerful country that can compete with Austria.

Prussia is one of the most extensive, powerful and important countries in Germany, which has been influencing the whole history of Germany since17th century.

Prussian countries developed through territorial expansion. The ruler of Prussia is the Hornsauron family.

As early as the 10 century, the Hornsoren family ruled a castle on the Soren Mountain in northern Switzerland. By the 12 century, the representative of this family had become the Duke of Nuremberg. 14 15, Frederick I, the representative of this family, won the title of Brandenburg territory and chose Hou from the holy Roman emperor. Brandenburg is located in the northeast border of Germany, and often has wars with neighboring Slavs, so its army has gained rich military experience. During the Reformation in the16th century, Brandenburg accepted Lutheranism and seized the land property of the Catholic Church, so Brandenburg became an important Protestant country. By the beginning of16th century, John sigismund, the elector, had acquired the principality of Klevoz and Marquez and Marquis Ravensburg in the lower reaches of the Rhine River in the name of his wife. In the election of 16 18, he won East Prussia, a vassal state of Poland, and he jumped from Brandenburg to Brandenburg-Prussia. In order to obtain East Prussia, he did not hesitate to pay tribute to the Polish king. At the end of the Thirty Years' War (1648), Friedrich William annexed Pomerania in the east and several small territories in the Wesee and Elbe rivers. In the same year, he took advantage of the new Polish king's accession to the throne to get rid of the vassal relationship with Poland. By 170 1, Frederick I was elected king of Prussia from the holy Roman emperor on the condition that he participated in the Spanish war of succession to the throne. So Brandenburg became king of Prussia as soon as he was elected. Prussia seized Silesia from Austria in the Seven Years' War. 1772 Poland was divided into West Prussia (except Gdansk and Torun), thus connecting Brandenburg with East Prussia. The original territory of Brandenburg was only 237,565,438+0 square kilometers. By 1 772, the territory of Prussia had increased to 1 9489 1 square kilometer.

Berlin18th century (1780)

The rise of Prussia has its economic premise. The economic prosperity after 17 1 is the foundation for this country to be strong. Prudential's economic prosperity has two reasons:

First, Brandenburg's geographical location is conducive to economic development. Although the transfer of trade routes from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic coast caused the decline and stagnation of the entire German economy, it promoted the economic prosperity of Brandenburg. With the transfer of trade routes, some areas in South Germany and China and Germany have to look for trade exports along the North Sea coast, and Brandenburg has become the only way.

Second, the policy of protecting industry and commerce implemented by Hornsolon dynasty promoted the economic development of Prussia. In order to increase fiscal revenue, as early as the election under Friedrich William (1640- 1688), industrial and commercial development was encouraged. 1685 After the French government cancelled the edict of Nantes, Huguenots fled abroad in succession. Friedrich William ordered the reception of French exiles.

And give preferential treatment. By 1703, about 20000 French Huguenots and 13000 Protestants from other countries had settled in Landenburg. They are mainly skilled craftsmen and capable businessmen, so they bring capital and technology here. These new immigrants set up wool and cotton weaving handicraft workshops to process silk and produce velvet, candles, ribbons and other articles. However, under the condition of serfdom, the source of free labor is very limited. In order to solve the labor problem, Friedrich William used criminals, prisoners, vagrants and beggars as the labor force of the new industry. His grandson Frederick William I (17 13- 1740) continued to carry out this policy, and he especially rewarded military industries, such as wool spinning industry.

Prussia grew up from small to large, from weak to strong, also because it pursued a militaristic policy. When Friedrich William ascended the throne in the general election, it was during the Thirty Years' War that Brandenburg was occupied by Swedish troops. He personally realized that the army is the foundation of the country, so he decided to learn from Sweden and establish a standing army. 1653, he reached an agreement with the nobles of Yongke: Yongke was allowed to exercise police power over farmers.

Power and jurisdiction; Juncker agreed to levy a "military tax" in order to establish a standing army. In this agreement, the candidate also agreed to let Juncker serve as a standing army officer. Since then, Juncker has forged an indissoluble bond with the Prussian army. Prussia has become a powerful military machine since Friedrich William. During the reign of Frederick William I, the number of Prussian troops almost doubled, reaching 85,460, equivalent to 4% of the national population. In Europe, the population of Prussia ranks 13, but its army ranks fourth, and 3/4 of the national fiscal revenue is spent on the military. The army follows blindly. Junk-born officers can whip soldiers at will, and some soldiers often commit suicide because of the abuse of officers. Military discipline is very strict at ordinary times. When there is a war, officers indulge soldiers in burning, killing and looting.

Berlin architecture

Prussian militarism is closely related to the Junk class. The Yongke class actively supports the militaristic policy, because this policy has brought them many benefits: First, they can acquire new real estate through militarism and aggression and expansion. Second, with the expansion of national leaders, the administrative agencies have also expanded, which provides more opportunities for Yong Ke's children to become officials. Third, strengthening military strength has correspondingly increased the number of officers, thus providing more officer positions for Yong Ke's children.

The Yongke class has strong economic strength, and their economic strength is based on serfdom. The second edition of serfdom by Germany, Italy and Tan is the most prominent in Prussia. From16th century to the first half of17th century, farmers in Prutu, especially in the east of Elbe River, became agriculture and animal husbandry again. They are completely tied to the land and forced to provide labor rent and service rent to the landlord. Serfs have to work on the Lord's land 4-6 days a week. 17 10 An official wrote in the report: "Land rent, labor, taxes, stationing troops and tribute are increasing, and it is difficult for the people to maintain; The serfs were poor, and they became poorer and poorer. As always, they finally had no choice but to run away ... "

Prussia's bureaucratic system was also established by the strength of the army. Originally, Prudential believed that the taxation power in some areas was in the hands of the hierarchical meetings in various territories, but Frederick and William relied on force to levy taxes. He once sent an army to force Kravitz and Mark to accept new taxes under the threat of force. Then, he turned this new tax into a de facto permanent tax, thus depriving the hierarchical meeting of the most important authority-the right to collect taxes. Finally, because local taxes were mainly used for military expenses, he handed them over to the military. To this end, he set up a military headquarters, a military finance department, and sent officers to various places to collect taxes. These officials used military orders to carry out their work, and soon expanded their scope of work to the whole economic field, and crowded out the original administrative institutions in various places, including local conferences and municipal self-government authorities. Friedrich William established a unified bureaucratic administrative system through the military headquarters, and the soul of this system is the army. 1723, he established the "General Administration of Finance, Military and Royal Territory" directly under the king as the highest administrative organ for managing the country. The "sergeant king" manages the country by managing the army, thinking that an autocratic monarch knows best what his people need. He once said, "I am the monarch, so I can do whatever I want." Under his rule, Prussia developed into a highly centralized autocratic country with military camp-style discipline.