Iron and Blood: A Military History of the German-Speaking Peoples Since 1500

Product Information

In defiance of this orthodoxy, Wilson’s astonishingly detailed new book is a military history not merely of Germany, but of all parts of Europe that were populated by German speakers, notably Switzerland, from 1500 to the present day. Every aspect of the armies and navies of German Europe is considered: the men (and later women) who served in them; their uniforms, weaponry, recruitment, pay and treatment; the relationship of the military with rulers and politicians; and the wars themselves. No one interested in the history of Europe can afford not to read this stupendous book' Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph For most of its existence German-speaking Europe has been splintered into innumerable states - some substantial (such as Austria and Prussia) and some consisting of just a few Alpine meadows. Its military experience has also been extraordinarily varied: threatened and threatening; a mere buffer-zone, and a global threat.

The Big Read of Spring 2023. (There. Is. Another.) Extremely interesting, trying to cover 600 years of history – and successfully rewrites the conventional wisdom about German-speaking nations supposed "innate militarism". Especially the early parts of the book are true eye-openers, e.g. how Switzerland as we know it came to be, or how the Holy Roman Empire's amoeba X-volved into another imperial amoeba, the Austro-Hungarian.Endlessly fascinating ... History has returned to Europe, and Iron and Blood is an excellent place to start getting reacquainted with it. Oliver Moody, The Times An ambitious book which was badly needed ... illuminating on the complicated relationship between Prussia, both state and society, and its army .... required reading for serious military historians. Barney White-Spunner, Aspects of History From the author of the acclaimed The Thirty Years War and The Heart of Europe, a masterful, landmark reappraisal of German military history, and of the preconceptions about German militarism since before the rise of Prussia and the world wars. From the acclaimed author of Europe's Tragedy and The Holy Roman Empire, a powerful account of German-speaking Europe through five centuries of military history Iron and Blood takes as its starting point the consolidation of the Holy Roman Empire, which created new mechanisms for raising troops but also for resolving disputes diplomatically. Both the empire and the Swiss Confederation were largely defensive in orientation, while German participation in foreign wars was most often in partnership with allies. The primary aggressor in Central Europe was not Prussia but the Austrian Habsburg monarchy, yet Austria’s strength owed much to its ability to secure allies. Prussia, meanwhile, invested in militarization but maintained a part-time army well into the nineteenth century. Alongside Switzerland, which relied on traditional militia, both states exemplify the longstanding civilian element within German military power.

Formidably erudite ... What is now Germany's shameful past was once Adolf Hitler's vision of the future. Reimagined by Vladimir Putin, that spectral vision now haunts our present. Hence the importance and urgency of Wilson's investigation. Daniel Johnson, The CriticThe author has chopped his book into 5 sections: the 1500s, 1600s, 1700s, 1800s, and last, but certainly not least, the rather bloody 1900s of toothbrush moustsche notoriety. Each century is sub-divided into three chapters: 1. A summary of (numerous) wars. Those who like traditional battle narratives may be saddened to learn that Dr Wilson limits discussion of actual fighting to brief, dry summaries: Count Goring von Hess defeated Burgomeister Hitler Rommelstein at the battle of BarbarossaAuschwitz and then most of the Army succumbed to dystentery forcing an anti-climactic peace. I can't pretend that looking at 'German' speaking people doesn't make for a complex and large history but it avoids the anachronisms that writing a 'nation' based history involves. The book's Wilson outlines the evolution of cavalry, artillery and firearms, and the increasing sophistication of tactics and fortifications. The justifications for war also evolved: the Christian ideal of the “just war”, which Wilson defines as a war sanctioned by a properly constituted authority, fought for a just cause, after all other remedies had been exhausted, and in which only essential force is used, rather than gratuitous violence, had fallen out of the rhetoric by the 17th century, to be replaced by “the public good”, vindicating wars of expansion, aggression and conquest stimulated by greed and ideology.

German military history is typically viewed as an inexorable march to the rise of Prussia and the two world wars, the road paved by militarism and the result a specifically German way of war. Peter Wilson challenges this narrative. Looking beyond Prussia to German-speaking Europe across the last five centuries, Wilson finds little unique or preordained in German militarism or warfighting. Peter Wilson doesn't write many books, but the few that he does write are very long and very German. Iron and Blood follows his epic history of the Thirty Years War and his even more epic history of the Holy Roman Empire. There is inevitably a degree of overlap over these three topics, although Iron and Blood takes a wide ranging, rather than forensic approach to 500 years of German military history.A work of first-rate scholarship ... will become the starting point for all students of military history, not only of Germany but of Europe as a whole. Jonathan Boff, BBC History Magazine Much of the book is taken up with conflicts within or involving that strange entity, the Holy Roman Empire, the collection of mostly German-speaking states dominated by Habsburg Austria that, as Voltaire also quipped, was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire. At least until the middle of the 18th century, this alone made the German way of war quite different from those of unitary states such as England or France. The quasi-autonomy of the component parts, which nearly all maintained their own armies, required a decentralised and collaborative approach—the antithesis of the authoritarian model that emerged later with such awful consequences. Iron and Blood delves into politics, economics, technology and social developments. Its long view of Germany's military history, magisterial detail and acute analysis provide a new understanding of what was once Europe's warring heart. The Economist Iron and Bloodtakes as its starting point the consolidation of the Holy Roman Empire, which created new mechanisms for raising troops but also for resolving disputes diplomatically. Both the empire and the Swiss Confederation were largely defensive in orientation, while German participation in foreign wars was most often in partnership with allies. The primary aggressor in Central Europe was not Prussia but the Austrian Habsburg monarchy, yet Austria’s strength owed much to its ability to secure allies. Prussia, meanwhile, invested in militarization but maintained a part-time army well into the nineteenth century. Alongside Switzerland, which relied on traditional militia, both states exemplify the longstanding civilian element within German military power.