Tag: Prussia

An East German soldier guards Clausewitz’s grave in the 1980s.

1,982 words

Part 4 of 4 (Part One here; Part Two here; Part Three here)

Conclusion: Freedom or Death

After his death, Clausewitz had a public destiny rare for generals, let alone theorists. He was not only enthusiastically celebrated in the Third Reich, a regime firmly dedicated to many of the Prussian virtues, but, for better and for worse, his words proved to be of foundational importance for Hitler and his own life’s work. (more…)

Allegedly the last photo ever taken of Hitler, in the ruins of the Reich Chancellery, April 1945.

3,368 words

Part 3 of 4 (Part One here; Part Two here)

Hitler & the Bekenntnis: A Mantra of Resistance & Renewal

Perhaps more significant still than Hitler’s use of the Formule, is his citing of Clausewitz to assert the ethical validity of resistance at any price, even doomed resistance. (more…)

2,457 words

English original here

Умеренность & гуманность

Хотя монарх и обладает властью, но подобно отцу, он должен эту власть заслужить. Фридрих беспристрастно отмечает, что Попликола, один из основателей Римской республики узаконил тираноубийство. (more…)

2,521 words

English original here

Возможно, самая впечатляющая западная традиция государственного строительства, по крайней мере в Новое время, принадлежит Пруссии. Разумеется, либерально-демократическая традиция, начатая Соединенными Штатами и Францией крепка, и она недаром сегодня господствует в нашем мире. (more…)

Julius Schrader, Frederick the Great after the Battle of Kolin

5,086 words

Frederick the Great
Exposé du gouvernement prussien, des principes sur lesquels il roule, avec quelques réflexions politiques
Berlin, 1775-1776[1]

One often encounters people who have no faith in the ability of a small nation to achieve anything worthwhile.[2] Yet one typically does not have the luxury of choice. One may prefer to live in a large and populous country, but in any event one must work with what one has. (more…)

2,925 words

Part 2 of 2; Russian translation here

Moderation & Humaneness

The sovereign has authority but, as with the father, this must be deserved. Frederick notes dispassionately that Publicola, one of the founders of the Roman Republic, had legalized tyrannicide. The laws must be fair and appropriate to the nation concerned, (more…)

2,887 words

Frederick the Great

Russian translation here

Perhaps the most impressive Western tradition of statecraft, at least in the modern era, is that of Prussia. To be sure, the liberal-democratic tradition launched by the United States and France is formidable, and it is not without reason that it today dominates our world. But the greatness of America and France also relied upon a prosaic factor: sheer demographic and geographic size. (more…)

980 words

Editor’s Note:

The following text is an excerpt from a collection of unpublished notes entitled “Thoughts Personal and Superpersonal,”  (more…)