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Since Germany's defeat in World War II and the Allied denazification campaign, historical German militarism has become anathema in German culture, which is focused on collective responsibility and Vergangenheitsbewältigung ("overcoming the past"). At the same time, the related non-military, bourgeois virtues of efficiency, discipline, and work ...
It was this philosophy that largely influenced the attitude of Prussia and later Germany in historical processes such as the Napoleonic Wars, the unification of Germany and the First World War. Sociologically, in addition, Prussianism was expressed in the so-called "Prussian virtues", influencing various relevant aspects of German culture.
During the later stages of World War II and the post-war period, Germans and Volksdeutsche fled and were expelled from various Eastern and Central European countries, including Czechoslovakia, and from the former German provinces of Lower and Upper Silesia, East Prussia, and the eastern parts of Brandenburg and Pomerania (Hinterpommern), which were annexed by Poland and the Soviet Union.
After World War II, as also agreed at the Potsdam Conference (which met from 17 July until 2 August 1945), all of the area east of the Oder-Neisse line, whether recognized by the international community as part of Germany before 1933 or occupied by Germany during World War II, was placed under the jurisdiction of other countries.
German militarism was a broad cultural and social phenomenon between 1815 and 1945, which developed out of the creation of standing armies in the 18th century. The numerical increase of militaristic structures in the Holy Roman Empire led to an increasing influence of military culture deep into civilian life.
The German collective guilt for the events of the Holocaust has long been an idea that has been pondered by famous and well-known German politicians and thinkers. In addition to those mentioned previously, German author and philosopher Bernhard Schlink describes how he sometimes feels as if being German is a huge burden, due to the country's past.
Prussian nationalism has ceased with Prussia becoming non-existent in post-World War II period. Prussian nationalism was influential in several military conflicts: the Second Schleswig War in 1864, the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, and the Franco-Prussian War in 1870; with Prussian nationalist sentiment emphasizing Protestant triumphalism. [2]
The Kingdom of Prussia [a] (German: Königreich Preußen, pronounced [ˈkøːnɪkʁaɪç ˈpʁɔʏsn̩] ⓘ) constituted the German state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. [5] It was the driving force behind the unification of Germany in 1866 and was the leading state of the German Empire until its dissolution in 1918. [5]