Growth of Prussia

As I read somewhere once in a book I can’t remember, Prussia, one of the more well-known of the German states (although it is today no longer officially a state and was eliminated as a political entity following WWII for good reason) was called the little state that was never meant to be. But through sheer will, economic growth, military ambition, and successful battlefield tactics, it fought its way to the status of a European military power, especially under Frederick the Great. From their humble beginnings as the Teutonic Knights who played an important role in the crusades in the 14th century to being a major power in the 18th and 19th centuries, Prussia’s growth set the stage for European geographies and politics in the present day, their unusually well-organized armies, strong state support of the military and effective tactics meant growth into a state that had far-reaching consequences later, even today.

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=iqe

http://www.culturalresources.com/MP_Muir49.html

Godfather, Maneuver Warfare

Chance Kelly as Col Lt Ferrando, AKA the Godfather, in Generation Kill is great. His brief but insightful and wise reflections on his role as commander always shine light on even complicated situations. He is both wise sage and ferocious doer. His emphasis on the “Violence of Action” and Maneuver Warfare captivates me. Maneuver warfare is millennia old, as old as the Greeks, and is juxtaposed to another main type of warfare: Warfare of Attrition. Successful armies throughout human history have had to grapple with Maneuver Warfare, which stresses using what the Godfather terms “the violence of action,” of taking swift, calculated, pointed and informed action in such a way that the enemy is totally incapacitated and incapable of even mounting a defense because its very decision-making capabilities are circumvented. This warfare is motivated in part by the idea that swift, decisive action interferes with the very nervous system of the enemy such that it cannot figure out what is happening and mount a defense before it has already lost and must submit. Successful uses of this type of warfare include the Blitzkrieg (tragically) and Russia’s “Deep Battle.” War is tragic, but any civilization that is successful must find a way to fight, and it is always best to be the best. I find warfare fascinating and enjoy films about war, as much about their exploration of bravado and the warrior seem to be perennial themes. This clip below includes a few of sage comments.

Brothers Kharamazov

On Literature

Now and again, I will read a line, and that line so exactly describes a feeling or problem I’ve been struggling with for, in some cases years, and written by someone I’ve never met, perhaps from thousands of miles away or years ago and somehow, in some weird way, they know me, and I know them

Marx, Utopianism, Arendt, Greece

On Hannah Arendt’s view, Marx’s utopian version of a classless society was curiously-similar to the ideal of life in a Greek city-state, which he studied intently (not a monstrous totalitarian communism), but it was his glorification of labor that made him exceptional as a thinker. – Hannah Arendt, Thinking Without a Bannister

Undernourished

Better Citizens

On the eve of the 4th…
“We’re in fresh territory when it comes to the longevity of democracies,” Athenian Democracy having lasted no longer than 200 years even though “Democracy today is [treated] like a [team] sport.” We should not be seeking “a better form of government…but finding better citizens in ourselves, and in our fellows.”

Quotes: Updated

“The term “demagogue” (dēmagōgos) arose in Greece during the fifth century B.C.E. to describe a new breed of charismatic politicians who sought to lead the masses by arousing their passions and appealing to their prejudices. In contrast to political figures who advocated courses of action that they believed were in the common good, demagogues used their rhetorical skills to promote policies that advanced their self-interests.”

Demagogues and Democracy