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Prussian Socialism

Prussian Socialism Episode 17: Lost Victories by Erich von Manstein

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Prussian Socialism Episode 17: Lost Victories by Erich von Manstein

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Who was Germany's greatest WWII general? According to Field Marschall Erich von Manstein, it was himself. In his 1955 classic Lost Victories, Manstein argues that if Hitler had only listened to him more, Germany could have won the war.

He might have had a point. In 1940, Manstein masterminded the invasion of France through the Ardennes. In early 1943, he ingeniously fought off a series of titanic Soviet offensives after the battle of Stalingrad, saving tens of thousands of Axis troops from almost certain capture or death. He even argued that Germany could have won at Kursk, and that the proposed invasion of England (Sealion) was not as crazy as it seemed.

Was Manstein smarter than his Führer? Or was he a braggadocious know-it-all? Gregory Conte and Hans discuss the life and legacy of one of Germany's top leaders and strategists.

Lost Victories by Erich von Manstein

Verlorene Siege von Erich von Manstein (German)

Prussian Socialism

Prussian Socialism Episode 16: The Disintegration of the Roman Republic

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00:00 / 1:36:57

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Prussian Socialism Episode 16: The Disintegration of the Roman Republic

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MP3 Download for plebs

In 202 BC, the Roman Republic was at its height. It had beaten Carthage its most dangerous rival in the Western Mediterranean and was now free to go on a career of expansion and exploitation.

In the following 50 years it conquered Greece, much of Spain and north Africa. The Romans got filthy rich. But in the next 70 years it began to break down, a victim of its own success. The Patricians became greedy and undutiful, snatching up land and gold and squeezing the soldiers and peasants ever harder.

After the final defeats of Carthage and Greece in 146 BC, a series of politicians tried to combat the ills that were tearing the Republic apart. In this lecture, Gregory Conte discusses the lives of Tiberius and Caius Gracchus, Marius and Sulla. It them, we see the sort of men and the sort of methods it will take to overcome America's own political problems.

Prussian Socialism

Prussian Socialism Episode 15: The Rise of Rome and the War with Hannibal

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Prussian Socialism Episode 15: The Rise of Rome and the War with Hannibal

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A petty Italian city-state went on to conquer Italy and dominate the Mediterranean. At first a town of little consequence, Rome was forced to become a regional power after it was humiliated by invading Gauls in 390 BC. After consolidating its power in Italy, Rome came into conflict with the great sea-empire of Carthage, with whom it fought two titanic wars from 264-202 BC. Rome won, but just barely. It took the steadfastness and organization, plus the genius leadership of P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus to save its state and bring Carthage to its knees.

In this lecture, Gregory Conte gives an overview of the rise of Rome and the Punic Wars and their meaning for Europeans and Americans today.

Books Mentioned:

Scipio Africanus Greater than Napoleon by B H Liddell Hart

Hannibal Enemy of Rome by Leonard Cottrell

A Critical History of Early Rome by Gary Forsythe

Ancient sources:

Livy Ab Urbe Condita

Polybius

Plutarch

Prussian Socialism

Prussian Socialism Episode 14: Napoleon and the German War of Liberation (featuring Warren Balogh)

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00:00 / 2:29:11

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Prussian Socialism Episode 14: Napoleon and the German War of Liberation

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Napoleon humiliated Prussia at the twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt in 1806, reducing Berlin to a French vassal. After Napoleon's defeat in Russia, the German states rose up against their master. But it was not easy. The Emperor returned to Germany with a new army to beat down the Prussians, Russians and Austrians, and to keep hold of his continent-spanning empire.

Greg Conte and Warren Balogh discuss what the German War of Liberation meant for Germany and for Europe.

Prussian Socialism

Prussian Socialism Episode 13: Guderian and the Blitzkrieg

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Prussian Socialism Episode 13: Guderian and the Blitzkrieg

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It's August 1941, do you drive on Moscow or the Ukraine? Take Moscow, and Germany deals a huge blow to Soviet moral and cripples the USSR’s logistical system. Take Ukraine, and Germany captures hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops and secures the breadbasket of Europe. Of course, history can only play out one way. Hitler ordered a drive on the Ukraine. But what if he had ordered an all-out attack on Moscow? Could Germany have won the war in the East in 1941?

After the war, many generals argued that Germany could have won. Prominent among them was tank-warfare theorist and Panzer commander Heinz Guderian. In his post-war book Panzer Leader, Guderian recounts his role in shaping Germany’s armored units and doctrine, arguing that Germany could have won if Hitler had listened more to his generals. Was Guderian right, or was he just coming up with excuses?

Greg Conte discusses Guderian’s arguments and record, and the role of mechanized warfare with fellow autiste and WWII-enthusiast Hans.

Books mentioned:
Heinz Guderian Panzer Leader
David Irving Hitler's War
Friedrich von Mellenthin Panzer Battles
Erich von Manstein Lost Victories

Prussian Socialism

Prussian Socialism Episode 12: Frederick the Great, the Autiste King

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00:00 / 2:28:35

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Prussian Socialism Episode 12: Frederick the Great, the Autiste King

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Over the course of nearly 50 years, Frederick II (1712-86) made Prussia from a minor German state into a European power to rival Austria, France and Russia.

After snatching the rich region of Silesia from Austria, Frederick embarked on a series of legal and administrative reforms that made Prussia into the world's most enlightened state. His work was almost destroyed in the Seven Years War (1756-63) when his small and territorially divided country was invaded by Russia, Austria, France and even Sweden. Leading the army, usually in person, Frederick inflicted major defeats like Rossbach and Leuthen on his enemies, and, with a bit of luck, forced his arch-rival Maria Theresa of Austria to make peace.

Frederick is known as a man of many talents. He was a world-class flute-player, a good composer, and a prolific writer and reader. With the help of eight daily cups of coffee and many nose-fulls of snorting tobacco, Frederick packed many lifetimes of accomplishment into his 74 years. Despite his love of music and learning, he always placed his duty to his land and people first. As a military leader and man of culture, he was an inspiration to many great Europeans, including Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler.

This episode is a discussion between Greg Conte and William.

Intro music: from the third movement of Frederick the Great's Flute Concerto No. 3 in C Major
Outro music: Großer Friedrich by Landser

Books mentioned:
Iron Kingdom by Christopher Clark
The Solider Kings by Walter Henry Nelson
On the Art of War by Frederick the Great

Frederick the Great movies:

Fridericus Rex (1937)

Der große König (1942)

Prussian Socialism

Prussian Socialism Episode 11: Machiavelli on the Study of War featuring Warren Balogh

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Prussian Socialism Episode 11: Machiavelli on the Study of War featuring Warren Balogh

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In The Prince, Machiavelli stresses that a leader ought to study war. He also discusses the many uses and dangers in maintaining and employing soldiers. Warren Balogh and Greg Conte argue about the implications of Machiavelli's thinking. What is the proper way to study war? Can too much study of war be bad?

Prussian Socialism

Prussian Socialism Episode 10: Machiavelli: Love, Fear and Hate (featuring Warren Balogh)

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00:00 / 2:12:09

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Prussian Socialism Episode 10, featuring Warren Balogh
Machiavelli: Love, Fear and Hate

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Italian philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) is famous for his realist political outlook. In his book The Prince, he went so far as to argue that a ruler would be better off being feared than loved. Machiavelli is often thought of as an advocate for ruthlessness and trickery. But is the reputation deserved?

Warren Balogh and Greg Conte apply Machiavelli's thought to modern examples including Adolf Hitler, Napoleon, and America's Jewish power-elite. They also work out what parts of The Prince are the most crucial for White Americans to understand.

Prussian Socialism

Prussian Socialism Episode 9: Mesopotamian Civilization

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Prussian Socialism Episode 9: Mesopotamian Civilization

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Prussian Socialism episode 9 Mesopotamian Civilization. Two thousand five hundred years before the age of Classical Greece, the ancient Mesopotamians invented writing. For three millennia, they built up and maintained the world’s first great culture. But after that, its memory vanished for two thousand years, only to be preserved in a few vague Biblical and classical retellings. But in the 19th century, in one of the greatest feats of European scholarship, the writing and languages of ancient Mesopotamia were rediscovered and deciphered. Since then, scholars have pieced together the story of this long-lost civilization. What can we learn from this history before history?

History books mentioned:
Ancient Iraq by Georges Roux
Ancient Mesopotamia Leo Oppenheim
The Sumerians Samuel Kramer
Slavery in Babylonia by Dandamaev

Language books mentioned:
A Grammar of Akkadian by John Huehnegard
Complete Babylonian by Martin Worthington

Prussian Socialism

Prussian Socialism Episode 8: The Nibelungenlied and Epic Literature

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Prussian Socialism Episode 8: The Nibelungenlied and Epic Literature

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The Nibelungenlied is a medieval German story of heroism and bloody revenge. An epic poem written down about 1200 AD, it tells the tale of the Burgundian princess Kriemhild and her long-plotted retribution for the murder of her husband, the hero Siegfried.

In this lecture, Greg Conte overviews the characters and the plot, and then compares the Nibelungenlied to other epic poems, such as the Iliad and the Song of Roland. The epics are discussed in the frame of literary analysis with reference to the Canadian professor and theorist Northrop Frye. Comparison is also made to modern story-telling like (fake and gay) super-hero movies and the Turner Diaries.

Books discussed:
The Nibelungenlied (translated by A. T. Hatto)
Anatomy of Criticism by Northrop Frye

Books mentioned:
Middle High German A Grammar and Reader by Alfred Senn (best intro for beginners)
A Middle High German Reader by M. O'C. Walshe
(not mentioned but also worth-while:) A Middle High German Grammar by Joseph Wright
Das Nibelungenlied Mittelhochdeutscher Text und Übertragung (Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag)