Bringmann, Wilhelm Preußen im Jahr 1806. Jena und Auerstedt

The military events in 1806 at Jena and Auerstedt have already been considered many times. Wilhelm Bringmann now presents a new analysis of the downfall of Frederician Prussia - not to repeat what is already known, but to present new insights. To this end, Bringmann not only illuminates military events, but offers a comprehensive account of the characteristics of the Frederician state with a view to identifying and understanding the causes of its collapse.

On the basis of political and military facts, structures and motives, he meticulously reconstructs the events of October 1806 - and in a markedly different way than according to the intellectual precepts of Prussian-German historiography. Thus, no unsolved mysteries remain surrounding the downfall of Frederician Prussia: not treason, coincidences, general "lucklessness" or (only) personal inadequacies, "oversights of over-aged leaders", "moral laxity", "weakening by the destructive effects of the spirit of the times" or even "God's will" were causal for the defeat. The analysis reveals: The Prussian defeat was not surprising, but rather inherent in the nature of the Frederician state and its army, as well as in the person of Frederick William III, and thus came, if not inevitably, then at least logically. Confronted with a superior but not overpowering adversary, Frederick's Prussia, over which time had passed since 1763, perished above all in itself and its system, in the material and spiritual legacy of its creator. Moreover, the political and military decisions that led to the disaster were based on decisions and character structures of Frederick William III.