That's certainly a good point.
Along with these conflicts, there's also no doubt that the French Intervention and the ensuing "Prussian-Rhineland Split" of the Hohenzollern house was a large part in Prussia's military decline.
Ironically, as we all know, trade links between the "Western" Hohenzollern realm in the Rhineland and the "Eastern" Hohenzollern realm in Prussia actually flourished, and the economic growth of the Ruhr and Brandenburg seems to have accelerated during that time period. The loss of land encouraged some semblance of land reform in the eastern Prussian realm, weakening the most arch-conservative Junkers; yet too late of course to recover from prior geopolitical losses.
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The Caliphate? What is this, July 1949? You might as well call Japan "The Empire of Japan" or Russia "the Tsardom".
But yeah, I get what you mean. I know about the Ottoman industrialization in the late and early 20th centuries under Grand Vizier Hayreddin Pasha. And the Prussian defeat in the Wallachian War was certainly damaging to Prussia-Brandenburg's prestige not to mention their national budget.
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Absolutely. But that still might not doom the original Prussian plans for the Zollverein. If Prussia had its own Talleyrand or Metternich...
Well, that goes without saying: the French Intervention really was the final nail in Brandenburg-Prussia's coffin that lead to its final removal from the club of European powers. I didn't list it as an example though because I consider the pitiful resistance the Army of the Rhine's military offered to be little more than a symbolic gesture of the Kingdom's independence. London's
Daily Express diden't nickname the 'conflict'/diplomatic crisis "The One-Week War" for nothing.
As for the relationship between the two Germanic branches of the Hohenzollern Dynasty, the Western realm certainly got the better half of the deal. All that coal and iron, and position right on the border of one of the growing powers of Europe provided far more of an economic boost than East Prussia's rye fields could every give it... much less compete with the nearby Hapsburg industry in Bohemia for the Russian market (Heh. The more things change, the more they stay the same eh? Russia still can't produce an economically competitive company to save its life). Hell, if it weren't for the Ruhr's population boom and the great urbanization and subsequent decline in France's agricultural output creating a huge demand for their agricultural products, I Prussia would have largely ended up just as poor if not poorer than Russia. The Zollverein really killed the industry of its creator by preventing them from putting up protective duties to allow their infant industries to grow without being crushed by Rhinish, Hapsburg, and Saxon competition. Or maybe you consider the Rhinish branch to be the primary one in which case it was a smashing success in allowing them to break off from their medieval moorings.
Still, I did pass through East Prussia during a trip once. Beautiful place; lots of small farms and quaint little villages, beautiful lakes, simple and kind if a very conservative and pious population (Don't get be started on some of the talk of the "Papists", Orthodox "Beardos", and "Mohammedians" I heard in their pubs). Not a very wealthy or prestigious place, but its got to be a great place to retire. After Prague, I really needed that fresh air.
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Eh, I like to think of it the same way people call Britain "The United Kingdom". I mean, the Caliph isn't quite as purely ornamental as the British Queen, but I can still see how you think its weird. However, you can't deny that during much of the 20th century (Which I was refering to), he certainly played a huge role in the government. Besides, "Turkey" is really a Western European term.
But I don't think anybody would argue that it was that battle that really caused the Ottomans to take Prussia's place in the seat of the Great Powers; especially after the drumming Russia received during the crisis too (St. Petersburg burning and the Crown Prince's death at Grozney REALLY screwed them over). After that, it was just a matter of time before somebody else tried interfering in their internal affairs.. which you clearly know alot about, since you brought up the French Intervention so prominently.
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You might as well ask for Fredrick the Great to come back from the grave. Northern Germany has never really been known for producing good statesmen (Uncorruptable statemen, sure... but never particularly competent or efficient). Even then, Talleyrand and Metternich at least had larger states to work with: Prussia was far too dinky to ever stand up to France post-Napoleon I. If they managed to retain the Rhineland than maybe, MAYBE they could get enough economic power to tighten up the custom's union, but they'd have to keep so much competition out that its size would be a fraction of what it was today, and I can't see how they'd be able to wrangle the German states to submitting to central rule from Brandenburg. If Prussia leaned on the too hard, they could also turn to France or Austria for protection.
Prussia was essentially just continental Europe's version of a post-Mongol Khanate; an army with a state attached to it. Smash that army, and there's really nothing left underneath.