Junkers.

This is coolbert:

From my previous blog entry "Eclipse I:

"those lakeside cliffs, on the five-hundred-year-old-firs of the beloved ancestral land"

"It was said that 'if Prussia ruled Germany, the Junkers ruled Prussia, and through it the Empire itself.'"

The ancestral land, the estates, of those persons classified as Junkers. Nobility, minor and otherwise, landed gentry, persons of much power first in Prussia and then in Imperial Germany, a small in number but very influential social and ruling elite. A ruling and social elite who saw themselves as natural leaders, having an especially vital role as commanders of the military.

A knowledge and understanding of the Junkers, at whatever rudimentary level is necessary to under the history and policies of Prussia and Imperial Germany?

"A Junker (English pronunciation: YOONG-k?r) was a member of the landed nobility of Prussia and eastern Germany."

"Junker in German . . . is understood as country squire . . . Over the centuries, they rose from disreputable captains of mercenary cutthroats to influential commanders and landowners in the 19th century, especially in the Kingdom of Prussia."

"the Junkers controlled the Prussian Army, leading in political influence and social status, and owning immense estates, especially in the north-eastern half of Germany"

"The aristocratic character of the officer corps was established early in the eighteenth century as Prussian kings tried to gain the support of wealthy landed aristocrats, known as Junkers, by granting them a virtual monopoly over the selection of officers."

Generations of Junkers, the menfolk, seeing military service as a their natural duty and station-in-life. Sons following in the footsteps of their fathers, etc., a pattern followed for centuries. An obligation to the society-a-large.

Also a way for the Junkers, landed nobility to some degree and persons of independent means, to maintain the status quo, the loyalty of the officer class to the sovereign guaranteed. NO decisions of special note could be made without the consultation and perhaps even the approval of the Junkers.

Those ancestral lands of the Junkers, "beloved", threatened by the Russian steamroller, 1914, a challenge that could not be ignored, and WAS NOT! Tannenberg being the result!

coolbert.