Kingdom of Prussia

"Iron, Order, and Resentment"

The Kingdom of Prussia is a formidable continental power, but one struggling to adapt to the tidal wave of technological and political change sweeping across Europe. Though still dominant in northern Germany and respected for its disciplined military and bureaucratic rigor, Prussia has become increasingly isolated and reactionary, especially following its bitter expulsion of Karl Marx and the failed liberal revolutions of 1848.

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Government and Political Climate

Prussia is ruled by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV, a monarch shaken by the revolutions of 1848 and deeply wary of both constitutionalism and mechanization. He has reinforced autocratic rule, suppressing liberal reformers, trade unions, and technological radicals.

• The Prussian Junker class (landed aristocracy) still dominates domestic politics, fiercely guarding their traditional privileges.
• The military, though technologically conservative compared to Britain or France, remains highly disciplined and central to national identity.
• Censorship, surveillance, and secret police (the Geheime Bureau) are widely used to control dissident voices, particularly after Marx’s radical teachings began circulating among factory workers.

Prussia styles itself the bulwark of tradition in an age of chaos — a self-proclaimed defender of order against “British decadence,” “French disorder,” and “Communard madness.”

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Technology and Industry

Despite its conservative leanings, Prussia has not ignored technological development — it has simply tried to control it.

• Steam factories exist in the Ruhr Valley and Silesia, though they are often state-controlled or under strict aristocratic oversight.
• Babbage engines have been adopted for military logistics, census-taking, and taxation, but not freely distributed.
• Engineers must register with the Ministry of Industry, and their designs are often appropriated for military use.

Unlike Britain, where innovation is democratized, Prussia treats science as an extension of the state, not a public resource.

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Military Power

The Prussian military remains one of Europe’s most feared and methodical war machines. While not as imaginative as the British in terms of engineering, Prussia excels in organization, mass mobilization, and land warfare:

• Steam-driven troop transports allow rapid deployment across central Europe.
• Clockwork-fused artillery and armored rail batteries provide mobile heavy firepower.
• The General Staff, advised by analytic engines and veteran officers, experiments with computational wargaming and battlefield simulations.

Prussia has also begun developing airborne cavalry dirigibles, though these are not yet on par with British or French equivalents.

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International Standing

Prussia finds itself encircled by ideological and technological rivals:

• It regards the British Empire with suspicion, viewing it as a corrupting influence and a destabilizing force on the continent.
• The Manhattan Commune is considered a dire threat, and Marx is frequently condemned in royal edicts and conservative newspapers.
• Relations with Austria remain tense, as both vie for dominance within the German Confederation.
• Meanwhile, France’s unpredictable embrace of “engine-liberalism” under a Bonapartist regime has further unsettled Prussian strategists.

In response, Prussia has begun promoting a Pan-German, techno-nationalist ideology: one that merges loyalty to crown and country with controlled industrial progress and state-supervised science.

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Society and Culture

Prussian society in this world is rigidly stratified and values:

• Discipline, hierarchy, and obedience.
• A strong militaristic education system focused on mathematics, engineering, and loyalty to the monarchy.
• Classical music, Romantic nationalism, and a growing cult of mechanical stoicism — the belief that man, like machine, should function without complaint in service of a higher design.

Despite repression, underground radical groups inspired by Marx’s ideas and British Promethian writings are forming in cities like Berlin, Leipzig, and Breslau, smuggling in illegal pamphlets and building unauthorized computing engines in hidden workshops.

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The Prussian Dilemma

Prussia stands at a crossroads:

• Will it double down on iron discipline and controlled innovation, resisting the tide of social and technological upheaval?
• Or will internal unrest and external pressure force it to evolve — potentially birthing a uniquely German brand of technocratic authoritarianism?

One thing is certain: Prussia will not go quietly. It is an empire of steel nerves, precise machinery, and simmering revolution, waiting for either a great triumph — or a great collapse