Death of the American Prussia: Virginia

“George Washington’s pair of brilliant maneuvers [Battles of Trenton & Princeton] had inflamed the hearts of his countrymen and earned him the admiration of Europe.  Frederick the Great of Prussia, the leading soldier of his day, was unrestrained in his praise, declaring: ‘The achievements of Washington and his little band of compatriots between the 25^th of December and the 4^th of January, a space of ten days, were the most brilliant of any recorded in the history of military achievements.’ In later years, the distinguished Prussian military historian Frederich Wilhelm von Bűlow would acclaim him thus: “The maneuvers of the American General at Trenton and Princeton were masterpieces.  They may be deemed models of the conduct of a general supporting a defensive war against a superior enemy.”  George Washington’s War: The Saga of the American Revolution (pg. 333), Robert Leckie, 1993

The effuse praise of Washington by one of the greatest military generals and rulers throughout the Age of Enlightenment may be a bit overdone.  Surely, Frederick would have remembered the actions of Field Marshal Kurt Schwerin at the Battle of Mollwitz, after his Prussian calvary collapsed and the Field Marshal’s well-disciplined infantry rose to the occasion to defeat an Austrian enemy of greater size and power.  But in Washington, Frederick seems to have found a kindred spirit.  Despite the lack of aristocratic title, the Eastern Virginians, of whom many hailed from noble “second son” blood, were remarkably aristocratic in their demeanor.  More importantly, however, to a Prussian, especially one like Frederick II, was the manner in which Virginians were beginning to cultivate a unique ethos that combined Enlightenment Era principles with aristocratic militancy.

At about the same time Prussia was becoming Prussia, Virginia was becoming Virginia, and eventually, Virginia would become America’s Prussia.  The culture of that prominent Southern state, steeped in a combination of agrarian economic activity, an old-world Cavalier posture, and a sense of purpose driven destiny, mirrored Prussia in many ways.  “Prussian Virtues,” a term coined by Frederick William I (Frederick the Great’s father) mirrored many of the same virtues espoused by prominent Virginians, especially George Washington, and later, Robert E. Lee. 

German poet, Ludwig Christoph Heinrich Hölty, wrote, “Der alte Landmann an seinen Sohn,” (The Old Country Man to His Son) at about the time of Frederick the Great’s death, which captured many of the Prussian Virtues in several of its lines.  The beautiful poem, whereby an old farmer teaches his son how to be more than just a good man – but a good Prussian – states the following: “Always practice faithfulness and honesty; Until your cool grave, And do not deviate a finger wide from God’s ways. (i.e., Moral integrity)…” The poem goes on to implore the young son to engage in hard work and less drink.  Frivolity is looked poorly upon.  Ultimately, the poem closes with the mission of any man, “Always practice faithfulness and honesty, To your cool grave, And do not soften a finger width From God’s ways.  Then grandchildren are looking for your tomb, And cry tears on it, And summer flowers, full of fragrance, Blossom from the trees.”  Your descendants must look upon you as an honorable man.  The Prussian Virtues effectively achieve this by obeying the law, engaging in hard work, maintaining a diligent temperament, and godly morality.

Years later, General Robert E. Lee would capture the Prussian Virtues in a single line, when explaining the nobility of his Dixie countrymen: “There is a true glory and a true honor: the glory of duty done–the honor of the integrity of principle.”  It is no wonder that Virginia bore eight presidents (five of whom ascended to the presidency from Virginia directly) and the most generals in American history, from Washington to Stonewall Jackson to Marine Corps General Lewis “Chesty” Puller.  In fact, Puller idolized Stonewall so much that Puller went to the Virginia Military Institute.

During the early formation of the German Republic, Otto von Bismarck, a Prussian noble, led the unification process of Germany through the 19^th Century.  Prussian statesmen, military leaders, and bureaucrats played an overwhelming role in the early creation of the modern German state.  Prussian identity made an overwhelming imprint on Germany.  Later, after the demoralizing German loss in World War I and the outrageously lascivious Weimar Republic Era, the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) looked to the Prussian Virtues model for inspiration toward revitalizing the German sense of self.  Unfortunately, those same remarkable virtues – upon which much of the Western world was built by means of Roman and British variations – were deemed contributors to the rise of Nazism.  Tragically, German “de-nazification” efforts sought to rid Germany of Prussian Virtues, believing them to have been the contributor to the German embrace of the NSDAP.  Suddenly, hard work, morality, and honesty, became “evil traits” in the 1950s and 1960s.  By the 1970s, Prussian Virtues were seen as anathema by many in Germany, especially the German Left.

Of course, Virginia’s role in the formation of the early American unification process was similarly outsized.   Four of the first five presidents were from Virginia.  The Declaration of Independence was largely drafted by Thomas Jefferson.  The Constitution was largely drafted by James Madison.  Despite the focus upon Massachusetts’ role in the American story – from the Pilgrims to the Revolution (and beyond) – the fact is, Virginia, was the true founding state of the Anglo-American Nation.  Jamestown, as the first sustained Anglo settlement, hosted the first Thanksgiving (not the Puritans).  Virginia’s Nathaniel Bacon set the tone for responsive governance with his 1676 Rebellion – a precursor, in many ways, to that which would take place 101 years later. 

Furthermore, whereas the United States would establish its military academy in West Point, New York, and its naval academy in Annapolis, Maryland, Virginia would establish the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in 1839.  Once billed the “West Point of the South,” VMI would yield twenty-one Virginia born generals during the War of Northern Aggression, including Professor Thomas Stonewall Jackson, VMI’s greatest contribution to the art of warfare.  Of course, Jackson was among the one-hundred-fifty one Confederate generals who attended West Point and among the nearly two-thirds of those generals who were born in Virginia.  Upon returning to the American Empire, VMI has since yielded thirty-two general and naval flag officers since 1899, including two Marine Corps Commandants, one of whom, Lemuel Shepherd, was the Commandant through World War II and the Korean War.  In fact, given the preponderance of Marine Corps senior officers that come out of VMI, it may be rightfully considered the unofficial “Marine Corps Academy.” Perhaps, proximity to Marine Corps Officers Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia, plays a role in the decision made by many VMI graduates to join the Marine Corps.

The military culture does not end there, however.  Steeped in historical traditions, the (unfortunately) appropriated land of the Lee family became Arlington National Cemetery.  The Pentagon, the world’s largest military institution overseeing its vast forces, is also located in Arlington.  The military legacy of a colony founded by military men – not religious zealots, as with Massachusetts – continues to this day.  Or does it?

Like Prussia, Virginia was seen by radical leftists as the epicenter of all that is wrong in the world – namely the perpetuation of “White society.”  Whereas they may or may not have openly said that (i.e., “attack Virginia,” as they had with Prussia), it is clear by their actions that transforming Virginia, because of its strong historical associations with the American story, has been ground zero for many of the Left’s most profound attacks.  Her monuments from Richmond to Charlottesville, once stood as reminders of Virginian military prowess.  Her cultural centers, such as Mt. Vernon, Williamsburg, and Monticello, stand as reminders of the great Virginian contributions to the foundation of the United States.  Thus, in the modern era, in which all things Eurocentric and Heritage American are deemed evil, it is not a surprise that Virginia and her cherished institutions have been the focus of the Left.

The “de-nazification” process concentrated heavily on Prussia and Prussian identity because it largely influenced a once proud German people.  Seeking to break that pride, leftists needed to crush Prussian Virtues, to include its militant legacy.  We now see this with Virginia. 

It was not an accident that a San Francisco black Marxist and rape apologist, Wes Bellamy, found his way onto the city council of Charlottesville.  The move and his actions – as well as the actions of the leftist radicals in the area – were purposefully designed to tear at the fabric of Virginia, because to remake the United States, you must remake Virginia – America’s Prussia.  The University of Virginia was founded by Thomas Jefferson.  Although I am not a fan of Jefferson’s more radically libertarian viewpoints on many matters, it is hard to argue against the fact that Jefferson’s influences are felt throughout American Constitutional republican norms.  Charlottesville is home to an institution grounded in many of those ideals of personal liberty that leftists find abhorrent – the “rugged individualism” black Marxist, Barack Hussein Obama, so loathed.  Consequently, attacking the unique Southern and liberal (not to be confused with leftist) identity of Charlottesville and the University of Virginia, is much like attacking the American philosophical ground zero.

If terrorists sought to attack the military might of the United States by guiding a plane into the Pentagon and similarly sought to attack the economic might of the United States by guiding a plane into the World Trade Center, than one should consider that terrorists would attack the ideological heart of the United States, Charlottesville – which is what the Left did.  From the removal of Southern monuments to the anti-White radicalization of the campus, the Left purposefully went after Charlottesville writ large and Jefferson’s university legacy.  But it did not end there.

Leftists also needed to attack the character of the Virginian who made independence possible, George Washington, just as de-nazification radicals sought the elimination of any positive memories of Frederick the Great.  Not only are statues of Washington torn down throughout the country, his own home church removed plaques in commemoration of his honor.  Supposedly, this is done to placate 13% of the population, some of whom may be descended from slaves Washington eventually emancipated.  In reality, this is a program of “de-nazification” of the United States, or more accurately, “de-Virginiaizing” the United States.

To fully transform the United States into a Marxist dystopia, you must destroy the historical memories of a once great people and replace them with an alternative history that makes them weak, humiliated, and begging for forgiveness.  That was successful in Germany.  There is no better place to do that than the military institutions that make great, culturally conservative military leaders – especially from America’s Prussia, Virginia.  Thus, the real reason for the removal of the Stonewall Jackson monument at VMI.  Intellectual lightweight, and likely closet communist, Cedric T. Wins, can make statements all he likes about Stonewall’s relocation. I doubt Wins is smart enough to have conceived of the removal of Jackson in its obvious total framework.  He was an affirmative action general to his greasy core.  But it was clearly designed as an expansion of the transformative anti-Virginian policies of the Left – which a black general would obviously embrace.

If you look around at all that is under attack, it has Virginia written all over it.  Notice that, despite some defacement in monument rich Massachusetts, many of the same figures torn down throughout the country remain standing in Massachusetts.  That is not because they were the “good guys” in the Civil War.  After all, monuments to historical figures, including Lincoln, were torn down elsewhere.  That is because the Massachusetts influence of militant egalitarianism is the preferred model of the political Left.  If Albion’s Seed is correct (and I suspect that book is), than the failure to tear down similar monuments in Massachusetts while destroying Virginia’s heritage is part of the latest battle of Anglo settler supremacy.  The catch, however, is that New England academics re-writing history in the Marxist Critical Race Theory-vein are simply inviting their own demise.  Without order comes chaos – and White liberals are not prepared for chaos.  But I digress. 

The cumulative assaults on Virginia’s unique Southern and military cultures are really designed to break the United States.  Creatures like Cedric Wins have been waiting in the wings for decades to do just that.  Just as breaking Prussian influences was seen as crucial to the German Left, breaking Virginian influences are seen as crucial to the American Left.  Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, J.E.B. Stewart – all Virginia patriots and incredible military strategists or tacticians – must be vilified.  Washington? Must be demonized.  Highborn Virginia Gentlemen Culture – defined by loyalty, honor, discipline, militancy – must be annulled.  You are witnessing the Death of America’s Prussia. 

You are witnessing the Death of Virginia.  And with Virginia, so goes the United States.