What does Prussian Militarism mean?

Prussia was an area that now encompasses parts of eastern Germany, western Poland and far western Russia. Originally, Old Prussia was inhabited by Slavic pagans, but they were conquered by the Teutonic Knights of Germany in the 13th century, and were Germanized/Christianized by way of Immigration. Over the centuries, Prussia changed hands between the Holy Roman Empire (Germany), and the Kingdom of Poland, until 1618, when Prussia united with the German state of Brandenburg and eventually established the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, Prussia became a major military power under the leadership of Frederick the Great and later, Otto Von Bismarck. The Prussians were renowned for their severity and mercilessness in terms of warfare, and were often opposed by large European coalitions (i.e. France, Austria, Russia, Italy, etc..) throughout their history. Prussian militarism was a take-no-prisoners/scorched Earth type of philosophy, and the Prussian war machine was often accused of cruelty and barbarity by their opponents. Many believe Prussian militarism laid the foundation for Nazism to take hold in Germany, but that is debatable. Some believe that the idea of "Prussian militarism" was greatly exaggerated by Prussian detractors, and the horror stories told about Prussian soldiers were nothing more than propaganda, but the historical record does seem to backup some of the claims.

Prussia was instrumental in forming the Deutsches Reich, also known as the 2nd Reich, or German Empire in 1871. They played a major role in defeating Napoleon at Waterloo, and also captured the city of Paris during the Franco-Prussian war, several decades before the outbreak of WWI. After WWII, most of Prussia was taken from Germany and given to the state of Poland. Konigsberg, the one time capital of Prussia, was seized by the Russians and renamed Kaliningrad. Kaliningrad is now the most westerly Russian territory, and an important Russian port town.