Police and State in Prussia, 1815–1850

This book focuses on the way in which people were treated by the police and military guards in nineteenth-century Prussia, in the general context of Prussian bureaucratic development. It shows how the daily routine of officialdom supported and promoted an image of the police state, which placed the emphasis on violent methods in dealing with the 'subjects' of those in authority. The main argument of the book discusses the methods and standards of everyday policing and the consequential creation of a classe dangereuse. The author also shows how military routines were adopted by civilian officials and policemen. Thus by the middle of the century a military type of policing had become widespread and generally unquestioned by high-ranking officials or ministers. The book therefore offers an understanding of the repressive side of the Prussian and German state since the middle of the nineteenth century.