Title: Between the Prussian Tradition and the Napoleonic Way: On Kleist’s The Prince of Homburg and Prussian Military Reform

Abstract: Heinrich von Kleist’s The Prince of Homburg was created in the context of the Napoleonic Wars. The military revolution in the early 19th century and the writer’s military knowledge constituted important elements in the construction of the play. By rewriting the Battle of Fehrbellin of 1675, Kleist interprets the conflict between the Prussian military tradition and the military principles of the Napoleonic era, thereby expressing the changes in the military culture of the era in a dramatic form. His text reflects the Prussian military reforms. The intertextual relationship between the text of The Prince of Homburg and the contemporary developments in military theory and military technology testifies to Kleist’s concern with military issues and the connection between his literary creation in the last years of his life and the Prussian military reforms.

Keywords: Heinrich von Kleist, Der Prinz von Homburg, Prussian military reform, war writing

Authors: Minyue Shi, Lecturer, School of Foreign Languages, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China; Yue Zeng, Lecturer, School of Foreign Languages, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China.