Hello,
Obviously, this blog is another of those burgeoning fictional or even fantastical "German" states from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. Like most of the others, it began with a desire to play with toy soldiers on home made terrain (a step up from sandbox and toy soldiers, and less wearing on the knee caps!-- ).
I do hope to get links up soon to many of the other fantastic creations. Most of the others are quite keen on exhaustive military history, the traditions of miniatures wargaming, and the perfection of their skills in making, modifying, and especially painting their figures. Alas, while I am an history teacher, this is not the period of my specialty. Moreover, my age and health preclude my being able to attain to the marvelous and enviable standards most of the others achieve. On the other hand, I do enjoy funny stories, sarcasm, irony, and make believe.
I got drawn to this period due to certain myths about the genteel nature of warfare in Europe that developed, in part, due to the horrors of the Thirty Years War. Also, when I read in Frederick's own notes that he had come to hate war himself and had become quite defensive about his seizure of Silesia when he was a callow youth.
Just as the idea of the chivalric knight protecting the weak and the widow and the maiden veneers the reality of savage barbarian warriors ravening and raping their way around the world until economics, plagues, and gunpowder shot them down, the myth of the genteel warfare of the "Lace Wars" covers similar atrocities. On the other hand, those atrocities were seen as such and were usually acts of desperation or temporary loss of discipline and were widely condemned. When one played the game by the rules, the civil population suffered minimal displacement and destruction and defenders of fortresses marched home with bands and banners playing after yielding their position. The famous call, "Let the Gentleman of the English take the first fire." actually happened (as did its shrewd rejection ... but that's "real" history).
Now there will be much more fiction here, and hopefully much more fun as I engage in a series of Frankfurter Wars between the Frankfurters (Frankzonia), Wieners (Vienna), Worstinburgers, Brand Name Burgers (Brandenburg) and the various other Hamburgers as they deal with the ever wily Frank influence from the south through the Cheezers like Limburg. Even though their production is Gouda for the economy of the Frankfurters, it results in real Munsters taking the field against some peppery Brats .....

ON the other hand ...
there is going to be an inevitable delay generated by the most unfortunate catastrophe which flushed the Frankzonia files from the disk on which they had been collected. So in the next weeks, I hope to rebuild them (and perhaps recreate the last two rewrites which I doubt have been posted anywhere) and get them up here.
Meanwhile, I guess I'll have to go looking for a source of pretty pictures to keep up interest!



:)