NationStates Jolt Archive

Apparently prussian blue was changed in 1958 to midnight blue
in response to teachers' requests.

Teachers felt that children were no longer familiar enough with Prussian history to recognize that this crayon color referred to the famous deep-blue uniforms of Prussian soldiers.

That's the "official" story anyway.

You'd think teachers would not want to erase history, but keep
artifacts of it alive. What better way than with a crayon color?



Rumour also has it that it was cold war politics that got Crayola to change
the name.

While I might not doub this, lots of ding-batty stuff was done in those
days, but
wasn't Prussia out of existance by the time the Soviet Union rolled around?
So why the heck would it matter at all?




Would it give the idea that there existed a world outside the United States?
Oh, no. Did you know some people have actually lobbied to get even
any mention of the UN removed from high school history text books?
Messed up.
I know when I was little I had this twisted world view that there was here, safe and strong and smart and rich and free from war and disease,
and then the rest of the world where all that existed and it must be
a terrible place out there. How naive I was. Stuff like that exists, but
it's a little bit more complex than that.

While I might not doub this, lots of ding-batty stuff was done in those days, but wasn't Prussia out of existance by the time the Soviet Union rolled around?
Yep, Prussia was a kingdom in East Germany and Northern Poland, which managed to become greater and more powerful through time thanks to a bit of war and a bit of diplomacy.

Then in the second half of the 19th century, Bismarck more or less orchestrated a set of wars in which Prussia became the leader of the German states.
In 1871 Germany was founded, and Prussia became the head-unit so to speak.

Problem was that Prussia was a rather militaristic and strict society, and these values were somewhat preserved, contributing to both WWI and WWII.

So maybe the word "Prussia" became a little unpopular in the US?

So maybe the word "Prussia" became a little unpopular in the US?
Especially since we commonly referred to German aggression as Prussianism during WWI.

Especially since we commonly referred to German aggression as Prussianism during WWI.
Really?
That's strange really, because at least under Bismarck Germany did everything it could to keep the peace. Not aggressive at all.

It was Wilhelm II. and his cronies who kind of came up with this..."neo-imperialism", and screwed it all over.
Personally I'd like to think that I can organise my life along some old Prussian values as far as possible. That doesn't mean I have to be a warmonger.

Hmm... My understanding is that East Prussia (the little chunk isolated from the rest of Germany by the Danzig Corridor after WWI) was split between the reformed Poland and the Soviet Union after WWII; even now, the former Konigsberg remains an isolated part of Russia on the Baltic, named Kaliningrad. I'm rather worried about that; isolated holdings tend to lead to trouble, and in the muddle of languages that is the Baltic rim, the land could easily be claimed by Germany, Poland, Lithuania, and Russia.

Prussian dominance in Germany, AFAIK, was pretty much stamped out after WWI; at that point, everything was about Germany as a whole. Therefore, the only use of the term by 1953 would be to describe the history of Germany, as not even East Prussia existed. I think the teachers' excuse is reasonable. After all, we don't refer to the Egyptian or Roman emperors when we describe purple, do we? Yet the color was often associated with the royalty of those lands.

*grumbles* Don't get me started on Wilhelm II. Bloody idiot almost undid all of Bismarck's work, with his urge to test his toy navy on the British and his assumption that the French and Russians would just roll over and croak...

..I'm rather worried about that; isolated holdings tend to lead to trouble, and in the muddle of languages that is the Baltic rim, the land could easily be claimed by Germany, Poland, Lithuania, and Russia.
Don't be. Kaliningrad is a rather cosmopolitan city, and important for German-Russian business relations.
And at least Germany has settled its Eastern Border for the next thousand years or so in 1990.

Prussian dominance in Germany, AFAIK, was pretty much stamped out after WWI; at that point, everything was about Germany as a whole.
Prussian symbols and military culture were still paramount though. The Swastika flag's colours were the Prussian flag's colours, and the oath was still kind of Prussian (except now on Hitler rather than the country).
It was still there.

Don't be. Kaliningrad is a rather cosmopolitan city, and important for German-Russian business relations.
And at least Germany has settled its Eastern Border for the next thousand years or so in 1990.

Meh. It still bugs me to see these random disconnected bits of country- they make the map look wrong, smeggit! :rolleyes:

Prussian symbols and military culture were still paramount though. The Swastika flag's colours were the Prussian flag's colours, and the oath was still kind of Prussian (except now on Hitler rather than the country).
It was still there.

Of course, Hitler himself was Austrian. By the '30s, Germany had been unified for 60 years; in that time, I think Prussian culture just sort of dissolved an permeated the entire country, in the same way that English culture has permeated the United Kingdom- each of the constituent states retained some of their own culture, but they pretty much went into the weave eventually.

Don't be. Kaliningrad is a rather cosmopolitan city, and important for German-Russian business relations.
And at least Germany has settled its Eastern Border for the next thousand years or so in 1990.


Prussian symbols and military culture were still paramount though. The Swastika flag's colours were the Prussian flag's colours, and the oath was still kind of Prussian (except now on Hitler rather than the country).
It was still there.Actually, the Nazi flag was copied off the Imperial flag. The Prussian flag was originally black and white, stemming from the Teutonic knights that carved the Prussian territory out of Slavic holdings. When Prussia became a more powerful Kingdom, it added the Hanseatic cities to its territory, and took the red from the red and white Hanseatic colors to the flag.

...When Prussia became a more powerful Kingdom, it added the Hanseatic cities to its territory, and took the red from the red and white Hanseatic colors to the flag.
True.
I need to brush up on the flags, royal houses and the like. Strangely enough, I always kinda skipped that bit in my history books...I guess I just found the people more interesting.