This book provides a radical new interpretation of the aims of the lesser German princes during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries through the example of the duchy of Württemberg. Arguing that the princes' political ambitions were fundamental in shaping the internal development of their territories, the author sheds new light on the political importance of the notorious German 'soldier trade' and its role in international diplomacy. The wider social and political impact of these policies is also investigated in a comparative framework, while traditional interpretations of the dramatic struggle between duke and estates are challenged in a reassessment of the role of early modern representative institutions in German state development. The relationship of these internal political struggles to the different elements of the Holy Roman Empire is revealed, opening up new perspectives on the role of the German states within the imperial structure and revealing the empire as a flawed but functioning political system.

‘ … a useful and important book … this book must be warmly welcomed as one of a growing list of serious works in English which study the Holy Roman Empire on its own terms’.

Source: Parliaments, Estates and Representation

‘An important study that goes well beyond what a mere glance at the title might suggest, it is one of the most significant additions to Cambridge's 'Studies in Early Modern History' series.’

Source: The International History Review

‘ … an important study which not only adds real substance to the slowly growing body of English-language works on the lesser states of early-modern Germany (the 'third Germany') but also demonstrates that even they could pursue complex foreign policies aimed at something more ambitious than sheer survival’.

Source: Central European History

‘ … an important contribution to a new appreciation of the military connection to politics and society in early modern Germany’.

Source: Journal of Modern History