Focusing on Prussia from the Napoleonic era to the Revolution of 1848, this book boldly reinterprets the origins of German nationalism by tracing its links to eighteenth-century Enlightenment thought. It also presents a new perspective on the role of discourse in historical change, emphasizing how the concept 'nation' transformed the horizon of Prussian political debate. Was there a distinctive German path of modernization? Matthew Levinger presents a stimulating perspective on this controversial question. Prussia's nationalism responded to domination by a foreign power, while seeking to avoid endangering the historical foundations of the country's own political culture. Thus, the Prussian experience becomes an example from which one can learn about developments in the modern world.