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The Prussian Kingdom was founded on January 18th, 1701, when the Elector Frederick III had himself crowned Frederick I at Konigsberg. Frederick I. Prussia, which was to become a byword for German militarism and authoritarianism, began its history outside Germany altogether. The people called Preussen in German, who inhabited the land on the south-eastern coast of the Baltic, were Slavs, related to the Lithuanians and Latvians.
This is still true. My good friend  and fellow attorney -- David Raybin asked me to post this suggestion on books on the Franco-Prussian War which has seen a significant resurgence in War-game circles of late. Geoffrey Wawro,The Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870-1871. link. is first-rate and deserves to be the first book on your list once you get a nice-fast overview from online sources such as Wikipedia.