“Prussia was not a country with an army, but an army with a country.”
Describing the reign of Frederick the Great; Rommel's Lieutenants, Chapter 1: The Source of Rommel's Officers, 1, Samuel W. Jr., Mitcham, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007 https://books.google.com/books?id=5bkGvRnFzyUC&lpg=PA1&dq=Prussia%20was%20not%20a%20country%20with%20an%20army%2C%20but%20an%20army%20with%20a%20country.&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q=Prussia%20was%20not%20a%20country%20with%20an%20army,%20but%20an%20army%20with%20a%20country.&f=false, <br class="br">This quote has also been attributed to Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau (9 March 1749 – 2 April 1791); English-German online dictionary, dict.cc, Paul, Hemetsberger http://www.dict.cc/english-german/Prussia+is+not+a+country+with+an+army+but+an+army+with+a+country.html, <br class="br">An early English source from 1872 simply uses the popular quote anonymously. 1355, HANSARD'S PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES, THIRD SERIES: COMMENCING WITH THE ACCESSION OF WILLIAM IV, 1872, CCIX, 23 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON, CORNELIUS BUCK, Supply — Considered in Committee — Army Estimates https://books.google.com/books?id=CtcMAQAAIAAJ&dq=Prussia%20was%20not%20a%20country%20with%20an%20army%2C%20but%20an%20army%20with%20a%20country.&pg=PT743#v=onepage&q=Prussia%20was%20not%20a%20country%20with%20an%20army,%20but%20an%20army%20with%20a%20country.&f=false,