Prussia

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For other meanings of Prussia, see Prussia (disambiguation).

Prussia was a kingdom from 1701 through 1918 under the rule of Brandenburg which became the leading kingdom of the German Empire, comprising in its last form almost two-thirds of the area of the Empire. The Kingdom of Prussia succeeded the Duchy of Brandenburg. Prussia was absorbed into the Weimar Republic in 1918, and after World War II the Allies decreed that Prussia be dissolved into present-day Germany, Poland and Russia.

The use of the term "Prussia" today depends heavily on context. In a good light, some emphasise Prussia's role in the Enlightenment, when it was a land of religious and ethnic tolerance and a home to artists and intellectuals. In a less flattering light, the term "Prussia" also conjurs images of militarism, due to its ancient militaristic traditions and culture, which were decisive in making it the most powerful kingdom of the German Empire.

Formation

In 1688, Frederick William I, the "Great Elector", died and his possessions passed to his son Frederick III (ruled 1688-1713). With the exception of Prussia, all of Brandenburg's lands were a part of the Holy Roman Empire, by this time under the all but hereditary nominal rule of the House of Habsburg. Since there was only one King of the Germans within the Empire, Frederick gained the assent of the Emperor Leopold I (in return for alliance against France) to his adoption (January 1701) of the title of "King in Prussia", based on his non-Imperial territories, and the title came into general acceptance with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713). Though Brandenburg was far richer and more important than Prussia proper, it was gradually subsumed into the Kingdom of Prussia. The change was understood by all to be a shell game with titles, and the new nation was commonly called Brandenburg-Prussia.

The Early Years

Sweden's defeat by Russia, Saxony-Poland, Denmark-Norway, Hannover and Prussia in the Great Northern War (1700-1721) marked the end of Swedish power on the southern shores of the Baltic Sea. In the Prusso-Swedish peace treaty of Stockholm (January 1720), Brandenburg-Prussia regained Stettin(Szczecin) and Sweden's holdings in Pomerania, most of which had been a part of Hohenzollern Brandenburg since 1472 (Outer Pomerania was annexed to Brandenburg-Prussia in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia).

During this time the trends set in motion by the Great Elector reached their culmination, as the Junkers - the landed aristocracy - were welded to the army which had gained so much influence in the previous fifty years.

Invasion of Austria

In 1740, Frederick II (more commonly known as Frederick the Great) came to the throne and invaded Silesia, a province of Austria which was in turmoil after the death of the Emperor Charles VI. The invasion was the first shot of the War of the Austrian Succession (Silesia was to have passed to the rulers of Brandenburg on the extinction of its Piast dynasty according to a bilateral arrangement of 1537, subsequently vetoed by the Emperor Ferdinand I). After rapidly occupying Silesia, Frederick offered to protect the new Austrian Archduchess, Maria Theresa if the province were turned over to him. The offer was rejected, but Austria faced several other opponents, and Frederick was eventually able to gain formal cession with 1742's Treaty of Berlin.

To the surprise of many, Austria managed to renew the war successfully, and in 1744 Frederick invaded again to forestall reprisals and to claim, this time, the province of Bohemia. This time he failed, but French pressure on Austria's ally Britain led to a series of treaties and compromises (culminating in the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle that restored peace and left Prussia still in possession of Silesia.

Humiliated by the cession of Silesia, Austria worked to secure an alliance with France and Russia, while Prussia drifted into the United Kingdom's camp (the "Diplomatic Revolution". When Frederick pre-emptively invaded Saxony and Bohemia over the course of a few months in 1756-1757, a general conflict broke out: the Seven Years' War.

Defense Against Europe's Assault

This war was a desperate struggle for the Prussians, and the fact that they managed to fight much of Europe to a draw bears witness to Frederick's military skill. Facing Austria, Russia, France and Sweden simultaneously, and with only Hanover (and the non-continental British) as notable allies, he managed to hold off serious invasion until October 1760, when the Russian army briefly occupied Berlin and Königsberg. The situation became progressively grimmer, however, until the death of the Tsarina Elizabeth and the accession of the prussophile Peter III relieved the pressure on the eastern front. Sweden also dropped out of the war at about the same time. Defeating the Austrian army at the Battle of Burkersdorf, and relying on continuing British success against France in the war's colonial theatres, Prussia was finally able to force a status quo ante bellum on the continent. This result confirmed Prussia's major role in Germany and Europe as a whole. Frederick, appalled by the near-miss for his country, lived out his days as a much more peaceable ruler.

Expansion to Poland

Prussia continued to grow through diplomatic means, however. To the east and south, Poland had gradually become weakened, and in 1772 Frederick was unable to resist the first of the Partitions of Poland between Russia, Prussia, and Austria. The Kingdom of Prussia thus gained full sovereignty of Warmia and the Polish Royal Prussia, henceforth (until 1824, and again in 1878-1918) the province of West Prussia. After Frederick the Great died (in 1786), his nephew Fredrick William II continued the partitions through military and diplomatic force, gaining a large part of western Poland in 1793 and a large area (including Warsaw) to the south of East Prussia in 1795, when the Polish kingdom ceased to exist.

In 1772 King Friedrich II annexed the Polish province of Royal Prussia, without the Gdansk territory, from the Kingdom of Poland, and united it with the duchy of Prussia (it now taking the name East Prussia). In 1793, King Friedrich Wilhelm II annexed the areas around Gdansk and Torun. In 1793 and 1795, larger areas of Poland were added, which were organized into the Provinces of South Prussia and New East Prussia. Like many countries in Eastern Europe at that time, the old Polish Kingdom was inhabited by many ethnic groups, and it is important not to confuse political loyalties with ethnic identities. Many loyal Polish subjects were not ethnically Polish. Western Prussia, including Gdansk, had had a ethnic German majority for centuries, while a sizable German minority lived in the Torun area. Other important ethnic groups, besides Poles, were Jews. Some locals even descended from hardy Scotsmen, who had fled to Gdansk in the 16th century, and founded the suburb of New Scotland.

The Kingdom of Prussia at this time was not part of Germany. Königsberg was the capital and coronation city of the Prussian kings. In 1806 Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Europe and abolished the German empire and the title of Kaiser for Germany (capital: Wien ). The Kaiser in Wien became Kaiser of Austria with no power in the rest of Germany. The titles of Kurfürst (elector) became meaningless and was abolished and changed to Kings of Bohemia, Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, Wuerttemberg, and Hannover by Napoleon's grace. The archbishops and Catholic church had lost all their secular power in 1803.

After Napoleon's final defeat in 1815 the kingdom of Prussia became known as "Die Vereinigten Preussischen Staaten" (United Prussian States) which now also included provinces like Silesia, Brandenburg, Pomerania and areas as far west as the Rhine province. Berlin now became the Prussian capital. Until 1806 the Hohenzollern sovereign had had many titles and hats from Head of the Evangelic Church to King, Elector, Grandduke, Duke for the various regions and realms under his rule. After 1806 he simply was King of Prussia. Terms like German government or German army have no meaning for this time period until 1871.

In 1871 Germany as an empire with a Kaiser was re-established with Berlin as the capital of Germany and Prussia and with the Prussian king also having the title of German Kaiser. All monarchies in Germany were abolished in 1918, thus removing the last Hohenzollern ruler from power.

Prussia was absorbed into the Weimar Republic until Prussia was declared defunct in 1947 by the Allied victors of World War II.

After World War II

After World War II, Prussia as a state was formally dissolved by the Allied Control Council Decree No. 46 of February 25, 1947, which simply declared: "The state of Prussia, which has forever been the carrier of militarism and reaction in Germany, shall herewith be dissolved."

The eastern parts of the pre-war Prussian state had been made parts of Poland and the Soviet Union at the Potsdam Conference, when the Oder-Neisse line was established as the new border between Poland and Germany. The remaining area of the former kingdom of Prussia is today distributed among many of Germany's sixteen Bundesländer (federal states), among them Berlin, Brandenburg, Lower Saxony, and North Rhine-Westphalia.

Southern Germans described all Northern German as Prussians, while Rheinlander call people from Brandenburg, Mecklenburg or Berlin Prussians.

Though rapidly losing its sense of identity and with no political unity, Prussia still exists as a dispersed nation in exile following the decision to "delete" Prussia after World War II. For the vast majority however, Prussia is remembered only in the past tense, for its role in uniting Germany and is still, especially abroad, often wrongly perceived as a synonymous term for Germany.

Notable Persons of Prussian History

Joseph-Louis LaGrange (mathematician)

Provinces of Prussia

Listed are all provinces and equivalent subdivisions of Prussia between 1815 and 1947.

Berlin (from 1881)
Borderland Posen-West Prussia (1922 to 1938)
Brandenburg
Hanover (from 1866)
Hesse-Nassau (from 1866)
Hohenzollerische Lande (from 1850)
Jülich-Kleve-Berg (until 1822)
East Prussia (until 1824 and from 1878)
Lower Rhine (until 1822)
Lower Silesia (1919 to 1938 and from 1941)
Pomerania
Posen (until 1922)
Prussia (1824 to 1878)
Rhine (from 1822)
Saxony
Silesia (until 1919 and 1938 to 1941)
Schleswig-Holstein (from 1866)
Upper Silesia (1919 to 1938 and from 1941)
Westphalia
West Prussia (until 1824 and 1878 to 1922)

Also see :

Brandenburg-Prussia

List of Kings of Prussia

List of Prime Ministers of Prussia

Origins of the term Prussia

The national name Prussia (in Prussian: Prusa, German: Preußen, Polish: Prusy, Lithuanian Prusai, Latin: Pruthenia or Borussia) was used by a wide variety of political factions during the 2nd millennium. See Prussia_(disambiguation).