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{{Wiktionary|Prussia}}
] ] ]


''']''' ({{langx|de|]|link=no}}) was a German state that formed the German Empire in 1871.
The term '''Prussia''' (in ]: ''Preußen'', ]: ''Pruthenia'' or ''Borussia'', Polish: ''Prusy'', Lithuanian ''Prusai'') has had a wide variety of meanings over the last millennium. At different times it has denoted a region, a dukedom, a Polish province, a Polish fief, a kingdom united with ], and the leading kingdom of the ], comprising almost two thirds of the Empire's acreage.


'''Prussia''' or '''Prussian''' may also refer to:
At the latest since ], Prussia no longer exists as a state today. However, the ideal of Prussia as the 'true' Germany exists even today among some Germans, though most associate this particular aspect of Prussia's history with an anti-democratic, militaristic past. Still others choose to emphasise Prussia's role in ], when it was a home to artists and intellectuals; how the term "Prussia" is used today therefore depends much on context.


*], a historical region on the south-eastern coast of the ] that lent its name to the later German state
==Prussia's Historic Roots==
The land spreading on the South- Eastern coast of the Baltic sea and in the Masuria Lake district has been called "Prussia" by its Polish neighbors in 10-th century. People inhabiting those lands from at least 5th century B.C. spoke a variety of languages belonging to the western branch of the ] language group, whose modern representatives are ] and ]. At the end of the 1st century the Prussian settlements were divided into tribal domains, separated from one another by uninhabitated parts of forests, swamps and marshes. The basic territorial communities called ]es were formed by sets of farms, which were linked by mutual economic interests, desire for safety and generally accepted conditions of coexistence. The supreme power in each Lauks laid in general gatherings of all adult males. At such gatherings all important matters concerning the community were discussed, and the leader and the chief were elected. The leader was responsible for the supervision of the everyday matters, while the chief was in charge of the road and watchtower building, and for the border defense. Because the Baltic tribes inhabiting Prussia never formed a common political and territorial organisation (a state), they had no reason to adopt a common ethnic name. Instead they used the name of the region from which they came. Therefore there were Galindians inhabiting Galindia, Sambians from Sambia, Bartians from Bartia, Nadrovians from Nadrovia, Natangians from natangia, Scalovians from Scalovia, and Sudovians from Sudovia. It is not known when and how the first general names came into being in the lands that did not have a tribe name tradition such as Pomesania, Pogesania or Sasinia in the western peripheries of the Prussian settlements.
]
Parts of the Baltic region retained wilderness areas for longer than almost anywhere else in Europe. ] may have been referring to peoples living in what was later East Prussia when, in AD 98, he wrote of the ''Aesti'' in his ''Germania''. These people may have been those later known as the Aesti-Prussi, who lived between the Vistula and Niemen rivers and spoke a ] rather than a ] language. ] referred to all the tribes living near the ''Mare Suebicum'', or the ], under the collective name of ]. This term included various peoples, including the ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] and others who made their homes near the ], ] and ] rivers.


{{TOC right}}
] histories of Prussia link the name of the "Prussai" or "Prussi", and thereby Prussia, to a place called "Prutenia". According to these histories, most likely based on heroic sagas, (B)Pruteno was a priest king, brother of the legendary king ] or Waidewut, who lived in the late ]. The regions of Prussia and their peoples are said to bear Widewuto's sons' names. These peoples include the Yatvingians and Sudovians. In early ] bishop Christian of Prussia recorded the history of a much earlier era. ] mentions Prussians in ].


==Countries==
===Prussia in the Middle Ages===
*] (1230–1525), founded in the Prussian region by the Teutonic Order
*] (1440–1466), an alliance of German Hanseatic cities in Prussia who rebelled against the Teutonic Knights
*] (1466–1772), a province of the Polish Crown, created by the separation of Prussia into two parts
*] (1525–1618), a duchy established in the eastern part of Prussia
*] (1618–1701), a state created by the personal union of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg


===Post-1800===
The foundation of the ] allowed the Ottonian Emperors the opportunity to continue to expand eastwards the holdings they had inherited from the East Frankish kingdom. They achieved this largely through continuing the ] policy of co-opting local Slavic chieftains or ambitious war-leaders into a system of mutual defense and allegiance. This policy not only bound former enemies to the Emperor, but also prevented any of the Emperor's West Frankish leading men from expanding their own power bases eastward. It is not surprising, then, that when the Duchy of Poland was established, the Polish dukes attempted to increase their territory. Where expansion offered the opportunity to convert the heathen, the support of both Emperor and Pope was almost guaranteed. In ], ], then duke of Poland, gave military protection to ] when he went to convert the Prussians. The Prussians resisted these attempts at conversion, which have been seen as an attempt to weaken their independence. Like many other missionaries, Adalbert was martyred by those he wished to convert.
*] (1701–1918), a kingdom established in Brandenburg-Prussia
*] (1829–1878), a province of the Kingdom of Prussia, created by a union of the Provinces of East and West Prussia
*] (1918–1945), a state of Germany after the abolition of the Kingdom of Prussia


==Subdivisions==
The western part of ]-Prussia was christianized by ]. In 1209 ] commissioned the ] monk ] with the conversion of the still-heathen eastern Prussians. Christian afterwards became the first bishop of Prussia.
*], the eastern part of the region of Prussia
*], the western part of the region of Prussia
*], a province of the Kingdom of Prussia, annexed from Poland in 1772 (former Royal Prussia), re-established 1878
*], a province of the Kingdom of Prussia, created from former Ducal Prussia and Warmia in 1773, re-established 1878; an exclave of Germany after World War I
*], a province of the Free State of Prussia (1922–1938) (the western parts of former West Prussia that were retained by Germany)
*], administrative region of the Province of East Prussia (1920–1938) (the eastern parts of former West Prussia that were retained by Germany)


==People and languages==
In ] ] invaded and even conquered some of the Prussian territory in ]. When the Prussians attempted to re-take their own territory, Conrad called on the pope and the emperor for a crusade. The results were edicts calling for ] against the "marauding, heathen" Prussians. Many of Europe's knights joined in these crusades, which lasted sixty years. By ], the Papal legate ] had divided Prussia into four bishoprics, ], ], Ermland (]), and ] under the ].
*Prussians, an ethnic subgroup of ]
**Citizens of the state of ]
*], Baltic tribes formerly inhabiting the region of Prussia
*], language of the Old Prussians, now extinct
*], German dialect in East Prussia
*], German dialect in East Prussia


==Institutions==
The pope installed the ], a crusading order that reported directly to the ], as rulers of the area. Under their governance, woodlands were cleared and marshlands made arable. Many cities and villages were founded upon those lands, including ] (Polish ]), the seat of the Knights' grand master. Many of these cities joined the ] of northern European trading cities.
*], army of the Kingdom of Prussia
*], a foundation (est. 1957) holding museums and libraries left behind by the former Free State of Prussia
*], a former Protestant church body under changing names (1817–2004)
*], navy of the Kingdom of Prussia
*]
*], German expellee company


==Cities==
In ], with the death of the emperor ], war broke out between the Teutonic Knights and a Polish-Lithuanian alliance supported by ]n and ] forces, in which Poland and Lithuania were the winners following their victory at ]. The Order assigned Henry XIII, duke of Reuss-Plauen, to defend ]. He moved rapidly to bolster the defense of Marienburg, was elected vice-grand master and saved the Marienburg headquarters. He then became grand master and in 1411 concluded a treaty at ] with the Jagiellonian king ].
*Prussia in ], ], was renamed ] in 1917.
*Prusia, near ], in the central jungle of ]
*], in the United States.
*], in the United States.


==See also==
In March ], the Hanseatic cities of ], ] and ] founded the ] with other Prussian cities to free themselves from the overlordship of the Teutonic Knights. Lithuanian duke and king ] supported their revolt (February ]) in the War of the Cities or ] and the ] (October ]. That treaty provided for the Teutonic Order's cession to the Polish crown of its rights over the western half of its territories. Henceforth the Gdansk Pomerania returned to Poland to form ] together with ], the ] voivodships and the bishopric of ]. The eastern part of the ] remained under the rule of the Teutonic Order successors, under Polish suzerainty as a Polish fief.
*]
*]
*]
*]


{{Disambiguation}}
In 1492 a life of the Blessed ] was published in Prussia: the first known publication from that region.

During the ] endemic religious upheavals and wars occurred, and in ], the last Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, ], a member of a cadet branch of the house of ], resigned his position, became a ] and took on the title of "Duke of Prussia". In a deal partially brokered by ] (under imperial ] since 1521), ] became the first Protestant state, along the lines of the later religious ]. The four Prussian dioceses of Pomesania, Ermeland or Warmia, Culmer Land and Samland had been under the jurisdiction of the archbishop of ] since 1245 and from 1539 to 1561 under Wilhelm, Margrave of Brandenburg, a member of the ] family. After 1561 Riga became a Free City of the ]. Riga's archbishop was the brother of duke Albrecht of Prussia. When the duke ] died in 1569, his son Albert Frederick and then ] Hector inherited Prussia. The dukedom of Prussia thus came to the senior Hohenzollern branch, the ruling Margraves of Brandenburg.

===Early Modern Prussia===

The second Treaty of Thorn had left eastern Prussia as a fief of the Polish crown. In 1660, after the ] between ], ] and ], the Treaty of Welawa (Wehlau) granted full sovereignty to ], the "Great Elector", of the Brandenburg Hohenzollerns as "Duke of Prussia". The treaty also prescribed that when the Hohenzollern rule in the Ducal Prussia expired, the land would return to Poland as its integral part. (Hohenzollern rule expired only in ], when ] abdicated as German Emperor and King of Prussia, but East Prussia didn't return to Poland until 1945, and even then only its southern part.)

In 1688, Frederick William I died and his possessions passed to his son ] (ruled 1688-1713). With the exception of Prussia, all of Brandenburg's lands were a part of the ], by this time under the all but hereditary nominal rule of the House of ]. Since there was only one King of the Germans within the Empire, Frederick gained the assent of the Emperor ] (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 ] (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.

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

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

In ], Frederick II (more commonly known as ]) came to the throne and invaded ], a province of ] which was in turmoil after the death of the ]. The invasion was the first shot of the ] (Silesia was to have passed to the rulers of ] on the extinction of its ] according to a bilateral arrangement of 1537, subsequently vetoed by the Emperor ]). After rapidly occupying Silesia, Frederick offered to protect the new ]n ] 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 ]'s ].

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

Humiliated by the cession of Silesia, Austria worked to secure an alliance with ] and ], while Prussia drifted into the ]'s camp. When Frederick pre-emptively invaded ] and Bohemia over the course of a few months in ]-], a general conflict broke out: the ].

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, ], and France simultaneously, and with only ] (and the non-continental British) as notable allies, he managed to hold off serious invasion until October ], when the Russian army briefly occupied ] and ]. The situation became progressively grimmer, however, until the death of the Czarina ] and the accession of the prussophile ] 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 ], and relying on a continuing British thrashing of France in the colonial theatres of the war, Prussia was finally able to force a ''status quo ante bellum'' on the continent. This result confirmed Prussia's major role in Germany and ] as a whole. Frederick, appalled by the near-miss for his nation, lived out his days as a much more peaceable ruler.

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 ] between Russia, Prussia, and Austria. The Kingdom of Prussia thus gained full sovereignty of ] and the Polish ]. After Frederick the Great died (in 1786), his nephew ] continued the partitions through military and diplomatic force, gaining a large part of western Poland in 1793 and a large area (including ]) to the south of ] in ], when the Polish kingdom ceased to exist.

(History 1795-1871 up to the subsuming of Prussia into the German Empire will follow.)

==After World War II ==

After ], Prussia as a state was formally dissolved by the ] Decree No. 46 of ], ], which simply declared: ''"The state of Prussia, which has forever been the carrier of militarism and reactionism in Germany, shall herewith be dissolved."''

The eastern parts of the pre-war Prussian state had been made parts of ] and the ] at the ], when the ] was established as the new border between ] and ]. Today, the acreage of former Prussia is distributed among many of Germany's 16 states, the '']'', among them ], ], ], and ].


Also see :
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==External links==
* 1570 map of Germany incl. Prussia plus details]
* 1598 map of Pomerania and Prussia ]
* 1660 map of Prussia ]
* Prussian Provinces: ]

Latest revision as of 17:31, 28 October 2024

Prussia (German: Preußen) was a German state that formed the German Empire in 1871.

Prussia or Prussian may also refer to:

Countries

  • State of the Teutonic Order (1230–1525), founded in the Prussian region by the Teutonic Order
  • Prussian Confederation (1440–1466), an alliance of German Hanseatic cities in Prussia who rebelled against the Teutonic Knights
  • Royal Prussia (1466–1772), a province of the Polish Crown, created by the separation of Prussia into two parts
  • Duchy of Prussia (1525–1618), a duchy established in the eastern part of Prussia
  • Brandenburg-Prussia (1618–1701), a state created by the personal union of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg

Post-1800

  • Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918), a kingdom established in Brandenburg-Prussia
  • Province of Prussia (1829–1878), a province of the Kingdom of Prussia, created by a union of the Provinces of East and West Prussia
  • Free State of Prussia (1918–1945), a state of Germany after the abolition of the Kingdom of Prussia

Subdivisions

  • East Prussia, the eastern part of the region of Prussia
  • West Prussia, the western part of the region of Prussia
  • Province of West Prussia, a province of the Kingdom of Prussia, annexed from Poland in 1772 (former Royal Prussia), re-established 1878
  • Province of East Prussia, a province of the Kingdom of Prussia, created from former Ducal Prussia and Warmia in 1773, re-established 1878; an exclave of Germany after World War I
  • Posen-West Prussia, a province of the Free State of Prussia (1922–1938) (the western parts of former West Prussia that were retained by Germany)
  • Regierungsbezirk West Prussia, administrative region of the Province of East Prussia (1920–1938) (the eastern parts of former West Prussia that were retained by Germany)

People and languages

Institutions

Cities

See also

Topics referred to by the same term Disambiguation iconThis disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Prussia.
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