Kingdom of Prussia
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The Kingdom of Prussia[a] (German: Königreich Preußen, de) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.[9] It played a significant role in the unification of Germany in 1871 and was a major constituent of the German Empire until its dissolution in 1918.[9] The Kingdom of Prussia took its name from the historical region of Prussia, and controlled most of said region, although it was based in the Margraviate of Brandenburg, and its capital was Berlin.[10]
The kings of Prussia were from the House of Hohenzollern. The polity of Brandenburg-Prussia, predecessor of the kingdom, became a military power under Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, known as "The Great Elector".[11][12][13][14] As a kingdom, Prussia continued its rise to power, especially during the reign of Frederick II "the Great".[15] Frederick the Great was instrumental in starting the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), holding his own against Austria, Russia, France and Sweden and establishing Prussia's dominant role among the German states, as well as establishing the country as a European great power through the victories of the powerful Prussian Army.[16][17] Prussia made attempts to unify all the German states (excluding the German cantons in Switzerland) under its rule, and whether Austria would be included in such a unified German domain became an ongoing question. After the Napoleonic Wars led to the creation of the German Confederation, the issue of unifying the German states caused the German revolutions of 1848–1849, with representatives from all states attempting to unify under their own constitution.[9] Attempts to create a federation remained unsuccessful and the German Confederation collapsed in 1866 when the Austro-Prussian War ensued between its two most powerful member states.
Prussia was subsequently the driving force behind establishing in 1866 the North German Confederation, transformed in 1871 into the unified German Empire and considered the earliest continual legal predecessor of today's Federal Republic of Germany.[9] The North German Confederation was seen as more of an alliance of military strength in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War[source?] but many of its laws were later used in the German Empire. The German Empire successfully unified all of the German states aside from Austria and Switzerland under Prussian hegemony[9] due to the defeat of Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. The war united all the German states against a common enemy, and with the victory came an overwhelming wave of nationalism, which changed the opinions of some of those who had been against unification.
With the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Kingdom of Prussia was transformed into the Free State of Prussia. Prussia as a whole was abolished in 1947.
References
[change | change source]- ↑ E. Alvis, Robert (2005). Religion and the Rise of Nationalism: A Profile of an East-Central European City. Syracuse University Press. p. 133. ISBN 9780815630814.
- ↑ Ernest John Knapton. "Revolutionary and Imperial France, 1750–1815." Scribner: 1971. Page 12.
- ↑ Philip Dwyer, "The Rise of Prussia 1700-1830", Routledge: February 2, 2001. Page 52.
- ↑ Browning, Reed S. (1993). "The War of the Austrian Succession." New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-09483-6. Page 24.
- ↑ Dwyer, p. 154.
- ↑ Ernest John Knapton. "Revolutionary and Imperial France, 1750–1815." Scribner: 1971. Page 12.
- ↑ Dwyer, p. 154.
- ↑ Dwyer, p. 246.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946.
- ↑ "Prussia | History, Maps, & Definition". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2015-05-08. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
- ↑ Fueter, Eduard (1922). World history, 1815–1920. United States of America: Harcourt, Brace and Company. pp. 25–28, 36–44. ISBN 1-58477-077-5.
- ↑ Danilovic, Vesna. "When the Stakes Are High—Deterrence and Conflict among Major Powers", University of Michigan Press (2002), p. 27, 225–228
- ↑ [dead link] Aping the Great Powers: Frederick the Great and the Defence of Prussia's International Position 1763–86, pp. 286–307.
- ↑ The Rise of Prussia Archived 10 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Horn, D. B. "The Youth of Frederick the Great 1712–1730." In Frederick the Great and the Rise of Prussia, 9–10. 3rd ed. London: English Universities Press, 1964.
- ↑ Horn, D. B. "The Seven Years' War." In Frederick the Great and the Rise of Prussia, pp. 81–101. 3rd ed. London: English Universities Press, 1964.
- ↑ Atkinson, C. T. A History of Germany, 1715–1815. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1969.
Notes
[change | change source]- ↑ Due to Brandenburg's prominence as the seat of power within the kingdom, it is also sometimes referred to as Prussia-Brandenburg or Brandenburg-Prussia. The erroneous labels Kingdom of Brandenburg and Kingdom of Nordmark have also been applied to the Prussia of this period.
- ↑
- Sovereign kingdom (former Ducal Prussia only 1701–1772; East Prussia, West Prussia, South Prussia, Netze District, New East Prussia, Lauenburg and Bütow Land and Starostwo of Draheim 1795–1806; East Prussia, West Prussia, Grand Duchy of Posen 1815–1866)
- Vassal semi-independent of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1701–1772, Lauenburg and Bütow Land and Starostwo of Draheim only)
- Associate of the Swiss Confederation (1707–1806, County of Neuchatel only)
- Vassal of the Holy Roman Empire (1701–1806, all territories except those listed above)
- State of the Continental System under occupation by the First French Empire (1806–1813, without the lost County of Neuchâtel and territories ceded to the Duchy of Warsaw or the Free City of Danzig)
- Member of the Swiss Confederation (1814–1848; County of Neuchatel 1814–1857)
- Federated state of the German Confederation (1815–1866, only territories previously in the Holy Roman Empire, as well as Lauenburg and Bütow Land and Starostwo of Draheim)
- Federated state of the North German Confederation (1866–1871, as a whole, king holding the Bundespräsidium)
- Federated state of the German Empire (1871–1918, as a whole, king holding the Bundespräsidium as the German Emperor)
- ↑
- ↑ During the North German Confederation (1866–1871) and German Empire (1871–1918), the Minister President of Prussia was also the Chancellor of Germany.
- ↑ Statement of Abdication of William II
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