條頓騎士團的始末

地理和民族

由法理上來說，普魯士這塊地方並不屬於德意志，因為其本來不屬於神聖羅馬帝國的疆界範圍，只是因為後來勃蘭登堡選侯與普魯士公國合併，是為普魯士王國，於是成為德意志帝國的一部分。在中世紀早期，普魯士這塊地方是蠻荒之地，古代的居民為古普魯士人，所使用的普魯士語屬於波羅的語族，與拉脫維亞人和立陶宛人屬于同一種族。928年，布蘭登堡就已經由薩克森公爵獅子亨利建城，此後在不同的家族之間繼承和易手。

普魯士的德意志化

12世紀時，德意志人的殖民運動開始進入波羅的海東岸地區。1170年，波美拉尼亞的索比斯勞公爵在普魯士地區建立第一個殖民地，即但澤附近的奧利瓦修道院，1224年該修道院被古普魯士人焚毀。1226年，波蘭王國國王之子、馬佐維亞公國首領康拉德公爵（條頓騎士團成員）的領地也遭到古普魯士人襲擊，以此為契機，條頓騎士團在普魯士地區發動為時近200年的東征運動，先後建立托倫、馬林堡、庫爾姆、埃爾平等要塞，普魯士成了條頓騎士團的地盤，德意志人、波蘭人、立陶宛人和歐洲其他種族紛紛前來移民。條頓騎士團迫使其皈依基督教，使用德語。16世紀後，古普魯士人同化於德意志人，所使用的普魯士語也逐漸消失。

條頓騎士團的一蹶不振

條頓騎士團統治下的普魯士地區在名義上屬于教宗領地，但教宗只享有名義上的宗主權。為了吸引定居者，條頓騎士團依據漢薩同盟法律，在其領土上興建一系列自由市。1379年條頓騎士團加入漢薩同盟。1370年波蘭王室男嗣斷絕；1386年波蘭國王的女兒海德維希嫁給立陶宛大公、波蘭與立陶宛聯合；此後為保護其出海口和奪回歷史上的領地、與條頓騎士團發生一連串戰爭。在1410年7月15日的格倫瓦德之戰（或第一次坦能堡會戰）中、條頓騎士團敗于波蘭和立陶宛聯軍，被迫簽訂第一次托倫和約；除賠款600萬葛羅琛外，還將但澤置于波蘭主權之下。1466年條頓騎士團再度戰敗，在第二次托倫和約中被迫割讓包括但澤和馬林堡在內的西普魯士。這些地區被稱為「王室普魯士」，實際上已成為波蘭的一個行省。條頓騎士團保留普魯士的殘餘領土，而且要效忠波蘭國王，成為波蘭的附庸。

勃蘭登堡興起

與普魯士聯繫之開端

1512年，來自勃蘭登堡霍亨索倫家族的阿爾布雷希特被選為條頓騎士團總團長，他是勃蘭登堡選帝侯的近親。在馬丁·路德的影響下，1525年他宣布改信路德宗，從而切斷與騎士團名義宗主羅馬教廷的聯繫，隨後宣布解散騎士團，改為普魯士公國，阿爾布雷希特自任普魯士公爵，成為臣服于波蘭最高權力之下的世俗君主。

1618年，阿爾布雷希特之子阿爾布雷希特·腓特烈死後無子，普魯士公國遂由其長女之夫、勃蘭登堡選帝侯國的約翰·西吉斯蒙德（屬霍亨索倫家族）繼承，建立勃蘭登堡-普魯士公國。此舉為霍亨索倫王朝日後發展奠定基礎。

反抗宗主國-波蘭

1640年繼位的勃蘭登堡選帝侯腓特烈·威廉在中擊敗瑞典，從此號稱「大選帝侯」。三十年戰爭之後，布蘭登堡開始經營一支小型的軍隊。1655年第二次北方戰爭（瑞典-波蘭戰爭）爆發，布蘭登堡一開始作為瑞典的盟友參戰，1660年波蘭戰敗，勃蘭登堡大選帝侯腓特烈·威廉取消波蘭對普魯士的宗主權，從此布蘭登堡擁有東普魯士的完全主權，不用再向波蘭國王稱臣，腓特烈·威廉並建立起中央集權的政治制度。1672年，法荷戰爭和第三次英荷戰爭爆發。瑞典是英法的盟友，而勃蘭登堡軍隊則是神聖羅馬帝國軍隊中的一支。1688年「大選帝侯」腓特烈·威廉病死，傳位與子選帝侯腓特烈三世。

腓特烈一世時代

18世紀初，勃蘭登堡大選帝侯之子腓特烈三世（腓特烈·威廉之子）支持奧地利哈布斯堡王朝向法國波旁王朝宣戰，藉以換取國王級別的稱號。1701年1月18日，腓特烈三世在柯尼斯堡創建新的國王稱號並加冕成為「在普魯士的國王」腓特烈一世，並非直接稱之為『普魯士國王』。自此，普魯士作為一個王國才正式存在，並從此展開普魯士王國兩百多年的侵略擴張史。

腓特烈二世時代

由于繼承條頓騎士團的軍事專制傳統，普魯士的軍隊向來以紀律嚴明、教育質素高而聞名于世，尤其是腓特烈二世以絕頂的好運著稱。他在1740年繼承王位、即位7個月之後即向壟斷神聖羅馬帝國的皇位的奧地利哈布斯堡進攻，目的在於奪取人口相當於整個普魯士王國、而且工農業極其發達、離普魯士最接近的西里西亞。從而引發奧地利王位繼承戰爭（這場戰爭引起腓特烈二世和瑪麗婭特蕾茜雅的世仇和日後依附於奧地利的外交策略）、第二次西里西亞戰爭和七年戰爭；後來甚至為了連接東普魯士和西普魯士、不惜背上被人唾棄的駡名而和自己的敵人奧地利帝國和俄羅斯帝國聯手瓜分自己的宗主國波蘭立陶宛聯邦，史稱第一次瓜分波蘭。

通過一系列的侵略戰爭，腓特烈二世樹立軍事天才的個人威望、並將普魯士變為一個國家軍隊的一部份（非軍隊是國家機器的一部份）。但此時，腓特烈二世已步入晚年。奧地利雖然失去西里西亞，但因為有瓜分波蘭做的補償、所以元氣早已恢復；波蘭立陶宛聯邦雖遭到第一次瓜分，但核心領土未損、而且瓜分後新創立的軍政改革制度使她的軍隊比以前強大。為了攻佔西里西亞、腓特烈二世已經消耗完今生大部份精力；雖然建立軍事天才的個人威望、但整個普魯士國家在歐洲的國際地位依然只是個次強，所以不得不在被普魯士侵略過領土的波蘭立陶宛和奧地利、這個兩個歐洲列強中爭取一方的和平和妥協；最後普魯士的歷代君主都選擇與奧地利共同進退的外交政策、直到俾斯麥的出現為止。

腓特烈二世同時還從伏爾泰那裡接受啟蒙運動思想，改進司法和教育制度、鼓勵宗教信仰自由、並扶植科學和藝術的發展。到1786年腓特烈二世去世時，普魯士已經成為歐洲準列強之一（其行政機構的高效率和廉潔為歐洲之首）；但是國際地位仍然離法國和奧地利帝國這種傳統歐陸強國有很長一段距離。

腓特烈·威廉二世

半波蘭的普魯士

腓特烈·威廉二世繼承王位後、因為保持著向奧地利靠攏的外交策略，所以不再對奧地利的波西米亞有任何領土幻想；於是他推行強權政治，把侵略目標東進、聯合俄羅斯進行第二次瓜分波蘭，最後還主動向奧地利示好、邀請她參與第三次瓜分波蘭。瓜分波蘭後的普魯士王國中，波蘭人的人口就佔了一半，是名符其實的雙民族（半波蘭半普魯士）國家，也成為正式的列強；假使這個領土範圍一直保持到19世紀末和20世紀初，普魯士可能就會像奧匈帝國一樣不得不向從屬民族（在奧地利為匈牙利民族、在普魯士為波蘭民族）進行妥協、變為二元君主制。

但普魯士的命運並不是如此。她先後購買安斯巴赫侯國和拜羅伊特侯國；這兩個領土看似渺小且無關緊要，但這卻是的日後的普魯士在德國西部的落腳點和擴張的起點；普魯士為了把東部的普魯士本土和西部的工商業發達地區連接起來絞盡腦汁、從側面推動普魯士自發主動的統一德國（而不是像奧地利那樣，雖然是德意志第一強國、但處處被動）。

法國大革命後，普魯士因為受到奧地利和英國的邀請、參加反法同盟，結果大敗於法軍，普魯士戰無不勝的神話消失一半；因此在1795年同意法國兼併萊茵河以西的德意志領土，而把萊茵河以東的德意志邦國納入自己的勢力範圍。表面上看來，半波蘭半普魯士的命運是不可逆轉的了；但是歷史卻偏向無法預料的方向。

腓特烈·威廉三世

腓特烈·威廉三世（1797年即位）於1806年10月參加反法戰爭，隨即在耶拿被拿破崙的擊潰，被迫逃往柯尼斯堡，這使得普魯士軍的神話徹底粉碎。1807年普魯士和法國在涅曼河的提爾西特締結和約，普魯士割讓16萬平方公里土地，包括普屬波蘭的絕大部分領土（第二次、第三次瓜分波蘭所得，以及第一次瓜分波蘭所得領土的南半部），以及易北河以西的全部領土，並賠款1.3億法郎。這一連串看似屈辱的條約，到日後反倒成為普魯士統一德國的基石；丟失大部份波蘭領土，不但讓普魯士沒有像奧地利一樣深陷多民族國家的深淵無法自拔、而且給她德國統一後的單一的、純粹的德意志民族。

1806年慘敗後，普魯士首相卡爾·施泰因開始推行改革，其措施包括：讓公民參與政治以喚醒其民族主義情感、釋放農奴、實行地方自治、改組中央政府機構。1809年在柏林創辦腓特烈·威廉大學（柏林大學），同時格哈德·馮·沙恩霍斯特開始對普魯士軍隊進行改革。此後普魯士的愛國主義情緒高漲。1812年冬，拿破崙軍隊自俄國敗退；普魯士遂于次年再度參加反法同盟，于1813年3月17日對法國宣戰。10月24日，俄奧普三國聯軍在布呂歇爾和格奈森瑙指揮下在萊比錫大敗法軍；1815年英軍聯合三國聯軍在滑鐵盧再度擊敗法軍。

根據奧地利的梅特涅主導的維也納會議；普魯士僅僅在舊波蘭恢復5%（其餘劃給俄羅斯），但因為自己本身在德國西部有領土、所以得到默麥爾河到萊茵河的領土作為補償（居民大多是天主教徒）；成為德意志邦聯內德語區居民最多的國家。奧地利的梅特涅雖然把普魯士的領土一切兩半、中間還有英王的直屬國漢諾威，加上自己奧地利本身就很龐大、還獲得大量北意大利和克羅地亞的領土；但其中德語區的奧地利部份只占奧地利帝國總面積的15%，日後龐大的奧地利帝國必定被錯綜複雜的民族關係給拖累。

俄羅斯獲得大部份波蘭、但也同時增加更多波蘭人獨立的隱患，原本一分為三的波蘭如今大部份在俄羅斯境內、重新整合的波蘭人自然會奮起獨立。與此同時，民族單一的普魯士就沒有那麼多問題；加上拿破崙戰爭後、被國際社會正式承認為歐洲列強之一（雖然是敬陪末座），在德意志的領導權已經和奧地利相差無幾（去除奧地利的傳統權威、實際上普魯士的影響力已經超過奧地利，只不過在當時人們還無法預見而已）。

不過這些影響力的發揮，都要等到1820年代中期，才漸漸現出端倪。當時歐洲首強——日不落帝國（大英帝國）改採光榮孤立的路線，逐漸切斷它和共主盟邦漢諾威的聯繫（後來更因為1837年維多利亞女王的登基而完全分離），於是在1828年普魯士開始和其他的德意志邦國籌組關稅同盟，終於在1834年有德意志關稅同盟的出現；當初奧相梅特涅設想讓漢諾威切斷普魯士東西聯繫的計畫，隨著1851年漢諾威加入德意志關稅同盟而宣告瓦解。

統一德國之路

俾斯麥時代

1834年，普魯士在德意志地區建立德意志關稅同盟，除奧地利和漢堡外，全部德意志邦國都加入該同盟。

1848年，歐洲革命期間，普王腓特烈·威廉四世宣布成立「自由派政府」。召開制憲會議，並拒絕接受德意志國民議會奉上的「德意志皇帝」稱號與憲法，打算趁奧地利忙於撲滅革命的空檔，強迫多數諸邦國奉其為聯盟共主。

1850年，腓特烈·威廉四世在俄、奧的武力恫嚇下，放棄稱霸的計畫，乖順地回到德意志邦聯之內。

1853年，克里米亞戰爭爆發，維持將近五十年的俄奧聯盟瓦解，雙方反目成仇；加上1852年由拿破崙三世成立的法蘭西第二帝國，特別敵視奧地利並處心積慮要給予打擊，於是在普魯士眼前，突然出現一個可以自由揮灑的國際空間。

1857年，腓特烈·威廉四世患上精神病，以其弟威廉擔任攝政王。

1861年，腓特烈·威廉四世逝世，攝政王即位，稱威廉一世。

1862年，他因軍事改革所需預算及稅收問題與國會發生衝突，本擬退位，但在前駐法大使俾斯麥的建議下收回成命。俾斯麥表示支持軍事改革，並稱若任命他擔任首相，他將不惜一切強行推行陸軍改革和新兵役制度。9月22日，威廉一世任命俾斯麥擔任首相。

俾斯麥上台後，即著手策劃德意志統一大業。俾斯麥主張建立將奧地利排除在外的「小德意志」。普魯士在1864年和1866年先後在普丹戰爭中擊敗丹麥和在普奧戰爭中擊敗奧地利，並在1870年領導北德意志邦聯及南方的德意志諸邦，在普法戰爭中擊敗法國。威廉一世于1871年1月18日（即普魯士王國成立170周年紀念日）在法國凡爾賽宮鏡廳登基，成為德意志帝國的皇帝，宣布建立以普魯士王國為首的德意志帝國。

由于普魯士擁有德意志帝國近七成的人口和六成的領土，並且在軍事、經濟、工業等方面遠遠超過帝國內其他歐洲王國、公國，因此德意志帝國成為普魯士王國的擴大版。各邦國享有內政和財政的自治，但將外交、軍事（巴伐利亞除外）、海關等權力交給德意志帝國中央政府。普魯士歷史從此併入德意志帝國曆史。

威廉二世的德意志帝國時代

1888年，威廉一世之子腓特烈三世在位99天後去世。其孫威廉二世登基，成為德意志帝國的第三代皇帝。所謂「功高蓋主」，威廉二世登基後第一件事就是罷黜俾斯麥這個統一德國、但權力卻淩駕於皇帝之上的宰相。雖然威廉二世在開疆擴土和外交上不及俾斯麥的老謀深算，但在內政和殖民上卻遠超他的前宰相。德意志帝國境內的舊容克貴族、新興的資產階級、平民、工人、新教徒、天主教徒、猶太人、波蘭人第一次被完整的聯合在一起。因為他的海外殖民政策和對俄國態度的急轉直下幾乎團結之前反抗帝國統治的所有異議者；不但如此，而且威廉二世善於運用『大日耳曼主義』、『大海軍主義』、『陽光下的地盤』等足夠能鼓動人心的口號來向所有德意志人民和國內非日耳曼人開了一張令人嚮往的空頭支票。所有人都相信自己國家的未來一片美好，但卻忽視了嚴酷的外交，最終這個曾經用了3年就統一全德意志的帝國、只走了47年就悄然從歷史的舞臺上退場。

德意志帝國的致命傷是她貧乏且不計後果的外交策略，德國位於歐洲的中央、又因為普法戰爭中給法國人帶來難以磨滅的羞辱，導致她的外交政策必定將『圍堵法國』作為最優先的考量；而且，德國已經與一個強大的鄰國發生矛盾、不想再另加新的敵人，所以都不得不在各種外交場合支持與自己領土接壤最多的奧匈帝國，以此換取奧國不和法國結盟的可能；俄羅斯帝國原本是普魯士忠實的盟友，但是接連遭到德·奧兩國在外交上的背叛，以至於破天荒和英國與世仇法國重新交好。德意志帝國一建立，就註定她的外交失敗、也註定她的命運必定和奧匈緊緊地綁在一起；僅因為奧匈這個「活躍的配角」而深陷外交孤立和資源短缺無法自拔、還和她的盟友一起掉入國內各種起義和革命的深淵、最後被名為一戰的車輪碾得粉碎。

1918年11月7日，巴伐利亞發生革命，其國王退位。柏林旋即爆發革命，要求德皇退位。其時威廉二世在比利時斯巴的德軍大本營親自指揮作戰，得知發生革命後，試圖僅放棄德意志皇帝頭銜，而保留普魯士國王稱號，但陸軍統帥興登堡勸其徹底退位。為避免發生更大變亂，德國總理馬克斯·馮·巴登親王于11月9日午前宣布德皇已經退位，並于同日將首相職務移交德國社會民主黨領袖弗里德里希·艾伯特。

威廉二世流亡荷蘭，德意志帝國及普魯士王國滅亡。11月11日，德國向協約國投降。

1919年至1947年的普魯士

由于柏林發生斯巴達克團與社會民主黨臨時政府之間的內戰，1919年，艾伯特在魏瑪召開國民議會，于2月10日通過《德意志共和國臨時約法》，即魏瑪憲法。根據魏瑪憲法，普魯士成為德國的一個邦，即「普魯士自由邦」，實行地方自治，其領土即原普魯士王國的疆域。但凡爾賽條約將原普魯士王國的西普魯士省、波森省和上西里西亞省的一部分割讓給波蘭，東普魯士的默麥爾割讓給立陶宛，萊茵蘭的南部地區成立薩爾區，石勒蘇益格北部歸還丹麥。

1920年代，普魯士自由邦政府多由德國社會民主黨和天主教中央黨領導。1932年，納粹黨在德國國會和普魯士邦選舉中取得優勢，赫爾曼·戈林成為德國國會議長以及普魯士邦議長，並掌握普魯士內政部和警察。1933年1月30日納粹黨上台執政，隨後廢除德國的地方自治制度，普魯士憲法被廢除，邦議會和立法機構被解散，僅保留行政單位。

第二次世界大戰中，同盟國和蘇聯的領導人經過多次會議，達成共識，即普魯士是德國軍國主義的發源地、德國軍官團和容克貴族的大本營，是德國專制思想及侵略思想的策源地，必須予以消滅。美國總統羅斯福在德黑蘭會議上曾表示「普魯士要讓其儘可能地縮小和削弱」，丘吉爾則認為「普魯士——這個德國軍國主義的罪惡核心必須同德國的其餘部分分離開來」。雅爾塔會議和波茨坦會議確立將奧得河—尼斯河以東併入波蘭和蘇聯，以及在戰後的德國廢除普魯士建制的原則性意見。

1947年2月25日，同盟國對德軍事管制最高委員會頒布法案第46號，普魯士被正式宣布取消建制。原普魯士邦領土分別被併入波蘭和蘇聯，以及英、法、美、蘇四國占領區。原普魯士邦政府的財產由盟國和蘇聯共同瓜分。

1949年德意志民主共和國成立後，在其境內的原普魯士領土上建立勃蘭登堡、薩克森-安哈特兩個州，以及梅克倫堡-西波美拉尼亞州的東半部（1952年民主德國廢除州級建制，改設專區）。在德意志聯邦共和國，在原普魯士領土上成立的州包括北萊茵-威斯特法倫州和石勒蘇益格-荷爾斯泰因州。此外，下薩克森州、萊茵蘭-普法爾茨州、黑森州、巴登-符滕堡州和薩爾州內都有原普魯士王國和普魯士邦領土。在被併入波蘭和蘇聯的普魯士領土上，德意志族居民已經被全部驅逐。

領土變遷

古代普魯士地區僅包括今日立陶宛以南、波蘭東北部維斯瓦河河口以西、以但澤為中心的西普魯士地區，以及俄羅斯加里寧格勒原東普魯士地區的領土。1295年占據普魯士的條頓騎士團購買波美拉尼亞和但澤地區。1308年自勃蘭登堡選帝侯手中購買紐馬克地區，普魯士同神聖羅馬帝國本土接壤。15世紀時將但澤和西普魯士割讓給波蘭。

1618年普魯士公國併入勃蘭登堡選侯國，至1701年普魯士王國成立的時候，其領土以普魯士王國的首都柏林為中心，包括勃蘭登堡、波美拉尼亞、紐馬克和阿爾特馬克，以及德意志南部的霍亨索倫-西格馬林根地區。18世紀時，普魯士先後從瑞典、波蘭和奧地利獲得前波美拉尼亞、波森、西里西亞等地區。三次瓜分波蘭後，普魯士獲得新東普魯士、南普魯士、但澤、托倫、以及波蘭王國的西部和中部，包括華沙地區。1806年普魯士敗于拿破崙後，被迫割讓波蘭地區，法國在此成立華沙公國。拿破崙戰敗後，在1815年維也納會議上，普魯士失去拜羅伊特、安斯巴赫、納沙泰爾（後加入瑞士）、東弗里斯蘭、希爾德斯海姆等領地，華沙大公國除西部以波森為中心的一小塊領土外都被俄國吞併。作為補償，普魯士獲得薩克森王國五分之二的領土，以及德意志西部的漢諾威、明斯特主教區、萊茵河東西兩岸的威斯特伐利亞和萊茵蘭、以及薩爾路易、薩爾布呂肯等領土。

19世紀，普魯士經過戰爭，又先後兼併黑森-萊茵、石勒蘇益格、荷爾斯泰因、法蘭克福等王國、公國和自由市。到1871年成立德意志帝國時，普魯士王國已經擁有22個省，包含巴伐利亞、巴登、符騰堡以外的大部分現今德國領土與西波蘭及北波蘭。

第一次世界大戰後，原屬普魯士王國的波森省、西普魯士和但澤割讓給波蘭，默麥爾地區割讓給立陶宛，石勒蘇益格的北部歸還丹麥，萊茵蘭地區南端被併入薩爾區。第二次世界大戰後，根據盟軍定下的奧德河-尼斯河線，界線以東的東普魯士、西里西亞及波美拉尼亞被併入蘇聯及波蘭；普魯士的西部地區併入西德，中部併入東德，地理意義上成建制的普魯士已不複存在。而在1947年2月25日，占領德國的盟軍管制委員會頒布第46號暫行法,宣布「普魯士國中央政府及附屬各級機關即日起解散」。同日,聯合國管理委員會又頒布了第47條法令,宣布「以普魯士為名的國家正式滅亡,並不獲承認」。

教育文化

普魯士王國除了建軍武備，完成德國統一大業外，在文化教育上的貢獻也被後人所稱道。貫徹民族主義教育。米拉波曾經說過：「其他國家都是擁有軍隊的國家，但普魯士是個擁有國家的軍隊。」

1717年，普魯士王國開始實施義務國民教育，是全世界第一個實施義務教育的國家，也為往後普魯士高素質的軍隊奠定紮實的基礎。

1809年威廉·馮·洪堡出任普魯士最高教育長官後，開始改革普魯士的教育制度，更成為德國後來二百年的科學、技術、文化發展的基石。

1810年，成立的柏林大學，則是第一所新制大學，更影響世界各國十九世紀的高等教育發展。

Symbols

The main coat of arms of Prussia, as well as the flag of Prussia, depicted a black eagle on a white background.

The black and white national colours were already used by the Teutonic Knights and by the Hohenzollern dynasty. The Teutonic Order wore a white coat embroidered with a black cross with gold insert and black imperial eagle. The combination of the black and white colours with the white and red Hanseatic colours of the free cities Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck, as well as of Brandenburg, resulted in the black-white-red commercial flag of the North German Confederation, which became the flag of the German Empire in 1871.

Suum cuique ("to each, his own"), the motto of the Order of the Black Eagle created by King Frederick I in 1701, was often associated with the whole of Prussia. The Iron Cross, a military decoration created by King Frederick William III in 1813, was also commonly associated with the country. The region, originally populated by Baltic Old Prussians who were Christianised, became a favoured location for immigration by (later mainly Protestant) Germans (see Ostsiedlung), as well as Poles and Lithuanians along the border regions.

Territory

Before its abolition, the territory of the Kingdom of Prussia included the provinces of West Prussia; East Prussia; Brandenburg; Saxony (including much of the present-day state of Saxony-Anhalt and parts of the state of Thuringia in Germany); Pomerania; Rhineland; Westphalia; Silesia (without Austrian Silesia); Schleswig-Holstein; Hanover; Hesse-Nassau; and a small detached area in the south called Hohenzollern, the ancestral home of the Prussian ruling family. The land that the Teutonic Knights occupied was flat and covered with fertile soil. The area was perfectly suited to the large-scale raising of wheat. The rise of early Prussia was based on the raising and selling of wheat. Teutonic Prussia became known as the "bread basket of Western Europe" (in German, Kornkammer, or granary). The port cities of Stettin (Szczecin) in Pomerania, Danzig (Gdańsk) in Prussia, Riga in Livonia, Königsberg (Kaliningrad), and Memel (Klaipėda) rose on the back of this wheat production. Wheat production and trade brought Prussia into a close relationship with the Hanseatic League during the period of time from 1356 (official founding of the Hanseatic League) until the decline of the League in about 1500.

The expansion of Prussia based on its connection with the Hanseatic League cut both Poland and Lithuania off from the coast of the Baltic Sea and trade abroad. This meant that Poland and Lithuania would be traditional enemies of Prussia, which was still called the Teutonic Knights.

History

Teutonic Order

In 1211 King Andrew II of Hungary granted Burzenland in Transylvania as a fiefdom to the Teutonic Knights, a German military order of crusading knights, headquartered in the Kingdom of Jerusalem at Acre. In 1225 he expelled them, and they transferred their operations to the Baltic Sea area. Konrad I, the Polish duke of Masovia, had unsuccessfully attempted to conquer pagan Prussia in crusades in 1219 and 1222. In 1226 Duke Konrad invited the Teutonic Knights to conquer the Baltic Prussian tribes on his borders.

During 60 years of struggles against the Old Prussians, the Order established an independent state that came to control Prūsa. After the Livonian Brothers of the Sword joined the Teutonic Order in 1237, the Order also controlled Livonia (now Latvia and Estonia). Around 1252 they finished the conquest of the northernmost Prussian tribe of the Skalvians as well as of the western Baltic Curonians, and erected Memel Castle, which developed into the major port city of Memel (Klaipėda). The Treaty of Melno defined the final border between Prussia and the adjoining Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1422.

The Hanseatic League officially formed in northern Europe in 1356 as a group of trading cities. This League came to hold a monopoly on all trade leaving the interior of Europe and Scandinavia and on all sailing trade in the Baltic Sea for foreign countries. The merchants of the interiors of Sweden, Denmark, and Poland came to feel oppressed by the Hanseatic League.

In the course of the Ostsiedlung (German eastward expansion) process, settlers were invited, bringing changes in the ethnic composition as well as in language, culture, and law of the eastern borders of the German lands. As a majority of these settlers were Germans, Low German became the dominant language.

The Knights of the Teutonic Order were subordinate to the papacy and to the emperor. Their initially close relationship with the Polish Crown deteriorated after they conquered Polish-controlled Pomerelia and Danzig (Gdańsk) in 1308. Eventually, Poland and Lithuania, allied through the Union of Krewo (1385), defeated the Knights in the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg) in 1410.

The Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466) began when the Prussian Confederation, a coalition of Hanseatic cities of western Prussia, rebelled against the Order and requested help from the Polish king, Casimir IV Jagiellon. The Teutonic Knights were forced to acknowledge the sovereignty of, and to pay tribute to Casimir IV in the Second Peace of Thorn (1466), losing western Prussia (Royal Prussia) to Poland in the process. Pursuant to the Second Peace of Thorn, two Prussian states were established.

During the period of the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights, mercenaries from the Holy Roman Empire were granted lands by the Order and gradually formed a new landed Prussian nobility, from which the Junkers would evolve to take a major role in the militarization of Prussia and, later, Germany.

Duchy of Prussia

On 10 April 1525, after signing of the Treaty of Kraków, which officially ended the Polish–Teutonic War (1519–21), in the main square of the Polish capital Kraków, Albert I resigned his position as Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights and received the title "Duke of Prussia" from King Zygmunt I the Old of Poland. As a symbol of vassalage, Albert received a standard with the Prussian coat of arms from the Polish king. The black Prussian eagle on the flag was augmented with a letter "S" (for Sigismundus) and had a crown placed around its neck as a symbol of submission to Poland. Albert I, a member of a cadet branch of the House of Hohenzollern became a Lutheran Protestant and secularized the Order's Prussian territories. This was the area east of the mouth of the Vistula River, later sometimes called "Prussia proper". For the first time, these lands came into the hands of a branch of the Hohenzollern family, who already ruled the Margraviate of Brandenburg, since the 15th century. Furthermore, with his renunciation of the Order, Albert could now marry and produce legitimate heirs.

Brandenburg-Prussia

Brandenburg and Prussia united two generations later. In 1594 Anna, granddaughter of Albert I and daughter of Duke Albert Frederick (reigned 1568–1618), married her cousin Elector John Sigismund of Brandenburg. When Albert Frederick died in 1618 without male heirs, John Sigismund was granted the right of succession to the Duchy of Prussia, then still a Polish fief. From this time the Duchy of Prussia was in personal union with the Margraviate of Brandenburg. The resulting state, known as Brandenburg-Prussia, consisted of geographically disconnected territories in Prussia, Brandenburg, and the Rhineland lands of Cleves and Mark.

During the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), various armies repeatedly marched across the disconnected Hohenzollern lands, especially the occupying Swedes. The ineffective and militarily weak Margrave George William (1619–1640) fled from Berlin to Königsberg, the historic capital of the Duchy of Prussia, in 1637. His successor, Frederick William I (1640–1688), reformed the army to defend the lands.

Frederick William I went to Warsaw in 1641 to render homage to King Władysław IV Vasa of Poland for the Duchy of Prussia, which was still held in fief from the Polish crown. In January 1656, during the first phase of the Second Northern War (1654–1660), he received the duchy as a fief from the Swedish king who later granted him full sovereignty in the Treaty of Labiau (November 1656). In 1657 the Polish king renewed this grant in the treaties of Wehlau and Bromberg. With Prussia, the Brandenburg Hohenzollern dynasty now held a territory free of any feudal obligations, which constituted the basis for their later elevation to kings.

Frederick William I became known as the "Great Elector" for his achievements in organizing the electorate, which he accomplished by establishing an absolute monarchy in Brandenburg-Prussia. Above all, he emphasised the importance of a powerful military to protect the state's disconnected territories, while the Edict of Potsdam (1685) opened Brandenburg-Prussia for the immigration of Protestant refugees (especially Huguenots), and he established a bureaucracy to carry out state administration efficiently.

Kingdom of Prussia

On 18 January 1701, Frederick William's son, Elector Frederick III, upgraded Prussia from a duchy to a kingdom and crowned himself King Frederick I. In the Crown Treaty of 16 November 1700, Leopold I, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, allowed Frederick only to title himself "King in Prussia", not "King of Prussia". The state of Brandenburg-Prussia became commonly known as "Prussia", although most of its territory, in Brandenburg, Pomerania, and western Germany, lay outside Prussia proper. The Prussian state grew in splendour during the reign of Frederick I, who sponsored the arts at the expense of the treasury.

Frederick I was succeeded by his son, Frederick William I (1713–1740), the austere "Soldier King", who did not care for the arts but was thrifty and practical. He is considered the creator of the vaunted Prussian bureaucracy and the professionalised standing army, which he developed into one of the most powerful in Europe, although his troops only briefly saw action during the Great Northern War. In view of the size of the army in relation to the total population, Mirabeau said later: "Prussia, is not a state with an army, but an army with a state." Frederick William also settled more than 20,000 Protestant refugees from Salzburg in thinly populated eastern Prussia, which was eventually extended to the west bank of the River Memel, and other regions. In the treaty of Stockholm (1720), he acquired half of Swedish Pomerania.

The king died in 1740 and was succeeded by his son, Frederick II, whose accomplishments led to his reputation as "Frederick the Great". As crown prince, Frederick had focused, primarily, on philosophy and the arts. He was an accomplished flute player. In 1740, Prussian troops crossed over the undefended border of Silesia and occupied Schweidnitz. Silesia was the richest province of Habsburg Austria. It signalled the beginning of three Silesian Wars (1740–1763). The First Silesian War (1740–1742) and the Second Silesian War (1744–1745) have, historically, been grouped together with the general European war called the War of Austrian Succession (1740–1748). Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI had died on 20 October 1740. He was succeeded to the throne by his daughter, Maria Theresa.

By defeating the Austrian Army at the Battle of Mollwitz on 10 April 1741, Frederick succeeded in conquering Lower Silesia (the northwestern half of Silesia). In the next year, 1742, he conquered Upper Silesia (the southeastern half). Furthermore, in the third Silesian War (usually grouped with the Seven Years' War) Frederick won a victory over Austria at the Battle of Lobositz on 1 October 1756. In spite of some impressive victories afterward, his situation became far less comfortable the following years, as he failed in his attempts to knock Austria out of the war and was gradually reduced to a desperate defensive war. However, he never gave up and on 3 November 1760 the Prussian king won another battle, the hard-fought Battle of Torgau. Despite being several times on the verge of defeat Frederick, allied with Great Britain, Hanover and Hesse-Kassel, was finally able to hold the whole of Silesia against a coalition of Saxony, the Habsburg Monarchy, France and Russia. Voltaire, a close friend of the king, once described Frederick the Great's Prussia by saying "...it was Sparta in the morning, Athens in the afternoon."

Silesia, full of rich soils and prosperous manufacturing towns, became a vital region to Prussia, greatly increasing the nation's area, population, and wealth. Success on the battleground against Austria and other powers proved Prussia's status as one of the great powers of Europe. The Silesian Wars began more than a century of rivalry and conflict between Prussia and Austria as the two most powerful states operating within the Holy Roman Empire (although both had extensive territory outside the empire). In 1744, the County of East Frisia fell to Prussia following the extinction of its ruling Cirksena dynasty.

In the last 23 years of his reign until 1786, Frederick II, who understood himself as the "first servant of the state", promoted the development of Prussian areas such as the Oderbruch. At the same time he built up Prussia's military power and participated in the First Partition of Poland with Austria and Russia in 1772, an act that geographically connected the Brandenburg territories with those of Prussia proper. During this period, he also opened Prussia's borders to immigrants fleeing from religious persecution in other parts of Europe, such as the Huguenots. Prussia became a safe haven in much the same way that the United States welcomed immigrants seeking freedom in the 19th century.

Frederick the Great, from 1772 the first "King of Prussia", practised enlightened absolutism. He introduced a general civil code, abolished torture and established the principle that the Crown would not interfere in matters of justice. He also promoted an advanced secondary education, the forerunner of today's German gymnasium (grammar school) system, which prepares the brightest pupils for university studies. The Prussian education system was emulated in various countries, including the United States.

Napoleonic Wars

During the reign of King Frederick William II (1786–1797), Prussia annexed additional Polish territory through the Second Partition of Poland in 1793 and the Third Partition of Poland in 1795. His successor, Frederick William III (1797–1840), announced the union of the Prussian Lutheran and Reformed churches into one church.

Prussia took a leading part in the French Revolutionary Wars, but remained quiet for more than a decade due to the Peace of Basel of 1795, only to go once more to war with France in 1806 as negotiations with that country over the allocation of the spheres of influence in Germany failed. Prussia suffered a devastating defeat against Napoleon Bonaparte's troops in the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt, leading Frederick William III and his family to flee temporarily to Memel. Under the Treaties of Tilsit in 1807, the state lost about one-third of its area, including the areas gained from the second and third Partitions of Poland, which now fell to the Duchy of Warsaw. Beyond that, the king was obliged to pay a large indemnity, to cap his army at 42,000 men, and to let the French garrison troops throughout Prussia, effectively making the Kingdom a French satellite.

In response to this defeat, reformers such as Stein and Hardenberg set about modernising the Prussian state. Among their reforms were the liberation of peasants from serfdom, the Emancipation of Jews and making full citizens of them. The school system was rearranged, and in 1818 free trade was introduced. The process of army reform ended in 1813 with the introduction of compulsory military service for men. By 1813, Prussia could mobilize almost 300,000 soldiers, more than half of which were conscripts of the Landwehr of variable quality. The rest consisted of regular soldiers that were deemed excellent by most observers, and very determined to repair the humiliation of 1806.

After the defeat of Napoleon in Russia, Prussia quit its alliance with France and took part in the Sixth Coalition during the "Wars of Liberation" (Befreiungskriege) against the French occupation. Prussian troops under Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher contributed crucially (alongside the British and Dutch) to the final victory over Napoleon in the Battle of Waterloo of June 1815. Prussia's reward in 1815 at the Congress of Vienna was the recovery of her lost territories, as well as the whole of the Rhineland, Westphalia, 40% of Saxony and some other territories. These western lands were of vital importance because they included the Ruhr Area, the centre of Germany's fledgling industrialisation, especially in the arms industry. These territorial gains also meant the doubling of Prussia's population. In exchange, Prussia withdrew from areas of central Poland to allow the creation of Congress Poland under Russian sovereignty. In 1815 Prussia became part of the German Confederation.

Wars of liberation

The first half of the 19th century saw a prolonged struggle in Germany between liberals, who wanted a united, federal Germany under a democratic constitution, and conservatives, who wanted to maintain Germany as a patchwork of independent, monarchical states with Prussia and Austria competing for influence. One small movement that signaled a desire for German unification in this period was the Burschenschaft student movement, by students who encouraged the use of the black-red-gold flag, discussions of a unified German nation, and a progressive, liberal political system. Because of Prussia's size and economic importance, smaller states began to join its free trade area in the 1820s. Prussia benefited greatly from the creation in 1834 of the German Customs Union (Zollverein), which included most German states but excluded Austria.

In 1848 the liberals saw an opportunity when revolutions broke out across Europe. Alarmed, King Frederick William IV agreed to convene a National Assembly and grant a constitution. When the Frankfurt Parliament offered Frederick William the crown of a united Germany, he refused on the grounds that he would not accept a crown from a revolutionary assembly without the sanction of Germany's other monarchs.

The Frankfurt Parliament was forced to dissolve in 1849, and Frederick William issued Prussia's first constitution by his own authority in 1850. This conservative document provided for a two-house parliament. The lower house, or Landtag was elected by all taxpayers, who were divided into three classes whose votes were weighted according to the amount of taxes paid. Women and those who paid no taxes had no vote. This allowed just over one-third of the voters to choose 85% of the legislature, all but assuring dominance by the more well-to-do men of the population. The upper house, which was later renamed the Herrenhaus ("House of Lords"), was appointed by the king. He retained full executive authority and ministers were responsible only to him. As a result, the grip of the landowning classes, the Junkers, remained unbroken, especially in the eastern provinces.

Wars of unification

In 1862 King Wilhelm I appointed Otto von Bismarck as Prime Minister of Prussia. Bismarck was determined to defeat both the liberals and conservatives and increase Prussian supremacy and influence among the German states. There has been much debate as to whether Bismarck actually planned to create a united Germany when he set out on this journey, or whether he simply took advantage of the circumstances that fell into place. Certainly his memoirs paint a rosy picture of an idealist , but these were written with the benefit of hindsight and certain crucial events could not have been predicted. What is clear is that Bismarck curried support from large sections of the people by promising to lead the fight for greater German unification. He eventually guided Prussia through three wars, which together brought William the position of German Emperor.

Schleswig Wars

The Kingdom of Denmark was at the time in personal union with the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, both of which had close ties with each other, although only Holstein was part of the German Confederation. When the Danish government tried to integrate Schleswig, but not Holstein, into the Danish state, Prussia led the German Confederation against Denmark in the First War of Schleswig (1848–1851). Because Russia supported Austria, Prussia also conceded predominance in the German Confederation to Austria in the Punctation of Olmütz in 1850.

In 1863, Denmark introduced a shared constitution for Denmark and Schleswig. This led to conflict with the German Confederation, which authorised the occupation of Holstein by the Confederation, from which Danish forces withdrew. In 1864, Prussian and Austrian forces crossed the border between Holstein and Schleswig initiating the Second War of Schleswig. The Austro-Prussian forces defeated the Danes, who surrendered both territories. In the resulting Gastein Convention of 1865 Prussia took over the administration of Schleswig while Austria assumed that of Holstein.

Austro-Prussian War

Bismarck realised that the dual administration of Schleswig and Holstein was only a temporary solution, and tensions rose between Prussia and Austria. The struggle for supremacy in Germany then led to the Austro-Prussian War (1866), triggered by the dispute over Schleswig and Holstein, with Bismarck using proposed injustices as the reason for war.

On the Austrian side stood the south German states (including Bavaria and Württemberg), some central German states (including Saxony), and Hanover in the north. On the side of Prussia were Italy, most north German states, and some smaller central German states. Eventually, the better-armed Prussian troops won the crucial victory at the Battle of Königgrätz under Helmuth von Moltke the Elder. The century-long struggle between Berlin and Vienna for the dominance of Germany was now over. As a sideshow in this war, Prussia defeated Hanover in the Battle of Langensalza (1866). While Hanover hoped in vain for help from Britain (as they had previously been in personal union), Britain stayed out of a confrontation with a continental great power and Prussia satisfied its desire for merging the once separate territories and gaining strong economic and strategic power, particularly from the full access to the resources of the Ruhr.

Bismarck desired Austria as an ally in the future, and so he declined to annex any Austrian territory. But in the Peace of Prague in 1866, Prussia annexed four of Austria's allies in northern and central Germany—Hanover, Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel), Nassau and Frankfurt. Prussia also won full control of Schleswig-Holstein. As a result of these territorial gains, Prussia now stretched uninterrupted across the northern two-thirds of Germany and contained two-thirds of Germany's population. The German Confederation was dissolved, and Prussia impelled the 21 states north of the Main River into forming the North German Confederation.

Prussia was the dominant state in the new confederation, as the kingdom comprised almost four-fifths of the new state's territory and population. Prussia's near-total control over the confederation was secured in the constitution drafted for it by Bismarck in 1867. Executive power was held by a president, assisted by a chancellor responsible only to him. The presidency was a hereditary office of the Hohenzollern rulers of Prussia. There was also a two-house parliament. The lower house, or Reichstag (Diet), was elected by universal male suffrage. The upper house, or Bundesrat (Federal Council) was appointed by the state governments. The Bundesrat was, in practice, the stronger chamber. Prussia had 17 of 43 votes, and could easily control proceedings through alliances with the other states.

As a result of the peace negotiations, the states south of the Main remained theoretically independent, but received the (compulsory) protection of Prussia. Additionally, mutual defence treaties were concluded. However, the existence of these treaties was kept secret until Bismarck made them public in 1867 when France tried to acquire Luxembourg.

Franco-Prussian War

The controversy with the Second French Empire over the candidacy of a Hohenzollern to the Spanish throne was escalated both by France and Bismarck. With his Ems Dispatch, Bismarck took advantage of an incident in which the French ambassador had approached William. The government of Napoleon III, expecting another civil war among the German states, declared war against Prussia, continuing Franco-German enmity. However, honouring their treaties, the German states joined forces and quickly defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. Following victory under Bismarck's and Prussia's leadership, Baden, Württemberg and Bavaria, which had remained outside the North German Confederation, accepted incorporation into a united German Empire.

The empire was a "Lesser German" solution (in German, "kleindeutsche Lösung") to the question of uniting all German-speaking peoples into one state, because it excluded Austria, which remained connected to Hungary and whose territories included non-German populations. On 18 January 1871 (the 170th anniversary of the coronation of King Frederick I), William was proclaimed "German Emperor" (not "Emperor of Germany") in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles outside Paris, while the French capital was still under siege.

German Empire

The two decades after the unification of Germany were the peak of Prussia's fortunes, but the seeds for potential strife were built into the Prusso-German political system.

The constitution of the German Empire was a slightly amended version of the North German Confederation's constitution. Officially, the German Empire was a federal state. In practice, Prussia's relationship with the rest of the empire was somewhat confusing. The Hohenzollern kingdom included three-fifths of the German territory and two-thirds of its population. The Imperial German Army was, in practice, an enlarged Prussian army, although the other kingdoms (Bavaria, Saxony and Württemberg) retained their own armies. The imperial crown was a hereditary office of the House of Hohenzollern, the royal house of Prussia. The prime minister of Prussia was, except for two brief periods (January–November 1873 and 1892–94), also imperial chancellor. But the empire itself had no right to collect taxes directly from its subjects; the only incomes fully under federal control were the customs duties, common excise duties, and the revenue from postal and telegraph services. While all men above age 25 were eligible to vote in imperial elections, Prussia retained its restrictive three-class voting system. This effectively required the king/emperor and prime minister/chancellor to seek majorities from legislatures elected by two different franchises. In both the kingdom and the empire, the original constituencies were never redrawn to reflect changes in population, meaning that rural areas were grossly overrepresented by the turn of the 20th century.

As a result, Prussia and the German Empire were something of a paradox. Bismarck knew that his new German Reich was now a colossus out of all proportion to the rest of the continent. With this in mind, he declared Germany a satisfied power, using his talents to preserve peace, for example at the Congress of Berlin. Bismarck had barely any success in some of his domestic policies, such as the anti-Catholic Kulturkampf, but he also had mixed success on ones like Germanisation or expulsion of Poles of foreign nationality (Russian or Austro-Hungarian).

Frederick III became emperor in March 1888, after the death of his father, but he died of cancer only 99 days later. At age 29, Wilhelm became Kaiser Wilhelm II after a difficult youth and conflicts with his British mother Victoria, Princess Royal. He turned out to be a man of limited experience, narrow and reactionary views, poor judgment, and occasional bad temper, which alienated former friends and allies.

Railways

Prussia nationalised its railways in the 1880s in an effort both to lower rates on freight service and to equalise those rates among shippers. Instead of lowering rates as far as possible, the government ran the railways as a profitmaking endeavour, and the railway profits became a major source of revenue for the state. The nationalisation of the railways slowed the economic development of Prussia because the state favoured the relatively backward agricultural areas in its railway building. Moreover, the railway surpluses substituted for the development of an adequate tax system.

The Free State of Prussia in the Weimar Republic

Because of the German Revolution of 1918, Wilhelm II abdicated as German Emperor and King of Prussia. Prussia was proclaimed a "Free State" (i.e. a republic, German: Freistaat) within the new Weimar Republic and in 1920 received a democratic constitution.

Almost all of Germany's territorial losses, specified in the Treaty of Versailles, were areas that had been part of Prussia: Eupen and Malmedy to Belgium; North Schleswig to Denmark; the Memel Territory to Lithuania; the Hultschin area to Czechoslovakia. Many of the areas Prussia annexed in the partitions of Poland, such as the Provinces of Posen and West Prussia, as well as eastern Upper Silesia, went to the Second Polish Republic. Danzig became the Free City of Danzig under the administration of the League of Nations. Also, the Saargebiet was created mainly from formerly Prussian territories. East Prussia became an exclave, only reachable by ship (the Sea Service East Prussia) or by a railway through the Polish corridor.

The German government seriously considered breaking up Prussia into smaller states, but eventually traditionalist sentiment prevailed and Prussia became by far the largest state of the Weimar Republic, comprising 60% of its territory. With the abolition of the older Prussian franchise, it became a stronghold of the left. Its incorporation of "Red Berlin" and the industrialised Ruhr Area, both with working-class majorities, ensured left-wing dominance.

From 1919 to 1932, Prussia was governed by a coalition of the Social Democrats, Catholic Centre and German Democrats; from 1921 to 1925, coalition governments included the German People's Party. Unlike in other states of the German Reich, majority rule by democratic parties in Prussia was never endangered. Nevertheless, in East Prussia and some rural areas, the Nazi Party of Adolf Hitler gained more and more influence and popular support, especially from the lower middle class starting in 1930. Except for Catholic Upper Silesia, the Nazi Party in 1932 became the largest party in most parts of the Free State of Prussia. However, the democratic parties in coalition remained a majority, while Communists and Nazis were in the opposition.

The East Prussian Otto Braun, who was Prussian minister-president almost continuously from 1920 to 1932, is considered one of the most capable Social Democrats in history. He implemented several trend-setting reforms together with his minister of the interior, Carl Severing, which were also models for the later Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). For instance, a Prussian minister-president could be forced out of office only if there was a "positive majority" for a potential successor. This concept, known as the constructive vote of no confidence, was carried over into the Basic Law of the FRG. Most historians regard the Prussian government during this time as far more successful than that of Germany as a whole.

In contrast to its pre-war authoritarianism, Prussia was a pillar of democracy in the Weimar Republic. This system was destroyed by the Preußenschlag ("Prussian coup") of Reich Chancellor Franz von Papen. In this coup d'état, the government of the Reich deposed the Prussian government on 20 July 1932, under the pretext that the latter had lost control of public order in Prussia (during the Bloody Sunday of Altona, Hamburg, which was still part of Prussia at that time) and by using fabricated evidence that the Social Democrats and the Communists were planning a joint putsch. The Defence Minister General Kurt von Schleicher, who was the prime mover behind the coup manufactured evidence that the Prussian police under Braun's orders were favouring the Communist Rotfrontkämpferbund in street clashes with the SA as part of an alleged plan to foment a Marxist revolution, which he used to get an emergency decree from President Paul von Hindenburg imposing Reich control on Prussia. Papen appointed himself Reich commissioner for Prussia and took control of the government. The Preußenschlag made it easier, only half a year later, for Hitler to take power decisively in Germany, since he had the whole apparatus of the Prussian government, including the police, at his disposal.

Prussia and the Third Reich

After the appointment of Hitler as the new chancellor, the Nazis used the absence of Franz von Papen as an opportunity to appoint Hermann Göring federal commissioner for the Prussian ministry of the interior. The Reichstag election of 5 March 1933 strengthened the position of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP or "Nazi" Party), although they did not achieve an absolute majority.

The Reichstag building having been set on fire a few weeks earlier on 27 February, a new Reichstag was opened in the Garrison Church of Potsdam on 21 March 1933 in the presence of President Paul von Hindenburg. In a propaganda-filled meeting between Hitler and the Nazi Party, the "marriage of old Prussia with young Germany" was celebrated, to win over the Prussian monarchists, conservatives and nationalists and induce them into supporting and subsequently voting in favor of the Enabling Act of 1933.

In the centralised state created by the Nazis in the "Law on the Reconstruction of the Reich" ("Gesetz über den Neuaufbau des Reichs", 30 January 1934) and the "Law on Reich Governors" ("Reichsstatthaltergesetz", 30 January 1935) the states were dissolved, in fact if not in law. The federal state governments were now controlled by governors for the Reich who were appointed by the chancellor. Parallel to that, the organisation of the party into districts (Gaue) gained increasing importance, as the official in charge of a Gau (the head of which was called a Gauleiter) was again appointed by the chancellor who was at the same time chief of the Nazi Party.

This centralistic policy went even further in Prussia. From 1934 to 1945, almost all ministries were merged and only a few departments were able to maintain their independence. Hitler himself became formally the governor of Prussia. However, his functions were exercised by Hermann Göring as Prussian prime minister.

As provided for in the "Greater Hamburg Act" ("Groß-Hamburg-Gesetz"), certain exchanges of territory took place. Prussia was extended on 1 April 1937, for instance, by the incorporation of the Free and Hanseatic City of Lübeck.

The Prussian lands transferred to Poland after the Treaty of Versailles were re-annexed during World War II. However, most of this territory was not reintegrated back into Prussia but assigned to separate Gaue of Danzig-West Prussia and Wartheland during much of the duration of the war.

The end of Prussia

The areas east of the Oder-Neisse line, mainly Eastern Prussia, Western Prussia, and Silesia, were ceded over to Poland and the Soviet Union in 1945 due to the Treaty of Potsdam between three of the Allies: the United States, United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. This included important Prussian cities like Danzig, Königsberg, Breslau, and Stettin. The population fled, mostly to the Western zones, or was driven out. The number of casualties is estimated 2 to 4 million, including those who fled the Soviet army during the last months of the war before the treaty.

As part of their wartime goals, the Western allies sought the abolition of Prussia. Stalin was initially content to retain the name, Russians having a different historical view of their neighbour and sometime former ally. Nonetheless by Law No. 46, which was accepted and implemented by the Allied Control Council on 25 February 1947, Prussia was officially proclaimed to be dissolved.

In the Soviet occupation zone, which became East Germany (officially, the German Democratic Republic) in 1949, the former Prussian territories were reorganised into the states of Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt, with the remaining parts of the Province of Pomerania going to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. These states were de facto abolished in 1952 in favour of Bezirke (districts), but were recreated after German reunification in 1990.

In the Western Zones of occupation, which became West Germany (officially, the Federal Republic of Germany) in 1949, the former Prussian territories were divided up among North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Schleswig-Holstein. Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern were later merged with Baden to create the state of Baden-Württemberg. The Saar region, which had been administered by the French as a protectorate separate from the rest of Western Germany, was admitted to the Federal Republic of Germany as a separate state in 1956 following a plebiscite.

One year later, in 1957, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation was established and implemented by federal statutes in West Germany in response to a ruling from the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany. The fundamental goal of this institution is protecting the cultural legacy of Prussia. It continues to operate from its headquarters in Berlin to this very day.

Administrative and constitutional frameworks

In the mid-16th century the margraves of Brandenburg had become highly dependent on the Estates (representing counts, lords, knights, and towns, but not prelates, due to the Protestant Reformation in 1538). The margraviate's liabilities and tax income as well as the margrave's finances were in the hands of the Kreditwerk, an institution not controlled by the elector, and of the Großer Ausschuß ("Great Committee") of the Estates. This was due to concessions made by Elector Joachim II in 1541 in return for financial aid by the estates; however, the Kreditwerk went bankrupt between 1618 and 1625. The margraves further had to yield to the veto of the Estates in all issues concerning the "better or worse of the country", in all legal commitments, and in all issues concerning pawn or sale of the elector's real property.

To reduce the influence of the Estates, in 1604, Joachim Frederick created a council called Geheimer Rat für die Kurmark ("Privy Council for the Electorate", which instead of the Estates would function as the supreme advisory council for the elector. While the council was permanently established in 1613, it failed to gain any influence until 1651, due to the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648)

Until after the Thirty Years' War, the various territories of Brandenburg-Prussia remained politically independent from each other, connected only by the common feudal superior. Frederick William (ruled 1640–1688), who envisioned the transformation of the personal union into a real union, started to centralise the Brandenburg-Prussian government with an attempt to establish the Geheimer Rat as a central authority for all territories in 1651, but this project proved infeasible. Instead, the elector continued to appoint a governor (Kurfürstlicher Rat) for each territory, who in most cases was a member of the Geheimer Rat. The most powerful institution in the territories remained the governments of the estates (Landständische Regierung, named Oberratsstube in Prussia and Geheime Landesregierung in Mark and Cleves), which were the highest government agencies regarding jurisdiction, finances and administration. The elector attempted to balance the Estates' governments by creating Amtskammer chambers to administer and coordinate the elector's domains, tax income and privileges. Such chambers were introduced in Brandenburg in 1652, in Cleves and Mark in 1653, in Pomerania in 1654, in Prussia in 1661 and in Magdeburg in 1680. Also in 1680, the Kreditwerk came under the aegis of the elector.

Frederick William I's excise tax (Akzise), which from 1667 replaced the property tax raised in Brandenburg for Brandenburg-Prussia's standing army with the Estates' consent, was raised by the elector without consultation with the Estates. The conclusion of the Second Northern War of 1655–1660 had strengthened the elector politically, enabling him to reform the constitution of Cleves and Mark in 1660 and 1661 to introduce officials loyal to him and independent of the local estates. In the Duchy of Prussia he confirmed the traditional privileges of the Estates in 1663, but the latter accepted the caveat that these privileges were not to be used to interfere with the exertion of the elector's sovereignty. As in Brandenburg, Frederick William ignored the privilege of the Prussian Estates to confirm or veto taxes raised by the elector: while in 1656, an Akzise was raised with the Estates' consent, the elector by force collected taxes not approved by the Prussian Estates for the first time in 1674. From 1704 the Prussian estates de facto relinquished their right to approve the elector's taxes while formally still entitled to do so. In 1682 the elector introduced an Akzise to Pomerania and in 1688 to Magdeburg, while in Cleves and Mark an Akzise was introduced only between 1716 and 1720. Due to Frederick William I's reforms, the state income increased threefold during his reign, and the tax burden per subject reached a level twice as high as in France.

Under the rule of Frederick III (I) (in office: 1688–1713), the Brandenburg Prussian territories were de facto reduced to provinces of the monarchy. Frederick William's testament would have divided Brandenburg-Prussia among his sons, but his firstborn son Frederick III (I), with the emperor's backing, succeeded in becoming the sole ruler based on the Treaty of Gera of 1599, which forbade a division of Hohenzollern territories. In 1689, a new central chamber for all Brandenburg-Prussian territories was established, called Geheime Hofkammer (from 1713: Generalfinanzdirektorium). This chamber functioned as a superior agency of the territories' Amtskammer chambers. The General War Commissariat (Generalkriegskommissariat) emerged as a second central agency, superior to the local Kriegskommissariat agencies initially concerned with the administration of the army, but before 1712 transformed into an agency also concerned with general tax and police tasks.

The Kingdom of Prussia functioned as an absolute monarchy until the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, after which Prussia became a constitutional monarchy and Adolf Heinrich von Arnim-Boitzenburg was elected as Prussia's first prime minister (Ministerpräsident). Prussia's first constitution dated from 1848. The 1850 Prussian Constitution established a two-chamber parliament. The lower house, or Landtag represented all taxpayers, who were divided into three classes according to the amount of taxes paid. This allowed just over 25% of the voters to choose 85% of the legislature, all but assuring dominance by the more well-to-do elements of the population. The upper house (First Chamber or Erste Kammer), later renamed the Prussian House of Lords (Herrenhaus), was appointed by the king. He retained full executive authority and ministers were responsible only to him. As a result, the grip of the landowning classes, the Junkers, remained unbroken, especially in the eastern provinces. The Prussian Secret Police, formed in response to the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, aided the conservative government.

Unlike its authoritarian pre-1918 predecessor, Prussia from 1918 to 1932 was a promising democracy within Germany. The abolition of the political power of the aristocracy transformed Prussia into a region strongly dominated by the left wing of the political spectrum, with "Red Berlin" and the industrial centre of the Ruhr Area exerting major influence. During this period a coalition of centre-left parties ruled, predominantly under the leadership (1920–1932) of East Prussian Social Democrat Otto Braun. While in office Braun implemented several reforms (together with his Minister of the Interior, Carl Severing) that became models for the later Federal Republic of Germany. For instance, a Prussian prime minister could only be forced out of office if there was a "positive majority" for a potential successor. This concept, known as the constructive vote of no confidence, became part of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany. Most historians regard the Prussian government during the 1920s as far more successful than that of Germany as a whole.

Similar to other German states both now and at the time, executive power remained vested in a Minister-President of Prussia and in laws established by a Landtag elected by the people.

Demographics

Population

In 1871, Prussia's population numbered 24.69 million, accounting for 60% of the German Empire's population. In 1910, the population had increased to 40.17 million (62% of the Empire's population). In 1914, Prussia had an area of 354,490 km2. In May 1939 Prussia had an area of 297,007 km2 and a population of 41,915,040 inhabitants. The Principality of Neuenburg, now the Canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland, was a part of the Prussian kingdom from 1707 to 1848.

Religion

The Duchy of Prussia was the first state to officially adopt Lutheranism in 1525. In the wake of the Reformation, Prussia was dominated by two major Protestant confessions: Lutheranism and Calvinism. The majority of the Prussian population was Lutheran, although there were dispersed Reformed minorities in central and western parts of the state especially Brandenburg, Rhineland, Westphalia and Hesse-Nassau. In 1613, John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg and Grand Duke of Prussia declared himself for the Reformed creed and transferred the Berlin Cathedral from the Lutheran to the Reformed church. Lutherans and Reformed congregations all over the kingdom were merged in 1817 by the Prussian Union of churches, which came under tight royal control. In Protestant regions, writes Nipperdey:

Prussia received significant Huguenot population after the issuing of the Edict of Fontainebleau by Louis XIV of France and the following dragonnades. Prussian monarchs, beginning with Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg opened the country to the fleeing French Calvinist refugees. In Berlin, they built and worshipped at their own church called the French Cathedral on Gendarmenmarkt. Time passed by, and the French Reformed assimilated into the wider Protestant community in Prussia. East Prussia's southern region of Masuria was mostly made up of Germanised Lutheran Masurians.

After 1814, Prussia contained millions of Roman Catholics in the west and in the east. There were substantial populations in the Rhineland, parts of Westphalia, eastern parts of Silesia, West Prussia, Ermland and the Province of Posen. Communities in Poland were often ethnically Polish, although this is not the case of eastern Silesia as the majority of Catholics there were German. During the 19th-century Kulturkampf, Prussian Catholics were forbidden from fulfilling any official functions for the state and were largely distrusted.

Prussia contained a relatively large Jewish community, which was mostly concentrated in large urban areas. According to the 1880 census, it was the biggest one in Germany with 363,790 individuals.

In 1925, 64.9% of the Prussian population was Protestant, 31.3% was Roman Catholic, 1.1% was Jewish, 2.7% was placed in other religious categories.

Non-German population

In 1871, approximately 2.4 million Poles lived in Prussia, constituting the largest minority. Other minorities were Jews, Danes, Frisians, Dutchmen, Kashubians (72,500 in 1905), Masurians (248,000 in 1905), Lithuanians (101,500 in 1905), Walloons, Czechs, Kursenieki, and Sorbs.

The area of Greater Poland, where the Polish nation had originated, became the Province of Posen after the Partitions of Poland. Poles in this Polish-majority province (62% Polish, 38% German) resisted German rule. Also, the southeast portion of Silesia (Upper Silesia) had a Polish majority. But Catholics and Jews did not have equal status with Protestants.

As a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, the Second Polish Republic was granted not only these two areas, but also areas with a German majority in the Province of West Prussia. After World War II, East Prussia, Silesia, most of Pomerania and the eastern part of Brandenburg were either annexed by the Soviet Union or given to Poland, and the German-speaking populations forcibly expelled.

File:CretiusEmpfang.jpg|King Frederick William I of Prussia welcoming the expelled Salzburg Protestants

File:Dom, Berlin 1900.png|The Berlin Cathedral

File:Prussian deportations.PNG|Prussian deportations (Polenausweisungen) were the mass expulsions of ethnic Poles between 1885 and 1890.