Prussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia | |
and the Margraviate of Brandenburg, and centered on the region of | |
Prussia. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, | |
successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually | |
well-organised and effective army. Prussia, with its capital in | |
Konigsberg and from 1701 moved to Berlin, shaped the history of | |
Germany. | |
In 1871, German states united in creating the German Empire | |
under Prussian leadership. In November 1918, the monarchies were | |
abolished and the nobility lost its political power during the | |
German Revolution of 1918/19, the Kingdom of Prussia was thus | |
abolished in favour of a republic the Free State of Prussia. | |
From 1933, Prussia lost its independence as a result of the Prussian | |
coup, when the Nazi regime was successfully establishing its | |
"Gleichschaltung" laws in pursuit of a unitary state. With the end | |
of the Nazi regime, the division of Germany into allied-occupation | |
zones and the separation of its territories east of the | |
Oder-Neisse line, which were incorporated into Poland and the | |
Soviet Union, the State of Prussia had ceased de facto to exist in | |
1945. | |
De jure Prussia existed until its formal liquidation by | |
the Allied Control Council Enactment No. 46 of 25 February 1947. | |
(thanks to Wikipedia) | |
Current Reading | |
Prussian Snippets | |
Documents |