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| − | {{Other uses}}
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| − | {{Distinguish|Russia}}
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| − | {{pp-move-indef}}
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| − | {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}}
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| − | {{Infobox former country
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| − | |native_name = ''Preußen/Preussen'' ([[German language|de]])
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| − | |conventional_long_name = Prussia
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| − | |common_name = Prussia
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| − | |continent = Europe
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| − | |region = Central Europe, Germany
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| − | |country = Germany
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| − | |era = [[Early modern Europe]] to [[Contemporary history|Contemporary]]
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| − | |government_type = Monarchy (until 1918), Republic
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| − | |year_start = 1525
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| − | |year_end = 1947
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| − | |event_start = [[Duchy of Prussia]]
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| − | |date_start = 10 April
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| − | |event1 = [[Brandenburg-Prussia|Union with Brandenburg]]
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| − | |date_event1 = 27 August 1618
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| − | |event2 = [[Kingdom of Prussia]]
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| − | |date_event2 = 18 January 1701
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| − | |event3 = [[Free State of Prussia]]
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| − | |date_event3 = 9 November 1918
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| − | |event4 = [[Preußenschlag|Abolition]] (''loss of independence'')
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| − | |date_event4 = 30 January 1934
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| − | |event_end = [[Allied Control Council|Abolition]] (''{{lang|la|[[de jure]]}}'')
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| − | |date_end = 25 February
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| − | |event_post =
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| − | |date_post =
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| − | <!---Don't use flag navigation for this entry: it is too complicated. This is better covered by the individual Prussian entries--->
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| − | |today = [[Germany]]<br/>[[Poland]]<br/>[[Kaliningrad Oblast|Russia]]<br/>[[Klaipėda Region|Lithuania]]<br/>[[South Jutland County|Denmark]]<br/>[[Eupen-Malmedy|Belgium]]<br/>[[Hlučín Region|Czech Republic]]<br/>[[Canton of Neuchâtel|Switzerland]]
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| − | |image_flag = Flag of Prussia 1892-1918.svg{{!}}border
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| − | |
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| − | |flag_type = Flag <small>(1892–1918)</small>
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| − | |image_coat = Wappen Deutsches Reich - Königreich Preussen (Grosses).png
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| − | |symbol =
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| − | |symbol_type = Coat of arms <small>(1866–1918)</small>
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| − | |image_map = Map-DR-Prussia.svg
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| − | |image_map_caption = Prussia (blue), at its peak, the leading state of the [[German Empire]]
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| − | |capital = {{lang|de|[[Königsberg]]}} (1525–1701)<br/>[[Berlin]] (1701–1947)
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| − | |national_motto = ''{{lang|de|[[Gott mit uns]]}}''{{spaces|2}}<small>([[High German]])</small><br />"God with us"
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| − | |common_languages = [[German language|German]] (official)
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| − | |demonym = Prussian
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| − | |religion = '''Majority:'''<br/>[[Protestant]] ([[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] and [[Reformed]]; since 1817 [[Prussian Union of churches|Prussian]] [[United church|United]])<br/>{{hidden|'''Minorities:'''|[[Roman Catholic]], [[Jewish]]|style=font-size:100%;padding:0.25em 0 0; |headerstyle=text-align:left;font-weight:normal;}}
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| − | |currency = {{lang|de|[[Reichsthaler]]}}<br/>[[German gold mark]] (1873–1914)<br/>[[German Papiermark|German {{lang|de|Papiermark|nocat=y}}]] (1914–1923)<br/>{{lang|de|[[Reichsmark]]}} (since 1924)
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| − | |title_leader = [[Duke of Prussia|Duke]]{{smallsup|1}}
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| − | |leader1 = [[Albert I, Duke of Prussia|Albert I]] (first)
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| − | |year_leader1 = 1525–1568
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| − | |leader2 = [[Frederick I of Prussia|Frederick III]] (last)
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| − | |year_leader2 = 1688–1701
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| − | |title_representative = [[King of Prussia|King]]{{smallsup|1}}
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| − | |representative1 = [[Frederick I of Prussia|Frederick I]] (first)
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| − | |year_representative1 = 1701–1713
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| − | |representative2 = [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|{{lang|de|Wilhelm|nocat=y}} II]] (last)
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| − | |year_representative2 = 1888–1918
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| − | |title_deputy = [[Prime Minister of Prussia|Prime Minister]]{{smallsup|1, 2}}
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| − | |deputy1 = {{lang|de|[[Friedrich Ebert]]}} (first)
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| − | |year_deputy1 = 1918
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| − | |deputy2 = {{lang|de|[[Hermann Göring]]}} (last)
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| − | |year_deputy2 = 1933–1945
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| − | |<!-----Area and population of a given year----->
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| − | |stat_year1 = 1816
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| − | |stat_area1 =
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| − | |stat_pop1 = 10349000{{smallsup|3}}
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| − | |stat_year2 = 1907
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| − | |stat_area2 = 348702
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| − | |stat_pop2 =
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| − | |stat_year3 = 1871
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| − | |stat_area3 =
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| − | |stat_pop3 = 24689000
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| − | |stat_year4 = 1939
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| − | |stat_area4 = 297007
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| − | |stat_pop4 = 41915040
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| − | |footnotes = <sup>1</sup> The heads of state listed here are the first and last to hold each title over time. For more information, see individual Prussian state articles (links in above History section).<br /><sup>2</sup> The position of ''{{lang|de|Ministerpräsident}}'' was introduced in 1792 when Prussia was a Kingdom; the prime ministers shown here are the heads of the Prussian republic.<br /><sup>3</sup> Population estimates:<ref>[http://www.tacitus.nu/historical-atlas/population/germany.htm tacitus.nu]</ref>
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| − | }}
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| − | '''Prussia''' ({{Audio-de|Preußen|De-Preußen-2.ogg}}) was a prominent historical [[Germans|German]] state originating out of the [[Duchy of Prussia]] and the [[Margraviate of Brandenburg]], and centred on the [[Prussia (region)|region of Prussia]]. For centuries, the [[House of Hohenzollern|House of {{lang|de|Hohenzollern|nocat=y}}]] ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organised and effective army. Prussia, with its capital in {{lang|de|[[Königsberg]]}} and from 1701 in [[History of Berlin|Berlin]], shaped the [[history of Germany]].
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| − | In 1871, German states united to create 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]], a [[states of the Weimar Republic|state]] of Germany from 1918 until 1933. From 1933, Prussia lost its independence as a result of the [[Preußenschlag|Prussian coup]], when the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi regime]] was successfully establishing its ''{{lang|de|[[Gleichschaltung]]}}'' laws in pursuit of a [[unitary state]]. With the end of the Nazi regime, the division of Germany into [[Allied-occupied Germany|allied-occupation zones]] and the separation of its territories east of the [[Oder–Neisse line|{{lang|de|Oder–Neisse|nocat=y}} line]], which were incorporated into Poland and the Soviet Union, the State of Prussia ceased to exist de facto in 1945.<ref name="Clark, Christopher 2006">Christopher Clark, ''Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947'' (2006) is the standard history.</ref><ref>The various stages of transformation and dissolution of old Prussia 1871–1947 describes {{lang|de|[[Golo Mann]]}}: ''{{lang|de|Das Ende Preußens}}'' (in German), in: {{lang|de|Hans-Joachim Netzer (Hrsg.)}}: ''{{lang|de|Preußen. Portrait einer politischen Kultur}}'', Munich 1968, p. 135–165 (in German). See also another perspective by [[Andreas Lawaty]]: ''{{lang|de|Das Ende Preußens in polnischer Sicht: Zur Kontinuität negativer Wirkungen der preußischen Geschichte auf die deutsch-polnischen Beziehungen}}'', de Gruyter, Berlin 1986, {{ISBN|3-11009-936-5}}. (in German)</ref> Prussia existed ''{{lang|la|[[de jure]]}}'' until its formal liquidation by the [[Allied Control Council]] Enactment No. 46 of 25 February 1947.<ref>[http://deposit.d-nb.de/cgi-bin/rqframe.pl?ansicht=3&zeitung=jouroffi&jahrgang=1947&ausgabe=058&seite=07000582 Allied Control Council Enactment No. 46 of 25 February 1947] {{fr icon}}</ref>
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| − | The name ''Prussia'' derives from the [[Old Prussians]]. In the 13th century, the [[Teutonic Knights]]—an organized [[Catholic]] medieval [[Military order (society)|military order]] of [[Prussian Crusade|German crusaders]]—conquered the lands inhabited by them. In 1308, the Teutonic Knights conquered the region of [[Pomerelia]] with {{lang|pl|[[Gdańsk]]}} ({{lang|de|Danzig}}). Their [[State of the Teutonic Order|monastic state]] was mostly [[Germanisation|Germanised]] through [[Ostsiedlung|immigration from central and western Germany]] and in the south, it was [[Polonisation|Polonised]] by settlers from [[Masovia]]. The [[Second Peace of Thorn (1466)|Second Peace of Thorn]] (1466) split Prussia into the western [[Royal Prussia]], a province of Poland, and the eastern part, from 1525 called the [[Duchy of Prussia]], a fief of the [[Crown of Poland]] up to 1657. The [[Brandenburg-Prussia|union of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia]] in 1618 led to the proclamation of the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] in 1701.
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| − | Prussia entered the ranks of the [[great power]]s shortly after becoming a kingdom,<ref>
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| − | 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}}.</ref><ref>Danilovic, Vesna. ''When the Stakes Are High—Deterrence and Conflict among Major Powers'', University of Michigan Press (2002), p 27, p225–228</ref><ref>''[http://gh.oxfordjournals.org/content/12/3/286.full.pdf Aping the Great Powers: Frederick the Great and the Defence of Prussia's International Position 1763–86]'', pp. 286–307.</ref><ref>[http://history.wisc.edu/mosse/george_mosse/summaries/history119_lecture19.htm The Rise of Prussia]</ref> and exercised most influence in the 18th and 19th centuries. During the 18th century it had a major say in many international affairs under the reign of [[Frederick II of Prussia|Frederick the Great]]. During the 19th century, Chancellor {{lang|de|[[Otto von Bismarck]]}} united the German principalities into a "[[Kleindeutsche Lösung|Lesser Germany]]", which excluded the [[Austrian Empire]].
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| − | At the [[Congress of Vienna]] (1814–15), which redrew the map of Europe following [[Napoleon]]'s defeat, Prussia acquired a large section of north western Germany, including the coal-rich {{lang|de|[[Ruhr]]}}. The country then grew rapidly in influence economically and politically, and became the core of the [[North German Confederation]] in 1867, and then of the [[German Empire]] in 1871. The Kingdom of Prussia was now so large and so dominant in the new Germany that {{lang|de|[[Junker (Prussia)|Junkers]]}} and other Prussian élites identified more and more as Germans and less as Prussians.
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| − | The Kingdom ended in 1918. In the [[Weimar Republic]], the state of Prussia lost nearly all of its legal and political importance following the [[Preußenschlag|1932 coup]] led by {{lang|de|[[Franz von Papen]]}}. East Prussia lost all of its German population after 1945, as Poland and the [[Soviet Union]] absorbed its territory and [[flight and expulsion of Germans|expelled]] most of its inhabitants.
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| − | The term ''Prussian'' has often been used, especially outside of Germany, to emphasise the professionalism, aggressiveness, militarism and conservatism of the {{lang|de|[[Junker]]}} class of landed aristocrats in the East who dominated first Prussia and then the German Empire.
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