Empire · 1525–1947 · Europe
Prussia (Brandenburg-Prussia)
Also known as Prussia, Brandenburg
Prussia became a duchy in 1525, when Albert of Hohenzollern, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, turned Lutheran and secularised their lands. In 1618 it passed to his relatives, the electors of Brandenburg, and Frederick William the Great Elector forged their scattered territories into a disciplined state with a standing army.
His son crowned himself King in Prussia in 1701. Frederick William I enlarged the army further, and Frederick the Great seized Silesia from Austria, survived the Seven Years' War and took a share of partitioned Poland. Crushed by Napoleon in 1806, Prussia reformed and gained the Rhineland in 1815. Under Bismarck it defeated Denmark, Austria and France, and in 1871 its king became German Emperor. Prussia lived on as the largest German state until the Allies abolished it in 1947.
- Years
- 1525–1947
- Capital
- Königsberg; Berlin from the 17th century
- Greatest extent
- 1910, about 348,780 km²
- Region
- Europe
348,780 km² (Wikipedia: Kingdom of Prussia); nearly two-thirds of the German Empire
Legacy
Prussia's efficient bureaucracy, compulsory schooling and general staff were widely copied, though its militarism is often blamed for Germany's path to war.
Rulers
- Albert 1525–1568
Last Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights in Prussia, became its first duke
- Frederick William, the Great Elector 1640–1688
Built a standing army and a unified state
- Frederick I 1701–1713
Crowned himself the first King in Prussia
- Frederick William I 1713–1740
The soldier king who built up the army
- Frederick II, the Great 1740–1786
Seized Silesia and made Prussia a great power
- Wilhelm I 1861–1888
Became German Emperor in 1871
- Otto von Bismarck 1862–1890
Minister-president who unified Germany through three wars
Realms on the map
- Duchy of Prussia 1526–1618
- Electorate of Brandenburg 1422–1618
- Brandenburg-Prussia 1619–1720
- Kingdom of Prussia 1702–1867
Wars
- Thirty Years' War 23 May 1618 – 24 October 1648
- Seven Years' War 17 May 1756 – 15 February 1763
- Napoleonic Wars 18 May 1803 – 20 November 1815