Brandenburg was formed from the Holy Roman Empire as a “Border State “in other words it was the battlegrounds against enemies of the nation. East of Brandenburg is a land known as “Prussia” which would become the name of the nation latter.
In 1657, after an invasion by the Swedes, Poland surrendered sovereignty over Ducal Prussia which then became the Kingdom of Prussia headed by the Hohenzollern line.
On 18 January 1701, Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg was crowned ‘King in Prussia’ in the city of Königsberg. He was the first king Kingdom of Prussia. It was the driving force behind the unification of Germany in 1871, and was the leading state of the German Empire until its dissolution in 1918.
It was Frederick’s son and successor, Frederick William I, one of history’s sergeant-majors, who transformed his realm into the military autocracy that gave Prussia its lasting reputation. He is considered the creator of the vaunted Prussian bureaucracy and the professionalized standing army, which he developed into one of the most powerful in Europe in his time.
Prussia’s power grew and in 1772, under King Friedrich II (Frederick the Great), consisted of the provinces of Brandenburg, Pomerania, Danzig, West Prussia and East Prussia.
The German Empire was established under Prussian leadership with Bismarck as Chancellor. Wilhelm II, the last of the Hohenzollern dynasty, became Emperor of Germany (Kaiser) in 1888 and ruled until Germany’s defeat in World War I.
Kingdom of Prussia (1701-1918)
