Kingdom of Prussia (1701-1918)

The area known as Prussia was inhabited in early times by West Slavic tribes, ancestors of the modern Poles, in the West, and Baltic tribes, closely related to Lithuanians, in the East.

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)

Biography of Otto von Bismarck (1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898)

Otto von Bismarck unified Germany under a conservative government and altered the balance of power in nineteenth century Europe. He founded the German Empire in 1871 and served as its chancellor for 19 years.

Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck was born in Schönhausen to the Junker family of Prussia in 1815, the year peace was restored to Europe after the tumultuous Napoleonic Wars.

He was the fourth of six children – four sons and two daughters - of whom the eldest was born in 1807 and the youngest in 1827.

In his youth he preferred drinking and duels to his law studies in Berlin and his later duties as a civil servant.

In 1847, desirous of more excitement and power than he could find in the country, he reentered public life. Four years later he began to build a base of diplomatic experience as the Prussian delegate to the Parliament of the Germanic Confederation.

In 1849, the Prussian king arrested the Frankfurt Assembly, Bismarck expressed his approval. His support of the Prussian monarchy won him a post in the government and in 1862 he was appointed chancellor.

When he took office, Prussia was widely considered the weakest of the five European powers, but under his leadership Prussian won a war against Denmark in 1864, the even Weeks’ War in 1866, and the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71).

Through these wars he achieved his goal of political unification of a Prussian-dominated Germane Empire.

He was not a political gambler but a moderate who waged war only when all other diplomatic alternatives had been exhausted and when he was reasonably sure that all the military diplomatic advantages were on his side.

In 1890 William II dismissed Bismarck. In 1898 the frustrated ‘Iron Chancellor’ died.
Biography of Otto von Bismarck (1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898)

German Empire

German Empire or Second Reich existed from the unification of Germany in 1871 to the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in November 1918, when Germany became a federal republic.

Germany only became a unified state in 1871. It was proclaimed in January 18, 1871, in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, not far from where the Prussian army besieged Paris in the final days of the Franco-Prussian War with Berlin was its capital and the king of Prussia as emperor.

Its constitution was adopted on 16 April 1871. The empire had a population of 41,000,000 in 1871 and 66,500,000 in 1910.

The German Empire occasionally referred to as the Second Reich, also died in battle, on November 9, 1918 when William II abdicated his throne in the final days of World War I. Germany became Europe’s leading power. It also acquired colonies in Africa, Asia and the Pacific Ocean.

The architect of the German Empire was Prussian Prime Minster Otto von Bismarck.

During World War I (1914-18) Germany and its allies, Austria-Hungary and Turkey, battled Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy and the United States.

The war ended with a disastrous defeat for the German Empire, German  lost land to surrounding countries.
German Empire

History of Berlin as a Prussia capital city

In 1244 Berlin was founded as a trading post. It was merged with Colln in 1307, into a single town for reason of power and security.

Berlin comes under the rule of the Hohenzollern dynasty, the ruling house of Brandenburg in 1415. In the beginning, Brandenburg was one of seven electoral states of the Holy Roman Empire.

There was a territory encompassing some 40,000 square kilometers and centered on the city of Berlin.

This was the heartland of the state that would later known as Prussia.

Prussia did not become a kingdom till the year 1701. Previous to that time it was governed by dukes. Its ancient inhabitants were called Borussi, from whom the country took the name of Prussia.

Frederick Wilhelm ruled Brandenburg form 1640 to 1688 and he took several steps that help chart Brandenburg’s rise to the status of a European powerhouse.

His first order of business was to increase Berlin’s safety by turning it into a garrison town encircled by fortifications with 13 bastions. He also levied a new sales tax using, the money to build new neighborhood.

In 1701, his son Freidrich III, crowned himself as Friedrich I, King in Prussia. He made Berlin a royal residence and the capital of the new state of Prussia.

The capital Berlin situated on the river Spree, a river by the way, with a very merry name. It has a splendid palace, where the king resides, a fine University, where a great many young men are educated, and several places of public amusement.

Friedrich I was succeeded by Friedrich William, who reigned until 1740. Under these rulers Berlin city became a city of increasing importance and Prussia began its rise, culminating in its dominance of Germany. 

In 1740, Freidrich II, known as Frederick the Great came to power. Berlin became, under the rule of ‘philosopher on the throne’, a center of Enlightment thinkers like Moses Mendelssohn.

On September 1806, Berlin was occupied by French troops. French occupation was uneventful, interrupted only by a minor and unsuccessful military rebellion and ending with the collapse of Napoleon’s empire.

On March 18, 1848 citizens gathered outside his place to present their demands. The soldiers who dispersed them accidentally fired two shots and the demonstration became a revolution.

In 1871, Berlin became capital of the newly founded German Empire.
History of Berlin as a Prussia capital city

Early history Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918)

The name of Prussia is derived from its ancient inhabitants, the Borussi, or Porussi: so called from the Slavonic word po, near and Russi; signifying the people who lived adjacent to or near the Russians.

In the beginning there was only Brandenburg a territory encompassing some 40,000 square and centered on the city of Berlin. This was the heartland of the state that would late be known as Prussia.

On 18 January 1701, Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg was crowned ‘King in Prussia’ in the city of Konigsberg.

The celebrations began on 15 January in Konigsberg, when heralds wearing blue velvet livery emblazoned with the new royal coat of arms passed through the city, proclaiming the Duchy of Prussia a sovereign kingdom.

The Kingdom was made up of thirteen provinces, including West Prussia, Eats Prussia, Brandenburg (Berlin), Hanover, Rhine, Saxony, and others.

With the unification of Germany by Bismarck in 1871, the Kingdom of Prussian became part of the German Empire, or a state within a state, albeit by far the most important part of the Empire.

Berlin was the capital of both the Kingdom of Prussia and the German Empire.

In 1795, Poland was partitioned and was annexed into the Kingdom of Prussia, with Warsaw becoming the capital of the province of South Prussian.
Early history Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918)