Brandenburg-Prussia
Encyclopedia
Brandenburg-Prussia is the historiographic
denomination for the Early Modern realm of the Brandenburgian
Hohenzollerns
between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohenzollern intermarried with the branch ruling the Duchy of Prussia, and secured succession upon the latter's extinction in the male line in 1618. Another consequence of the intermarriage was the incorporation of the lower Rhenish principalities of Cleves
, Mark and Ravensberg after the Treaty of Xanten
in 1614.
By the Peace of Westphalia
, which ended the Thirty Years' War
in 1648, Brandenburg gained Minden
and Halberstadt
, also the succession in Farther Pomerania
(incorporated in 1653
) and the Duchy of Magdeburg
(incorporated in 1680). With the Treaty of Bromberg
(1657), concluded during the Second Northern War
, the electors were freed of Polish vassalage for the Duchy of Prussia and gained Lauenburg–Bütow
and Draheim
. The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679)
expanded Brandenburgian Pomerania
to the lower Oder
.
The second half of the 17th century laid the basis for Prussia
to become one of the great players
in European politics later on. The emerging Brandenburg-Prussian military potential, based on the introduction of a standing army
in 1653, was symbolized by the widely noted victories in Warsaw (1656)
and Fehrbellin (1675)
and by the Great Sleigh Drive (1678). Brandenburg-Prussia also established a navy
and colonies in the Brandenburger Gold Coast
and Arguin
. Frederick William
, known as "The Great Elector", opened Brandenburg-Prussia to large-scale immigration ("Peuplierung") of mostly Protestant
refugees from all across Europe ("Exulanten"), most notably Huguenot immigration following the Edict of Potsdam
. Frederick William also started to centralize Brandenburg-Prussia's administration and reduce the influence of the estates.
In 1701, Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg
succeeded in elevating his status to King in Prussia
. This was made possible by the Duchy of Prussia's sovereign status outside the Holy Roman Empire
, and approval by the Habsburg emperor
and other European royals in the course of forming alliances for the War of the Spanish succession
and the Great Northern War
. Brandenburg-Prussia is thence commonly referred to as the Kingdom of Prussia
, or simply Prussia. Frederick and his successors continued to centralize and expand the state, transforming the personal union
of politically diverse principalities typical for the Brandenburg-Prussian era into a system of provinces
subordinate to Berlin.
had been the seat of the main branch of the Hohenzollerns, who were prince-elector
s in the Holy Roman Empire
, since 1415. In 1525, by the Treaty of Krakow
, the Duchy of Prussia was created through partial secularization of the State of the Teutonic Order. It was a vassal of the Kingdom of Poland and was governed by Duke Albert of Prussia, a member of a cadet branch
of the House of Hohenzollern
. On behalf of her mother Elisabeth of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollern, Anna Maria of Brunswick-Calenberg became Albert's second wife in 1550, and bore him his successor Albert Frederick
. In 1563, the Brandenburgian branch of the Hohenzollern was granted the right of succession by the Polish crown. Albert Frederick became duke of Prussia after Albert's death in 1568. His mother died in the same year, and thereafter he showed signs of mental disorder. Because of the duke's illness, Prussia was governed by Albert's nephew George Frederick of Hohenzollern-Ansbach-Jägersdorf
(1577–1603). In 1573, Albert Frederick married Marie Leonore of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, with whom he had several daughters.
In 1594, Albert Frederick's then 14-year-old daughter Anna married the son of Joachim Frederick of Hohenzollern-Brandenburg
, John Sigismund. The marriage ensured the right of succession in the Prussian duchy as well as in Cleves. Upon George Frederick's death in 1603, the regency of the Prussian duchy passed to Joachim Frederick. Also in 1603, the Treaty of Gera was concluded by the members of the House of Hohenzollern
, ruling that their territories were not to be internally divided in the future.
The Electors of Brandenburg inherited the Duchy of Prussia upon Albert Frederick's death in 1618, but the duchy continued to be held as a fief under the Polish Crown until 1656/7. Since John Sigismund had suffered a stroke in 1616 and as a consequence was severely handicapped physically as well as mentally, his wife Anna ruled the Duchy of Prussia in his name until John Sigismund died of a second stroke in 1619, aged 47.
From 1619 to 1640, George William
was elector of Brandenburg and duke of Prussia. He strove, but proved unable to break the dominance of the Electorate of Saxony
in the Upper Saxon Circle
. The Brandenburg-Saxon antagonism rendered the defense of the circle ineffective, and it was subsequently overrun by Albrecht von Wallenstein
during the Thirty Years' War
. While George William had claimed neutrality before, the presence of Wallenstein's army forced him to join the Catholic-Imperial camp in the Treaty of Königsberg (1627) and accept garrisons. When the Swedish Empire
entered the war
and advanced into Brandenburg
, George William again claimed neutrality, yet Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
compelled George William to join Sweden as an ally by occupying substantial territory in Brandenburg-Prussia and concentrating an army before the town walls of Berlin
. George William did not conclude an alliance, but granted Sweden transit rights, two fortresses and subsidies. Consequently, Roman Catholic
armies repeatedly ravaged Brandenburg and other Hohenzollern lands.
, George William was succeeded by Frederick William
, born 1620, who became known as "The Great Elector" (Der Große Kurfürst). The character of the young elector had been stamped by his Calvinist
nurturer Calcum, a long stay in the Dutch Republic
during his grand tour
, and the events of the war, of which a meeting with his uncle Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
in Pomerania
was among the most impressive.
took over Brandenburg-Prussia in times of a political, economical and demographic crisis caused by the war. Upon his succession, the new elector retired the Brandenburgian army, but had an army raised again in 1643/44. Whether or not Frederick William concluded a truce and neutrality agreement with Sweden is disputed: while a relevant 1641 document exists, it was never ratified and has repeatedly been described as a falsification.
At the time, the forces of the Swedish Empire
dominated Northern Germany, and along with her ally
France
, Sweden became guarantee power of the Peace of Westphalia
in 1648. The Swedish aim of controlling the Baltic Sea
by establishing dominions
on the coastline ("dominium maris baltici") thwarted Frederick William's ambitions to gain control over the Oder
estuary with Stettin (now Szczecin) in Pomerania
.
The Brandenburgian margraves had long sought to expand northwards
, connecting land-locked Brandenburg to the Baltic Sea. The Treaty of Grimnitz
(1529) guaranteed Brandenburgian succession in the Duchy of Pomerania
upon the extinction of the local House of Pomerania
, and would have come into effect by the death of Pomeranian duke Bogislaw XIV in 1637. By the Treaty of Stettin (1630)
however, Bogislaw XIV had also effectively handed over control of the duchy to Sweden, who refused to give in to the Brandenburgian claim. The Peace of Westphalia settled for a partition of the duchy between Brandenburg and Sweden, who determined the exact border in the Treaty of Stettin (1653)
. Sweden retained the western part including the lower Oder
(Swedish Pomerania
), while Brandenburg gained the eastern part (Farther Pomerania
). Frederick William was dissatisfied by this outcome, and the acquisition of the whole Duchy of Pomerania
was to become one of the main goals of his foreign policy.
In the Peace of Westphalia, Frederick William was compensated for Western Pomerania
with the secularized bishoprics of Halberstadt
and Minden
and the right of succession to the likewise secularized Archbishopric of Magdeburg
. With Halberstadt, Brandenburg-Prussia also gained several smaller territories: the Lordship of Derenburg, the County of Regenstein, the Lordship of Klettenberg and the Lordship of Lohra. This was primarily due to French
efforts to counterbalance the power of the Habsburg emperor by strengthening the Hohenzollern
, and while Frederick William valued these territories lower than Western Pomerania, they became step-stones for the creation of a closed, dominant realm in Germany in the long run.
and Frankfurt an der Oder, the population drop was one third and two third, respectively. Some of the territories gained after the war were likewise devastated: in Pomerania
, only one third of the population survived, and Magdeburg
, once among the wealthiest cities of the empire, was burned down with most of the population slain
. Least hit were the Duchy of Prussia, which was only peripherally involved in the war
, and Minden
.
Despite efforts to resettle the devastated territories, it took some of them until the mid-18th century to reach the pre-war population density.
In June 1651, Frederick William broke the provisions of the Peace of Westphalia
by invading Jülich-Berg, bordering his possessions in Cleves-Mark
at the lower Rhine river. The Treaty of Xanten
, which had ended the War of the Jülich succession
between Brandenburg and the count palatine
s in 1614, had partitioned the once united Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg among the bellingerents, and Jülich-Berg was since ruled by the Catholic counts of Palatinate-Neuburg
. After the Thirty Years' War
, Wolfgang William, Count Palatine of Neuburg, disregarded a 1647 agreement with Frederick William which had favored the Protestants in the duchies, while Frederick William insisted that the agreement be upheld. Besides these religious motives, Frederick William's invasion also aimed at territorial expansion.
The conflict had the potential to spark another international war since Wolfgang William wanted to have the still not demobilized army of Lorraine, which continued to operate in the region despite the Peace of Westphalia, to intervene on his side, and Frederick William sought support of the Dutch Republic
. The latter however followed a policy of neutrality and refused to aid Frederick William's campaign, which was furthermore opposed by the Imperial estates as well as the local ones. Politically isolated, Frederick William aborted the campaign after the Treaty of Cleves negotiated by Imperial mediators in October 1651. The underlying religious dispute was only solved in 1672. While military confrontations were avoided and the Brandenburg-Prussian army was primarily occupied with stealing cattle (hence the name), it considerably lowered Frederick William's reputation.
. Traditionally, raising and financing army reserves
was a privilege of the estates, yet Frederick William envisioned a standing army financed independently of the estates. He succeeded to get the consent and necessary financial contributions of the estates in a landtag decree of 26 July 1653. In turn, he confirmed several privileges of the knights, including tax exemption, assertion of jurisdiction and police powers on their estates (Patrimonialgerichtsbarkeit) and the upholding of serfdom
(Leibeigenschaft, Bauernlegen).
Initially, the estates' contributions were limited to six years, yet the Frederick William obliged the estates to continue the payments thereafter and created a dedicated office to collect the contributions. The contributions were confirmed by the estates in 1662, but transformed in 1666 by decree from a real estate tax to an excise tax. Since 1657, the towns had to contribute not soldiers, but monetary payments to the army, and since 1665, the estates were able to free themselves from contributing soldiers by additional payments. The initial army size of 8,000 men had risen to 25,000 to 30,000 men by 1688. By then, Frederick William had also accomplished his second goal, to finance the army independently of the estates. By 1688, these military costs amounted to considerable 1,500,000 talers or half of the state budget. Ensuring a solid financial basis for the army, undisturbed by the estates, was the foremost objective of Frederick William's administrative reforms. He regarded military success as the only way to gain international reputation.
of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the following year started the Second Northern War
. Frederick William offered protection to the Royal Prussia
n towns in the Treaty of Rinsk
, but had to yield Swedish military supremacy and withdraw to his Prussian duchy. Pursued by Swedish forces to the Prussian capital
, Frederick William made peace and allied with Sweden, taking the Duchy of Prussia and Ermland (Ermeland, Warmia) as fiefs from Charles X Gustav of Sweden
in the Treaty of Königsberg
in January 1656. The alliance proved victorious in the Battle of Warsaw
in June, enhancing the elector's international reputation. Continued pressure on Charles X Gustav resulted in him conceding full sovereignty
in Ducal Prussia and Ermland to Frederick William by the Treaty of Labiau
in November to ensure the maintenance of the alliance. The Treaty of Radnot
, concluded in December by Sweden and her allies, further awarded Greater Poland
to Brandenburg-Prussia in case of a victory.
When the anti-Swedish coalition however gained the upper hand, Frederick William changed sides when Polish king John II Casimir Vasa confirmed his sovereignty in Prussia, but not in Ermland, in the Treaty of Wehlau-Bromberg in 1657. The duchy would legally revert back to Poland if the Hohenzollern dynastic line became extinct. Hohenzollern sovereignty in the Prussian duchy was confirmed in the Peace of Oliva, which ended the war in 1660. Brandenburg-Prussian campaigns in Swedish Pomerania
did not result in permanent gains.
broke out, with Brandenburg-Prussia involved as an ally of the Dutch Republic
. This alliance was based on a treaty of 1669, and resulted in French occupation of Brandenburg-Prussian Cleves
. In June 1673, Frederick William abandoned the Dutch alliance and concluded a subsidy treaty with France, who in return withdrew from Cleves. When the Holy Roman Empire
declared war on France (Reichskrieg), Brandenburg-Prussia again changed sides and joined the imperial forces. France
pressured her ally Sweden
to relieve her by attacking Brandenburg-Prussia from the north. Charles XI of Sweden
, dependent on French subsidies, reluctantly occupied the Brandenburgian Uckermark
in 1674, starting the German theater of the Scanian War
(Brandenburg-Swedish War). Frederick William reacted promptly by marching his armies from the Rhine to northern Brandenburg, and encountered the rear of the Swedish army, which was in the process of crossing a swamp, in the Battle of Fehrbellin
(1675). Though a minor skirmish from a military perspective, Frederick William's victory turned out to be of huge symbolic significance. The "Great Elector" started a counter-offensive, pursuing the retreating Swedish forces through Swedish Pomerania
.
Polish king John III Sobieski
planned to restore Polish suzerainty
over the Duchy of Prussia, and for this purpose concluded an alliance with France on 11 June 1675. France promised assistance and subsidies, while Sobieski in turn allowed French recruitment in Poland-Lithuania and promised to aid Hungarian
rebel forces who were to distract the Habsburgs from their war against France
. For this plan to work out, Poland-Lithuania had to first conclude her war against the Ottoman Empire, which French diplomacy despite great efforts failed to achieve. Furthermore, Sobieski was opposed by the Papacy, by Polish gentry who saw the Ottomans
as the greater threat, and by Polish magnate
s bribed by Berlin and Vienna
. Inner-Polish Catholic opposition to an intervention on the Protestant Hungarian rebels' side added to the resentments. Thus, while Treaty of Żurawno ended the Polish-Ottoman war in 1676, Sobieski sided with the emperor instead, and the plan for a Prussian campaign was dropped.
By 1678, Frederick William had cleared Swedish Pomerania and occupied most of it
, with the exception of Rügen
which was held by Denmark–Norway
. This was followed by another success against Sweden, when Frederick William cleared Prussia
of Swedish forces in what became known as the Great Sleigh Drive. However, when Louis XIV of France
concluded the Dutch War by the Nijmegen treaties, he marched his armies east to relieve his Swedish ally, and forced Frederick William to basically return to the status quo ante bellum
by the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679)
. Though the Scanian War resulted only in minor territorial gains, attaching a small strip of the Swedish Pomeranian right bank of the lower Oder to Brandenburg-Prussian Pomerania
, the war resulted in a huge gain of prestige for the elector.
, since 1701 also Frederick I of Prussia
, was born in Königsberg
in 1657. Already in the last years of the reign of his father, the friendly relations with France established after Saint Germain (1679)
had cooled down, not least because of the Huguenot question
. In 1686, Frederick William turned toward the Habsburg emperor
, with whom he concluded an alliance on 22 December 1686. For this alliance, Frederick William relinquished rights on Silesia
in favor of the Habsburgs, and in turn received the Silesian County of Schwiebus
which bordered the Neumark
. Frederick III, present at the negotiations as crown prince, assured the Habsburgs of the continuation of the alliance once he was in power, and secretly concluded an amendment to return Schwiebus to the Habsburgs, which he eventually did in 1694. Throughout his reign, Brandenburg-Prussia remained a Habsburg ally and repeatedly deployed troops to fight against France. In 1693, Frederick III began to sound out the possibility of an elevation of his status at the Habsburg court in Vienna
, and while the first attempt was unsuccessful, elevation to a king remained the central goal on his agenda.
The envisioned status elevation did not merely serve a decorative purpose, but was regarded a necessity to prevail in political competition. Though Frederick III held the elevated status of a prince elector, this status was also gained by Maximilian I of Bavaria
in 1623, during the Thirty Years' War
, also by the Count Palatines of the Rhine in the Peace of Westphalia
(1648), and by Ernest Augustus
of the House of Hanover
in 1692. Thus, the formerly exclusive club of the prince-electors now had nine members, six of whom were secular princes, and further changes seemed possible. Within the circle of prince-electors, August the Strong, Elector of Saxony
, had secured the Polish crown in 1697, and the House of Hanover had secured succession of the British throne
. From Frederick III's perspective, stagnation in status meant loss of power, and this perspective seemed to be confirmed when the European royals ignored Brandenburg-Prussia's claims in the Treaty of Rijswijk (1697).
With the Duchy of Prussia, Frederick III held a sovereign territory outside the Holy Roman Empire
, where he planned to crown himself king. The practicability of this plan was doubted by some of his advisors, and in any case the crown was only valuable if recognized by the European nobility, most important the Holy Roman Emperor
. In 1699, negotiations were renewed with emperor Leopold I
, who in turn was in need of allies since the War of the Spanish Succession
was about to break out. On 16 November 1700, the emperor approved Frederick's coronation in the Krontraktat ("Crown tract"). With respect to Poland-Lithuania, who held the provinces of Royal Prussia
and Ermland, it was agreed that Frederick assumed the title of a King in Prussia
, instead of King of Prussia. Great Britain
and the Dutch Republic
, for similar reasons as the emperor, accepted Frederick's elevation prior to the coronation.
On 17 January 1701, Frederick dedicated the royal coat of arms, the Prussian black eagle, and motto, "suum cuique". On 18 January, he crowned himself and his wife Sophie Charlotte
in a baroque ceremony in Königsberg Castle
.
On 28 January, August the Strong congratulated Frederick, yet not as Polish king, but as Saxon elector. In February, Denmark–Norway
accepted Frederick's elevation in hope of an ally in the Great Northern War
, and the Tsardom of Russia
likewise approved in 1701. Most princes of the Holy Roman Empire
followed. Charles XII of Sweden
accepted Frederick as Prussian king in 1703. In 1713, France
and Spain
also accepted Frederick's royal status.
The coronation was not accepted by the Teutonic Order, who despite the secularization of the Duchy of Prussia in 1525 upheld claims to the rerion. The Grand Master protested at the emperor's court, and the pope
sent a circular to all Catholic
regents to not accept Frederick's royal status. Until 1787, papal documents continued to speak of the Prussian kings as "Margraves of Brandenburg". Neither did the Polish–Lithuanian nobility accept Frederick's royal status, seeing the Polish province of Royal Prussia
endangered, and only in 1764 was the Prussian kingship accepted.
in 1538). The margraviate's liabilities and tax income as well as the margrave's finances were controlled by the Kreditwerk, an institution not controlled by the elector, and the Großer Ausschuß ("Great Committee") of the estates. This was due to concessions made by Joachim II in 1541 in turn for financial aid by the estates, however, the Kreditwerk went bankrupt between 1618 and 1625. The margraves further had to yield the veto of the estates in all issues concerning the "better or worse of the country", in all legal commitments, and in all issues concerning pawn or sale of the elector's real property.
To reduce the influence of the estates, Joachim Frederick
in 1604 created a council called Geheimer Rat für die Kurmark ("Privy Council for the Electorate"), which instead of the estates was to function as the supreme advisory council for the elector. While the council was permanently established in 1613, it failed to gain any influence until 1651 due to the Thirty Years' War
.
Until after the Thirty Years' War, the territories of Brandenburg-Prussia were politically independent from each other, connected only by the common feudal superior. Frederick William, who envisioned the transformation of the personal union
into a real union
, started to centralize the Brandenburg-Prussian government with an attempt to establish the Geheimer Rat as a central authority for all territories in 1651, but this project proved to be unfeasible. Instead, the elector continued to appoint a governor (Kurfürstlicher Rat) for each territory, who in most cases was a member of the Geheimer Rat. The most powerful institution in the territories remained the governments of the estates (Landständische Regierung, named Oberratsstube in Prussia and Geheime Landesregierung in Mark and Cleves), which were the highest government agencies regarding jurisdiction, finances and administration. The elector attempted to balance the estates' governments by creating Amtskammer chambers to administer and coordinate the elector's domains, tax income and privileges. Such chambers were introduced in Brandenburg in 1652, in Cleves and Mark in 1653, in Pomerania in 1654, in Prussia in 1661 and in Magdeburg in 1680. Also in 1680, the Kreditwerk came under the aegis of the elector.
Frederick William's excise tax (Akzise), which since 1667 replaced the property tax raised in Brandenburg for Brandenburg-Prussia's standing army with the estates' consent, was raised by the elector without consultation of the estates. The conclusion of the Second Northern War
had strengthened the elector politically, enabling him to reform the constitution of Cleves and Mark in 1660 and 1661 to introduce officials loyal to him and independent of the local estates. In the Duchy of Prussia, he confirmed the traditional privileges of the estates in 1663, but the latter accepted the caveat that these privileges were not to be used to interfere with the exertion of the elector's sovereignty. As in Brandenburg, Frederick William ignored the privilege of the Prussian estates to confirm or veto taxes raised by the elector: while in 1656, an Akzise was raised with the estates' consent, the elector by force collected taxes not approved by the Prussian estates for the first time in 1674. Since 1704, the Prussian estates had de facto relinquished their right to approve the elector's taxes while formally still entitled to do so. In 1682, the elector introduced an Akzise to Pomerania and in 1688 to Magdeburg, while in Cleves and Mark an Akzise was introduced only between 1716 and 1720. Due to Frederick William's reforms, the state income increased threefold during his reign, and the tax burden per subject reached a level twice as high as in France
.
Under the rule of Frederick III (I)
, the Brandenburg Prussian territories were de facto reduced to provinces of the monarchy
. Frederick William's testament would have divided Brandenburg-Prussia among his sons, yet firstborn Frederick III with the emperor's backing succeeded in becoming the sole ruler based on the Treaty of Gera, which forbade a division of Hohenzollern territories. In 1689, a new central chamber for all Brandenburg-Prussian territories was created, called Geheime Hofkammer (since 1713: Generalfinanzdirektorium). This chamber functioned as a superior agency of the territories' Amtskammer chambers. The General War Commissariat (Generalkriegskommissariat) emerged as a second central agency, superior to the local Kriegskommissariat agencies initially concerned with the administration of the army, but until 1712 transformed into an agency also concerned with general tax and police tasks.
(Kotulla (2008), p. 261)
In 1613, John Sigismund
converted from Lutheranism
to Calvinism
, but failed to achieve the conversion of the estates by the rule of cuius regio, eius religio
. Thus, on 5 February 1615, he granted the Lutherans religious freedom, while the electors court remained largely Calvinist. When Frederick William I rebuilt Brandenburg-Prussia's war-torn economy, he attracted settlers from all Europe, especially by offering religious asylum, most prominently by the Edict of Potsdam
which attracted more than 15,000 Huguenots.
court and port cities of Wolgast
(1631–1633) and Stettin (1633–1635), and afterwards studied at the Dutch
universities of Leyden and The Hague (1635–1638). When Frederick William became elector in 1640, he invited Dutch engineers to Brandenburg, sent Brandenburgian engineers to study in the Netherlands, and in 1646 married educated Luise Henriette of the Dutch House of Orange-Nassau
. After the Thirty Years' War
, Frederick William tried to acquire finances to rebuild the country by participating in oversea trade, and attempted to found a Brandenburg-Prussian East Indies Company. He engaged former Dutch admiral Aernoult Gijsels van Lier as advisor and tried to persuade the Holy Roman Emperor
and princes of the empire to participate. The emperor, however, declined the request as he considered it dangerous to disturb the interest of the other European powers. In 1651, Frederick William bought Danish
Fort Dansborg and Tranquebar
for 120,000 reichstalers. As Frederick William was unable to raise this sum, he asked several people and Hanseatic towns
to invest in the project, but since none of these were able or willing to give sufficient money, the treaty with Denmark was nullified in 1653.
In 1675, after the victory at Fehrbellin
and the Brandenburg-Prussian advance in Swedish Pomerania
during the Scanian War
, Frederick William decided to establish a navy. He engaged Dutch merchant and shipowner Benjamin Raule as his advisor, who after a first personal meeting with Frederick William in 1675 settled in Brandenburg in 1676 and became the major figure of Brandenburg-Prussia's emerging naval and colonial enterprise. The Brandenburg-Prussian navy was established from ten ships which Frederick William leased from Raule, and achieved first successes in the war against Sweden supporting the siege of Stralsund
and Stettin and the invasion of Rügen
. In Pillau (now Baltiysk) on the East Prussia
n coast, Raule established shipyards and enlarged the port facilities.
After the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679)
, the navy was used to hijack Swedish ships in the Baltic Sea
, and in 1680, six Brandenburg-Prussian vessels captured the Spanish
vessel Carolus Secundus near Oostende to pressure Spain to pay promised subsidies. The Spanish ship was renamed Markgraf von Brandenburg ("Margrave of Brandenburg") and became the flagship of an Atlantic
fleet that was ordered to capture Spanish vessels carrying silver; it was not successful in this mission. In the following years, the navy was expanded, and the policy of leasing ships was replaced by the policy of building or purchasing them. On 1 October 1684 Frederick William bought all ships that had been leased for 110,000 talers. Also in 1684, the East Frisia
n port of Emden
replaced Pillau as the main Brandenburg-Prussian naval base. From Pillau, part of the shipyard, the admiral's house and the wooden church of the employees was transferred to Emden. While Emden was not part of Brandenburg-Prussia, the elector owned a nearby castle, Gretsiel, and negotiated an agreement with the town to maintain a garrison and a port.
In 1679, Raule presented Frederick William a plan to establish colonies in Africa
n Guinea
, and the elector approved. In July 1680, Frederick William issued respective orders, and two ships were selected to establish trade contacts with African tribes and explore places where colonies could be established. On 17 September, frigate
Wappen von Brandenburg ("Seal of Brandenburg") and Morian (poetic for "Mohr", "Negro") left for Guinea. The ships reached Guinea in January 1681. Since the crew of the Wappen von Brandenburg sold a barrel of brandy to Africans in a territory claimed by the Dutch West Indies Company, the latter confiscated the ship in March. The crew of the remaining ship Morian managed to have three Guinean chieftains sign a contract on 16 May, before the Dutch expelled the vessel from the coastal waters. This treaty, officially declared as trade agreement, included a clause of subjection of the chiefs to Frederick William's overlordship and an agreement allowing Brandenburg-Prussia to establish a fort, and is thus regarded the beginning of the Brandenburg-Prussian colonial era.
To facilitate the colonial expeditions, the Brandenburg African Company was founded on 7 March 1682, initially with its headquarters in Berlin
and its shipyards in Pillau, since 1683 in Emden
. Throughout its existence, the company was underfunded, and expeditions were financed also by private capital, including payments by Raule and Frederick William. In July 1682, an expedition under East Prussian Otto Friedrich von der Groeben
was sent to Guinea to erect the fortress Großfriedrichsburg. On 24 February 1684, another treaty with indigenous chiefs was signed that allowed the erection of a second fort in nearby Accada (now Akwida), named Dorotheenschanze after Frederick William's second wife. On 4 February 1685, a treaty was signed with the chiefs of Taccararay (now Takoradi), some 30 kilometers east of Großfriedrichsburg. A fourth fort was built at a spring near the village of Taccrama, between Großfriedrichsburg and Dorotheenschanze, named Loge or Sophie-Louise-Schanze. Overall, the colony comprised roughly 50 kilometers of coastline, and did not extend into the hinterland.
A second colony was established at the Arguin
archipelago off the West African coast (now part of Mauritania
). In contrast to the Guinean colony, Arguin had been a colony before: In 1520, Portugal
had build a fort on the main island, which with all of Portugal came under Spanish
control in 1580. In 1638 it was conquered by the Dutch Republic
, and in 1678 by France
, who due to high maintenance costs abandoned it and demolished the fort soon after. On 27 July 1685, an expedition was mounted by Frederick William and Raule, who took possession of the vacated colony on 1 October. Subsequently, the fort was rebuild and contacts to the indigenous population established. France was alarmed and sent a vessel to re-conquer the fort in late 1687, but the attack of a French frigate and a smaller vessel was beaten back by the Brandenburg-Prussian garrison. The victory improved the relations to the indigenous people, many of whom were carried off as slaves by the French before. While Arguin did not reach the economic importance of Großfriedrichsburg, it temporarily advanced to the world's primary staple port for rubber.
, yet it lacked its own trading post in the Caribbean Sea
. In 1684, Brandenburg-Prussia was denied the purchase of the French islands Sainte Croix and Saint Vincent
. In November 1685, after a failed attempt to purchase Saint Thomas
from Denmark–Norway
, a Brandenburg-Danish agreement was reached that allowed the Brandenburg African Company to rent part of Saint Thomas as a base for 30 years, while the sovereignty remained with Denmark and administration with the Danish West Indies and Guinean Company. The first Brandenburgian vessel arrived in 1686 with 450 Slaves from Großfriedrichsburg. Brandenburg-Prussia was allotted an area near the capital city Charlotte Amalie
, called Brandenburgery, and other territories named Krum Bay and Bordeaux Estates further west. In 1688, 300 Europeans and several hundred slaves lived on the Brandenburgian estates. In November 1695, French forces looted the Brandenburgian (not the Danish) colony. In 1731, the Brandenburg-Prussian company on Saint Thomas (BAAC) became insolvent, and abandoned the island in 1735. Their last remains were sold by auction in 1738.
Brandenburg-Prussia tried to acquire Crab Island
in 1687, but the island was claimed also by Denmark, Great Britain and Spain, and when a second expedition in 1692 found the island in Danish hands, the plan was abandoned. 1689, Brandenburg-Prussia annexed Peter Island
, but the small rock proved ineligible for trade or settlement. In 1691, Brandenburg-Prussia and the Duchy of Courland agreed on a partition of Tobago
, but since Courland was no longer present on the island which was meanwhile claimed by Great Britain, the agreement was nullified, and negotiations with Great Britain did not result in an agreement. In 1695, Brandenburg-Prussia tried to get a hold of Tortola
, but Great Britain denied them settlement. Likewise, Great Britain declined an offer to purchase Sint Eustatius in 1697.
Historiography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
denomination for the Early Modern realm of the Brandenburgian
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
Hohenzollerns
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohenzollern intermarried with the branch ruling the Duchy of Prussia, and secured succession upon the latter's extinction in the male line in 1618. Another consequence of the intermarriage was the incorporation of the lower Rhenish principalities of Cleves
Duchy of Cleves
The Duchy of Cleves was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was situated in the northern Rhineland on both sides of the Lower Rhine, around its capital Cleves and the town of Wesel, bordering the lands of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster in the east and the Duchy of Brabant in the west...
, Mark and Ravensberg after the Treaty of Xanten
Treaty of Xanten
The Treaty of Xanten was signed in the Lower Rhine town of Xanten on November 12, 1614 between Wolfgang William, Duke of Palatinate-Neuburg and John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, with representatives from England and France serving as mediators....
in 1614.
By the Peace of Westphalia
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
, which ended the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
in 1648, Brandenburg gained Minden
Bishopric of Minden
The Bishopric of Minden was a Roman Catholic diocese and a state, Prince-bishopric of Minden , of the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Minden which is in modern day Germany.-History:...
and Halberstadt
Principality of Halberstadt
The Principality of Halberstadt was a state of the Holy Roman Empire ruled by Brandenburg-Prussia. It replaced the Bishopric of Halberstadt after its secularization in 1648. Its capital was Halberstadt. In 1807, the principality was made a state or regional capital of the Kingdom of Westphalia...
, also the succession in Farther Pomerania
Province of Pomerania (1653–1815)
The Province of Pomerania was a province of Brandenburg-Prussia, the later Kingdom of Prussia. After the Thirty Years' War, the province consisted of Farther Pomerania. Subsequently, the Lauenburg and Bütow Land, Draheim, and Swedish Pomerania south of the Peene river were joined into the province...
(incorporated in 1653
Treaty of Stettin (1653)
The Treaty of Stettin of 4 May 1653 settled a dispute between Brandenburg and Sweden, who both claimed succession in the Duchy of Pomerania after the extinction of the local House of Pomerania during the Thirty Years' War. Brandenburg's claims were based on the Treaty of Grimnitz , while Sweden's...
) and the Duchy of Magdeburg
Duchy of Magdeburg
The Duchy of Magdeburg was a province of Brandenburg-Prussia from 1680 to 1701 and a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1701 to 1807. It replaced the Archbishopric of Magdeburg after its secularization by Brandenburg. The duchy's capitals were Magdeburg and Halle, while Burg was another...
(incorporated in 1680). With the Treaty of Bromberg
Treaty of Bromberg
The Treaty of Bromberg or Treaty of Bydgoszcz was a treaty between John II Casimir of Poland and Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg-Prussia, ratified at Bromberg on 6 November 1657...
(1657), concluded during the Second Northern War
Second Northern War
The Second Northern War was fought between Sweden and its adversaries the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , Russia , Brandenburg-Prussia , the Habsburg Monarchy and Denmark–Norway...
, the electors were freed of Polish vassalage for the Duchy of Prussia and gained Lauenburg–Bütow
Lauenburg and Bütow Land
Lauenburg and Bütow Land formed a historical region in eastern in eastern Pomerania. Composed of two districts centered around the towns of Lauenburg and Bütow , it was on the western periphery of Pomerelia...
and Draheim
Draheim
Draheim or Drahim was a starostwo of the Kingdom of Poland from the 15th century. Pawned to Brandenburg-Prussia in 1657, it was directly incorporated into the Kingdom of Prussia in 1772.-History:...
. The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679)
Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679)
The Treaty or Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye of 19 June or 29 June 1679 was a peace treaty between France and the Electorate of Brandenburg. It restored to France's ally Sweden her dominions Bremen-Verden and Swedish Pomerania, lost to Brandenburg in the Scanian War...
expanded Brandenburgian Pomerania
Province of Pomerania (1653–1815)
The Province of Pomerania was a province of Brandenburg-Prussia, the later Kingdom of Prussia. After the Thirty Years' War, the province consisted of Farther Pomerania. Subsequently, the Lauenburg and Bütow Land, Draheim, and Swedish Pomerania south of the Peene river were joined into the province...
to the lower Oder
Oder
The Oder is a river in Central Europe. It rises in the Czech Republic and flows through western Poland, later forming of the border between Poland and Germany, part of the Oder-Neisse line...
.
The second half of the 17th century laid the basis for Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
to become one of the great players
Great power
A great power is a nation or state that has the ability to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength and diplomatic and cultural influence which may cause small powers to consider the opinions of great powers before taking actions...
in European politics later on. The emerging Brandenburg-Prussian military potential, based on the introduction of a standing army
Prussian Army
The Royal Prussian Army was the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.The Prussian Army had its roots in the meager mercenary forces of Brandenburg during the Thirty Years' War...
in 1653, was symbolized by the widely noted victories in Warsaw (1656)
Battle of Warsaw (1656)
The Battle of Warsaw was a battle which took place near Warsaw on , between the armies of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on the one hand and of Sweden and Brandenburg on the other. It was a major battle in the Second Northern War between Poland and Sweden in the period 1655–1660, also known as...
and Fehrbellin (1675)
Battle of Fehrbellin
The Battle of Fehrbellin was fought on June 18, 1675 between Swedish and Brandenburg-Prussian troops. The Swedes, under Count Waldemar von Wrangel , had invaded and occupied parts of Brandenburg from their possessions in Pomerania, but were repelled by the forces of Frederick William, the Great...
and by the Great Sleigh Drive (1678). Brandenburg-Prussia also established a navy
Brandenburg Navy
The Brandenburg Navy was the navy of the Margraviate of Brandenburg in Germany from the 16th century to 1701, when it became part of the Prussian Navy....
and colonies in the Brandenburger Gold Coast
Brandenburger Gold Coast
The Brandenburger Gold Coast, later Prussian Gold Coast, was a part of the Gold Coast. The Brandenburg colony existed from 1682 to 1717.- Brandenburger Gold Coast :...
and Arguin
Arguin
Arguin is an island off the western coast of Mauritania in the Bay of Arguin, at 20° 36' N., 16° 27' W. It is six km long by two broad. Off the island are extensive and dangerous reefs...
. Frederick William
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
|align=right|Frederick William was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia – and thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia – from 1640 until his death. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is popularly known as the "Great Elector" because of his military and political prowess...
, known as "The Great Elector", opened Brandenburg-Prussia to large-scale immigration ("Peuplierung") of mostly Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
refugees from all across Europe ("Exulanten"), most notably Huguenot immigration following the Edict of Potsdam
Edict of Potsdam
The Edict of Potsdam was a proclamation issued by Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, in Potsdam on October 29, 1685, as a response to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by the Edict of Fontainebleau.- Background :...
. Frederick William also started to centralize Brandenburg-Prussia's administration and reduce the influence of the estates.
In 1701, Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg
Frederick I of Prussia
Frederick I , of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia in personal union . The latter function he upgraded to royalty, becoming the first King in Prussia . From 1707 he was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
succeeded in elevating his status to King in Prussia
King in Prussia
King in Prussia was a title used by the Electors of Brandenburg from 1701 to 1772. Subsequently they used the title King of Prussia....
. This was made possible by the Duchy of Prussia's sovereign status outside the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, and approval by the Habsburg emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
and other European royals in the course of forming alliances for the War of the Spanish succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
and the Great Northern War
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...
. Brandenburg-Prussia is thence commonly referred to as the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
, or simply Prussia. Frederick and his successors continued to centralize and expand the state, transforming the personal union
Personal union
A personal union is the combination by which two or more different states have the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...
of politically diverse principalities typical for the Brandenburg-Prussian era into a system of provinces
Provinces of Prussia
The Provinces of Prussia constituted the main administrative divisions of Prussia. Following the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 and the Congress of Vienna in 1815 the various princely states in Germany gained their nominal sovereignty, but the reunification process that culminated in...
subordinate to Berlin.
Establishment under John Sigismund (1618)
The Margraviate of BrandenburgMargraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
had been the seat of the main branch of the Hohenzollerns, who were prince-elector
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
s in the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, since 1415. In 1525, by the Treaty of Krakow
Treaty of Kraków
Treaty of Kraków was signed on 8 April 1525 between Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights. It officially ended the Polish-Teutonic War....
, the Duchy of Prussia was created through partial secularization of the State of the Teutonic Order. It was a vassal of the Kingdom of Poland and was governed by Duke Albert of Prussia, a member of a cadet branch
Cadet branch
Cadet branch is a term in genealogy to describe the lineage of the descendants of the younger sons of a monarch or patriarch. In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets – titles, realms, fiefs, property and income – have...
of the House of Hohenzollern
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
. On behalf of her mother Elisabeth of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollern, Anna Maria of Brunswick-Calenberg became Albert's second wife in 1550, and bore him his successor Albert Frederick
Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia
Albert Frederick was duke of Prussia from 1568 until his death. He was a son of Albert of Prussia and Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He was the second and last Prussian duke of the Ansbach branch of the Hohenzollern family.-Duke of Prussia:...
. In 1563, the Brandenburgian branch of the Hohenzollern was granted the right of succession by the Polish crown. Albert Frederick became duke of Prussia after Albert's death in 1568. His mother died in the same year, and thereafter he showed signs of mental disorder. Because of the duke's illness, Prussia was governed by Albert's nephew George Frederick of Hohenzollern-Ansbach-Jägersdorf
George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
George Frederick of Brandenburg-Ansbach was Margrave of Ansbach and Bayreuth, as well as Regent of Prussia. He was the son of George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach and a member of the House of Hohenzollern...
(1577–1603). In 1573, Albert Frederick married Marie Leonore of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, with whom he had several daughters.
In 1594, Albert Frederick's then 14-year-old daughter Anna married the son of Joachim Frederick of Hohenzollern-Brandenburg
Joachim Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg
Joachim III Frederick , of the House of Hohenzollern, was Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1598 until his death.-Biography:...
, John Sigismund. The marriage ensured the right of succession in the Prussian duchy as well as in Cleves. Upon George Frederick's death in 1603, the regency of the Prussian duchy passed to Joachim Frederick. Also in 1603, the Treaty of Gera was concluded by the members of the House of Hohenzollern
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
, ruling that their territories were not to be internally divided in the future.
The Electors of Brandenburg inherited the Duchy of Prussia upon Albert Frederick's death in 1618, but the duchy continued to be held as a fief under the Polish Crown until 1656/7. Since John Sigismund had suffered a stroke in 1616 and as a consequence was severely handicapped physically as well as mentally, his wife Anna ruled the Duchy of Prussia in his name until John Sigismund died of a second stroke in 1619, aged 47.
George William, 1619–1640
George William, Elector of Brandenburg
George William of Brandenburg , of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was margrave and elector of Brandenburg and duke of Prussia from 1619 until his death. His reign was marked by ineffective governance during the Thirty Years' War...
was elector of Brandenburg and duke of Prussia. He strove, but proved unable to break the dominance of the Electorate of Saxony
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...
in the Upper Saxon Circle
Upper Saxon Circle
The Upper Saxon Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire, created in 1512.The circle was dominated by the electorate of Saxony and the electorate of Brandenburg. It further comprised the Saxon Ernestine duchies and Pomerania...
. The Brandenburg-Saxon antagonism rendered the defense of the circle ineffective, and it was subsequently overrun by Albrecht von Wallenstein
Albrecht von Wallenstein
Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein , actually von Waldstein, was a Bohemian soldier and politician, who offered his services, and an army of 30,000 to 100,000 men during the Danish period of the Thirty Years' War , to the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II...
during the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
. While George William had claimed neutrality before, the presence of Wallenstein's army forced him to join the Catholic-Imperial camp in the Treaty of Königsberg (1627) and accept garrisons. When the Swedish Empire
Swedish Empire
The Swedish Empire refers to the Kingdom of Sweden between 1561 and 1721 . During this time, Sweden was one of the great European powers. In Swedish, the period is called Stormaktstiden, literally meaning "the Great Power Era"...
entered the war
Treaty of Stettin (1630)
The Treaty of Stettin or Alliance of Stettin was the legal framework for the occupation of the Duchy of Pomerania by the Swedish Empire during the Thirty Years' War...
and advanced into Brandenburg
Battle of Frankfurt an der Oder
The Battle of Frankfurt an der Oder on 13/15 April 1631 was a battle of the Thirty Years' War, fought between the Swedish Empire and the Holy Roman Empire for the strategically important, fortified Oder crossing Frankfurt an der Oder, Brandenburg, Germany...
, George William again claimed neutrality, yet Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustav II Adolf has been widely known in English by his Latinized name Gustavus Adolphus Magnus and variously in historical writings also as Gustavus, or Gustavus the Great, or Gustav Adolph the Great,...
compelled George William to join Sweden as an ally by occupying substantial territory in Brandenburg-Prussia and concentrating an army before the town walls of Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. George William did not conclude an alliance, but granted Sweden transit rights, two fortresses and subsidies. Consequently, Roman Catholic
Catholic League (German)
The German Catholic League was initially a loose confederation of Roman Catholic German states formed on July 10, 1609 to counteract the Protestant Union , whereby the participating states concluded an alliance "for the defence of the Catholic religion and peace within the Empire." Modeled...
armies repeatedly ravaged Brandenburg and other Hohenzollern lands.
"The Great Elector", Frederick William, 1640–1688
During the Thirty Years' WarThirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, George William was succeeded by Frederick William
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
|align=right|Frederick William was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia – and thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia – from 1640 until his death. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is popularly known as the "Great Elector" because of his military and political prowess...
, born 1620, who became known as "The Great Elector" (Der Große Kurfürst). The character of the young elector had been stamped by his Calvinist
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
nurturer Calcum, a long stay in the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
during his grand tour
Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the traditional trip of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men of means. The custom flourished from about 1660 until the advent of large-scale rail transit in the 1840s, and was associated with a standard itinerary. It served as an educational rite of passage...
, and the events of the war, of which a meeting with his uncle Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustav II Adolf has been widely known in English by his Latinized name Gustavus Adolphus Magnus and variously in historical writings also as Gustavus, or Gustavus the Great, or Gustav Adolph the Great,...
in Pomerania
Treaty of Stettin (1630)
The Treaty of Stettin or Alliance of Stettin was the legal framework for the occupation of the Duchy of Pomerania by the Swedish Empire during the Thirty Years' War...
was among the most impressive.
Conclusion of the Thirty Years' War
Frederick WilliamFrederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
|align=right|Frederick William was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia – and thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia – from 1640 until his death. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is popularly known as the "Great Elector" because of his military and political prowess...
took over Brandenburg-Prussia in times of a political, economical and demographic crisis caused by the war. Upon his succession, the new elector retired the Brandenburgian army, but had an army raised again in 1643/44. Whether or not Frederick William concluded a truce and neutrality agreement with Sweden is disputed: while a relevant 1641 document exists, it was never ratified and has repeatedly been described as a falsification.
At the time, the forces of the Swedish Empire
Swedish Empire
The Swedish Empire refers to the Kingdom of Sweden between 1561 and 1721 . During this time, Sweden was one of the great European powers. In Swedish, the period is called Stormaktstiden, literally meaning "the Great Power Era"...
dominated Northern Germany, and along with her ally
Treaty of Bärwalde
The Treaty of Bärwalde of 23 January 1631 was a treaty concluding an alliance between Sweden and France during the Thirty Years' War, shortly after Sweden had invaded Northern Germany then occupied by Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor's forces...
France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Sweden became guarantee power of the Peace of Westphalia
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
in 1648. The Swedish aim of controlling the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
by establishing dominions
Dominions of Sweden
The Dominions of Sweden or Svenska besittningar were territories that historically came under control of the Swedish Crown, but never became fully integrated with Sweden. This generally meant that they were ruled by Governors-General under the Swedish monarch, but within certain limits retained...
on the coastline ("dominium maris baltici") thwarted Frederick William's ambitions to gain control over the Oder
Oder
The Oder is a river in Central Europe. It rises in the Czech Republic and flows through western Poland, later forming of the border between Poland and Germany, part of the Oder-Neisse line...
estuary with Stettin (now Szczecin) in Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
.
The Brandenburgian margraves had long sought to expand northwards
Brandenburg-Pomeranian conflict
Starting in the 12th century, the Margraviate, later Electorate of Brandenburg was in conflict with the neighboring Duchy of Pomerania over frontier territories claimed by both Brandenburg and Pomerania, and over the status of the Pomeranian duchy, which Brandenburg claimed as a fief, whereas...
, connecting land-locked Brandenburg to the Baltic Sea. The Treaty of Grimnitz
Treaty of Grimnitz
The Treaty of Grimnitz was the final settlement of a long-standing dispute between the House of Pomerania and the House of Hohenzollern regarding the legal status and succession in the Duchy of Pomerania. It renewed and amended the Treaty of Pyritz of 1493.With some formal caveats, the House of...
(1529) guaranteed Brandenburgian succession in the Duchy of Pomerania
Duchy of Pomerania
The Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania ....
upon the extinction of the local House of Pomerania
House of Pomerania
The House of Griffins or House of Pomerania, , also known as House of Greifen; House of Gryf, was a dynasty of Royal dukes that ruled the Duchy of Pomerania from the 12th century until 1637, after their power was temporarily derivated to Prussian Royal House...
, and would have come into effect by the death of Pomeranian duke Bogislaw XIV in 1637. By the Treaty of Stettin (1630)
Treaty of Stettin (1630)
The Treaty of Stettin or Alliance of Stettin was the legal framework for the occupation of the Duchy of Pomerania by the Swedish Empire during the Thirty Years' War...
however, Bogislaw XIV had also effectively handed over control of the duchy to Sweden, who refused to give in to the Brandenburgian claim. The Peace of Westphalia settled for a partition of the duchy between Brandenburg and Sweden, who determined the exact border in the Treaty of Stettin (1653)
Treaty of Stettin (1653)
The Treaty of Stettin of 4 May 1653 settled a dispute between Brandenburg and Sweden, who both claimed succession in the Duchy of Pomerania after the extinction of the local House of Pomerania during the Thirty Years' War. Brandenburg's claims were based on the Treaty of Grimnitz , while Sweden's...
. Sweden retained the western part including the lower Oder
Oder
The Oder is a river in Central Europe. It rises in the Czech Republic and flows through western Poland, later forming of the border between Poland and Germany, part of the Oder-Neisse line...
(Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania was a Dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815, situated on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held extensive control over the lands on the southern Baltic coast, including Pomerania and parts...
), while Brandenburg gained the eastern part (Farther Pomerania
Province of Pomerania (1653–1815)
The Province of Pomerania was a province of Brandenburg-Prussia, the later Kingdom of Prussia. After the Thirty Years' War, the province consisted of Farther Pomerania. Subsequently, the Lauenburg and Bütow Land, Draheim, and Swedish Pomerania south of the Peene river were joined into the province...
). Frederick William was dissatisfied by this outcome, and the acquisition of the whole Duchy of Pomerania
Duchy of Pomerania
The Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania ....
was to become one of the main goals of his foreign policy.
In the Peace of Westphalia, Frederick William was compensated for Western Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania was a Dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815, situated on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held extensive control over the lands on the southern Baltic coast, including Pomerania and parts...
with the secularized bishoprics of Halberstadt
Bishopric of Halberstadt
The Bishopric of Halberstadt was a Roman Catholic diocese from 804 until 1648 and an ecclesiastical state of the Holy Roman Empire from the late Middle Ages...
and Minden
Bishopric of Minden
The Bishopric of Minden was a Roman Catholic diocese and a state, Prince-bishopric of Minden , of the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Minden which is in modern day Germany.-History:...
and the right of succession to the likewise secularized Archbishopric of Magdeburg
Archbishopric of Magdeburg
The Archbishopric of Magdeburg was a Roman Catholic archdiocese and Prince-Bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire centered on the city of Magdeburg on the Elbe River....
. With Halberstadt, Brandenburg-Prussia also gained several smaller territories: the Lordship of Derenburg, the County of Regenstein, the Lordship of Klettenberg and the Lordship of Lohra. This was primarily due to French
Early Modern France
Kingdom of France is the early modern period of French history from the end of the 15th century to the end of the 18th century...
efforts to counterbalance the power of the Habsburg emperor by strengthening the Hohenzollern
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
, and while Frederick William valued these territories lower than Western Pomerania, they became step-stones for the creation of a closed, dominant realm in Germany in the long run.
Devastation
Of all Brandenburg-Prussian territories, the Electorate of Brandenburg was among the most devastated at the end of the Thirty Years' War. Already before the war, the population density and wealth in the electorate had been low compared to other territories of the empire, and the war had destroyed 60 towns, 48 castles and about 5,000 villages. An average of 50% of the population was dead, in some regions only 10% survived. The rural population, due to deaths and flight to the towns, had dropped from 300,000 before the war to 75,000 thereafter. In the important towns of Berlin-CöllnBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Frankfurt an der Oder, the population drop was one third and two third, respectively. Some of the territories gained after the war were likewise devastated: in Pomerania
Duchy of Pomerania
The Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania ....
, only one third of the population survived, and Magdeburg
Magdeburg
Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....
, once among the wealthiest cities of the empire, was burned down with most of the population slain
Sack of Magdeburg
The Sack of Magdeburg refers to the siege and subsequent plundering of the largely Protestant city of Magdeburg by the forces of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic League during the Thirty Years' War...
. Least hit were the Duchy of Prussia, which was only peripherally involved in the war
Polish–Swedish War (1626–1629)
The Polish–Swedish War of 1626–1629 was the fourth stage in a series of conflicts between Sweden and Poland fought in the 17th century...
, and Minden
Bishopric of Minden
The Bishopric of Minden was a Roman Catholic diocese and a state, Prince-bishopric of Minden , of the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Minden which is in modern day Germany.-History:...
.
Despite efforts to resettle the devastated territories, it took some of them until the mid-18th century to reach the pre-war population density.
Cow War
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
by invading Jülich-Berg, bordering his possessions in Cleves-Mark
Duchy of Cleves
The Duchy of Cleves was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was situated in the northern Rhineland on both sides of the Lower Rhine, around its capital Cleves and the town of Wesel, bordering the lands of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster in the east and the Duchy of Brabant in the west...
at the lower Rhine river. The Treaty of Xanten
Treaty of Xanten
The Treaty of Xanten was signed in the Lower Rhine town of Xanten on November 12, 1614 between Wolfgang William, Duke of Palatinate-Neuburg and John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, with representatives from England and France serving as mediators....
, which had ended the War of the Jülich succession
War of the Jülich Succession
The War of the Jülich Succession was a conflict that began in 1609 and ended in 1614 with the signing of the Treaty of Xanten.-Background:...
between Brandenburg and the count palatine
Count palatine
Count palatine is a high noble title, used to render several comital styles, in some cases also shortened to Palatine, which can have other meanings as well.-Comes palatinus:...
s in 1614, had partitioned the once united Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg among the bellingerents, and Jülich-Berg was since ruled by the Catholic counts of Palatinate-Neuburg
Palatinate-Neuburg
Palatinate-Neuburg is a former territory of the Holy Roman Empire, founded in 1505. Its capital was Neuburg an der Donau. Its area was about 2,750 km², with a population of some 100,000.-History:...
. After the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, Wolfgang William, Count Palatine of Neuburg, disregarded a 1647 agreement with Frederick William which had favored the Protestants in the duchies, while Frederick William insisted that the agreement be upheld. Besides these religious motives, Frederick William's invasion also aimed at territorial expansion.
The conflict had the potential to spark another international war since Wolfgang William wanted to have the still not demobilized army of Lorraine, which continued to operate in the region despite the Peace of Westphalia, to intervene on his side, and Frederick William sought support of the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
. The latter however followed a policy of neutrality and refused to aid Frederick William's campaign, which was furthermore opposed by the Imperial estates as well as the local ones. Politically isolated, Frederick William aborted the campaign after the Treaty of Cleves negotiated by Imperial mediators in October 1651. The underlying religious dispute was only solved in 1672. While military confrontations were avoided and the Brandenburg-Prussian army was primarily occupied with stealing cattle (hence the name), it considerably lowered Frederick William's reputation.
Standing army
Due to his wartime experiences, Frederick William was convinced that Brandenburg-Prussia would only prevail with a standing armyStanding army
A standing army is a professional permanent army. It is composed of full-time career soldiers and is not disbanded during times of peace. It differs from army reserves, who are activated only during wars or natural disasters...
. Traditionally, raising and financing army reserves
Military reserve force
A military reserve force is a military organization composed of citizens of a country who combine a military role or career with a civilian career. They are not normally kept under arms and their main role is to be available to fight when a nation mobilizes for total war or to defend against invasion...
was a privilege of the estates, yet Frederick William envisioned a standing army financed independently of the estates. He succeeded to get the consent and necessary financial contributions of the estates in a landtag decree of 26 July 1653. In turn, he confirmed several privileges of the knights, including tax exemption, assertion of jurisdiction and police powers on their estates (Patrimonialgerichtsbarkeit) and the upholding of serfdom
Serfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...
(Leibeigenschaft, Bauernlegen).
Initially, the estates' contributions were limited to six years, yet the Frederick William obliged the estates to continue the payments thereafter and created a dedicated office to collect the contributions. The contributions were confirmed by the estates in 1662, but transformed in 1666 by decree from a real estate tax to an excise tax. Since 1657, the towns had to contribute not soldiers, but monetary payments to the army, and since 1665, the estates were able to free themselves from contributing soldiers by additional payments. The initial army size of 8,000 men had risen to 25,000 to 30,000 men by 1688. By then, Frederick William had also accomplished his second goal, to finance the army independently of the estates. By 1688, these military costs amounted to considerable 1,500,000 talers or half of the state budget. Ensuring a solid financial basis for the army, undisturbed by the estates, was the foremost objective of Frederick William's administrative reforms. He regarded military success as the only way to gain international reputation.
Second Northern War
The Swedish invasionThe Deluge (Polish history)
The term Deluge denotes a series of mid-17th century campaigns in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In a wider sense it applies to the period between the Khmelnytsky Uprising of 1648 and the Truce of Andrusovo in 1667, thus comprising the Polish–Lithuanian theaters of the Russo-Polish and...
of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the following year started the Second Northern War
Second Northern War
The Second Northern War was fought between Sweden and its adversaries the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , Russia , Brandenburg-Prussia , the Habsburg Monarchy and Denmark–Norway...
. Frederick William offered protection to the Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia was a Region of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . Polish Prussia included Pomerelia, Chełmno Land , Malbork Voivodeship , Gdańsk , Toruń , and Elbląg . It is distinguished from Ducal Prussia...
n towns in the Treaty of Rinsk
Treaty of Rinsk
The treaty of Rinsk, concluded on 2 November / 12 November 1655, was a Ducal-Royal Prussian alliance during the Second Northern War. Frederick William I, Elector of Brandenburg and duke of Prussia, and the nobles of Royal Prussia agreed to allow Brandenburgian garrisons in Royal Prussia to defend...
, but had to yield Swedish military supremacy and withdraw to his Prussian duchy. Pursued by Swedish forces to the Prussian capital
Königsberg
Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...
, Frederick William made peace and allied with Sweden, taking the Duchy of Prussia and Ermland (Ermeland, Warmia) as fiefs from Charles X Gustav of Sweden
Charles X Gustav of Sweden
Charles X Gustav also Carl Gustav, was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg and Catherine of Sweden. After his father's death he also succeeded him as Pfalzgraf. He was married to Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp, who...
in the Treaty of Königsberg
Treaty of Königsberg (1656)
The Treaty of Königsberg was concluded on 7 January / 17 January 1656 during the Second Northern War. Frederick William I, the "Great Elector" of Brandenburg and duke of Prussia, was forced to join the Swedish camp and became a Swedish vassal for the Duchy of Prussia and Ermland...
in January 1656. The alliance proved victorious in the Battle of Warsaw
Battle of Warsaw (1656)
The Battle of Warsaw was a battle which took place near Warsaw on , between the armies of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on the one hand and of Sweden and Brandenburg on the other. It was a major battle in the Second Northern War between Poland and Sweden in the period 1655–1660, also known as...
in June, enhancing the elector's international reputation. Continued pressure on Charles X Gustav resulted in him conceding full sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
in Ducal Prussia and Ermland to Frederick William by the Treaty of Labiau
Treaty of Labiau
The Treaty of Labiau was a treaty signed between Frederick William I, Elector of Brandenburg and Charles X Gustav of Sweden on 10 November / 20 November 1656 in Labiau...
in November to ensure the maintenance of the alliance. The Treaty of Radnot
Treaty of Radnot
Treaty of Radnot was a treaty signed during the Second Northern War in Radnot in Transylvania on 6 December 1656. The treaty divided the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth between the signing parties.According to the treaty:...
, concluded in December by Sweden and her allies, further awarded Greater Poland
Greater Poland
Greater Poland or Great Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief city is Poznań.The boundaries of Greater Poland have varied somewhat throughout history...
to Brandenburg-Prussia in case of a victory.
When the anti-Swedish coalition however gained the upper hand, Frederick William changed sides when Polish king John II Casimir Vasa confirmed his sovereignty in Prussia, but not in Ermland, in the Treaty of Wehlau-Bromberg in 1657. The duchy would legally revert back to Poland if the Hohenzollern dynastic line became extinct. Hohenzollern sovereignty in the Prussian duchy was confirmed in the Peace of Oliva, which ended the war in 1660. Brandenburg-Prussian campaigns in Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania was a Dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815, situated on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held extensive control over the lands on the southern Baltic coast, including Pomerania and parts...
did not result in permanent gains.
Dutch and Scanian Wars
In 1672, the Franco-Dutch WarFranco-Dutch War
The Franco-Dutch War, often called simply the Dutch War was a war fought by France, Sweden, the Bishopric of Münster, the Archbishopric of Cologne and England against the United Netherlands, which were later joined by the Austrian Habsburg lands, Brandenburg and Spain to form a quadruple alliance...
broke out, with Brandenburg-Prussia involved as an ally of the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
. This alliance was based on a treaty of 1669, and resulted in French occupation of Brandenburg-Prussian Cleves
Duchy of Cleves
The Duchy of Cleves was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was situated in the northern Rhineland on both sides of the Lower Rhine, around its capital Cleves and the town of Wesel, bordering the lands of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster in the east and the Duchy of Brabant in the west...
. In June 1673, Frederick William abandoned the Dutch alliance and concluded a subsidy treaty with France, who in return withdrew from Cleves. When the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
declared war on France (Reichskrieg), Brandenburg-Prussia again changed sides and joined the imperial forces. France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
pressured her ally Sweden
Swedish Empire
The Swedish Empire refers to the Kingdom of Sweden between 1561 and 1721 . During this time, Sweden was one of the great European powers. In Swedish, the period is called Stormaktstiden, literally meaning "the Great Power Era"...
to relieve her by attacking Brandenburg-Prussia from the north. Charles XI of Sweden
Charles XI of Sweden
Charles XI also Carl, was King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period in Swedish history known as the Swedish empire ....
, dependent on French subsidies, reluctantly occupied the Brandenburgian Uckermark
Uckermark
Uckermark is a Kreis in the northeastern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Barnim and Oberhavel, the districts Mecklenburgische Seenplatte and Vorpommern-Greifswald in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and to the east Poland . It is the largest district of Germany areawise...
in 1674, starting the German theater of the Scanian War
Scanian War
The Scanian War was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark-Norway, Brandenburg and Sweden. It was fought mainly on Scanian soil, in the former Danish provinces along the border with Sweden and in Northern Germany...
(Brandenburg-Swedish War). Frederick William reacted promptly by marching his armies from the Rhine to northern Brandenburg, and encountered the rear of the Swedish army, which was in the process of crossing a swamp, in the Battle of Fehrbellin
Battle of Fehrbellin
The Battle of Fehrbellin was fought on June 18, 1675 between Swedish and Brandenburg-Prussian troops. The Swedes, under Count Waldemar von Wrangel , had invaded and occupied parts of Brandenburg from their possessions in Pomerania, but were repelled by the forces of Frederick William, the Great...
(1675). Though a minor skirmish from a military perspective, Frederick William's victory turned out to be of huge symbolic significance. The "Great Elector" started a counter-offensive, pursuing the retreating Swedish forces through Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania was a Dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815, situated on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held extensive control over the lands on the southern Baltic coast, including Pomerania and parts...
.
Polish king John III Sobieski
John III Sobieski
John III Sobieski was one of the most notable monarchs of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, from 1674 until his death King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Sobieski's 22-year-reign was marked by a period of the Commonwealth's stabilization, much needed after the turmoil of the Deluge and...
planned to restore Polish suzerainty
Suzerainty
Suzerainty occurs where a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary vassal state some limited domestic autonomy. The dominant entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a...
over the Duchy of Prussia, and for this purpose concluded an alliance with France on 11 June 1675. France promised assistance and subsidies, while Sobieski in turn allowed French recruitment in Poland-Lithuania and promised to aid Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
rebel forces who were to distract the Habsburgs from their war against France
Franco-Dutch War
The Franco-Dutch War, often called simply the Dutch War was a war fought by France, Sweden, the Bishopric of Münster, the Archbishopric of Cologne and England against the United Netherlands, which were later joined by the Austrian Habsburg lands, Brandenburg and Spain to form a quadruple alliance...
. For this plan to work out, Poland-Lithuania had to first conclude her war against the Ottoman Empire, which French diplomacy despite great efforts failed to achieve. Furthermore, Sobieski was opposed by the Papacy, by Polish gentry who saw the Ottomans
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
as the greater threat, and by Polish magnate
Magnate
Magnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...
s bribed by Berlin and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. Inner-Polish Catholic opposition to an intervention on the Protestant Hungarian rebels' side added to the resentments. Thus, while Treaty of Żurawno ended the Polish-Ottoman war in 1676, Sobieski sided with the emperor instead, and the plan for a Prussian campaign was dropped.
By 1678, Frederick William had cleared Swedish Pomerania and occupied most of it
Siege of Stralsund (1678)
The Siege of Stralsund was a battle between the Electorate of Brandenburg and the Swedish Empire on 10 and 11 October, 1678, during the Scanian War. After two days of bombardment, the severely devastated Swedish fortress of Stralsund surrendered to the Brandenburgers...
, with the exception of Rügen
Rügen
Rügen is Germany's largest island. Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of the Vorpommern-Rügen district of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.- Geography :Rügen is located off the north-eastern coast of Germany in the Baltic Sea...
which was held by Denmark–Norway
Denmark–Norway
Denmark–Norway is the historiographical name for a former political entity consisting of the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway, including the originally Norwegian dependencies of Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands...
. This was followed by another success against Sweden, when Frederick William cleared Prussia
Prussia (region)
Prussia is a historical region in Central Europe extending from the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea to the Masurian Lake District. It is now divided between Poland, Russia, and Lithuania...
of Swedish forces in what became known as the Great Sleigh Drive. However, when Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
concluded the Dutch War by the Nijmegen treaties, he marched his armies east to relieve his Swedish ally, and forced Frederick William to basically return to the status quo ante bellum
Status quo ante bellum
The term status quo ante bellum is Latin, meaning literally "the state in which things were before the war".The term was originally used in treaties to refer to the withdrawal of enemy troops and the restoration of prewar leadership. When used as such, it means that no side gains or loses...
by the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679)
Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679)
The Treaty or Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye of 19 June or 29 June 1679 was a peace treaty between France and the Electorate of Brandenburg. It restored to France's ally Sweden her dominions Bremen-Verden and Swedish Pomerania, lost to Brandenburg in the Scanian War...
. Though the Scanian War resulted only in minor territorial gains, attaching a small strip of the Swedish Pomeranian right bank of the lower Oder to Brandenburg-Prussian Pomerania
Province of Pomerania (1653–1815)
The Province of Pomerania was a province of Brandenburg-Prussia, the later Kingdom of Prussia. After the Thirty Years' War, the province consisted of Farther Pomerania. Subsequently, the Lauenburg and Bütow Land, Draheim, and Swedish Pomerania south of the Peene river were joined into the province...
, the war resulted in a huge gain of prestige for the elector.
Frederick III (I), 1688–1713
Frederick III of BrandenburgFrederick I of Prussia
Frederick I , of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia in personal union . The latter function he upgraded to royalty, becoming the first King in Prussia . From 1707 he was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
, since 1701 also Frederick I of Prussia
Frederick I of Prussia
Frederick I , of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia in personal union . The latter function he upgraded to royalty, becoming the first King in Prussia . From 1707 he was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
, was born in Königsberg
Königsberg
Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...
in 1657. Already in the last years of the reign of his father, the friendly relations with France established after Saint Germain (1679)
Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679)
The Treaty or Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye of 19 June or 29 June 1679 was a peace treaty between France and the Electorate of Brandenburg. It restored to France's ally Sweden her dominions Bremen-Verden and Swedish Pomerania, lost to Brandenburg in the Scanian War...
had cooled down, not least because of the Huguenot question
Edict of Potsdam
The Edict of Potsdam was a proclamation issued by Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, in Potsdam on October 29, 1685, as a response to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by the Edict of Fontainebleau.- Background :...
. In 1686, Frederick William turned toward the Habsburg emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
, with whom he concluded an alliance on 22 December 1686. For this alliance, Frederick William relinquished rights on Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
in favor of the Habsburgs, and in turn received the Silesian County of Schwiebus
Swiebodzin
Świebodzin is a town in western Poland with 21,757 inhabitants . It is the capital of Świebodzin CountyIt was formerly part of the Zielona Góra Voivodeship , a reconfiguration of the old German state of Prussia, the eastern 40% of which was inherited by Poland in 1945, and led to the expulsion of...
which bordered the Neumark
Neumark
Neumark comprised a region of the Prussian province of Brandenburg, Germany.Neumark may also refer to:* Neumark, Thuringia* Neumark, Saxony* Neumark * Nowe Miasto Lubawskie or Neumark, a town in Poland, situated at river Drwęca...
. Frederick III, present at the negotiations as crown prince, assured the Habsburgs of the continuation of the alliance once he was in power, and secretly concluded an amendment to return Schwiebus to the Habsburgs, which he eventually did in 1694. Throughout his reign, Brandenburg-Prussia remained a Habsburg ally and repeatedly deployed troops to fight against France. In 1693, Frederick III began to sound out the possibility of an elevation of his status at the Habsburg court in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, and while the first attempt was unsuccessful, elevation to a king remained the central goal on his agenda.
The envisioned status elevation did not merely serve a decorative purpose, but was regarded a necessity to prevail in political competition. Though Frederick III held the elevated status of a prince elector, this status was also gained by Maximilian I of Bavaria
Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria
Maximilian I, Duke/Elector of Bavaria , called "the Great", was a Wittelsbach ruler of Bavaria and a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire. His reign was marked by the Thirty Years' War ....
in 1623, during the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, also by the Count Palatines of the Rhine in the Peace of Westphalia
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
(1648), and by Ernest Augustus
Ernest Augustus, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Ernest Augustus was duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and ruled over the Principality of Calenberg subdivision of the duchy. He was appointed prince-elector, but died before the appointment became effective...
of the House of Hanover
House of Hanover
The House of Hanover is a deposed German royal dynasty which has ruled the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , the Kingdom of Hanover, the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
in 1692. Thus, the formerly exclusive club of the prince-electors now had nine members, six of whom were secular princes, and further changes seemed possible. Within the circle of prince-electors, August the Strong, Elector of Saxony
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...
, had secured the Polish crown in 1697, and the House of Hanover had secured succession of the British throne
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. From Frederick III's perspective, stagnation in status meant loss of power, and this perspective seemed to be confirmed when the European royals ignored Brandenburg-Prussia's claims in the Treaty of Rijswijk (1697).
With the Duchy of Prussia, Frederick III held a sovereign territory outside the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, where he planned to crown himself king. The practicability of this plan was doubted by some of his advisors, and in any case the crown was only valuable if recognized by the European nobility, most important the Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
. In 1699, negotiations were renewed with emperor Leopold I
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
| style="float:right;" | Leopold I was a Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and King of Bohemia. A member of the Habsburg family, he was the second son of Emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria...
, who in turn was in need of allies since the War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
was about to break out. On 16 November 1700, the emperor approved Frederick's coronation in the Krontraktat ("Crown tract"). With respect to Poland-Lithuania, who held the provinces of Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia was a Region of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . Polish Prussia included Pomerelia, Chełmno Land , Malbork Voivodeship , Gdańsk , Toruń , and Elbląg . It is distinguished from Ducal Prussia...
and Ermland, it was agreed that Frederick assumed the title of a King in Prussia
King in Prussia
King in Prussia was a title used by the Electors of Brandenburg from 1701 to 1772. Subsequently they used the title King of Prussia....
, instead of King of Prussia. Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
, for similar reasons as the emperor, accepted Frederick's elevation prior to the coronation.
Sophia Charlotte of Hanover
Sophia Charlotte of Hanover was the Queen consort of Prussia as wife of Frederick I of Prussia. She was the daughter of Ernst August, Elector of Hanover, and Sophia of the Palatinate...
in a baroque ceremony in Königsberg Castle
Königsberg Castle
The Königsberg Castle was a castle in Königsberg, Germany , and was one of the landmarks of the East Prussian capital Königsberg.- History :...
.
On 28 January, August the Strong congratulated Frederick, yet not as Polish king, but as Saxon elector. In February, Denmark–Norway
Denmark–Norway
Denmark–Norway is the historiographical name for a former political entity consisting of the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway, including the originally Norwegian dependencies of Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands...
accepted Frederick's elevation in hope of an ally in the Great Northern War
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...
, and the Tsardom of Russia
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia was the name of the centralized Russian state from Ivan IV's assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 till Peter the Great's foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721.From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 a year...
likewise approved in 1701. Most princes of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
followed. Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII also Carl of Sweden, , Latinized to Carolus Rex, Turkish: Demirbaş Şarl, also known as Charles the Habitué was the King of the Swedish Empire from 1697 to 1718...
accepted Frederick as Prussian king in 1703. In 1713, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
also accepted Frederick's royal status.
The coronation was not accepted by the Teutonic Order, who despite the secularization of the Duchy of Prussia in 1525 upheld claims to the rerion. The Grand Master protested at the emperor's court, and the pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
sent a circular to all Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
regents to not accept Frederick's royal status. Until 1787, papal documents continued to speak of the Prussian kings as "Margraves of Brandenburg". Neither did the Polish–Lithuanian nobility accept Frederick's royal status, seeing the Polish province of Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia was a Region of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . Polish Prussia included Pomerelia, Chełmno Land , Malbork Voivodeship , Gdańsk , Toruń , and Elbląg . It is distinguished from Ducal Prussia...
endangered, and only in 1764 was the Prussian kingship accepted.
Administration
In the mid-16th century, the margraves of Brandenburg had become highly dependent on the estates (counts, lords, knights and towns, no prelates due to the Protestant ReformationProtestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
in 1538). The margraviate's liabilities and tax income as well as the margrave's finances were controlled by the Kreditwerk, an institution not controlled by the elector, and the Großer Ausschuß ("Great Committee") of the estates. This was due to concessions made by Joachim II in 1541 in turn for financial aid by the estates, however, the Kreditwerk went bankrupt between 1618 and 1625. The margraves further had to yield the veto of the estates in all issues concerning the "better or worse of the country", in all legal commitments, and in all issues concerning pawn or sale of the elector's real property.
To reduce the influence of the estates, Joachim Frederick
Joachim Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg
Joachim III Frederick , of the House of Hohenzollern, was Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1598 until his death.-Biography:...
in 1604 created a council called Geheimer Rat für die Kurmark ("Privy Council for the Electorate"), which instead of the estates was to function as the supreme advisory council for the elector. While the council was permanently established in 1613, it failed to gain any influence until 1651 due to the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
.
Until after the Thirty Years' War, the territories of Brandenburg-Prussia were politically independent from each other, connected only by the common feudal superior. Frederick William, who envisioned the transformation of the personal union
Personal union
A personal union is the combination by which two or more different states have the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...
into a real union
Real union
Real union is a union of two or more states, which share some state institutions as in contrast to personal unions; however they are not as unified as states in a political union...
, started to centralize the Brandenburg-Prussian government with an attempt to establish the Geheimer Rat as a central authority for all territories in 1651, but this project proved to be unfeasible. Instead, the elector continued to appoint a governor (Kurfürstlicher Rat) for each territory, who in most cases was a member of the Geheimer Rat. The most powerful institution in the territories remained the governments of the estates (Landständische Regierung, named Oberratsstube in Prussia and Geheime Landesregierung in Mark and Cleves), which were the highest government agencies regarding jurisdiction, finances and administration. The elector attempted to balance the estates' governments by creating Amtskammer chambers to administer and coordinate the elector's domains, tax income and privileges. Such chambers were introduced in Brandenburg in 1652, in Cleves and Mark in 1653, in Pomerania in 1654, in Prussia in 1661 and in Magdeburg in 1680. Also in 1680, the Kreditwerk came under the aegis of the elector.
Frederick William's excise tax (Akzise), which since 1667 replaced the property tax raised in Brandenburg for Brandenburg-Prussia's standing army with the estates' consent, was raised by the elector without consultation of the estates. The conclusion of the Second Northern War
Second Northern War
The Second Northern War was fought between Sweden and its adversaries the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , Russia , Brandenburg-Prussia , the Habsburg Monarchy and Denmark–Norway...
had strengthened the elector politically, enabling him to reform the constitution of Cleves and Mark in 1660 and 1661 to introduce officials loyal to him and independent of the local estates. In the Duchy of Prussia, he confirmed the traditional privileges of the estates in 1663, but the latter accepted the caveat that these privileges were not to be used to interfere with the exertion of the elector's sovereignty. As in Brandenburg, Frederick William ignored the privilege of the Prussian estates to confirm or veto taxes raised by the elector: while in 1656, an Akzise was raised with the estates' consent, the elector by force collected taxes not approved by the Prussian estates for the first time in 1674. Since 1704, the Prussian estates had de facto relinquished their right to approve the elector's taxes while formally still entitled to do so. In 1682, the elector introduced an Akzise to Pomerania and in 1688 to Magdeburg, while in Cleves and Mark an Akzise was introduced only between 1716 and 1720. Due to Frederick William's reforms, the state income increased threefold during his reign, and the tax burden per subject reached a level twice as high as in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Under the rule of Frederick III (I)
Frederick I of Prussia
Frederick I , of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia in personal union . The latter function he upgraded to royalty, becoming the first King in Prussia . From 1707 he was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
, the Brandenburg Prussian territories were de facto reduced to provinces of the monarchy
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
. Frederick William's testament would have divided Brandenburg-Prussia among his sons, yet firstborn Frederick III with the emperor's backing succeeded in becoming the sole ruler based on the Treaty of Gera, which forbade a division of Hohenzollern territories. In 1689, a new central chamber for all Brandenburg-Prussian territories was created, called Geheime Hofkammer (since 1713: Generalfinanzdirektorium). This chamber functioned as a superior agency of the territories' Amtskammer chambers. The General War Commissariat (Generalkriegskommissariat) emerged as a second central agency, superior to the local Kriegskommissariat agencies initially concerned with the administration of the army, but until 1712 transformed into an agency also concerned with general tax and police tasks.
Map
List of territories
| Name | Year of acquisition | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Margraviate of Brandenburg Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe.... |
core territory, Holy Roman Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes... electorate Prince-elector The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an... |
|
| Duchy of Cleves Duchy of Cleves The Duchy of Cleves was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was situated in the northern Rhineland on both sides of the Lower Rhine, around its capital Cleves and the town of Wesel, bordering the lands of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster in the east and the Duchy of Brabant in the west... |
1614 | Treaty of Xanten Treaty of Xanten The Treaty of Xanten was signed in the Lower Rhine town of Xanten on November 12, 1614 between Wolfgang William, Duke of Palatinate-Neuburg and John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, with representatives from England and France serving as mediators.... |
| County of Mark | 1614 | Treaty of Xanten Treaty of Xanten The Treaty of Xanten was signed in the Lower Rhine town of Xanten on November 12, 1614 between Wolfgang William, Duke of Palatinate-Neuburg and John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, with representatives from England and France serving as mediators.... |
| County of Ravensberg | 1614 | Treaty of Xanten Treaty of Xanten The Treaty of Xanten was signed in the Lower Rhine town of Xanten on November 12, 1614 between Wolfgang William, Duke of Palatinate-Neuburg and John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, with representatives from England and France serving as mediators.... |
| Ravenstein Ravenstein, Netherlands Ravenstein is a city and a former municipality in the South of the Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant. The former municipality covered an area of 42.68 km²... |
1614 | Treaty of Xanten Treaty of Xanten The Treaty of Xanten was signed in the Lower Rhine town of Xanten on November 12, 1614 between Wolfgang William, Duke of Palatinate-Neuburg and John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, with representatives from England and France serving as mediators.... |
| Duchy of Prussia | 1618 | succession as Polish vassal, Swedish Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire refers to the Kingdom of Sweden between 1561 and 1721 . During this time, Sweden was one of the great European powers. In Swedish, the period is called Stormaktstiden, literally meaning "the Great Power Era"... vassal in 1656 (Treaty of Königsberg Treaty of Königsberg (1656) The Treaty of Königsberg was concluded on 7 January / 17 January 1656 during the Second Northern War. Frederick William I, the "Great Elector" of Brandenburg and duke of Prussia, was forced to join the Swedish camp and became a Swedish vassal for the Duchy of Prussia and Ermland... ), sovereign since 1556 (Treaty of Labiau Treaty of Labiau The Treaty of Labiau was a treaty signed between Frederick William I, Elector of Brandenburg and Charles X Gustav of Sweden on 10 November / 20 November 1656 in Labiau... with Sweden) and 1557 (Treaty of Wehlau-Bromberg with Poland-Lithuania), confirmed in 1660 by the signatories of the Peace of Oliva |
| Bishopric of Minden Bishopric of Minden The Bishopric of Minden was a Roman Catholic diocese and a state, Prince-bishopric of Minden , of the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Minden which is in modern day Germany.-History:... |
1648 | Peace of Westphalia Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the... |
| Principality of Halberstadt Principality of Halberstadt The Principality of Halberstadt was a state of the Holy Roman Empire ruled by Brandenburg-Prussia. It replaced the Bishopric of Halberstadt after its secularization in 1648. Its capital was Halberstadt. In 1807, the principality was made a state or regional capital of the Kingdom of Westphalia... |
1648 | Peace of Westphalia Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the... |
| Farther Pomerania Province of Pomerania (1653–1815) The Province of Pomerania was a province of Brandenburg-Prussia, the later Kingdom of Prussia. After the Thirty Years' War, the province consisted of Farther Pomerania. Subsequently, the Lauenburg and Bütow Land, Draheim, and Swedish Pomerania south of the Peene river were joined into the province... with Cammin |
1653 | Treaty of Grimnitz Treaty of Grimnitz The Treaty of Grimnitz was the final settlement of a long-standing dispute between the House of Pomerania and the House of Hohenzollern regarding the legal status and succession in the Duchy of Pomerania. It renewed and amended the Treaty of Pyritz of 1493.With some formal caveats, the House of... (entitlement); Peace of Westphalia Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the... (entitlement); Treaty of Stettin Treaty of Stettin (1653) The Treaty of Stettin of 4 May 1653 settled a dispute between Brandenburg and Sweden, who both claimed succession in the Duchy of Pomerania after the extinction of the local House of Pomerania during the Thirty Years' War. Brandenburg's claims were based on the Treaty of Grimnitz , while Sweden's... (incorporation); slightly enlarged by the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679) Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679) The Treaty or Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye of 19 June or 29 June 1679 was a peace treaty between France and the Electorate of Brandenburg. It restored to France's ally Sweden her dominions Bremen-Verden and Swedish Pomerania, lost to Brandenburg in the Scanian War... |
| Ermland (Ermeland, Warmia) | 1656 | Treaty of Königsberg Treaty of Königsberg (1656) The Treaty of Königsberg was concluded on 7 January / 17 January 1656 during the Second Northern War. Frederick William I, the "Great Elector" of Brandenburg and duke of Prussia, was forced to join the Swedish camp and became a Swedish vassal for the Duchy of Prussia and Ermland... (Swedish Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire refers to the Kingdom of Sweden between 1561 and 1721 . During this time, Sweden was one of the great European powers. In Swedish, the period is called Stormaktstiden, literally meaning "the Great Power Era"... fief), sovereign since 1556 (Treaty of Labiau Treaty of Labiau The Treaty of Labiau was a treaty signed between Frederick William I, Elector of Brandenburg and Charles X Gustav of Sweden on 10 November / 20 November 1656 in Labiau... ), lost in 1557 (Treaty of Wehlau-Bromberg) |
| Lauenburg and Bütow Land Lauenburg and Bütow Land Lauenburg and Bütow Land formed a historical region in eastern in eastern Pomerania. Composed of two districts centered around the towns of Lauenburg and Bütow , it was on the western periphery of Pomerelia... |
1657 | Treaty of Bromberg Treaty of Bromberg The Treaty of Bromberg or Treaty of Bydgoszcz was a treaty between John II Casimir of Poland and Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg-Prussia, ratified at Bromberg on 6 November 1657... |
| Draheim Draheim Draheim or Drahim was a starostwo of the Kingdom of Poland from the 15th century. Pawned to Brandenburg-Prussia in 1657, it was directly incorporated into the Kingdom of Prussia in 1772.-History:... |
1657 | Treaty of Bromberg Treaty of Bromberg The Treaty of Bromberg or Treaty of Bydgoszcz was a treaty between John II Casimir of Poland and Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg-Prussia, ratified at Bromberg on 6 November 1657... |
| Duchy of Magdeburg Duchy of Magdeburg The Duchy of Magdeburg was a province of Brandenburg-Prussia from 1680 to 1701 and a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1701 to 1807. It replaced the Archbishopric of Magdeburg after its secularization by Brandenburg. The duchy's capitals were Magdeburg and Halle, while Burg was another... |
1680 | succession based on an entitlement by the Peace of Westphalia Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the... |
(Kotulla (2008), p. 261)
Religion and immigration
John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg
John Sigismund was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from the House of Hohenzollern. He also served as a Duke of Prussia.-Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia:...
converted from Lutheranism
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
to Calvinism
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
, but failed to achieve the conversion of the estates by the rule of cuius regio, eius religio
Cuius regio, eius religio
Cuius regio, eius religio is a phrase in Latin translated as "Whose realm, his religion", meaning the religion of the ruler dictated the religion of the ruled...
. Thus, on 5 February 1615, he granted the Lutherans religious freedom, while the electors court remained largely Calvinist. When Frederick William I rebuilt Brandenburg-Prussia's war-torn economy, he attracted settlers from all Europe, especially by offering religious asylum, most prominently by the Edict of Potsdam
Edict of Potsdam
The Edict of Potsdam was a proclamation issued by Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, in Potsdam on October 29, 1685, as a response to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by the Edict of Fontainebleau.- Background :...
which attracted more than 15,000 Huguenots.
Navy and colonies
Brandenburg-Prussia established a navy and colonies during the reign of Frederick William. The "Great Elector" had spent part of his childhood at the PomeranianDuchy of Pomerania
The Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania ....
court and port cities of Wolgast
Wolgast
Wolgast is a town in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the bank of the river Peenestrom, vis-a-vis the island of Usedom that can be accessed by road and railway via a bascule bridge...
(1631–1633) and Stettin (1633–1635), and afterwards studied at the Dutch
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
universities of Leyden and The Hague (1635–1638). When Frederick William became elector in 1640, he invited Dutch engineers to Brandenburg, sent Brandenburgian engineers to study in the Netherlands, and in 1646 married educated Luise Henriette of the Dutch House of Orange-Nassau
House of Orange-Nassau
The House of Orange-Nassau , a branch of the European House of Nassau, has played a central role in the political life of the Netherlands — and at times in Europe — since William I of Orange organized the Dutch revolt against Spanish rule, which after the Eighty Years' War...
. After the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, Frederick William tried to acquire finances to rebuild the country by participating in oversea trade, and attempted to found a Brandenburg-Prussian East Indies Company. He engaged former Dutch admiral Aernoult Gijsels van Lier as advisor and tried to persuade the Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
and princes of the empire to participate. The emperor, however, declined the request as he considered it dangerous to disturb the interest of the other European powers. In 1651, Frederick William bought Danish
Denmark–Norway
Denmark–Norway is the historiographical name for a former political entity consisting of the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway, including the originally Norwegian dependencies of Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands...
Fort Dansborg and Tranquebar
Tranquebar
Tharangambadi is a panchayat town in Nagapattinam district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, 15 km north of Karaikal, near the mouth of a distributary of the Kaveri River. Its name means "place of the singing waves"...
for 120,000 reichstalers. As Frederick William was unable to raise this sum, he asked several people and Hanseatic towns
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
to invest in the project, but since none of these were able or willing to give sufficient money, the treaty with Denmark was nullified in 1653.
Navy
| Brandenburg-Prussian navy | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vessel type |
Count | |||||
| 1675 | 1680 | 1684 | 1689 | 1696 | 1700 | |
| frigate | 6 | 15 | 16 | 12 | 6 | 4 |
| fluyt | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Schnaue | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Galiote | 0 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| yacht | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| other | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| Source: van der Heyden (2001), p. 17. Total number of European ships in 1669: 25,000 Total number of Dutch ships in 1669: 16,000 Source: van der Heyden (2001), p. 21. |
||||||
In 1675, after the victory at Fehrbellin
Battle of Fehrbellin
The Battle of Fehrbellin was fought on June 18, 1675 between Swedish and Brandenburg-Prussian troops. The Swedes, under Count Waldemar von Wrangel , had invaded and occupied parts of Brandenburg from their possessions in Pomerania, but were repelled by the forces of Frederick William, the Great...
and the Brandenburg-Prussian advance in Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania was a Dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815, situated on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held extensive control over the lands on the southern Baltic coast, including Pomerania and parts...
during the Scanian War
Scanian War
The Scanian War was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark-Norway, Brandenburg and Sweden. It was fought mainly on Scanian soil, in the former Danish provinces along the border with Sweden and in Northern Germany...
, Frederick William decided to establish a navy. He engaged Dutch merchant and shipowner Benjamin Raule as his advisor, who after a first personal meeting with Frederick William in 1675 settled in Brandenburg in 1676 and became the major figure of Brandenburg-Prussia's emerging naval and colonial enterprise. The Brandenburg-Prussian navy was established from ten ships which Frederick William leased from Raule, and achieved first successes in the war against Sweden supporting the siege of Stralsund
Siege of Stralsund (1678)
The Siege of Stralsund was a battle between the Electorate of Brandenburg and the Swedish Empire on 10 and 11 October, 1678, during the Scanian War. After two days of bombardment, the severely devastated Swedish fortress of Stralsund surrendered to the Brandenburgers...
and Stettin and the invasion of Rügen
Rügen
Rügen is Germany's largest island. Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of the Vorpommern-Rügen district of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.- Geography :Rügen is located off the north-eastern coast of Germany in the Baltic Sea...
. In Pillau (now Baltiysk) on the East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
n coast, Raule established shipyards and enlarged the port facilities.
After the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679)
Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679)
The Treaty or Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye of 19 June or 29 June 1679 was a peace treaty between France and the Electorate of Brandenburg. It restored to France's ally Sweden her dominions Bremen-Verden and Swedish Pomerania, lost to Brandenburg in the Scanian War...
, the navy was used to hijack Swedish ships in the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
, and in 1680, six Brandenburg-Prussian vessels captured the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
vessel Carolus Secundus near Oostende to pressure Spain to pay promised subsidies. The Spanish ship was renamed Markgraf von Brandenburg ("Margrave of Brandenburg") and became the flagship of an Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
fleet that was ordered to capture Spanish vessels carrying silver; it was not successful in this mission. In the following years, the navy was expanded, and the policy of leasing ships was replaced by the policy of building or purchasing them. On 1 October 1684 Frederick William bought all ships that had been leased for 110,000 talers. Also in 1684, the East Frisia
East Frisia
East Frisia or Eastern Friesland is a coastal region in the northwest of the German federal state of Lower Saxony....
n port of Emden
Emden
Emden is a city and seaport in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia; in 2006, the city had a total population of 51,692.-History:...
replaced Pillau as the main Brandenburg-Prussian naval base. From Pillau, part of the shipyard, the admiral's house and the wooden church of the employees was transferred to Emden. While Emden was not part of Brandenburg-Prussia, the elector owned a nearby castle, Gretsiel, and negotiated an agreement with the town to maintain a garrison and a port.
West African Gold Coast (Großfriedrichsburg)
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
, and the elector approved. In July 1680, Frederick William issued respective orders, and two ships were selected to establish trade contacts with African tribes and explore places where colonies could be established. On 17 September, frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
Wappen von Brandenburg ("Seal of Brandenburg") and Morian (poetic for "Mohr", "Negro") left for Guinea. The ships reached Guinea in January 1681. Since the crew of the Wappen von Brandenburg sold a barrel of brandy to Africans in a territory claimed by the Dutch West Indies Company, the latter confiscated the ship in March. The crew of the remaining ship Morian managed to have three Guinean chieftains sign a contract on 16 May, before the Dutch expelled the vessel from the coastal waters. This treaty, officially declared as trade agreement, included a clause of subjection of the chiefs to Frederick William's overlordship and an agreement allowing Brandenburg-Prussia to establish a fort, and is thus regarded the beginning of the Brandenburg-Prussian colonial era.
To facilitate the colonial expeditions, the Brandenburg African Company was founded on 7 March 1682, initially with its headquarters in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and its shipyards in Pillau, since 1683 in Emden
Emden
Emden is a city and seaport in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia; in 2006, the city had a total population of 51,692.-History:...
. Throughout its existence, the company was underfunded, and expeditions were financed also by private capital, including payments by Raule and Frederick William. In July 1682, an expedition under East Prussian Otto Friedrich von der Groeben
Otto Friedrich von der Groeben
Otto Friedrich von der Groeben was a Prussian explorer, officer and general in Polish service.-Biography:Von der Groeben was born in Napratten to the General Georg Heinrich von der Groeben...
was sent to Guinea to erect the fortress Großfriedrichsburg. On 24 February 1684, another treaty with indigenous chiefs was signed that allowed the erection of a second fort in nearby Accada (now Akwida), named Dorotheenschanze after Frederick William's second wife. On 4 February 1685, a treaty was signed with the chiefs of Taccararay (now Takoradi), some 30 kilometers east of Großfriedrichsburg. A fourth fort was built at a spring near the village of Taccrama, between Großfriedrichsburg and Dorotheenschanze, named Loge or Sophie-Louise-Schanze. Overall, the colony comprised roughly 50 kilometers of coastline, and did not extend into the hinterland.
Arguin
Arguin
Arguin is an island off the western coast of Mauritania in the Bay of Arguin, at 20° 36' N., 16° 27' W. It is six km long by two broad. Off the island are extensive and dangerous reefs...
archipelago off the West African coast (now part of Mauritania
Mauritania
Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...
). In contrast to the Guinean colony, Arguin had been a colony before: In 1520, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
had build a fort on the main island, which with all of Portugal came under Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
control in 1580. In 1638 it was conquered by the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
, and in 1678 by France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, who due to high maintenance costs abandoned it and demolished the fort soon after. On 27 July 1685, an expedition was mounted by Frederick William and Raule, who took possession of the vacated colony on 1 October. Subsequently, the fort was rebuild and contacts to the indigenous population established. France was alarmed and sent a vessel to re-conquer the fort in late 1687, but the attack of a French frigate and a smaller vessel was beaten back by the Brandenburg-Prussian garrison. The victory improved the relations to the indigenous people, many of whom were carried off as slaves by the French before. While Arguin did not reach the economic importance of Großfriedrichsburg, it temporarily advanced to the world's primary staple port for rubber.
Caribbean
The African colonies enabled Brandenburg-Prussia to participate in the Triangular tradeTriangular trade
Triangular trade, or triangle trade, is a historical term indicating among three ports or regions. Triangular trade usually evolves when a region has export commodities that are not required in the region from which its major imports come...
, yet it lacked its own trading post in the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
. In 1684, Brandenburg-Prussia was denied the purchase of the French islands Sainte Croix and Saint Vincent
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country in the Lesser Antilles chain, namely in the southern portion of the Windward Islands, which lie at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea where the latter meets the Atlantic Ocean....
. In November 1685, after a failed attempt to purchase Saint Thomas
Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Thomas is an island in the Caribbean Sea and with the islands of Saint John, Saint Croix, and Water Island a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of...
from Denmark–Norway
Denmark–Norway
Denmark–Norway is the historiographical name for a former political entity consisting of the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway, including the originally Norwegian dependencies of Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands...
, a Brandenburg-Danish agreement was reached that allowed the Brandenburg African Company to rent part of Saint Thomas as a base for 30 years, while the sovereignty remained with Denmark and administration with the Danish West Indies and Guinean Company. The first Brandenburgian vessel arrived in 1686 with 450 Slaves from Großfriedrichsburg. Brandenburg-Prussia was allotted an area near the capital city Charlotte Amalie
Charlotte Amalie, United States Virgin Islands
-Education:St. Thomas-St. John School District serves the community. and Charlotte Amalie High School serve the area.-Gallery:-See also:* Anna's Retreat* Cruz Bay* Saint Thomas* Water Island-External links:* *...
, called Brandenburgery, and other territories named Krum Bay and Bordeaux Estates further west. In 1688, 300 Europeans and several hundred slaves lived on the Brandenburgian estates. In November 1695, French forces looted the Brandenburgian (not the Danish) colony. In 1731, the Brandenburg-Prussian company on Saint Thomas (BAAC) became insolvent, and abandoned the island in 1735. Their last remains were sold by auction in 1738.
Brandenburg-Prussia tried to acquire Crab Island
Crab Island, Guyana
Crab Island is an island located in the mouth of the Berbice River in Guyana, located at .Crab Island is so named due to the presence of numerous crabs there, and is approximately one mile in circumference. Until the British took over Berbice in 1815, the Dutch had a fort here called St. Andries....
in 1687, but the island was claimed also by Denmark, Great Britain and Spain, and when a second expedition in 1692 found the island in Danish hands, the plan was abandoned. 1689, Brandenburg-Prussia annexed Peter Island
Peter Island
The 720 hectare Peter Island, is a private island located in the British Virgin Islands , about 5.2 miles south-west from Road Harbour , Tortola...
, but the small rock proved ineligible for trade or settlement. In 1691, Brandenburg-Prussia and the Duchy of Courland agreed on a partition of Tobago
Tobago
Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt...
, but since Courland was no longer present on the island which was meanwhile claimed by Great Britain, the agreement was nullified, and negotiations with Great Britain did not result in an agreement. In 1695, Brandenburg-Prussia tried to get a hold of Tortola
Tortola
Tortola is the largest and most populated of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. Local tradition recounts that Christopher Columbus named it Tortola, meaning "land of the Turtle Dove". Columbus named the island Santa Ana...
, but Great Britain denied them settlement. Likewise, Great Britain declined an offer to purchase Sint Eustatius in 1697.