Encyclopedia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a
kingdom from 1701 to 1918 and, from 1871, was the leading state of the
German Empire, comprising almost two-thirds of the area of the Empire.
History
Growth of Brandenburg
Frederick William, the "Great Elector" of
Brandenburg-Prussia, died in 1688. His possessions passed to his son Frederick III who became King
Frederick I of Prussia . With the exception of
Ducal Prussia, all of Brandenburg's lands were a part of the
Holy Roman Empire, by this time under the all but hereditary nominal rule of the House of
Habsburg. Since there was only one King of the Germans within the Empire, Frederick gained the assent of Emperor
Leopold I to his adoption of the title of "King in Prussia" based on his non-Imperial territories. The title came into general acceptance with the Treaty of Utrecht .
Sweden's defeat by
Russia,
Saxony,
Poland,
Denmark-
Norway,
Hanover, and Prussia in the
Great Northern War marked the end of significant Swedish power on the southern shores of the
Baltic Sea. In the Prusso-Swedish Treaty of Stockholm , Prussia regained Stettin and other parts of Sweden's holding in
Pomerania. The
Hohenzollerns of
Brandenburg had held the reversion to the Duchy of Pomerania since 1472. .
During this time, the trends set in motion by the Great Elector reached their culmination, as the Junkers, the landed aristocracy, were welded to the army.
Silesian Wars
In 1740, King
Frederick II came to the throne. Using the pretext of a 1537 treaty by which parts of
Silesia were to pass to
Brandenburg after the extinction of its ruling
Piast dynasty, Frederick invaded Silesia, thereby beginning the War of the Austrian Succession. After rapidly occupying Silesia, Frederick offered to protect Archduchess
Maria Theresa of Austria if the province were turned over to him. The offer was rejected, but Austria faced several other opponents, and Frederick was eventually able to gain formal cession with the Treaty of Berlin in 1742.
To the surprise of many, Austria managed to renew the war successfully. In 1744 Frederick invaded again to forestall reprisals and to claim, this time, the province of
Bohemia. He failed, but
French pressure on Austria's ally
Great Britain led to a series of treaties and compromises, culminating in the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle that restored peace and left Prussia in possession of most of Silesia.
Humiliated by the cession of Silesia, Austria worked to secure an alliance with France and Russia, while Prussia drifted into the Great Britain's camp . When Frederick preemptively invaded Saxony and Bohemia over the course of a few months in 1756-1757, he initiated the
Seven Years' War.
This war was a desperate struggle for the Prussians, and the fact that they managed to fight much of Europe to a draw bears witness to Frederick's military skills. Facing Austria, Russia, France and Sweden simultaneously, and with only Hanover as notable allies, Frederick managed to prevent serious invasion until October 1760, when the Russian army briefly occupied
Berlin and
Königsberg. The situation became progressively grimmer, however, until the death of Empress
Elizabeth of Russia. The accession of the prussophile
Peter III relieved the pressure on the eastern front. Sweden also exited the war at about the same time.
Defeating the Austrian army at the Battle of Burkersdorf, and relying on continuing British success against France in the war's colonial theatres, Prussia was finally able to force a
status quo ante bellum on the continent. This result confirmed Prussia's major role within the German states and established the country as a European
great power. Frederick, appalled by the near-defeat of Prussia, lived out his days as a much more peaceable ruler.
Partitions of Poland
To the east and south of Prussia, the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had gradually weakened during the 18th century. Alarmed by increasing Russian influences in Polish affairs and by a possible expansion of the
Russian Empire, Frederick took part in the first of the
Partitions of Poland between Russia, Prussia, and Austria in 1772 to unite mantain a balance of power. The Kingdom of Prussia annexed most of the Polish province of
Royal Prussia, including
Warmia; the annexed land was organized the following year into the Province of West Prussia . The new territory connected
East Prussia with
Pomerania , uniting the kingdom's eastern territories. After Frederick died in 1786, his nephew
Fredrick William II continued the partitions, gaining a large part of western Poland in 1793 and a large area to the south of East Prussia in 1795, when the Polish kingdom ceased to exist. These new territories were organized into the Provinces of New Silesia ,
South Prussia , and
New East Prussia .
Napoleonic Wars
In 1806 the
Holy Roman Empire was abolished as a result of
Napoleon's victories over Austria. The title of
Kurfürst of Brandenburg became meaningless, and was dropped. Before this time, the Hohenzollern sovereign had held many titles and hats, from Head of the Evangelical Church to King, Elector, Grand Duke, Duke for the various regions and realms under his rule. After 1806, he simply was King of Prussia.
As a result of Prussia's defeat in the
Battle of Jena-Auerstedt in 1806, King
Frederick William III lost all his lands west of the
Elbe River; the remainder of the Kingdom was occupied by French troops. After Napoleon's defeat, however, Prussia regained most of its lost territories and considerably more, including 40% of
Saxony and much of the Rhineland. Much of the territory annexed in the Third Partition of Poland was granted to
Congress Poland under Russian rule. Most of the Kingdom, aside from the provinces of
East Prussia, West Prussia, and the
Grand Duchy of Poznan, became part of the new
German Confederation, which replaced the defunct Holy Roman Empire.
Imperial Germany
Under the leadership of Prime Minister
Otto von Bismarck, Prussia's military victories in the
Second War of Schleswig , the
Austro-Prussian War , and the
Franco-Prussian War allowed the creation of the
German Empire and the
Unification of Germany in 1871. The Kingdom of Prussia became the leading power within Germany. and constituted the majority of its territory, while its kings became German Emperors . With the abdication of
Wilhelm II of Germany in 1918, the Kingdom of Prussia was dissolved and replaced with the Free State of Prussia.
See also
