Prussia

The word Prussia (German: Preußen, Polish: Prusy, Lithuanian: Pr?sai, Latin: Borussia) has had various (often contradictory) meanings:

Related Topics:
German - Polish - Lithuanian - Latin

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• The land of the Baltic Prussians (in what is now parts of southern Lithuania, the Kaliningrad exclave of Russia and north-eastern Poland);
• The Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights;
• Part of the lands of the Polish Crown called Royal Prussia;
• A Polish fief ruled by the Hohenzollern dynasty and called Ducal Prussia;
• The entire Hohenzollern realm, whether within or outside Germany proper;
• An independent state, from the 17th century until 1871;
• The largest territorial unit within Germany from 1871 to 1945.

Prussia as a state was de facto abolished by the Nazis in 1934, de jure by the Allied Powers in 1947. Since then, the term's relevance has been limited to historical, geographical or cultural usages.

Related Topics:
1934 - 1947

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The name Prussia derives from the Prussians, a Baltic people related to the Lithuanians. Ducal Prussia was a dependency of the Kingdom of Poland until 1660, and Royal Prussia remained a part of Poland until 1772. With the growth of German cultural nationalism in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, most German-speaking Prussians came to consider themselves to be part of the German nation, often underlining what were seen as the Prussian virtues: perfect organization, sacrifice, the rule of law. From the late 18th century the expanded Prussia dominated North Germany politically, economically and in terms of population size, and was the core of the unified German Empire formed in 1871.

Related Topics:
Prussians - Baltic - Lithuanians - Ducal Prussia - Kingdom of Poland - 1660 - Royal Prussia - 1772 - Nationalism - 18th century - German Empire - 1871

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Prussia: Geography ►