Historical development of Prussia

Legally speaking, Prussia does not belong to the boundary of the holy Roman Empire of Germany, only because the elector Brandenburg later merged with the Principality of Prussia, and the whole kingdom of Prussia became a part of the German Empire.

In the early Middle Ages, Prussia was a wild land. The ancient inhabitants were old Prussians, and the Prussian language used belonged to the Baltic language family, belonging to the same race as Latvians and Lithuanians. Brandenburg was built in 928 by Henry, the lion of Herzogtum Von Sachsen. Since then, it has been inherited and changed hands in different families.

The ancient inhabitants of Prussia were old Prussians, belonging to the Baltic race, belonging to the same race as Latvians and Lithuanians. /kloc-in the 0/2nd century, the German colonial movement began to enter the east coast of the Baltic Sea.

1 170, the Duke of Sobsey Law of Pomerania established his first colony in Prussia, namely the Oliwa Abbey near Danzig, which was burned down by the old Prussians in 1224.

1226, the territory of Duke Conrad (a member of Teutonic Order), son of Polish king and leader of Mazovia Principality, was also attacked by the old Prussians. Taking this as an opportunity, the Teutonic Order launched a crusade in Prussia for nearly 200 years, and successively established Torun, marienburg, Coulm and Elma forts, which conquered the areas inhabited by Prussians, and Prussia became the territory of the Teutonic Order, with Germans and others. The Teutonic Order forced him to convert to Christianity and use German.

/kloc-After the 6th century, the Prussians were assimilated by the Germans, and the Prussian language used gradually disappeared.

Prussia under the Teutonic Order nominally belongs to the papal territory, but the pope only enjoys nominal suzerainty. In order to attract settlers, the Teutonic Order established a series of free cities in its territory according to the laws of the Hanseatic League.

1379 Knights of Dayton joined the Hanseatic League.

1370, the Polish royal family lost its heir. 1386, the daughter of Polish King Hedwig married the Grand Duke of Lithuania, and Poland and Lithuania joined forces. Since then, a series of attacks against Teutonic knights guarding its harbor have begun.

In the Battle of Tannenburg on July 5, 14 10, the Teutonic Order was defeated by the joint forces of Poland and Lithuania and was forced to sign the first Torun Peace Treaty. In addition to paying 6 million Groshin compensation, it also placed Danzig under Polish sovereignty.

1466 The Teutonic Knights were defeated again and forced to cede West Prussia including Danzig and marienburg in the second Torun Peace Treaty. These areas are called "Royal Prussia". The Teutonic Order retained the remnants of Prussia, but was forced to serve the Polish king and become a vassal state of Poland.

15 12, Albert from Brandenburg was elected as the leader of the Teutonic Order. 1525, he announced his conversion to Lutheranism, thus cutting off contact with the Vatican, the nominal patriarch of the Order. Later, he announced that the Teutonic Knights were secularized and changed to Ducal Prussia. Albert became the Duke of Prussia and a secular monarch who surrendered to the highest power in Poland.

Albert Frederick, Albert's son, died childless, so the Prussian Principality was inherited by his eldest daughter's husband, John sigismund (belonging to the Hohensolen family) and established the Brandenburg-Prussia Principality. This laid the foundation for the development of Hornsolon dynasty in the future.

In the Swedish-Polish War of 1660, Friedrich William, the great elector of Brandenburg, abolished Poland's suzerainty over Prussia and established a centralized political system. Inheriting the tradition of Teutonic knights' military autocracy, Prussia's army has always been famous for its strict discipline and high education quality, especially Frederick II (that is, frederick the great) is famous for his bravery and good fighting skills. He ascended the throne in 1740, that is, seven months after he ascended the throne, and attacked Silesia, which triggered the Austrian war of succession to the throne.

Through the war, Frederick II established the personal honor of "military genius" and turned Prussia into a military country. Frederick II also accepted Voltaire's enlightenment thought, improved the judicial and educational system, encouraged freedom of religious belief, and promoted the development of science and art. ..

By the time of Frederick II's death in 1786, Prussia had become one of the European powers, and its administrative institutions were the most efficient and clean in Europe.

After Frederick II's nephew Friedrich Wilhelm Ⅱ succeeded to the throne, he directly bought the Marquis of ansbach and Marquis of Bayreuther, and carved up Poland for the second and third time.

After the French Revolution broke out, Prussia joined the anti-French alliance, but was defeated by the French army. 1795, Prussia was forced to agree to France's annexation of Prussia territory west of the Rhine. His son Friedrich Wilhelm Ⅲ (acceded to the throne in 1797) participated in the anti-French wars in 1806 and 10, and was defeated by Napoleon in Jena and forced to flee to Koenigsberg.

1807, Prussia and France concluded a peace treaty in Tilsit, Nieman River, and Prussia ceded160,000 square kilometers of land, including most of Poland's territory (the second and third partition of Poland, the southern half of Poland's territory for the first time) and all the territory west of the Elbe River, and paid reparations1300,000 francs.

After the fiasco of 1806, Prussian Prime Minister Carl Stein began to carry out reforms, including allowing citizens to participate in politics to awaken their nationalist feelings; Release serfs; Implement local autonomy; Reorganize central government agencies, etc.

Friedrich Wilhelm University was founded in Berlin on 1809, and Gerhard von scharnhorst began to reform the Prussian army. Since then, Prussia's patriotism has been high.

18 12 winter, Napoleon's army was defeated from Russia, and Prussia joined the anti-French alliance again in the following year, and declared war on France in March 18 17, 10/0/October 24, Prussia, Austria and Russia.

Pu Jun defeated the French again at Waterloo.

According to the territorial adjustment of the Vienna Conference, Prussia's territory extended from the Meirmaier River to the Rhine River, becoming the only powerful country with German-speaking residents in the German Confederation and one of the European powers.

1834, Prussia established the German Customs Union in Germany, and all German states joined the Union except Austria and Hamburg.

During the European Revolution in 1848, King Friedrich William IV announced the establishment of a "free government". Convened a constitutional convention and refused to accept the title of "German Emperor" given by the German Confederation Parliament. However, after the European Revolution in 1848, Frederick William IV returned to autocratic rule.

1857 Frederick William IV suffers from mental illness, and his brother William is the Regent.

Frederick William IV died in 186 1 year, and the Regent ascended the throne, known as William I in history.

1862 On September 22nd, William I appointed Bismarck as Prime Minister. After Bismarck came to power, he set out to plan the great cause of German reunification. Bismarck advocated the establishment of a "small Germany" that excluded Austria.

Prussia defeated Denmark and Austria in 1864 and 1866, led the northern German federation and the southern German states in 1870, and now defeated France.

187 1 year1August, that is, the 70th anniversary of the founding of the kingdom of Prussia/kloc-0, William I ascended the throne in the mirror hall of the Palace of Versailles, France, became the emperor of the German Empire, and announced the establishment of the German Empire headed by the kingdom of Prussia, the so-called Das zweitreich.

1888, William I's son Frederick III died after 99 days in office, and his grandson William II became the third emperor of the German Empire. Its rule ended in Germany's defeat in the First World War.

1918165438+1On October 7th, a revolution took place in Bavaria and the king abdicated. A revolution broke out in Berlin immediately, demanding that the Kaiser abdicate. At that time, William II personally commanded the battle in the German base camp in Siba, Belgium. After learning about the revolution, he tried to give up the title of German emperor and keep the title of Prussian king, but the army commander Hindenburg advised him to abdicate completely.

In order to avoid further turmoil, German Chancellor Prince Max von Baden announced that the Kaiser abdicated before noon on1October 9, 165438, and handed over the post of Chancellor to German Social Democratic Party leader friedrich ebert on the same day. William II went into exile in Holland, and the German Empire and Prussia Kingdom perished. 165438+1October 1 1, Germany surrendered to the allied forces. Due to the civil war between the Spartan Corps and the provisional government of the Berlin Social Democratic Party, Albert convened the National Assembly in Weimar in 19 19, and adopted the interim German Constitution Weimar Constitution in February 10. According to Weimar Constitution, Prussia became a state of Germany, namely "Freistaat Preussisch", which practiced local autonomy and its territory was the territory of the former Prussian Kingdom.

/kloc-in the 1920s, the government of the Prussian Free State was mostly led by the German Social Democratic Party and the Catholic Central Party. 1932, the Nazi Party gained an advantage in the elections of the German Parliament and Prussia. Hermann G?ring became the Speaker of the German Parliament and the Speaker of Prussia, and mastered the Prussian Ministry of the Interior and the police. 193365438+1October 30th, when the Nazi Party came to power, the German local autonomy system was abolished, the Prussian Constitution was abolished, the national parliament and legislature were dissolved, and only the administrative units were left.

During the Second World War, the leaders of the Allies and the Soviet Union reached a consensus after many meetings that Prussia was the birthplace of German militarism, the base camp of German officers and brave nobles, and the source of German autocratic and aggressive thoughts, which must be eliminated. American President Roosevelt said at the Tehran Conference that "Prussia should be reduced and weakened as much as possible", while Churchill thought that "Prussia, the evil core of German militarism, must be separated from the rest of Germany". The Yalta Conference and the Potsdam Conference established the principle that East Prussia should be merged into Poland and the Soviet Union, and the post-war Prussian organizational system in Germany should be abolished.

1On February 25th, 947, the allied Kontrol Kouncil officially ordered the abolition of the Prussian organizational system. (Order No.46) The territory of the former Prussian State was incorporated into Poland and the Soviet Union, as well as the occupied areas of Britain, France, the United States and the Soviet Union. The property of the former Prussian national government was divided between the Allies and the Soviet Union.

1949 After the establishment of the German Democratic Republic, Brandenburg, Saxony-anhalt and the eastern half of mecklenburg-Western Pomerania were established in the former Prussian territory (1952, the German Democratic Republic abolished the state-level organizational system and set up special zones). In the Federal Republic of Germany, the states established in the former Prussian territory include North Rhine-westfalen and Schleswig-Holstein. In addition, Lower Saxony, rheinland-pfalz, Hesse, Baden-Wü rttemberg and Saarland all have former Prussian kingdoms and Prussian territories. In Prussia, which was merged into Poland and the Soviet Union, German residents have basically been moved out. The following is the king of Prussia. Prussia was upgraded to a kingdom during Frederick I's reign. Because he promised to help Leopold I, the holy Roman emperor, the emperor changed his title from Elector to King. Prior to this, Prussia had established the Polish Prussian Principality and later merged with Brandenburg.

All Prussian monarchs belong to the Hornsauron dynasty.

Formal king

Frederick I reigned 170 1 year-17 13 years.

Frederick William I reigned in 17 13- 1740.

Frederick II (the Great) reigned from 1740 to 1786.

Friedrich Wilhelm Ⅱ ruled from 1786 to 1797.

Friedrich Wilhelm Ⅲ ruled from 1797 to 1840.

Frederick William IV was in office for 1840- 186 1 year.

William I was in office for 186 1 year-1888.

Frederick III (Emperor of the Hundred Days) reigned 1888.

William II was in office for 1888- 19 18.

Heir to the Prussian throne

William II 19 18- 1940

Wilhelm von Preu?en 1940- 195 1 year.

Prince Louis Ferdinand 195 1 year-1994.

Prince George Friedrich Ferdinand Prinz von Preu?en 1994 to the present Prussian kingdom (German: K? Graetsch Preu? En) is an important era in German history. The head of state is called the King of Prussia (German: K&; Ouml Nagel von Pru & ampszligEn), all Prussian kings belong to the Hohenzollern dynasty (HausHohenzollern in German).

A.D. 170 1 year, he was the great elector of Brandenburg and the Duke of Prussia (German: Mark Graf von Brandenburg-Hertz &; Oumlgevon Preu & ampszligEn) Friedrich III supported the Habsburg dynasty in Austria to declare war on the French Bourbon dynasty in exchange for the recognition of Leopold I, the holy Roman emperor, and established the Prussian Principality (German: Herzog Tum Preu &；; SzligEn) was promoted to Prussia. In 65438+ 18 10, Frederick III was crowned King Frederick I of Prussia in Konigsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia). After that, he took an active part in the Spanish war of succession to the throne, continuously expanded his territory, and obtained Lingen, Mills, Shanggden, Newburg and other places. In addition, he also bought Tecklenburg and quedlinburg, which laid the foundation for Prussia to compete for European hegemony. Prussia's glorious history of more than 200 years began.

1850, the German Bundestag once awarded the title of King and Emperor of Prussia, but it was rejected. 187 1 After the Franco-Prussian War, a unified German Empire (German: Deutsches Kaiserreich) was established with Prussia as the center. 187 1 year, King William I of Prussia was crowned "German Emperor" at the Palace of Versailles on the outskirts of Paris.

1990, the merger of East and West Germany was called Germany.

1947 On February 25th, the United Nations Management Committee issued Order No.47, announcing that Prussia was officially extinct and no longer existed.

List of Prussian Kings:

Frederick I (German: friedrich wilhelm von hohenzollern) reigned 170 1 year-17 13 years.

Frederick William I (German: Friedrich William I) was in office on 17 13- 1740.

The reign time of Frederick II (frederick the great) 1740- 1786.

Friedrich Wilhelm Ⅱ (German: Friedrich William II) reigned in 1786- 1797.

Friedrich Wilhelm Ⅲ (German: Friedrich William III) reigned in 1797- 1840.

Frederick William IV (German: Friedrich William IV) was in office 1840- 186 1 year.

William I (German: William I) was in office 186 1 year-1888.

Frederick III (Emperor of the Hundred Days) (German: Friedrich III, full name Friedrich Wilhelm NikolausKarl)1888 reigned.

William II (German: William II) was in office on 1888- 19 18.

Heir to the Prussian throne

William II 19 18-1940

Wilhelm von Preu?en 1940-195 1 year.

Prince Louis Ferdinand 195 1 year-1994.

Prince George Friedrich Ferdinand Prinz von Preu?en 1994 till now.