Concept in Definition ABC

Architect of German unification, great military power that helped defeat Napoleon, blamed for the First World War, and whose shadow still lingers. would extend over the Second, Prussia was a state entity, now defunct, which influenced the configuration of the current European map and whose name still today fascinates.

What we now commonly know by the name of Prussia is the Kingdom of Prussia that dates back to the 18th century, but has its roots in the Baltic tribe of the Prussians.

These inhabited the region from the second to the seventeenth century, and were not Germanic. It would be from the thirteenth century, and within the framework of the Baltic crusades, that they would be conquered by the Teutonic Order and Christianized at the force.

The Teutonic kingdom, established in the territories that would later be Prussia in 1224 and that would reach 1525, would be the direct precedent of what we know historically today as Prussia.

It was during this reign that waves of Germanic immigrants began to displace the

population Prussia of Baltic origin native to the area.

Due to its conflicts with Poland and the Baltic tribes, the kingdom of the Teutons expanded militarily before going into decline, a process for which the date of 1410 is taken, the year in which the Battle of Grunwald was fought, which resulted in a Teutonic defeat against combined forces Polish-Lithuanian.

Divided the ancient kingdom of the Teutons, the territory It goes through various phases and under different names and control until it reaches, in 1701, the formation of the Kingdom of Prussia, which will be what we usually refer to as simply Prussia.

In 1701, the one who would be Frederick I of Prussia, of the Hohenzollern house, obtained permission from the Emperor Leopold I of the Holy Empire to be crowned King of Prussia, thus beginning what would be the most influential kingdom of the kingdoms Germans.

It was not yet a power, not even in the making, but rather the opposite, a rather poor territory, but one that would eventually come forward with a determination that would know no limits.

Berlin, the future capital of Germany, was also so since the royal period of the Kingdom of Prussia, although it was not yet the great European capital that it is today.

The defeat of Sweden in the Northern War at the hands of several countries, including Prussia, allowed the new kingdom to begin to have its area of ​​influence in the Baltic.

Sweden had been the hegemonic power in the region until then, but with her defeat in Poltava, she began a path of regression that left, in turn, the free way for other kingdoms (among which was Prussia) to expand their natural space and gain more influence.

It would be Frederick II "the great" who, honoring his nickname, made Prussia begin to shine in the international concert.

Frederick II had acceded to the Prussian throne in 1740, and the first objective he set was to expand territories at the expense of Austria, beginning with Silesia and a failed attempt to annex Bohemia, although the latter led to Prussia expanding some territories.

The zenith of the reign of Frederick II would be the Seven Years' War, in which Prussia would face, in manifest numerical inferiority, the powers of Austria, Russia, Sweden and France.

On the brink of defeat and invasion several times, Prussia not only managed to reach the zenith in the field of battle, but also in the diplomatic section, removing first Russia from the contest and then France.

With this, the small Central European kingdom, increasingly grown, earned the respect of the powers of the old continent, beginning to exert a growing influence among the Germanic kingdoms.

under the command of Frederick II, Prussia also participated in the first partition of Poland along with Austria and Russia.

Frederick William II, nephew and heir to the throne of Frederick II, participated in two more partitions of the Polish kingdom, thus further enlarging the Prussian dominions.

Another key moment in Prussian history was its intervention against France in the Revolutionary Wars first, and in the Napoleonic later.

In these, Prussia began being defeated, although in the end it would be among the victorious nations that finally defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.

Prussia had to endure the division of her lands, such as those won in the partitions of Poland, which were ceded by Napoleon to the Duchy of Warsaw, and occupation by Gallic troops, although it continued to exist as kingdom.

However, that first defeat was a catalyst that enabled the Prussian leadership to grasp the need to reform the state.

This was a process that affected all social layers, from the public management model, to the education and, above all, the army, with the introduction of compulsory military service.

Science and technology were also seen as key fields to ensure the future viability of the country and its enrichment in every way.

The opportunity for Prussia to "strike back" at the Gauls arose with Napoleon's military defeat in Russia.

After the defeat of the French emperor, Prussia regained lost territories and even (and thanks to the skills negotiators of the Prussian representatives in the Congress of Vienna), she was able to achieve some gains between the territories Germans.

The kingdom would also be one of the most influential voices in the recently created German Confederation, an entity that would exist until the Austrian defeat in 1866 at the hands of Prussia.

We can also go back to the end of the Napoleonic Wars to find the origin of the will, on the part of Prussia, to lead the unification of Germany into a single state.

Atomized in small kingdoms and states, what now Germany, together with Austria (with which it shares a language with its respective dialect variants, as well as political influences throughout their long histories), they understood that they shared a common past and culture, so there was a desire for unification politics. It was only possible to know who would lead it.

Along with Prussia, Austria also wanted to lead this unification.

Before, the revolutionary wave that would shake Europe in 1848, would also pass through Prussia, affecting for example Berlin.

Although the consequences of this revolution would be toned down, they would also impact and influence Prussian society, resulting in greater popular support for the ideal of German unification.

In 1848 the First Shleswig War also broke out, one of the two duchies that Prussia fought with Denmark, with a second war in 1864.

The able Prussian Chancellor, Otto Von Bismarck, maneuvered to receive the support of the Diets of Frankfurt and Austria in this confrontation, dividing both involved duchies (the aforementioned Schleswig for Prussia, and Holstein for Austria.

The Austrian possession of Holstein would be the reason for another military confrontation, this time with Austria.

As the victor of the latter, the so-called Austro-Prussian War, Prussia got rid of the Austrian crown for control of Germany, and there was only one left before it. threat: France.

The new imperial France, led by Napoleon III, also had interests in German territory and, more than that, did not want Austria or that Prussia could crown German unification to ensure that they would not have a strong state as their neighbor, which could pose a threat to their safety (as indeed in the end it would be demonstrated).

The casus belli employed was the succession to the throne of Spain.

It was France that declared war in July 1870, although the situation was produced by Bismarck manipulating the situation through the famous "Ems telegram."

The military campaign proved disastrous for the Gallic arms; more technically advanced, with a more efficient recruitment system and a highly developed rail network that allowed them to mobilize troops with greater Quickly, the Prussians put more troops on the ground, while France, mobilizing fewer men, divided its troops dangerously into three separated.

Although the French army took the initiative attacking German soil, soon the tables turned, and the troops were Prussians (supported by those of the rest of the Germanic confederation) which entered French territory to invade the country.

In Sedan the fate of the war was decided, with a battle that would be favorable to the combined arms of Prussia and the rest of the German states.

To further Gallic disgrace, Emperor Napoleon III fell prisoner of the Germans, and despite the fact that in Paris the Third French Republic was proclaimed and resistance was attempted, all was in vain.

The maximum humiliation would occur on January 18, 1871, when the King of Prussia, William I was proclaimed Emperor of Germany (kaiser) in the gallery of mirrors of the palace of Versailles, an affront that the French would not forget for many decades.

At this point, the history of Prussia becomes blurred and intermingles with that of Germany.

The new state inherits many of the characteristics that marked the Prussian existence, and although Prussia, as a political entity, will continue existing within Germany (as a kingdom until 1918 and as a state until 1947), little by little the Prussian reality will fade into reality German.

The territorial losses of the First World War first, and the Second World War later, will lead to historically Prussian territories to the Polish state, thereby helping to dilute Prussia in Germany.

Today there is no political entity in Germany that can be considered a direct heir to Prussia. Berlin, the Prussian capital, is also the capital of Germany.

Photos: Fotolia - Juulijs / Orion_eff

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