Kingdom of Prussia

Kingdom of Prussia
Königreich Preußen/Königreich Preussen
State of the German Confederation (partly, 1815–1866) State of the North German Confederation (1867–1871) Federal State of the German Empire (1871–1918)
1701–1918
Flag Royal coat of arms
Anthem Preußenlied Song of Prussia Royal anthem "Heil dir im Siegerkranz" "Hail to thee in the Victor's Crown"
The Kingdom of Prussia (dark red) at its greatest extent, after the de facto incorporation of Saxe-Lauenburg in 1866.
Capital		Berlin
Languages		Official: German Recognised:  Low German Polish Danish Frisian Lower Sorbian Kashubian
Religion		Majority: Protestant (Lutheran and Reformed; since 1817 Prussian United) Minorities:  Roman Catholic, Jewish
Government		Monarchy (Absolute before 1848;  Constitutional from 1848)
King
•	1701–1713 (first)	Frederick I
•	1888–1918 (last)	Wilhelm II
Minister-President
•	1848 (first)	Adolf Heinrich
•	1918 (last)	Maximilian William
Legislature		Landtag
•	Upper house	Herrenhaus
•	Lower house	Abgeordnetenhaus
Historical era		New Imperialism World War I
•	Coronation of Frederick I	18 January 1701
•	Battle of Jena–Auerstedt	14 October 1806
•	Congress of Vienna	9 June 1815
•	Constitution adopted	5 December 1848
•	Germany unified	18 January 1871
•	William II abdicated	28 November 1918
•	Treaty of Versailles	28 June 1919
Area
•	1910	348,779 km² (134,664 sq mi)
Population
•	1816 est.	10,349,031
•	1871 est.	24,689,000
•	1910 est.	34,472,509
Density		98.8 /km²  (256 /sq mi)
Currency		1701–1750 Reichsthaler 1750–1857 Thaler 1857–1873 Vereinsthaler 1873–1914 Goldmark 1914–1918 Papiermark
Preceded by Succeeded by Holy Roman Empire Brandenburg-Prussia Royal Prussia Free City of Danzig Swedish Pomerania Electorate of Hesse Free City of Frankfurt Duchy of Nassau Kingdom of Hanover Duchy of Holstein Duchy of Schleswig Saxe-Lauenburg Free State of Prussia
Today part of		Belgium  Czech Republic  Denmark  Germany  Lithuania  Poland  Russia
^a During the North German Confederation and German Empire (1867–1918), the Minister-President of Prussia was also the Chancellor of Germany. ^b

History of Brandenburg and Prussia
Northern March pre–12th century		Old Prussians pre–13th century
Margraviate of Brandenburg 1157–1618 (1806)		Teutonic Order 1224–1525
		Duchy of Prussia 1525–1618	Royal (Polish) Prussia 1466–1772
Brandenburg-Prussia 1618–1701
Kingdom in Prussia 1701–1772
Kingdom of Prussia 1772–1918
Free State of Prussia 1918–1947			Klaipėda Region (Lithuania) 1920–1939 / 1945–present
Brandenburg (Germany) 1947–1952 / 1990–present	Recovered Territories (Poland) 1918/1945–present	Kaliningrad Oblast (Russia) 1945–present

The Kingdom of Prussia (German: Königreich Preußen) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918 and included parts of present-day Germany, Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Denmark, Belgium and the Czech Republic. It was the driving force behind the unification of Germany in 1871 and was the leading state of the German Empire until its dissolution in 1918. Although it took its name from the region called Prussia, it was based in the Margraviate of Brandenburg, where its capital was Berlin.

The kings of Prussia were from the House of Hohenzollern. Prussia was a great power from the time it became a kingdom, through its predecessor, Brandenburg-Prussia, which became a military power under Frederick William, known as "The Great Elector". Prussia continued its rise to power under the guidance of Frederick II, more commonly known as Frederick the Great, the third son of Frederick William I. Frederick the Great was instrumental in starting the Seven Years' War, holding his own against Austria, Russia, France and Sweden and establishing Prussia’s role in the German states, as well as establishing the country as a European great power. After the might of Prussia was revealed it was considered as a major power among the German states. Throughout the next hundred years Prussia went on to win many battles. It was because of its power that Prussia continuously tried to unify all the German states under its rule.

After the Napoleonic Wars led to the creation of the German Confederation, the issue of more closely unifying the many German states caused revolution throughout the German states, with each wanting their own constitution. Attempts at creation of a federation remained unsuccessful and the German Confederation collapsed in 1866 when war ensued between its two most powerful member states, Prussia and Austria. The North German Confederation which lasted from 1867–1871, created a closer union between the Prussian-aligned states while Austria and most of Southern Germany remained independent. The North German Confederation was seen as more of an alliance of military strength in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War but many of its laws were later used in the German Empire. The German Empire lasted from 1871–1918 with the successful unification of all the German states under Prussian hegemony. This was due to the defeat of Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71. The war united all the German states against a common enemy, and with the victory came an overwhelming wave of nationalism which changed the opinions of some of those who had been against unification. In 1871, Germany unified into a single country, minus Austria and Switzerland, with Prussia the dominant power.