PRUSSIA 



6372 



PRUSSIA 



PRUSSIA: MONARCHY AND REPUBLIC 



C. O. Robertson, M.A., Principal of Birmingham University 



This Encyclopedia contains articles on the cities, towns, rivers, etc., of 

 Prussia, e.g. Berlin . Oder. See Germany ; Hohenzollern ; and the 

 biographies of Frederick the Great, Moltke, and other Prussian 

 kings and soldiers ; also Franco- Prussian War ; Seven Weeks' War 



Prussia is a republic of Europe, 

 the largest state of the German 

 Reich. Before 1918 it was a king- 

 v 7 dom in the Ger- 

 man Empire. Its 

 area is approxi- 

 mately 113.000 

 s q. m., being 

 about 20,000 

 sq. m. less than 

 before the Great 

 War, and the 

 population of 

 about 37,000.000 

 shows a loss of about 4,000,000. 

 It is divided into 14 provinces, of 

 which Berlin forms one. Berlin is 

 the capital and the largest town ; 

 other large places are Cologne, 

 Breslau, Essen, Frankfort, Duis- 

 burg, Konigsberg, Stettin, and Kiel. 

 . Prussia occupies broadly the 

 area of the central lowlands in the 

 N.W. of Europe. It marches with 

 the Netherlands and Belgium on 

 the W., with other German re- 

 publics and Czecho-Slovakia on 

 the S., and with Poland on the E. 

 It comprises nearly the whole of 

 the German coastal areas on the 

 North and Baltic Seas. The prov. 

 of E. Prussia is a detached area be- 

 tween the Baltic Sea and Poland. 

 Prussia includes the S. part of 

 Schleswig-Holstein, a large part of 

 the Rhine valley, the rich mineral 

 district of Westphalia, Hanover, 

 much of what was once part of 

 Saxony, Pomerania and most of 

 Silesia (q.v.). The chief rivers are 

 the Rhine, Elbe, Oder and Weser. 

 Prussia's chief industrial areas are 

 Westphalia and Silesia with their 

 rich coal and iron mines, and large 

 manufacturing centres. Agri- 

 culture is widely practised. 



Constitution ol the Republic 

 Prussia was declared a republic 

 in Nov., 1918, and the present con- 

 stitution was adopted in Nov., 1920. 

 The state is a republic and each 

 citizen, of either sex, and, in 

 general, 20 years of age, shares in 

 the direct, secret and equal suffrage. 

 The diet (Landtag) is elected by 

 proportional representation and 

 direct and secret ballot ; in Feb., 

 1921, of 428 members, there were 

 114 majority socialists, 81 centre 

 Catholics, 75 national German 

 party, 58 German people's party, 

 and 100 representing other groups. 

 A state council (Staatsrat) elected 

 by the provincial assemblies on a 

 basis of one representative per 

 50,000 pop. has the right of re- 

 jecting legislation formulated by 



the diet. The ministry exercises 

 the powers formerly wielded by the 

 sovereign ; the premier is elected 

 by the diet. Prussia had, in 1921, 

 22 of the 55 members of the Reichs- 

 rat of the German republic. 

 Development o! the State 

 The history of the development 

 of the modern Prussian state falls 

 broadly into six main phases : (1) 

 The period anterior to the vesting 

 of the first Hohenzollern elector 

 with the mark of Brandenburg 

 (1415) ; (2) the period of the Re- 

 naissance, Reformation, and Thirty 

 Years' War, 1415 to 1640; (3) the 

 period of the Hohenzollern rule 

 from the Great Elector (1640) to 

 the death of Frederick the Great 

 (1786), in which Prussia became a 

 monarchical and military state of 

 the first rank; (4) the Prussian 

 monarchy from 1786 to the death 

 of Frederick William III (1840) ; 



(5) the age of the Revolution, of 

 William I and Bismarck (1840- 

 1890), in which Prussia established 

 a Prussian supremacy in Germany ; 



(6) the personal rule of the Emperor 

 William II, actually from 1890, 

 when Bismarck was compelled to 

 resign, to Nov. 13, 1918, when he 

 abdicated. 



Historic Prussia starts with the 

 electorship of Brandenburg, by im- 

 perial grant to the first Hohen- 

 zollern, Frederick I. Strictly speak- 

 ing, Brandenburg-Prussia did not 

 exist until 1660 ; but the nucleus 

 and basis of the modern Prussian 

 monarchy and state were laid in 

 the consolidating achievement of 

 the Hohenzollern electors between 

 1415 and 1618. Four points are of 

 especial importance : ( 1 ) The con- 

 version of the electors to the Pro- 

 testant Reformation, by which 

 Brandenburg henceforward ranked 

 as a Protestant state ; (2) the 

 Dispositio Achillea, by which the 

 division or alienation of the elect- 

 orate was forbidden ; (3) the claim 

 to the succession of the duchies of 

 Cleves and Juliers on the Rhine 

 was asserted ; and (4) the acquisi- 

 tion under Polish suzerainty of the 

 secularised duchy of East Prussia. 



Brandenburg was now linked 

 with one half of the important 

 duchy of Prussia east of the Oder 

 and the Vistula. The Thirty Years' 

 War (1618-1648) was an evil time 

 for Brandenburg, and its fortunes 

 sank very low ; but with the acces 

 sion (1640) of the great elector 

 began the period in which the 

 foundations were laid, and the 



consolidation of the modern and 

 historic Prussia was consummated. 

 This was essentially the work of 

 three rulers, Frederick William, 

 the Great Elector (1640-86), his 

 grandson Frederick William I 

 (1713-40), and Frederick II the 

 Great (1740-86). 



The characteristics of their rule, 

 which was continuous in policy 

 and aims, can be summarised 

 as the extension and holding to- 

 gether of the territorial state ; the 

 conversion of the electorate into a 

 kingdom (1701) ; the formation of 

 a powerful standing army, which 

 gave the state a peculiarly military 

 character; the extirpation of pop- 

 ular and local liberties, and the sub- 

 ordination of all classes to an 

 absolutive prerogative ; the forma- 

 tion of a centralised and efficient 

 bureaucracy by which the civil an- 

 ministration was concentrated in 

 the ruler's hands ; the retention of 

 the feudal organization of society 

 enabling the crown to govern 

 through the nobility, which had 

 been reduced to complete obedience 

 to the sovereign ; and the adoption 

 of a policy which made the interest 

 of the dynasty identical with the 

 interest of Prussia. 



18th Century Wars 



To these Frederick the Great 

 added, besides his personal genius 

 in war, administration and diplom- 

 acy, the conception of "the 

 enlightened monarchy " a su- 

 premely efficient and scientific 

 sovereign achieving through his 

 unfettered prerogative the maxi- 

 mum of material benefit for his 

 subjects. Frederick II fought two 

 great wars, the first from 1740 to 

 1745 to wrest Silesia from the 

 House of Austria : the second, the 

 Sevon Years' War, to retain it 

 against a coalition of Austria, 

 France, Russia, Sweden and 

 Saxony. He inaugurated a new 

 departure by the first partition of 

 Poland (1772) by which West 

 Prussia was absorbed, the annex- 

 ation of Prussia proper completed, 

 and the Prussian state extended 

 from Konigsberg to Magdeburg. 



At his death in 1786 Prussia 

 was a European power of the first 

 rank. The kingdom comprised 

 Prussia proper (East and W T est 

 duchies), Pomerania with the naval 

 port of Stettin, the mark of Bran- 

 denburg, a group of lands ranged 

 round the secularised bishopric of 

 Magdeburg, the duchy of East 

 Frisia, and the duchy of Cleves, the 

 whole forming a state which made 

 Germany north of the river Main 

 its sphere of influence. 



The next phase in its evolution 

 (1786-1840) was marked by great 

 vicissitudes. Frederick William II 

 (1786-1797) plunged Prussia into 



