No Seriously, What was Prussia?

Prussia was a key player in central Europe—but students often struggle to understand its history. What was Prussia? And what happened to it? Read below to find out more.

Prussia is one of the most commonly misunderstood countries on the AP Euro exam. This confusion likely stems from two causes:

• First, Prussia is a country that no longer exists. It is easier to remember the history of France, for instance, because it is a country that we are all familiar with today. Prussia, however, doesn’t conjure up much pre-existing knowledge, so it’s easy to be confused about what the big-picture importance of Prussia is.

• Second, Prussia first appeared on the map during a relatively complex period in the map of Europe. If the beginning of Prussian history is confusing to you, you might continue to be confused about this country throughout its history.

So let’s clear up some of this confusion!

What was Prussia?

So let’s start with the basics: what was Prussia? Prussia was a kingdom in central Europe, founded in 1525.

Prussia was located where today we would find Germany and Poland. In the map above, which is from 1806, you can see Prussia in blue, located between Denmark and Austria.

Prussia was founded at a time when the map of Europe was populated by far more states than it is today. Take, for instance, the map above. This map was created nearly 300 years after the founding of Prussia, and yet it is still very complicated by today’s standards. Where we would find just one country (Germany) today, you can see there were dozens of overlapping states, some of which were rather large and some of which were just independent cities.

Prussia, then, was initially just one of these many states at the center of Europe. Over the course of several centuries, it grew in power and influence until it became one of the major powers of central Europe.

Politically, Prussia was a monarchy. And its capital was eventually centered in Berlin. Prussia was a diverse country, filled with people of different religions and customs. Many people in Prussia spoke German, in addition to a multitude of other languages like Polish, Danish, Yiddish, and regional languages like Lower Sorbian.

What’s with the Name?

Prussia gets its name from the Prussians, the people who originally lived in some of the territory that was included within the boundaries of the kingdom of Prussia. Yes, ‘Prussia’ sounds like ‘Russia,’ but Prussia was not in Russia.

Why is Prussia Important?

So if Prussia was just one of many states in central Europe, why is it important? In other words, on the map above, there are many kingdoms. Most classes on European history don’t mention Bavaria and Württemberg at all, but Prussia comes up a lot—why?

Prussia is studied because it is crucially important to the history of Europe in the 19th century. Specifically, Prussia was the state responsible for creating the unified country of Germany.

Because Prussia created unified Germany, many aspects of Prussian rule and Prussian history then seem important in hindsight because they influenced how the major power of central Europe was set up.

Some Details on Prussian History

You will likely encounter some history of Prussia before the formation of Germany. You will probably learn about Prussia in two contexts:

• Frederick the Great: Frederick the Great was king of Prussia for the mid-1700s. In many ways, he fit the pattern of the Enlightenment monarch. Frederick supported learning, the arts, and a modernized bureaucracy. He also built great examples of Rococo architecture. At the same time, Frederick also expanded the borders of Prussia by modernizing the Prussian army and engaging in a series of wars.

• The Partitions of Poland: The Partitions of Poland were a series of annexations of land from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in larger holdings for Prussia, Russia, and Austria and also resulting in the suspension of an independent Polish state (which would continue until after World War I).

Both of these moments were important for establishing the political and military importance of Prussia, which would 100 years later allow for Prussia to be the state that forced the creation of a German state.

German Unification
The most important role that Prussia played in European history was creating a unified Germany. By the mid-1800s, ideas about nationalism were sweeping across Europe. Some countries, like France and England, had possessed strong central governments for centuries. But other places, especially central Europe and the Italian peninsula, remained collections of smaller states. A slice of the population, from ordinary people to the highest echelons of government, thought it was time to form a nation-state for Germany.

One of these people was the Prussian chancellor, Otto von Bismarck. Bismarck, along with the King of Prussia Wilhelm I, started a series of strategic wars in the 1860s to bring many German-speaking lands under Prussian control and to force other European powers to recognize the existence of a German state. By 1871, the task was complete: the German Empire was formed and Wilhelm I became the emperor of Germany. For the first time ever, there was a country called Germany on the map of Europe.

As for Prussia, it continued to exist as a state within the German Empire. Since the German Emperor remained the King of Prussia, Prussia exerted a significant influence on the running of the empire as a whole.

What Happened to Prussia?

The state of Prussia was officially dissolved after World War II. At the end of World War II, the Allies—the United States, United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union—had defeated Germany. After two world wars in 30 years, the Allies wanted to ensure that war did not break out again any time soon. To further these aims, Prussia came under scrutiny. Prussia had possessed a strong military—this military was one of the key factors in making Prussia the state that united Germany. Germany was certainly responsible for starting World War II and at least in part responsible for starting World War I. The core problem, according to the Allies, was Prussian militarism.

The state of Prussia, then, was completely dissolved. It was replaced by the state of Brandenburg, which is still the name of the state in northeast Germany today. Berlin, the old capital of Prussia and unified Germany, was divided between the Allies during the Cold War. After the end of the Cold War, the city of Berlin reunified and became the capital of the country once again.

Today, then, there is no place on the map called Prussia. But Prussia continues to exist in European history courses, where Prussia was crucial to shaping the history of the 19th and 20th centuries.