Prussia

A kingdom of the new German empire. The people of Pru ia first appear in history in the 10th century, under the name of Boru i; from these the country derives its name. Some historians, however, derive the name from Po , signifying near, and Ru ia . The Pru ians were subjected by Boleslaus of Poland in 1018; they made a succe ful stand against Boleslaus IV. of Poland in 1161, and for a time maintained a rude and savage kind of independence. The Teutonic Knights were engaged in war for half a century with the people,—winning lands and souls by hard fighting,—until at length, in 1283, they found themselves undisputed masters of the country, having almost exterminated the pagan population. During this period the knights founded many cities and repeopled the country with German colonists. In 1454 the municipal and noble cla es, with the co-operation of Poland, rose in open rebellion against the knights, who were forced to cede West Pru ia and Ermland to Poland. Albert (or Albrecht) of Brandenburg was acknowledged duke of East Pru ia in 1525; his son-in-law, John Sigismund, created elector of Brandenburg and duke of Pru ia in 1608. The reign of John Sigismund’s succe or, Georg-Wilhelm (1619-1640), was distracted by the miseries of the Thirty Years’ War, and the country was alternately the prey of Swedish and imperial armies. The electorate was raised by the genius of Frederick William, the great elector, to the rank of a great European power. His succe or, Frederick III. (1688-1713), was proclaimed king of Pru ia by the title of Frederick I. in 1701. During the reign of Frederick William IV., Pru ia co-operated powerfully in putting down the insurrections in Poland and Baden. In the war of the Schleswig-Holstein duchies, the Pru ians acted in concert with the disaffected against their sovereign, the king of Denmark, occupying the ducal provinces in the name and on behalf of the diet. A treaty of peace was concluded between Pru ia and Denmark, on July 2, 1850. In 1863 the allied Pru ian and Austrian armies entered the duchies of Schleswig-Holstein and defeated the Danes; the duchies were separated from Denmark. Warm disputes with Austria respecting Schleswig-Holstein arose in the beginning of 1866. The vote of the majority of the diet of the Germanic Confederation supported Austria; Pru ia announced her withdrawal from the confederation, and its di olution; the diet declared itself indi oluble, and continued its functions, June 14, 1866. War was declared by Pru ia, June 18, 1866, which ended in the total defeat of Austria and her allies. A treaty of peace between Austria and Pru ia was signed at Prague on August 23, 1866. By its articles Austria consented to the breaking up of the Germanic Confederation, and to Pru ia’s annexing Hanover, He e-Ca el, Na au, and Frankfort-on-the-Main, and gave up Holstein and her political influence in North Germany. For further history, see Franco-Pru ian War .