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Kunigaikštis

Kunigaikštis

Early Lithuanian rulers held the title of didysis kunigaikštis (did-ee-sis kunigaik-sh-tis) (literally "great duke"), which was equivalent to either "grand duke" or "king". High nobles hold a title of kunigaikštis (duke). Since Mindaugas the word karalius was used to specifically denote a king. "Karalius" is a Lithuanian derivative from "Carolus Magnus", Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, possibly under the Slavic influence (Polish: Król, Russian: Korol'). Also there existed now almost unused word ciesorius, derrivative from Caesar; in the Lithuania Minor it was used about ruler of Prussia.
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Lithuania

The Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuva; full - Lietuvos Respublika) is a republic in northeastern Europe. One of the three Baltic States along the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland to the south, and the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia to the southwest.

History

Main article: History of Lithuania First mentioned in a medieval German manuscript, the Quedlinburg Chronicle, on February 14 1009, Lithuania became a significant state in the Middle Ages. The official crowning of Mindaugas as King of Lithuania in Voruta on July 6 1253 marked Lithuania's birth, as warring dukes united to support his reign. Later, during Gediminas' conquests, the nation grew into the independent, multi-ethnic Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which joined the lands of modern Belarus and Ukraine. By the 15th century, the Grand Duchy stretched across Eastern Europe from the Baltic to the Black Sea. When Grand Duke Jogaila was crowned King of Poland on February 2, 1386, Lithuania and Poland became unified under one monarch. In 1569, Poland and Lithuania formally merged into a single state called the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This union remained in place until the adoption of the May Constitution of 1791, which abolished all subdivisions of the states and merged them into the Kingdom of Poland. In 1795, this new state was soon dissolved by the third Partition of Poland, which ceded its lands to Russia, Prussia and Austria. On February 16, 1918, Lithuania re-established its independence in severely limited territories that had been designated Lithuanian, with non-Lithuanian areas of the Grand Duchy that had fallen to the Soviet Union remaining under Soviet control. From the outset, territorial disputes with Poland (over the Vilnius region and the Suvalkai region) and Germany (over the Klaipėda region, German: Memelland) plagued the new nation. During the interwar period, the constitutional capital of Lithuania was Vilnius, although the city itself was then ocupied by Polish (see History of Vilnius for more details). The Lithuanian government at the time was seated in Kaunas, which officially held the status of temporary capital. In 1940, at the height of World War II, the Soviet Union occuppied and annexed Lithuania in accordance with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. It later came under German occupation, during which time 90% of Lithuanian Jews were killed, one of the worst death rates of the Holocaust. Ultimately Lithuania fell again to the Soviet Union in 1945. Fifty years of communist rule ended with the advent of glasnost, and Lithuania, led by Sąjūdis, an anti-communist and anti-Soviet independence movement, proclaimed its renewed independence on March 11, 1990. Lithuania was the first Soviet republic to do so, though Soviet forces unsuccessfully tried until August 1991 to suppress this secession, including an incident at Vilnius' TV Tower in January 1991 that resulted in the death of several Lithuanian civilians. The last Russian troops left Lithuania on August 31, 1993 — even earlier than those in East Germany. On February 4, 1991, Iceland became the first country to recognize Lithuanian independence, and Sweden the first to open an embassy in the country. The United States of America never recognized the Soviet claim to Lithuania or the other two Baltic republics. Lithuania joined the United Nations on September 17, 1991. On May 31, 2001, Lithuania became the 141st member of the World Trade Organization. Since 1988, Lithuania has sought closer ties with the West, and so on January 4, 1994, it became the first of the Baltic States to apply for NATO membership. On November 21, 2002, NATO invited Lithuania to start membership negotiations, and on March 29, 2004, it became a full and equal NATO member. On February 1, 1998, it became an Associate Member of the EU, and on April 16, 2003, it signed the EU Accession Treaty. 91% of Lithuanians backed EU membership in a referendum held on May 11, 2003 and on May 1, 2004, Lithuania joined the European Union.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Lithuania The Lithuanian head of state is the president, elected directly for a five-year term, who also functions as the commander-in-chief and oversees foreign and security policy. The president, on the approval of the parliament, also appoints the prime minister and on the latter's nomination, appoints the rest of the cabinet, as well as a number of other top civil servants and the judges for all courts, including the Constitutional Court (Konstitucinis Teismas). The unicameral Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, has 141 members that are elected to four-year terms. About half of the members of this legislative body are elected in single constituencies (71), and the other half (70) are elected in a nationwide vote by proportional representation. A party must receive at least 5% of the national vote to be represented in the Seimas.

Administrative division

Main article: Administrative division of Lithuania Administrative division of Lithuania Lithuania consists of 10 counties (Lithuanian: apskritys, singular - apskritis), each named after their principal city. The counties are subdivided into 60 municipalities (some municipalities are historically called "district municipalities", and thus shortened to "district"; others are called "city municipalities", sometimes shortened to "city", or leaving just the name of city; and some are just simply called "municipalities") (see: List of municipalities of Lithuania). The municipality is the most important unit. Each municipality has its own elected government. In the past, the election of municipality councils occurred once every three years, but now take place every four years. The council elects the mayor of the municipality and other required personnel (larger municipalities have larger councils and more officials). The municipality councils also appoint elders to the administrative division (small municipalities do not have elderships, though). Taken together, the municipalities consist of over 500 elderships. This administrative division was created in 1994 and modified in 2000. There is currently a proposal that would require mayors and elders to be elected in direct elections by the public. The whole of Lithuania is partitioned into counties, which are ruled by officials ("Rulers of Apskritis") who are sent by the central government. These officials ensure that the municipalities work according to the laws of Lithuania and the constitution. They do not, however, have substantial powers vested in them, and there has been a proposal to reduce the number of counties because of the small number of municipalities falling under each ruler's jurisdiction. One proposal is to create a new administrative unit comprised of four lands, the boundaries of which would be determined by the ethnographic regions of Lithuania. Another proposed solution is to expand the counties so that there would be five in all, each based in one of the five largest cities. Also see: Counties of Lithuania, List of municipalities of Lithuania, Elderships

Geography

Main article: Geography of Lithuania The largest and most populous of the Baltic states, Lithuania has around 99 km of sandy coastline, of which only about 38 km faces the open Baltic Sea. Lithuania's major warm-water port of Klaipėda lies at the narrow mouth of Kuršių marios (Curonian Lagoon), a shallow lagoon extending south to Kaliningrad. The main river, the Nemunas, and some of its tributaries carry international shipping vessels. Lithuanian landscape is glacially flat, except for morainic hills in the western uplands and eastern highlands that are no higher than 300 m, with the highest point being found at Juozapinės at 292 m. The terrain features numerous lakes, Lake Vištytis) for example, swamps, and a mixed forest zone covers 30% of the country. The climate lies between maritime and continental, with wet, moderate winters and summers. According to some geographers, Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, lies a few kilometres south of the geographical centre of Europe. Lithuania consists of the following historical and cultural regions:
- Aukštaitija - literally, the "Highlands"
- Samogitia - also known as Žemaitija, or literally, the "Lowlands"
- Dzūkija (Dzūkija or Dainava).
- Sudovia (Sūduva or Suvalkija). Also:
- Mažoji Lietuva - Lithuania Minor, also known as "Prussian Lithuania" (Prūsų Lietuva). Now most of it is under control by Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast).

Economy

Main article: Economy of Lithuania In 2003, prior to joining the European Union, Lithuania had the highest economic growth rate amongst all candidate and member countries, reaching 8.8% in the third quarter. In 2004, a 6.6% growth in GDP reflected impressive economic development. Prior to 1998, Lithuania was the Baltic state that conducted the most trade with Russia; however, the 1998 Russian financial crisis forced the country to orient toward the West. Lithuania has since gained membership of the World Trade Organization, and joined the European Union on May 1, 2004. According to officially published figures, accession to the EU reduced previously high unemployment to 10.6% in 2004, although some argue that this has been prompted by the high rate of emigration from Lithuania that has occurred since it joined the EU. Lithuania has nearly completed the privatization of its large, state-owned utilities. The Litas, the national currency, has been pegged to the Euro since February 2, 2002 at the rate of EUR 1.00 = LTL 3.4528, and Lithuania is expected to switch to the Euro on 1 January 2007, thus becoming one of the first of the new EU members to do so, together with Estonia and Slovenia. Although Lithuania's economy is undoubtedly growing, many people still live in abject poverty and the situation does not appear to be improving. An urban elite is now highly visible, whilst little seems to have changed for the country's poor. According to a report published by the US Department of State in October 2005, the minimum wage increased in 2005 to $197.50 per month (the first rise since June 1998), well below the poverty threshold. The average wage stands at $458 per month [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5379.htm 1]. Like other countries in the region (Estonia, Latvia and Russia) Lithuania has also adopted a flat rate of tax rather than a progressive scheme. However, at 33% of income, the tax rate is considerably higher than that of its neighbours and some suggest that this, combined with the very low wages, may be a factor influencing the current trend of mass emigration to Western Europe, something that has been made legally possible as a result of accession to the European Union in 2004 [http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,1549075,00.html]. The Ministry of Labour estimated in 2004 that as many as 360,000 workers may have left the country by the end of that year, a prediction that is now thought to have been broadly accurate. The impact is already evident: in September 2004, the Lithuanian Trucking Association reported a shortage of 3,000-4,000 truck drivers. Large retail stores have also reported some difficulty in filling positions [http://www.state.gov/e/eb/ifd/2005/42068.htm].

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Lithuania 83.5% of the Lithuanian population are ethnic Lithuanians who speak the Lithuanian language (one of two surviving members of the Baltic language group), which is the official language of the state. Several sizable minorities exist, such as Poles (7%), Russians (5%), and Belarusians (1.5%). Poles are the largest minority, mostly concentrated in southeast Lithuania (the Western Vilnius region). Russians are the second largest minority, concentrated mostly in the cities and comprising a majority in Visaginas; they also constitute a large minority in Vilnius and Klaipėda. Because of the Soviet occupation, most older people and some members of the younger population still understand Russian. Most schools teach English (sometimes German) as a first foreign language, but students may also study Russian, German, or, in some schools, French. However, there are still some schools that teach Russian as a primary language. The predominant religion is Roman Catholicism, but Eastern Orthodoxy, Protestantism, Judaism, Islam and Karaism (an ancient offshoot of Judaism represented by a long-standing community in Trakai) also exist as minority religions.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Lithuania
- List of famous Lithuanians
- Lithuanian mythology
- Music of Lithuania

Lithuanians abroad


- Lithuanians in Brazil
- Lithuanians in Cleveland
- Lithuanians in France
- Little Lithuania, Chicago
- :Category:Lithuanian-Americans

Miscellaneous topics


- Communications in Lithuania
- Foreign relations of Lithuania
- Holidays in Lithuania
- Lietuvos Skautija
- List of cities in Lithuania
- List of extinct and endangered animals of Lithuania
- List of Lithuanian rulers
- Military of Lithuania
- Sports in Lithuania
- Tourism in the Baltics
- Transportation in Lithuania

External links


- [http://www.president.lt/en Prezidentas] - Official presidential site
- [http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter/w3_eng_h.home Seimas] - Official parliamentary site
- [http://www.lrv.lt/main_en.php Vyriausybe] - Official governmental site
- [http://www.lietuva.lt/index.php?Lang=5&ItemId=27616 Lithuanian Central Internet Gates] - Main Lithuanian portal
- [http://www.on.lt Lithuania Online] - Wide collection of Lithuanian links
- [http://www.travel.lt] - Lithuanian State Department of Tourism

Maps & GIS


- [http://www.maps.lt Maps of Lithuania on Maps.lt]
- [http://www.mapquest.com/maps/main.adp?country=LT Maps of Lithuania on Mapquest] Category:Republics Category:European Union member states als:Litauen roa-rup:Litva ms:Lithuania zh-min-nan:Lietuva ja:リトアニア ko:리투아니아 ms:Lithuania simple:Lithuania th:ประเทศลิทัวเนีย fiu-vro:Leedu

Grand Duke

Introduction

The title Grand Duke (Latin, Magnus Dux; German, Großherzog, Italian Gran Duca; in French, Grand-duc; in Finnish, Suurherttua; in Swedish, Storhertig; in Dutch, Groothertog; in Danish, Storhertug) used in Western Europe and particularly in Germanic countries for provincial sovereigns, ranks in honour below King but higher than a sovereign Duke (Herzog) or Prince (Fürst). The feminine form is Grand Duchess. A Grand Duke's territory is called a Grand Duchy. Grand Duke is the usual and established translation of Grand Prince in languages which do not have separate words meaning prince for (1) children of a monarch, and (2) monarch (sovereign or like) princes. English and French use Grand Duke also in this way. The title Grand Duke as translation of Grand Prince and the proper title Grand Duke have clearly different meanings and a separate background. Compare with the article Grand Prince.

Western Grand Dukes

(See also Grand Duchy) The proper term of Grand Duke was a later invention, probably originating in Western Europe, to denote a particularly mighty duke, as the title Duke has until the end of Middle Ages been inflated to belong to rulers of relatively small fiefs (such as a city state or a district), instead of the big provinces it once was attached to. One of the first examples was the semi-official use of Grand Duke meaning the later Dukes of Burgundy, i.e in 15th century, when they ruled a portion of East France as well as all the Netherlands. Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (ruler 1419-67) assumed the style and title Grand Duke of the West in 1435, having recently consolidated duchies of Brabant and Limbourg as well as Holland, Zeeland, Friesland, Hainaut and Namur under his possession. His son and successor Charles the Reckless (ruler 1467-77) continued to use the same style. Apparently the first monarch ever officially titled Grand Duke was the Medici sovereigns of Tuscany beginning from the late 16th century. This official title was granted by Pope Pius V in 1569, but the lands in question apparently belonged under the vassalage of the Holy Roman Empire. Napoleon used to award that title extensively: during his era, several of his allies were allowed to assume the title of Grand Duke, usually at the same time as their inherited fiefs were enlarged by additional lands obtained thanks to being Napoleon's allies. His conquerors, for example the Congress of Vienna, consented to yet more uses of the title. Thus, the 19th century saw a new group of monarchs titled Grand Duke all around Central Europe. A list of such is available at Grand Duchy. At the same century, the courtesy use of translated Grand Duke, Russia, expanded because of births of several male dynasts, instead of the earlier precarious situations when Russia barely had only one or two to succeed. The term can be said to originate in Germany, in a sense that a ruler in the then Germany's western borders was the first to be called so, and that it was a German overlord, the Holy Roman Emperor, whose vassal (however, an Italian) was first granted the official title, however, by the Pope. The German language, which has separate word for royal prince (Prinz) and for sovereign prince (Fürst), calls the Grand Princes of Lithuania, Russian states and other Eastern European higher princes, as well as the later Russian dynasts, with the term Grossfürst, not Grossherzog. The title Magnus Dux or Grand Duke (Didysis kunigaikštis in Lithuanian) is said to have been used by the rulers of Lithuania, and after Jagiello also became kings of Poland and was later found among the titles used by kings of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Polish kings of the Swedish Vasa dynasty also used the grand-princely title for their non-Polish territory. In 1582 king John III of Sweden added Grand Duke of Finland to the subsidiary titles of the Swedish kings, however without any factual consequences, Finland already being a part of the Swedish realm. After the Russian conquests, it continued to be used by the Russian Emperor in his role as ruler of Lithuania (1793-1918) and of autonomous Finland (1809-1917) as well. The Holy Roman Empire ruling house of Habsburg instituted a similar Grand Principality in Transylvania in 1765. Further, Grand Duke is the translated form of the title Megas Doux, used in the Byzantine Empire during the Palaeologian dynasty (1259-1453).

Grand Prince

(for a fuller account, see Grand Prince) Grand Princes or great princes were medieval monarchs which ruled usually several tribes and/or were overlords of other princes. At the time, they were usually treated and translated as kings. However, a grand prince was not as an elevated sovereign as later Western kings, and perhaps thus they are treated lower than kings, particularly in later literature. Grand Princes were rulers usually in Eastern Europe, for example among Slavs, Balts and Hungarians. The title Grand Prince is Velikiy Knjaz (Великий князь) in Russian. The Slavic word knjaz and the Baltic kunigaitis (today translated as Prince) is actually a cognate of King. Thus, Veliki Knjaz was more like "high king" than "grand duke". These countries developed in a way that the position of the head of the dynasty became more elevated. In such situations, those monarchs assumed a higher title, such as Tsar or sole King. Grand Prince Ivan IV of Moscovia was apparently the last monarch to rule without any higher title, until he assumed the style Tsar of Russia in 1547. The title Grand Prince (which in many of those lands already was in later medieval centuries awarded simultaneously to several rulers of the more expanded dynasty) continued, in modern times, as a courtesy title for all or several members of the Russian dynasty, such as the Grand Duke of Russia (veliki knjaz) in Russia's imperial era.

Byzantine Grand Dukes

The Latin title dux (the etymological root of duke), which was -phonetically- rendered δουξ in Greek, was a common title for imperial generals in the Late Roman Empires (west and east), but note it was lower in rank then Comes (the etymological root of Count). In the Eastern Empire, a dux ranked just below a strategos. Under the later, exclusively Byzantine theme system (the new military circonscriptions, becoming more important then the provinces), the commander of a theme was styled a dux.
- The title Megas Dux ( Μέγας Δουξ), literally 'Grand duke' (Megas being the Greek for great, used in front of various styles), occasionally anglicised Megaduke, first appears in the Comnenian period, and was conferred upon the commanding admiral of the Byzantine navy. Among the recipients of this honor was Roger de Flor of the Catalan Company, who was given the title for his services against the Turks during the reign of Andronicus II. By the time Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks, the office had become virtual chief minister, heading both civil and military administration.

Russian Grand Dukes

(for a fuller account, see Grand Prince) "Grand Duke" is the traditional translation of the title Velikiy Kniaz, which from the 11th century was at first the title of the leading Prince of Kievan Rus', then of several princes of the Rus'. From 1328 the Velikii Kniaz of Muscovy appeared as the Grand Duke for "all of Russia" until Ivan IV of Russia in 1547 was crowned as Tsar. Thereafter the title was given to sons and grandsons (through male lines) of the Tsars and Emperors of Russia. The daughters and paternal granddaughters of Russian Emperors, as well as the consorts of Russian Grand Dukes, were generally called "Grand Duchesses" in English. A more accurate translation of the Russian title would be Great Prince - especially in the pre-Petrine era - but the term is neither standard nor widely used in English. In German, however, a Russian Grand Duke was known as a Großfürst, and in Latin as Magnus Princeps.

Styles

Tuscany's sovereign obtained in 17th century the status of Royal Highness. Most often, a reigning Grand Duke or Duchess was styled Royal Highness. Other members of the families differed in style. Junior members of the Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg are also Royal Highnesses; however, this derives from their status apparently as cadet members of the dethroned royal house of Bourbon-Parma and not from the Grand Ducal title. In Hesse-Darmstadt and Baden, however, junior members of the dynasty bore the style of Grand Ducal Highness (Großherzogliche Hoheit). For instance, prior to her marriage, Empress Alexandra of Russia was known as "Her Grand Ducal Highness Princess Alix of Hesse and by the Rhine" (Ihre Großherzogliche Hoheit Alix Prinzessin von Hessen und bei Rhein). A Russian Grand Duke or Grand Duchess was an Imperial Highness.

Related topics


- Fürst
- Nobility
- Ranks of nobility and peerage
- Titles of nobility Category:Monarchy Category:Noble titles Category:Titles Category:Positions of authority nb:Storhertug

Mindaugas

Mindaugas (approximate English transcription [ˈmın.dəʊ.gʌs], simplified Lithuanian transcription [mindaŭgas]; also known as Ruthenian: Mindowh, , ) (c.1203 - 12 September 1263) ruled Lithuania as grand duke ("didysis kunigaikštis", "вялікі князь") from c.1236 (a Christian from 1251) and as king ("karalius", "кароль") from 1253. He united local tribal "duchies", as well as Black Ruthenia. In 1253 July 06 he was crowned as a king. Where he was crowned is still unclear. There are few probably locations (by the probability) Vilnius, Trakai (Old Trakai), or Navahradak. It is known, that for this occasion Catholic Cathedral was built, and that Mindaugas and his wife Morta were crowned by order of pope Innocentius IV. He and his wife Morta were baptized around 1252 by the bishop of Kulm (now Chełmno) in the presence of the Master of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword. A member of the Order named Christian was consecrated as first bishop of Lithuania. This raised a huge opposition and the Baltic peoples continued to resist conversion to Christianity, and after defeat by pagan forces in 1260, Mindaugas renounced Christianity. He was killed by his nephew Treniota and Duke Daumantas of Nalšiai. Under the usurper Treniota, of strong paganist beliefs, the country relapsed into paganism until the conversion (1386) of grand duke Jogaila. Only with Gediminas, grand duke from 1316, did Lithuania's revival begin. While most of Lithuanian grand dukes from Jogaila onward reigned also as kings of Poland, their titles remained separate, and Mindaugas was the only King of Lithuania, recognized as such by Western European rulers.

Father

:Ryngold (Movkold; ? - 1219), Grand Prince of Lithuania 1214 - 1219 1219]

Wife

:Morta, baptized ca 1252 by the bishop of Kulm

Brother

:Dowsprunk (? - 1213 near Lielvarde), Grand Prince of Lithuania ? - 1213

Son

:Vaišvilkas (Woyszwiłk, Vojszalak, Vojšalk, Vaišelga, Vaishyalga, Vaišalgas, Rymont Lawrasz, Rimond Laurent; + killed 9 December 1268 Vladimir), Prince of Black Ruthenia 1239 - 1254, Grand Prince of Lithuania 1254, 1258 – 1263

Daughter

:NN (1201 - 1264), m. 1255 King Švarn of Galicia

See also


- List of Belarusian rulers
- List of Lithuanian rulers
- Mindaugas II of Lithuania
- Early dukes of Lithuania

External links


- [http://www.istorija.net/ Pages and Forums on the Lithuanian History] Category:Lithuanian nobility Category:Lithuanian rulers Category:Belarusian nobility Category:Belarusian rulers Category:1263 deaths Category:History of Lithuania Category:History of Poland Category:History of Belarus ja:ミンダウカス

Charlemagne

Charlemagne (ca. 742 or 747 – January 28, 814) (or Charles the Great, in German Karl der Große, in Norwegian Karl den store, in Dutch Karel de Grote, in Latin Carolus Magnus, giving rise to the adjective form "Carolingian"), was king of the Franks from 768 to 814, King of the Lombards since 774, and the renewer of the Western Empire. His dual role as Emperor—Imperator Augustus–and King of the Franks provides the historical link between the Imperial dignity and the Frankish kingdoms and later Germany. Today both France and Germany look to him as a founding figure of their respective countries.

Date of birth

Charlemagne's birthday was believed to be April 1, 742, however several factors led to reconsideration of this traditional date. First, the year 742 was calculated from his age given at death, rather than attested with primary sources. Second, 742 precedes the marriage of his parents (in 749), yet there is no indication that Charlemagne was born out of wedlock, and he inherited from his parents. Another date is given in the Annales Petarienses, April 1, 747. In that year, April 1 is Easter. The birth of an Emperor on Easter is a coincidence likely to provoke comment, but there is no such comment documented in 747, leading some to suspect the Easter birthday was a pious fiction concocted as a way of honoring the Emperor. Other commentators weighing the primary records have suggested that the birth was one year later, 748. So at present, it is impossible to be certain of the date of the birth of Charlemagne. The best guesses include April 1, 747, after April 15, 747, or April 1, 748.

Life

Charlemagne was the elder son of Pippin the Younger (714 – 24 September 771, reigned 751 – 768) and his wife Bertrada of Laon (720 – 12 July 783); he was the brother of the Lady Bertha, mother of Roland. On the death of Pippin, the kingdom was divided between Charlemagne and his brother Carloman. Charles took the outer parts of the kingdom, bordering on the sea, namely Neustria, Aquitania and the northern parts of Austrasia, while Carloman attained the inner parts, bordering on Italy. Carloman died on 5 December 771, leaving Charlemagne the leader of a reunified Frankish kingdom. Shortly after that, he marched against the Lombards in Italy. In 774 he deposed their king Desiderius and was himself crowned king of the Lombards, permanently unifying the kingdom of Italy to the Frankish crown. Charlemagne was engaged in almost constant battle throughout his reign, with his legendary sword Joyeuse in hand. After thirty years of war and eighteen battles -- the Saxon Wars -- he conquered Saxony, a goal that had been the unattainable dream of Augustus, and proceeded to convert the conquered to Catholic Christianity, using force where necessary. In 782, at Verden in Lower Saxony, he allegedly ordered the beheading of 4,500 Saxons in one day (the Bloody Trial of Verden) who had made the error of rebelling against Frankish rule and of being caught practicing paganism after they had agreed to be Christians. Modern research has cast doubt upon this allegation, as no archeological evidence of such a massacre has been found and the original source may have mistakenly written of "beheading" instead of "exiling". Charlemagne also contemplated the reconquest of Spain, but never fully succeeded in this goal. It was during one of his futile invasions of northern Spain that the leader of his afterguard, Count Roland, was killed, inspiring the subsequent creation of the Song of Roland. Song of Roland was threatened by invaders, the king rushed to Rome to provide assistance. Shown here, the pope asks Charlemagne for help at a meeting near Rome.]] In 797 (or 801?) the caliph of Baghdad, Harun al-Rashid, presented Charlemagne with an Asian elephant named Abul-Abbas (See History of elephants in Europe.) and a mechanical clock. In 800, at Mass on Christmas day in Rome, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Imperator Romanorum (Emperor of the Romans). Though this, according to the sources, occurred against his intentions, Charles thus became the renewer of the Western Empire, which had expired in the 5th century. To avoid frictions with the Eastern Emperor, Charles later called himself not Imperator Romanorum (a title reserved for the Eastern Emperor), but rather as Imperator Romanum gubernans Imperium (Emperor ruling the Roman Empire). Pursuing his father's reforms, Charlemagne did away with the monetary system based on the gold sou. Both he and King Offa of Mercia took up the system set in place by Pippin. He set up a new standard, the livre (i.e. pound)— both monetary and unit of weight— which was worth 20 sous (like the solidus, and later the shilling) or 240 deniers (like the denarius, and eventually the penny). During this period, the livre and the sou were counting units, only the denier was a coin of the realm. Charlemagne applied the system to much of the European Continent, and Offa's standard was voluntarily adopted by much of England. England Charlemagne organized his empire into 350 counties, each led by an appointed count. Counts served as judges, administrators, and they enforced capitularies. To enforce loyalty, he set up the system of missi dominici, meaning 'Envoys of the Lord.' In this system, one representative of the church and one representative of the emperor would head to the different counties and every year report back to Charlemagne on their status. missi dominici When Charlemagne died in 814, he was buried in his own Cathedral at Aachen. He was succeeded by his only son to survive him, Louis the Pious, after whose reign the empire was divided between his three surviving sons according to Frankish tradition. These three kingdoms would be the foundations of later France and the Holy Roman Empire. After Charlemagne's death, continental coinage degraded and most of Europe resorted to using the continued high quality English coin until about 1100. It is difficult to understand Charlemagne's attitude toward his daughters. None of them contracted a sacramental marriage. This may have been an attempt to control the number of potential alliances. After his death the surviving daughters entered or were forced to enter monasteries. At least one of them, Bertha, had a recognized relationship, if not a marriage, with Angilbert, a member of Charlemagne's court circle. Charlemagne's mother tongue was the Old High German dialect called Frankish. He also spoke Latin and understood some Greek.

Cultural significance

Greek. A Romantic interpretation of his appearance from the 18th century ]] Charlemagne's reign is often referred to as the Carolingian Renaissance because of the flowering of scholarship, literature, art, and architecture. Most of the surviving works of classical Latin were copied and preserved by Carolingian scholars. The pan-European nature of Charlemagne's influence is indicated by the origins of many of the men who worked for him: Alcuin, an Anglo-Saxon; Theodulf, a Visigoth; Paul the Deacon, a Lombard; and Angilbert and Einhard, Franks. Charlemagne enjoyed an important afterlife in European culture. One of the great medieval literature cycles, the Charlemagne cycle or the Matter of France, centres around the deeds of Charlemagne's historical commander of the Breton border, Roland, and the paladins who served as a counterpart to the knights of the Round Table; their tales were first told in the chansons de geste. Charlemagne himself was accorded sainthood inside the Holy Roman Empire after the 12th century. His canonization by Antipope Paschal III was never recognized by the Holy See. He was a model knight as one of the Nine Worthies. It is frequently claimed by genealogists that all people with European ancestry alive today are probably descended from Charlemagne. However, only a small percentage can actually prove descent from him. Charlemagne's marriage and relationship politics and ethics did, however, result in a fairly large number of descendants, all of whom had far better life expectancies than is usually the case for children in that time period. They were married into houses of nobility and as a result of intermarriages many people of noble descent can indeed trace their ancestry back to Charlemagne. Charlemagne's genealogical tree was quite extensive, and can be traced almost completely up to modern times; among the well known direct descendants of Charlemagne are William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States, American actor Tyrone Power, the British actor Christopher Lee, and Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He is without a doubt an ancestor of every royal family of Europe. Another interesting note about Charlemagne was that he took a serious effort in his and others' scholarship and had learned to read in his adulthood, although he never quite learned how to write. His handwriting was bad, from which grew the legend that he could not write. This was quite an achievement for kings at this time, of whom most were illiterate. He was an avid chess player and was known to challenge his soldiers to games before large battles. illiterate

Charlemagne's portraits

illiterate.]] The Roman tradition of realistic personal portraiture was in complete eclipse at the time of Charlemagne, where individual traits were submerged in iconic typecastings. Charlemagne, as an ideal ruler, ought to be portrayed in the corresponding fashion, any contemporary would have assumed. The images of enthroned Charlemagne, God's representative on Earth, bear more connections to the icons of Christ in Majesty than to modern (or Antique) conceptions of portraiture. Even the verbal portrait by Einhard suppresses details that would have been indecorous in this context. Charlemagne in later imagery (see Dürer portrait right) is often portrayed with flowing blond hair, due to a misunderstanding of Einhart's Vita caroli Magni (chapter 22) where Charlemagne in his age had canitie pulchra "beautiful white hair" which has been rendered as blond or fair in many translations. The Latin word for blond is "flavus", and "rutilo", meaning 'golden-red' or 'auburn', is the word Tacitus uses for the Germans' hair.

Family

Tacitus ]]

Marriages


- Himiltrude
- Ermengarda or Desiderata
- Hildegard of Savoy (married Abt 771) (758–783)
- Fastrada (married 784) (d. 794)
- Luitgard (married 794) (d. 800)
- Coo-Sheba (married 801) (d. 900)

Children

Sons:
- Pippin the Hunchback (d. 813)
- Charles, King of Neustria (d. 811)
- Pippin, King of Italy (ruled 781–810)
- Louis I The Pious, King of Aquitaine, Emperor (ruled 814–840)
- Lothar (d. 779 or 780) Daughters:
- Adelheid (b. 774)
- Rhotrud (775-810)
- Hildegarde (777-777)
- Bertha (779-823)
- Gisele (781-808)
- Aupais?

Further reading


- Alessandro Barbero: Charlemagne, father of a continent. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2004 ISBN 0-520-23943-1

See also


- Franks (main history of Frankish kingdoms)
- List of Frankish Kings
- Carolingians
- Nine Worthies

External links


- A reconstructed [http://www.reportret.info/gallery/charlemagne1.html portrait of Charlemagne], based on historical sources, in a contemporary style.
- House of Pippin / Dynasty of Charlemagne: [http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Rulers/charlemagne.html Genealogy of Charlemagne]
- [http://www.badley.info/history/Charlamagne-I-the-Great-France.biog.html Charlemagne Chronology] Category:740s births Category:814 deaths Category:Frankish kings Category:Holy Roman emperors Category:Kings of Burgundy Category:Matter of France Category:Nine Worthies ko:카롤루스 대제 ja:カール大帝

Caesar (title)

Caesar (p. Caesares) is a title of imperial character. It derives from the cognomen of Gaius Julius Caesar ("Julius Caesar"), the Roman dictator. The change from being a familial name to an imperial title can be loosely dated to AD 68 / 69, the so-called "Year of the Four Emperors".

Onomastic root

Caesar originally meant "hairy", which suggests that the Iulii Caesares, a specific branch of the gens Iulia bearing this name, were conspicuous for having fine heads of hair (alternatively, given the Roman sense of humour, it could be that the Iulii Caesares were conspicuous for going bald). The first Emperor, Caesar Augustus, bore the name as a matter of course; born Gaius Octavius, he was posthumously adopted by Caesar in his will, and per Roman naming convention was renamed "Gaius Iulius Caesar Octavianus" (usually called "Octavian" during this stage of his life).

Sole Roman emperor

For political and personal reasons Octavian chose to emphasise his relationship with Caesar by styling himself simply "Imperator Caesar" (whereto the Roman Senate added the honorific Augustus, "Majestic" or "Venerable", in 26 BC), without any of the other elements of his full name. His successor as Emperor, his stepson Tiberius, also bore the name as a matter of course; born Tiberius Claudius Nero, he was adopted by Caesar Augustus on June 26, 4, as "Tiberius Iulius Caesar". The precedent was set: the Emperor designated his successor by adopting him and giving him the name "Caesar". The fourth Emperor, Claudius I, was the first to don the purple and assume the name "Caesar" without actually being a Caesar at the time (he was, however, a member by blood of the Iulio-Claudian dynasty). The first to assume the purple and the name simultaneously without any real claim to either was the usurper Servius Sulpicius Galba, who took the imperial throne under the name "Servius Galba Imperator Caesar" following the death of the last of the Iulio-Claudians, Nero in 68 AD; he also helped solidify "Caesar" as the title of the designated heir by giving it to his own adopted heir, Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi Licinianus. Galba's reign did not last long however, and he was soon deposed by Marcus Otho who in turn was defeated by Aulus Vitellius who donned the purple with the name "Aulus Vitellius Germanicus Imperator Augustus"; significantly, Vitellius did not at first adopt "Caesar" as part of his name, and may have intended to replace it with "Germanicus" (he bestowed the name "Germanicus" upon his own son that year). Nevertheless, Caesar had become such an integral part of the imperial dignity that its place was immediately restored by Titus Flavius Vespasianus ("Vespasian"), whose defeat of Vitellius in 69 AD put an end to the period of instability and began the Flavian dynasty. Vespasian's natural son, Titus Flavius Vespasianus became "Titus Caesar Vespasianus".

Minor dynastic title

By this point, "Caesar"'s status had been regularised into that of a title given to the Emperor-designate (occasionally also with the honorific title Princeps Iuventutis, "Prince of Youth") and retained by him upon accession to the purple (e.g., Marcus Ulpius Traianus became Marcus Cocceius Nerva's designated heir as Caesar Nerva Traianus in October 97 and acceded on January 28, 98 as "Imperator Caesar Nerva Traianus Augustus"). After some variation among the earliest Emperors, the style of the Emperor-designate was NN. Caesar before accession and Imperator Caesar NN. Augustus after accession; starting with Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander, it became popular to style the Emperor-designate as NN. Nobilissimus Caesar ("NN. Most Noble Caesar") rather than simply NN. Caesar. On March 1, 293, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus established the Tetrarchy, a system of rule by two senior Emperors and two junior sub-Emperors. The two coequal senior emperors were styled identically to previous Emperors, as Imperator Caesar NN. Pius Felix Invictus Augustus ("Elagabalus" had introduced the use of Pius Felix, "the Pious and Blessed", while Gaius Iulius Verus Maximinus "Thrax" introduced the use of Invictus, "the Unconquered"), and were called the Augusti, while the two junior sub-Emperors were styled identically to previous Emperors-designate, as NN. Nobilissimus Caesar. Likewise, the junior sub-Emperors retained the title "Caesar" upon accession to the senior purple.
- The Tetrarchy was quickly abandoned as a system (though the four quarters of the empire survived as pretorian prefectures), and the previous system of Emperors and Emperors-designate was restored, both in the Latin-speaking West (caesar) and the Greek-speaking East (kaisar); the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West led to "Caesar" falling into disuse there (although the so-called "Holy Roman Emperors" were called Kaiser in German, their correct title were in Latin usually as imperator augustus, without caesar), and most Western European languages use derivatives from imperator to refer to emperors (e.g., the English word "emperor"). In fact, in more recent history the word imperator came to replace the original meaning of imperator in Latin. In the East (in the so-called "Byzantine Empire") it suffered from gradual debasement. In the East, the kaisar acquired a crown (without a cross) and was junior in rank to the Patriarch of Constantinople; as a result, this title was seen as a suitable one for a high prince of the blood, a regent, or an Emperor-designate (Emperors-designate were usually crowned as co-Emperors during their predecessors' reigns). The proliferation of individuals so titled prompted Aleksios I Komnenos to create the superior title sebastokratôr (a portmanteau word meaning "majestic ruler" derived from sebastos and autokratôr, the Greek equivalents of augustus and imperator) for his brother Isaakios. Both "Kaisar" and "Sebastokratôr" were reduced in degree when Manyhl I Komnenos introduced despotes as a superior title; unlike the caesar and the sebastocrat, the despot had a territorial significance in addition to his degree of precedence.

Legacy

The history of "Caesar" as an imperial title is reflected by the following monarchic titles, usually reserved for "Emperor" and "Empress" in many languages (note that the name Caesar, pronounced SEE-ZER in English, was pronounced KAI-SAHR in Classical Latin):
- Belarusian: Tsar & Tsarytsa; however in the Russian empire (also reflected in some of its other languages), which aimed to be the "third Rome" as successor to the Byzantine empire, it was abandoned (not in the foreign language renderings though) as imperial style -in favor of Imperator and Autocrator- and used as a lower, royal style as within the empire in chief of Georgia and Siberia
- Bulgarian: Tsar & Tsaritsa;
- Croatian & Serbian: Car & Carica (c is read ts);
- Danish: Kejser & Kejserinde;
- Dutch: Keizer & Keizerin;
- Estonian: Keiser & Keisrinna;
- Finnish: Keisari & Keisarinna;
- German: Kaiser & Kaiserin;
- Hebrew: Keisár & Keisarít;
- Hungarian: Császár & Császárnő;
- Icelandic: Keisari & Keisaraynja;
- Latvian: Keizars & Keizarienne;
- Norwegian: Keiser & Keiserinne;
- Ottoman Turks: Kayser-i-Rüm
- Polish: Cesarz & Cesarzowa;
- Russian: Czar & Czaritsa (archaic transliteration), Tsar & Tsaritsa (modern transliteration)
- Slovak: Cisár & Cisárovná;
- Slovene: Cesar & Cesarica;
- Swedish: Kejsare & Kejsarinna
- Ukrainian: Tsar & Tsarytsya In other languages, the imperial title was rather based on the Latin Imperator (in fact a military mandate) but Caesar or a derivation used for the name and the minor ranks Category:Ancient Rome Category:Ancient Roman titles Category:Monarchy Category:Noble titles

Prussia

The word Prussia (German: Preußen, Polish: Prusy, Lithuanian: Prūsai, Latin: Borussia) has had various (often contradictory) meanings:
- The land of the Baltic Prussians (in what is now parts of southern Lithuania, the Kaliningrad exclave of Russia and north-eastern Poland);
- The Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights;
- Part of the lands of the Polish Crown called Royal Prussia;
- A fief known as Ducal Prussia ruled by the Hohenzollern dynasty, first under the sovereignty of Poland and then of Brandenburg;
- The entire Hohenzollern realm, whether within or outside Germany proper;
- An independent state, from 1701 until 1867/1871;
- The largest territorial unit within unified Germany from 1867 to 1945. Prussia as a state was de facto abolished by the Nazis in 1934, de jure by the Allied Powers in 1947. Since then, the term's relevance has been limited to historical, geographical or cultural usages. The name Prussia derives from the Prussians, a Baltic people related to the Lithuanians. Ducal Prussia was a dependency of the Kingdom of Poland until 1660, and Royal Prussia remained a part of Poland until 1772. With the growth of German cultural nationalism in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, most German-speaking Prussians came to consider themselves to be part of the German nation, often underlining what were seen as the Prussian virtues: perfect organization, sacrifice, the rule of law. From the late 18th century the expanded Prussia dominated North Germany politically, economically and in terms of population size, and was the core of the unified North German Confederation formed in 1867, renamed German Empire in 1871.

Geography

1871 Prussia began its existence as a small territory in what is now northern Poland and the Kaliningrad exclave of Russia. The region was sparsely populated by Prussians. The area later became subject to German colonization. By the time of its abolition it stretched across the North German Plain from the French, Belgian and Dutch borders on the west to the Lithuanian border and to territories which are now in eastern Poland. At its greatest extent before 1918 it included much of western Poland as well. For a period between 1795 and 1807 Prussia also controlled most of central Poland, including Warsaw. Before its abolition Prussia included, as well as what might be called "Prussia proper" (the regions of West Prussia and East Prussia, which now lie in Poland and Russia), the regions of Pomerania, Silesia, Brandenburg, Lusatia, Province of Saxony (now state of Saxony-Anhalt in Germany) Hanover, Schleswig-Holstein, Westphalia, parts of Hesse, the Rhineland, and some small detached areas in the south such as Hohenzollern, the home of the Prussian ruling family. However there were some regions even in northern Germany that never became a part of Prussia, such as Oldenburg, Mecklenburg, and the Hanse city-states. Being predominantly a northern and eastern German state, Prussia had a large Protestant majority, although there were substantial Roman Catholic populations in the Rhineland, while a number of districts in Posen, Silesia, West Prussia, and the Warmia and Masuria regions of East Prussia had populations of predominantly Catholic Poles. This in part explains why the Catholic south German states, especially Austria and Bavaria, resisted Prussian hegemony for so long. Despite its overwhelmingly German character, Prussia's annexations of Polish territory in the late 18th century brought with them a large and troublesome Polish minority. In 1919 this annexed territory was returned to the newly reconstructed Polish state.

Early History

In 1226 Conrad of Mazovia invited a German order of crusading knights, the Order of the Teutonic Knights from Transylvania to conquer the Prussian tribes on his borders. However, after struggling against more than a century of resistance from the Prussians they created a semi-independent state, which came to control most of what are now Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as parts of northern Poland. Eventually defeated, the Knights had to acknowledge the sovereignty of the King of Poland and Lithuania from 1466. In 1525 the Master of the Order became a Protestant, and converted part of the Order's territories into the Duchy of Prussia, the first Protestant State. For more on Prussia's early history see Origins of Prussia, Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights, Prussian Confederation, Duchy of Prussia. The territory of the Duchy was at this time confined to the area east of the mouth of the Vistula, near the present border between Poland and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. In 1618 the Duchy was inherited by the Elector John Sigismund of Brandenburg, who was at the same time ruler of Prussia and Brandenburg, a German state centered on Berlin and ruled since the 15th century by the Hohenzollern dynasty. For Hohenzollern, the newly acquired state was very important, since it spread outside the reach of the Holy Roman Empire. This state, known as Brandenburg-Prussia, although divided into two parts separated by Polish territory, was steadily drawn out of the orbit of the declining Polish state. Under Frederick William, known as "the Great Elector," Prussia steadily acquired territories, including Magdeburg and enclaves west of the Rhine. For more on this period, see Brandenburg-Prussia and Royal Prussia.

Kingdom of Prussia

Royal Prussia In 1701 Brandenburg-Prussia became the Kingdom of Prussia under Frederick I, with the permission of the Holy Roman Emperor and Polish King. Under Frederick II (Frederick the Great), Prussia seized the province of Silesia from Austria, and defended it through the Seven Years War which ended in 1763 with Prussia as the dominant state of eastern Germany. Prussia also acquired various territories in other parts of Germany through marriage or inheritance, including Pomerania on the Baltic coast. During this period the great Prussian military machine and efficient state bureaucracy were founded, institutions which were to form the foundations of the German state until 1945, and (in some respects) of the GDR after that. Prussia greatly expanded its territories to the east during the Partitions of Poland between 1772 and 1795. (see New East Prussia and South Prussia), which brought territory as far east as Warsaw under Prussian rule. Frederick William II led Prussia into war with revolutionary France in 1792, but was defeated at Valmy and was forced to cede his western territories to France. Frederick William III resumed the war, but suffered disaster at Jena and withdrew from the war after ceding yet more territory at the Treaty of Tilsit. Treaty of Tilsit In 1813 Prussia renounced this treaty and rejoined the war against Napoléonic France. Her reward in 1815 at the Congress of Vienna was the recovery of her lost territories, as well as the whole of the Rhineland and Westphalia and some other territories. These western lands were to be of vital importance because they included the Ruhr valley, centre of Germany's fledgling industrialisation, and particularly of the arms industry. These territorial gains also meant the population of Prussia doubled. Prussia emerged from the Napoléonic Wars as the dominant power in Germany, overshadowing her long-time rival Austria, which had given up the German Imperial Crown in 1806. In exchange, Prussia withdrew from areas of central Poland to allow the creation of Congress Poland under Russian sovereignty. The first half of the 19th century saw a prolonged struggle in Germany between the forces of liberalism, which wanted a united federal Germany under a democratic constitution, and the forces of conservatism, which wanted to keep Germany as a patchwork of weak independent states, with Prussia and Austria competing for influence. In 1848 the liberals got their chance when revolutions broke out across Europe. An alarmed Frederick William IV agreed to convene a National Assembly and grant a constitution. But when the Frankfurt Parliament offered Frederick William the crown of a united Germany, he refused, on the grounds that revolutionary assemblies could not grant royal titles. Prussia obtained a semi-democratic constitution, but the grip of the landowning classes (the junkers) remained unbroken, especially in the eastern parts. For more on this period see Kingdom of Prussia.

Imperial Prussia

Kingdom of Prussia In 1862 Prussian King William I appointed Otto von Bismarck as Prime Minister of Prussia. Bismarck was determined to defeat both the liberals and the conservatives, by creating a strong united Germany but under the domination of the Prussian ruling class and bureaucracy, not the western German liberals. He achieved this by provoking three successive wars, with Denmark in 1864 (second war of Schleswig), which gave Prussia Schleswig-Holstein, with Austria in 1866 (Austro-Prussian War), which allowed Prussia to annex Hanover and most other north German territories who had sided with Austria, and with France in 1870 (Franco-Prussian War), which allowed him to force Mecklenburg, Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg and Saxony to accept incorporation into a united German Empire (which excluded Austria, however), of which William I assumed the title of Emperor (Kaiser). This was the high point of Prussia's fortunes, and had the state continued to have wise leaders, Prussia's economic power and political status might have peacefully made her the centre of European civilization. However, Wilhelm II, who became Emperor in 1888 after the 99-days-rule of Frederick III, was a man of limited experience, narrow and reactionary views and poor judgement. After dismissing Bismarck in 1890 he embarked on a program of militarisation and adventurism in foreign policy that eventually led Germany into the disaster of World War I. As the price of withdrawing from the war, Russia was forced to concede control of large regions of the western Russian Empire to Germany, some of which bordered Prussia, in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918). However German control of these territories only lasted for a few months. 1918

The end of Prussia

The Prussian junkers and generals dominated the conduct of World War I, so when it ended in defeat in 1918 they had to accept responsibility. The Prussian monarchy was overthrown along with all other German monarchies, and Germany became a republic. The Great Poland Uprising, and the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, recreated the Polish state and forced Germany to return territories annexed by Prussia during the Partitions of Poland, as well as parts of Upper Silesia inhabited by Poles. East Prussia found itself again cut off from the rest of Germany by the Polish Corridor. The idea of breaking up Prussia into smaller states was considered by the German Government, but eventually traditionalist sentiment prevailed and Prussia became the "Prussian Free State" (Freistaat Preußen), by far the largest state of the Weimar Republic, comprising 60% of its territory. Since it included the industrial Ruhr and "Red Berlin", it became a stronghold of the left, being governed by a coalition of the Social Democrats and the Catholic Centre for most of the 1920s. Most historians regard the Prussian government during this time as far more capable and successful than that of Germany as a whole. Prussia's democratic constitution was suspended in 1932 as a result of a coup by Germany's conservative Chancellor Franz von Papen, marking the effective end of German democracy. In 1933 Hermann Göring became Interior Minister of Prussia, a position he used to suppress all democratic opposition. In 1934 the Nazi regime abolished the autonomy of all the German states. De jure, Prussia continued to exist as a territorial unit until the end of World War II, but in practice the "Gaue" of the Nazi Party organization were the building blocks of the Nazi state. In 1945 the armed forces of the Soviet Union occupied all of eastern and central Germany (including Berlin). Everything east of the Oder-Neisse line, including Silesia, Pomerania, eastern Brandenburg and East Prussia, was included within the new borders of Poland (with the northern third of East Prussia, including Königsberg, now Kaliningrad, going to the Soviet Union; today it is a Russian exclave between Lithuania and Poland). An estimated ten million Germans fled or were expelled from these territories as a part of the German exodus from Eastern Europe. These expulsions, together with the nationalisation of land by the Communist regime in East Germany, destroyed the junkers as a class and marked the effective end of Prussia as a social and political entity; the East German bureaucracy is seen by many as a "Red" continuation of the Prussian tradition, however. Prussia was formally abolished by a proclamation of the four occupying powers in Germany in 1947. In the Soviet Zone of Occupation, which became East Germany in 1949, the former Prussian territories were reorganised into the states of Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt, with the remaining parts of Pomerainia going to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. These states were abolished in 1952 in favor of districts, but recreated after the fall of communism in 1990. In the western zones of occupation, which became West Germany in 1949, they were divided up among North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Schleswig-Holstein (with Baden-Württemberg taking the territory of Hohenzollern). The idea of Prussia is not entirely dead in Germany. Since the reunification of Germany in 1990, suggestions to amalgamate the states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg and Berlin into one identified as Prussia have arisen though without much enthusiasm, even among German conservatives. The left-wing parties, who govern both nationally and in these three states at present, are firmly opposed to it. However some grassroots groups have sought to encourage a celebration of Prussian history and culture. In 1996 a proposal to merge Berlin and Brandenburg was rejected by Brandenburg voters, even though this was not seen as a decision relating to the revival of Prussia as a state but rather as an attempt to restore the old Brandenburg, since Berlin had never been a city-state before 1945. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, a small number of ethnic Germans from Kazakhstan have begun to settle in the Kaliningrad exclave of the Russian Federation, once northern East Prussia, as part of the migration influx into the area, which was previously a restricted area (see "closed city"). As of 2005, about 6,000 (0.6% of population) ethnic Germans, mostly from other parts of Russia, live there. Most Russian Germans preferred to leave for Germany, see History of Germans in Russia and the Soviet Union.

See also


- Otto von Bismarck
- Carl von Clausewitz
- Origins of Prussia
- Prussian people
- Prussian Secret Police
- Brandenburg
- Brandenburg-Prussia
- Ducal Prussia
- Royal Prussia
- East Prussia
- Franco-Prussian War
- Hohenzollern
- List of Kings of Prussia
- List of provinces of Prussia
- Masuria
- New East Prussia
- Prime Minister of Prussia
- Prussian Minister of War
- Southern Prussia
- Warmia
- West Prussia
- Crusader states

External links


- [http://www.orteliusmaps.com/book/ort56.html 1570 map of Germany and Prussia plus details]
- [http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/desbillons/atlas/seite70.html Map of Pomerania and Prussia 1598]
- [http://wwwtest.library.ucla.edu/libraries/mgi/maps/blaeu/prvssia.jpg 1660 map of Prussia 1660]
- [http://www.rulers.org/prusprov.html map of Prussian Provinces]
- [http://www.frombork.art.pl/Frombork-foto/merkator.jpg Partial Map of Prussia by Gerard Mercator, Atlas sive cosmographica., Amsterdam 1594]
- [http://www.frombork.art.pl/Frombork-foto/Mprus.jpg Partial Map of Prussia by Kasper Henneberger, Koenigsberg 1629]
- [http://www.frombork.art.pl/Frombork-foto/Hart3_m.jpg Map of Old Prussia by K. Henneberger, 17th c.]
- [http://www.frombork.art.pl/Frombork-foto/Hart4_m.jpg Map of Prussia by K. Henneberger] in: Christoph Hartknoch, Alt- und neues Preussen..., Frankfurt 1684
- [http://www.frombork.art.pl/Frombork-foto/m_reyilly.jpg Map of Prussia and Freie Stadt Danzig from 18th c.]
- [http://www.frombork.art.pl/Frombork-foto/mapaXIX.jpg Map of East Prussia] K. Flemming, F. Handtke, Głogów ca. 1920, after Treaty of Versailles removed Memel area from Germany.
- [http://web2.airmail.net/napoleon/Prussian_army.htm Prussian Army] Prussia Category:Kingdom of Prussia Category:Former countries in Europe Category:History of Prussia ko:프로이센 ja:プロイセン simple:Prussia

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