Prussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia
and the Margraviate of Brandenburg, and centered on the region of
Prussia. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia,
successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually
well-organised and effective army. Prussia, with its capital in
Konigsberg and from 1701 moved to Berlin, shaped the history of
Germany.
In 1871, German states united in creating the German Empire
under Prussian leadership. In November 1918, the monarchies were
abolished and the nobility lost its political power during the
German Revolution of 1918/19, the Kingdom of Prussia was thus
abolished in favour of a republic the Free State of Prussia.
From 1933, Prussia lost its independence as a result of the Prussian
coup, when the Nazi regime was successfully establishing its
"Gleichschaltung" laws in pursuit of a unitary state. With the end
of the Nazi regime, the division of Germany into allied-occupation
zones and the separation of its territories east of the
Oder-Neisse line, which were incorporated into Poland and the
Soviet Union, the State of Prussia had ceased de facto to exist in
1945.
De jure Prussia existed until its formal liquidation by
the Allied Control Council Enactment No. 46 of 25 February 1947.
(thanks to Wikipedia)
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