Prussia

Archduke Sigismund Francis of Austria was born on November 27, 1630 and died on June 25, 1665. Archduke Sigismund Francis of Austria would have been 34 years old at the time of death or 384 years old today.

Frederick Muhlenberg died on June 4, 1801 at the age of 51.

* 1862-1890 Bismarck * 1890-1894 Caprivi * 1894-1900 Hohenlohe From 1871-1918 the post was also held by the Reich Chancellor.

King Frederick William III of Prussia was born on August 3, 1770 and died on June 7, 1840. King Frederick William III of Prussia would have been 69 years old at the time of death or 244 years old today.

Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg was born on February 16, 1620.

Frederick II (the Great).

Originally Königsberg (now Kaliningrad). After the union of Brandenburg and Prussia, Berlin (the capital of Brandenburg) increased in importance, becoming the royal capital in the 18th century.

Austria and Prussia were not really that different. Both were Empires led by German speaking peoples who controlled lands both with German and Non-German populations, both were led by Enlightened Despots, and both had designs on creating a united German polity (i.e. Germany).

One of the main differences between the states, however, was that Prussia was primarily Protestant (mostly Lutherans, but some Calvinists) with a Catholic minority. Conversely, Austria was primarily Catholic, with a much smaller Protestant minority.

To punish Germany for starting the war and also to make them mad.

In 1866 Prussia annexed Hanover and turned it into a Prussian province. It remained part of Prussia till 1933, when the Nazis abolished the various states in Germany.

Prussia had a mainly German population so nationalism actually unified Prussia. Prussia's army was the most powerful in central Europe

They weren't. The French provoked the war, alarmed by growing German strength and the possibility of the unification of the hundreds of German city-states into a single, powerful nation. The unification of Germany and Italy into nations upset the careful balance of power created by the "Concert of Vienna", the peace settlement following the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Provoking the war with Prussia proved to be a major mistake for France, as they lost the war they started and had to cede Alsace and Lorraine to the victor. This did not stop the French from burning for revenge for the next forty years, laying the groundwork for the First World War. This thirst for revenge and for the recovery of the lost provinces of Alsace and Lorraine also perverted French strategic planning into an unrealistic reliance on the power of the spirited offensive, which the French followed in 1914 when the chance for revenge came, costing the lives of hundreds of thousands of French soldiers in the early months of WWI, to no purpose whatsoever.

Prussia-Brandenburg was always an absolute monarchy ... The best known absolute Prussian monarch is probably Frederich II (the Great), who reigned from 1740-1786. His father, Frederick William I (reigned 1713-1740) was also notorious for his absolute rule. He ruthlessly smashed the remaining powers of the regional estates (provincial assemblies of local grandees). For example, in the course of a dispute with the estates of East Prussia in 1716 he wrote in a well known decision, '[Ich] stabliere die Souveränität ... fest wie ein Rocher von Bronze' (English translation: 'I am establishing sovereignty firmly, like a rock of bronze'). Here sovereignty means in effect royal authority. As for rock of bronze, it is an odd turn of phrase, but the meaning is clear enough. Even after Prussia acquired a constitution in 1853, the kings and their ministers - especially Bismarck - sometimes gleefully violated it.

Bismarck moved France and Prussia towards war by editing and releasing the 'Ems Dispatch'. The dispatch made it appear that William I had insulted France. Napoleon responded by declaring war on Germany.

No, Frederick's marriage to Princess Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Bevern in 1733 did not result in issue. In 1740, then King, he declared his brother, Augustus William, Prince of Prussia and heir to the throne. Augustus William predeceased him (in 1758), and his son, Frederik's nephew, succeeded as Frederick William II.

One obstacle to German unification was that Austria did not want a powerful neighbor. Religion was another obstacle, as well as individuals not wanting to lose their power.

From 1815-1866 Germany consisted of 39 states which for most purposes were sovereign. (Before about 1794 it had just over 360 states!) Many of the states were poor and some were badly run. Nearly all were undemocratic till the late 1850s, and even in those states which nominally had parliaments the governments sometimes just did what they wanted and treated the constitution with utter contempt. Many of the German states kept their citizens under surveillance and censored the press. 'Insulting the monarchy' could - and did - land people in jail. Some parts of the German lands began to industrialize, initially on a modest scale, from about 1825 onwards (Kingdom of Saxony, the Ruhr and parts of the Nothern Rhineland) and from 1840 onwards also Upper Silesia. From 1850-1873 there was a prolonged boom. and living standards rose, especially in the industrial and adjacent areas and the big cities. There was a significant gap in living standards between these regions and agricultural areas far away from industry. Some parts of the country far from industry were still poor even c. 1870. However, many of the German-speaking countries were among the first to make education compulsory and the school system in Prussia was envied and copied abroad. Its universities, with their emphasis on research were held in very high regard, too. From 1862 onwards Prussia took the leading role in uniting Germany. One of the most important steps was the expulsion of Austria from Germany by war in 1866. (Until then Austria had been the official 'tog dog' in Germany ...) In the war of 1866 Prussia annexed a number of states such a Hanover and Electoral Hesse that had backed Austria. In 1867 Prussia established the North German Confederation, and during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 the South German states also joined to create the German Empire - which was firmly under Prussian leadership. By 1880 at the latest Germany was acknowledged as the leading military and industrial power in Continental Europe. Joncey
Germany was divided in to many small areas with all different governments

One of the greatest miltary commanders in History. He commanded the Prussians in the 7 Years war. 1756 to 1763

He was a person that began building a powerful army that became the most important institution in Prussian life.

in 1945 most of it went to Russia, but a small portion of it went to Poland

Yes they did. Prussian and Russian Armies invaded France in 1814 after Napoleon defeat at the Battle of Leipzig.

Otto von Bismarck relied heavily on his military prowess to bring about a unified Germany as minister of Prussia. He was skilled at strategy and knowing what would encourage his people, and used those skills to push the citizens of Prussia and the other German nation states to want unification.

Otto Bismarck (later von Bismarck), the first-ever German chancellor, he became chancellor of a unified Germany in 1871. He was already chancellor of the most powerful state in the German Confederation (1815-1866).

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