Full History of Prussia - Documentary

among the many thousands of kingdoms empires countries nations and people's which have arisen throughout the history of the world the Prussians doubtlessly stand out what became brandenburg-prussia began as a backwater of Europe not exactly blessed with Geographic or material fortune yet through the determination of its leaders and people it rose to become one of the major powers of Europe one which could take on the other powers and come outstanding in fact not only one which could but one which did hello and welcome to fire learning in this video we will be covering the full history of Prussia from its earliest beginnings with the Teutonic Knights to its rise as a great power under the leaders of these 17th and 18th centuries and finish off in a 19th century as Prussia led the charge to create a new nation by defying an old order and unifying its neighbors called Germany ladies and gentlemen thank you for joining us as we now add Prussia to the list of nations and peoples whose history we have fully covered in our documentary series now as many of you know we have covered the history of Germany before back in the fall of 2018 however though closely related the majority of that two-hour presentation focused on the Holy Roman Empire and the rest was divided between Prussia Austria and other events in Germany this documentary which I've been wanting to do since Germany part two was released will focus on Prussia itself giving it the attention it deserves as you will see it's a whole new story before we begin I wanted to thank King delerious shadow dice Andre Silva Scott Fletcher Derek Shaw William Baumgartner Edward Carnot's Paul Gleason Kim Yenta Noir Jensen mark term side AE Oro mealy and all Amin for being our most recent supporters on patreon they join these supporters who make these videos possible if you like this video be sure to hit the like button and consider subscribing to see more in the future now then let's get to it to understand Prussia we must first discuss the Holy Roman Empire the Holy Roman Empire was founded by Charlemagne in 800 AD or according to some in 962 AD when it became centered in Germany under Otto the first it was famously remarked by Voltaire that this Empire was not holy nor Roman nor an empire this was certainly true in Voltaire's time when it was a shell of its former self but in the Middle Ages the Empire was indeed a force to be reckoned with the Holy Roman Empire is reputation for strangeness is ode to the fact that it never centralized into what we would today call a true nation with many of the Dukes and princes within it though nominally pledging loyalty to the Emperor in fact holding a fair degree of Independence and autonomy the practically independent regions of the Empire numbered in the hundreds and in fact eventually nearly 2,000 some the size of near towns and monasteries as rulers to vitae their lands between their sons however many medieval kingdoms like England and France were historically very fragmented by modern standards the Holy Roman Empire is unique in that it never took the step towards nationhood at least successfully and therefore failed to project its power beyond its own borders from the early modern era onward thus turning into this archaic Confederation which Voltaire described whose borders looked like they were decided by the Emperor fleeing a paintbrush at a map saying yeah fever dude at Zara though the Empire may seem to us today it did last for a thousand years among other nations who would have gladly absorbed it had it been weak by the 11th century religious fervour was sweeping across Europe Islamic forces had conquered the Holy Land some centuries prior once important Christians cities and territories including Jerusalem Antioch and Alexandria were under their rule there was a very real threat that the remaining centres of Christianity Constantinople and even Rome could fall to them 1095 ad saw the launching of the First Crusade to counter this threat Christian European troops captured Jerusalem it was a great success for president but it would not be Jerusalem would soon fall back into Muslim hands the fight for the land which both sides considered holy would last for centuries various orders of Christian Knights would pop up in this place in time to assist the crusade the Knights Hospitaller the Knights Templar and the Teutonic order the Crusades in the Middle East would ultimately not succeed in their primary goals however the desire for Europeans to guard and spread the religion would extend beyond the Middle East less commonly heard about are the northern Crusades it was in these Crusades spearheaded by the Teutonic order motivated by the same or the disturber that Prussia's origins emerged the original Prussians were in fact not Germans they were a Baltic people today they are referred to as the old oppressions to distinguish them from the later rulers of this land the old Prussians were not united into one Kingdom or country rather they were divided into many different pastoralist tribes and associated with their specific tribe very little is known of them their language culture history and the like went largely unrecorded however what is known to history is that by around 1200 ad this region was one of the final major bastions of European pagans this made them an easily justifiable target for expansion by neighboring Christian powers the region in which the old Prussians and nearby groups lived was also strategically important as it was a territory in between two competing Christian factions the Catholic Church of the West and Orthodox Church of the East which had diverged from each other a century and a half prior though the Germans had embarked on a quest to settle their East's in this age the first to attempt to expand into these lands was not the Holy Roman Emperor but rather the polish beginning in the 10th century Polish leaders and missionaries moved into the region and were met with fierce resistance conflict between the polish and old Prussians would reoccur on and off for the next three centuries with the poles failing to subdue them attention to this pagan land grew over the centuries eventually receiving the attention of the Pope himself though attempts had been made to Christianize and conquer the land for centuries the northern Crusades an umbrella term for a number of Crusades undertaken in the region could be said to have begun in 1147 with the Windish crusade held nearby eventually the Pope equated the Crusades of the north to those in the East offering many of these same rewards to the Crusaders which encouraged participation in 1198 the livonian crusade began as the Bishop of Riga commanding the largely German livonian brothers of the sword attempted to conquer and convert nearby groups like the livonians Estonians caronian x' and semigallians from 1209 to 1225 Conrad the Polish book of masovia attempted to expand into Prussia on his own he would found the short-lived order of knights to aid in his conquest the order of dough being and was assisted in his quest to convert the Prussians by the Cistercian monks meanwhile in 1192 in the city of acre the organ that a brutal home invasion house to hide again Maria and Jerusalem or the order of the Brothers of the German house of Saint Mary in Jerusalem better known simply as the Teutonic order was founded their function was to accommodate German Crusaders to the Holy Land guarding pilgrims running hospitals and this sort of thing however after the Crusaders faced a defeat in the Holy Land the order moved itself to Europe in 1211 they were welcomed by the king of Hungary Andrew the second to establish themselves in a region of Transylvania to guard against him rotting Turkic humans however the order angered the Hungarians when they attempted to free themselves from the authority of the king by placing themselves under the authority of the Pope the king of Hungary then expelled them thankfully for the Knights there were other opportunities abroad in 1226 conrad masovia and the bishop of prussia christian of Elijah invited the Teutonic Knights under their grand master Hermann von Saltz ax2 Prussia to assist them in the crusade with the permission of the holy roman emperor frederick ii and the they agreed they were granted a region known as Kelman island as well as any other conquest they could take in exchange however keep in mind the Knights did also pledge allegiance to the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor and the extent of the lands that they could conquer was not exactly clearly established with the poles the Knights agreed and in 1230 ad they took up residence in the fortress of phorbol song as a much-needed permanent military force during campaigns the Knights would be assisted by crusading forces from Poland the Empire and Pomerania this was in unwelcoming region the fierce old Prussians of which there were perhaps 170,000 inhabited a cold land of swamps rivers lakes and dense forests however the Knights ardently led the charge into Prussia seeing success that their predecessors had not in acquiring land and subduing the people they were devout Catholics of course their piety kept them strong in the face of hardship that most others would not endear by 1237 the order of Dobrin and the livonian brothers of the sword and order tasked with the conquest of nearby Livonia were absorbed into the order as well the livonians became a vassal following their defeat at the Battle of Salah against these Simha Gideon's and Somalians the Teutonic order then incorporated their territory the order success was quickly leading to their dominance in the region lands were cleared swamps were made arable German and Slovak settlers migrated into the region as a part of a period known as ostensible the eastward expansion cities were founded including Marienburg and Cooney's burg modern-day Kaliningrad it was very much the formation of a new world in 1241 the Knights faced off against the expanding Mongol Empire sources under Baku Khan at the Battle of Legnica the battle was lost but fortunately the Mongols soon withdrew from the area in 1242 conflict with the Orthodox Republic of Novgorod came which ended in a failure for the Knights to expand into their lands following the Battle of the ice which took place on a frozen lake by 1260 after decades of merciless fighting the order controlled the territory shown here Prussia and much of what is today Latvia and Estonia these two territories being divided by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania a state which had arisen during the Crusades and remained pagan despite their king Minda gauss claiming to be christian for a short while it wasn't over yet however that year the Battle of Derby which saw the Knights face off against the semi Gideon's took place the Knights lost inspired by this a rebellion known as the great Prussian uprising began afterwards which would last for 23 years when it ended the Prussian resistance would slowly wither away and many Prussians either emigrated or agreed to be baptised the deutsche organs dot or state of the Teutonic order now much more firmly controlled Prussia what was this though was it its own country basically yes but it is more proper to call it a monastic state which again pledged allegiance to both the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor as German migrants flooded into the region the Old Prussian lifestyle and culture was replaced peace still did not necessarily come however the peoples of the lands to the northeast of Prussia were not to be quelled for some time and on their borders enemies remain prepared for conflict the Knights would now focus their efforts on the lithuanian their war with them would be seemingly endless and equally ferocious the lithuanian is invented very creative ways of sacrificing captured knights to their gods it was also in this time that relations with poland their catholic brethren who had encouraged their activity in the region to begin with began to sour as well as disputes arose in 1306 succession to the Duchy of pomerania with its capital as the city of Danzig was disputed between the Margraviate of Brandenburg a state within the Holy Roman Empire and the Polish when Brandenburg took over the region the Knights were called by Poland to expel them the Knights of lodged and in 1308 took the city of Danzig what followed remains debated by historians but it was most likely a violent slaughter of a portion of the city's inhabitants the Knights then went a step further and decided to keep the city for themselves paying off Brandenburg to renounce their claims to it the poles were outraged war broke out between them and the Knights soon after which saw the Teutonic order linked their territory by land with the Holy Roman Empire there by turning Poland into a landlocked country the order that the poles had invited into the region was now perhaps their greatest threat it was the beginning of a long and unfriendly relationship between the two the Pope was not happy either as the purpose for their presence was to wage war on the unholy pagans not fellow Christians he would demand that they return the territory multiple times but the Knights refused in 1326 another Polish Teutonic war broke out which lasted until 1332 ending any ceasefire the ceasefire continued until 1343 when an official peace came the Polish agreed to renounce their claims to the city of Danzig and surrounding area in exchange for certain territories which have been lost in the prior wars this was far from the end however frankly the territory would be disputed between Poland and the Germans for the next six hundred years until after the Second World War the war with of the way.you meanwhile would continue for decades to come in 1386 the Grand Duchy of Lithuania truly embraced Catholicism and merged with Poland when their Duke married the Polish Queen this however did not end the long war between a Teutonic Knights and Lithuanians they claimed to doubt the sincerity of the lithuanian conversion regardless of how much they actually doubted it they were motivated more by the fact that this union which was a personal not political union created a considerable threat furthermore the lack of nearby pagans would effectively render their militaristic purpose in the region finished in 1389 the civil war broke out north away Neah fortunately for the Knights as it is spewed for the throne of the way Nia broke out the night supported Vitus a rival claimant in response Vytautas seated them the region of Samaria which stood between their Prussian and livonian lands white outis was successful becoming Grand Duke in 1402 claiming to rule the land as regent in the name of the polish king immediately after white outis broke relations with the knights though lithuania had officially converted to catholicism the region of Samaria remained largely pagan and revolted against Teutonic rule in 1409 which the Athenians supported that year the Teutonic Knights under their Grand Master Ulrich von Union declared war on Poland and Lithuania a grand masters by the way orange ermine Hulk Meister's did not achieved their positions directly through bloodlines as the order was celibate which is why we haven't been discussing royal domestic politics rather upon the death of one the highest officials in the order would elect a new one anyway this was the beginning of the polish-lithuanian Teutonic war which lasted from 1409 to 1411 on July 15th 1410 the Teutonic and Polish Lithuanian forces met at the Battle of Grunwald though it is known that this was one of the largest battles in medieval European history the exact numbers of each army are not clearly known the order having perhaps as many as 27,000 men the polish-lithuanian as many as 39 thousand men here the polish-lithuanian scored a major victory over the order most of the force and its leaders were captured or killed including the Grandmaster himself who died in the fighting the Polish and Lithuanian then pressed their advantage hoping to take the Teutonic capital of Marienburg but withdrew as neighboring powers threatened intervention with the peace of thorn the following year the war ended however in their treaty the Teutons received fairly relaxed conditions they merely returned the region of Semak didya for the lifetimes of the rulers of Poland and Lithuania despite the relaxed conditions the order's power was irreversibly shaken by the or and a period of decline then followed Poland and Lithuania now held an important advantage over them furthermore the decline in power was noticed not merely by the orders enemies but by its own inhabitants as well in the coming decades in response to increasing taxes a lack of political representation what was viewed as mismanagement and three more failed wars against Poland the Prussian people again by now largely consisting of the descendants of German and Slovak settlers would question the orders position of power there was a noticeable disconnect between the order and the people of the region because the knights were celibate new blood constantly had to be recruited into their ranks these new members typically came from Germany itself widening this gap between the rulers and the people in February of 1440 a group of nobles clergymen and burgers leaders of important cities many of which were members of the Hanseatic League the leave themselves would support the Knights formed the Prussian Confederation the Hanseatic League by the way was a powerful trading Confederation spending different kingdoms in the northern seas in his time the grand master conrad von le thousand arraigned from 1441 249 did not exactly oppose the Confederation and would attempt to negotiate with them however his nephew and successor Ludvig Von Erichs thousand would take a more defiant stance in 1453 the holy roman emperor frederick the third sided with the order and banned the confederation the confederation however did not give in the following year they outright revolted against the order's rule and called on the king of poland a country where the nobles already held a much larger share of power for aid the confederation made king casimir the fourth of poland a very tempting offer assist them and they would grant him Prussia to be held in a personal union meaning again Prussia would remain a separate country from Poland but would have the same leader the Polish King agreed and these thirteen years war began that he the 13 years war would result in disaster for the order though he tried another Pope nor Emperor could stop it finally in October of 1466 the war came to a close with the second piece of thorn the order did not face total defeat but it was significant half of Prussia the West including the city of Danzig and their headquarters in Morgan burg was ceded to the Polish King West Prussia became royal Prussia the polish king then took the title of King of Prussia the East remained under the rule of the order but became a Polish fief Livonia remained a vassal of the Knights but enjoyed a fair amount of Independence the Knights would retain a fair amount of autonomy and would challenge the Polish on a few more occasions however the result was important it made the territory subject to the polish king rather than the emperor which would influence later events although the emperor would continue to claim the order as his soon Prussia would embark on a rather different course in 1510 Albrecht or an English Albert the third son of the Duke of Brandenburg Alan's Bach was chosen to be Grand Master of the Teutonic order largely because of his relationship with his uncle sig is one of the first the king of Poland with whom the Knights were again feuding Albert was not able to stop war however one came in 1519 which lasted until 1521 following the siege of Allen Stein where the poles were led by nicholas copernicus the Polish successfully resisted the Teutonic order with the Knights limping home and a far larger threat the Ottoman Empire threatening Europe again a ceasefire was agreed to during this truce Grand Master Albert traveled to the Holy Roman Empire in hopes of discussing the issue with Poland with the Emperor and securing his assistance while there however he ran into someone one of the most important figures of the century Martin Luther as well as his colleague Andrzej associ honor they had a solution in mind for the Grand Master Martin Luther was behind the Protestant Reformation which began in 1517 with his pub of his 95 theses this was the movement which would challenge the Catholic Church eventually breaking off from it entirely dividing Germany and Europe between the Reformation supporters and opponents Prussia would have decide which path to take in this dispute as a monastic state with a Catholic restating heritage they would surely side with the church right in fact no Albert's saw an opportunity in the Reformation in 1525 he converted to Lutheranism he then signed the Treaty of crock off with Poland in which he pledged loyalty to the Polish King ironic as Poland would remain Catholic but this offered the poles a large benefit so they agreed the state of the Teutonic order was secularized and transformed into the Duchy of Prussia the Duchy became the very first Protestant state despite being a monastic state the people of Prussia were not especially attached to Catholicism in truth remnants of certain pagan customs still existed among the populace easing the transition the members of the Teutonic order present in Prussia itself were required to convert or be expelled Livonia became independent though this was not a huge change as it had already been for the most part it was a radical transition but it would not be achieved without challengers the Knights elected a new Grand Master Valter von Kronberg with the Emperor's support he would claim the territory of Prussia for the order but in this chaotic age his claims could hardly be enforced theater tonic order would then fall into major decline although not total decline and it still exists today actually with headquarters in Vienna although it is now purely a religious order Albert's gamble succeeded the algs Berg settlement after decades of disruption on the Empire in 1555 allowed toleration of Lutheran's and the Empire however this compromise did not include toleration of Calvinism a doctrine which would appeal to the Prussians and which would cause problems down the road it was a compromise but it was not enough the rupturing that the Reformation would cause had only just begun and would be drawn closer into the inevitable conflicts by the next major transition in its history Albert died in 1568 the throne then passed to his son Albert Frederick his later rain would be maintained by a few Regents as the Duke was overcome by mental illness he died in 1618 Albert Frederick and his father were members of the Hohenzollern family Albert Frederick was succeeded by Johann Sigismund who was also of this family though of a different branch Sigismund was already by the way the margrave of brandenburg the origin of the title of Margrave in administrator of a militarized border territory though now basically meaning duke lies in brandenburg history as a territory carved out from slavic territory captured by German forces the first margrave of brandenburg was albert the bear who ruled from 1157 to 1170 the region had been ruled by the Hohenzollern family ever since 1415 with frederick the first who ruled from a city called berlin the margrave of brandenburg was also the elector of brandenburg meaning he was one of the officials who elected the emperors in the Imperial diets hereditary rule was common in the Holy Roman Empire but emperors had to be approved of by the German Nobles this brought the margrave's considerable influence as Sigismund became duke of prussia brandenburg and prussia remained separate entities but were held under the same ruler in a personal union however though both territories enjoyed a good degree of Independence neither were fully independent countries Brandenburg was subject to the holy roman empire and prussia was subject to poland as the head of both he owed allegiance to both the emperor and the king of poland to complicate things brother he was also the ruler of more disconnected lands throughout the empire the territories of claves mark and ravensberg a fascinating organization of things isn't it the year of his ascension 1618 by the way was the year that one of the most major conflicts in European history began the 30 Years War the 30 Years War was the culmination of religious conflict and tension in Europe and the religiously divided Empire by now the power of the Dukes and princes of the Holy Roman Empire was so great that the Emperor could not really directly command them effectively especially the larger and more powerful territories like avaria Saxony and Brandenburg however the Emperor's were regularly from the Habsburg house who ruled the arch Duchy of Austria the most powerful state in the empire as well as many other territories such as Bohemia and Hungary a different branch of the family by the way was on the throne Spain as well accordingly they held a fair amount of indirect power over the neighboring states and could potentially plot to assume more direct control this threat became more real with the ascension of ferdinand ii to the throne of bohemia in 1617 with the likelihood that he would become emperor soon after which he did in 1619 he sought to impose religious uniformity on his empire bringing all of it back to the thought ISM the Bohemians did not welcome the idea of religious uniformity however a large number of them were hood sites members of a Christian religion which broke off from the Catholic Church prior to the Reformation a revolt broke out which would sparked the first of four phases of the 30 Years War brandenburg-prussia attempt to stay out of it following the 1620 Catholic victory at the Battle of White Mountain the war seemed as if it would begin to wind down over the next few years though it's still continued in other areas of the Empire a Catholic victory seemed likely however it was too late the conflict had attracted the attention of multiple other powers of Europe who had interests in turning it the other way namely France who despite being Catholic was practically encircled by Habsburg lands and did not wish to see their power grow any Scandinavians who were now Protestant and did not wish to see Catholic power grow in their backyard either the war would continue for decades as firstly Denmark then Sweden then finally France would wage war Prime Merilee in germany itself the brawlin burgers and Prussians now under the uninspiring George William watched events unfold anxiously hoping to maintain peace despite pressure mounting from both sides first the Danes invaded Brandenburg and put pressure on the Margrave to cooperate then when the Imperial forces under commanders such as the famous Albrecht von Wallenstein drove them out imperial forces would put less than friendly pressure on Braun the Berg to cooperate then the Swedish invaded the Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus who not only amassed near Brandenburg but controlled the Baltic Sea trade routes bullied the Brandenburg Prussians into switching sides and giving them support though the Prussians were understandably reluctant to directly intervene regardless the war would ravage brandenburg-prussia specifically brandenburg-prussia was mostly out of the way only temporarily used by Sweden regardless of how the duke felt about it as a base from which to attack Poland in a separate but contemporary war whereas Brandenburg rested on the crossroads of competing powers making neutrality practically impossible villages and towns were destroyed the population was devastated perhaps being cut in half throughout the course of the war with some areas losing even more George William tried to hire mercenaries to spare Brandenburg from the onslaught but then they turned on him and ravaged the country similar stories were heard across Germany in 1640 George William died and was succeeded by his son Frederick William he was only 20 but it was already becoming clear that Frederick William would be far more competent and successful ruler eventually being known as DeRosa crew forced the great elector he would be responsible for not only strengthening but in fact at this point saving the Margraviate and Duchy with a combination of administrative military and diplomatic talent the roar had taught the Prussians a very important lesson series pas comme para bellum let he who desires peace prepare for war if he did not wish to be at the mercy of larger power as Brandenburg would require a strong military the great elector would begin to form a large and disciplined army a process which would continue throughout his reign however for now he would negotiate his domain success with clever diplomacy when Frederick William ratified a treaty with the French and Swedes the Swedes agreed to divide the Duchy of Pomerania with them this would allow brawlin Berg to escape its landlocked state when the war finally ended in 1648 with the famous Treaty of Westphalia broadened or did in fact receive these lands as well as some lands from some other states in the Empire thus making it the second largest state in the Empire after the Habsburg domains it was a remarkable reversal of affairs though much more work would be required to truly revitalize the territory the 30 Years War was in many ways the last stand of the Holy Roman Emperor the office would not be dissolved for over a century but it became largely a ceremonial title retaining a sense of power only because it was almost always held by the powerful Hapsburgs the hundreds of states of the empire including brandenburg were not much more self-governing although it is important to note that within these scattered Hohenzollern territories themselves there was a degree of disunity as well with nobility not always willing to cooperate with the Margrave Frederick William would be harsh on his subordinates trying to force their compliance another added benefit of the Peace of Westphalia was the recognition of Calvinism a doctrine which as mentioned many Prussians include the monarch followed as broaden Berg crush recovered in 1655 the second northern war erupted this war would see among others Poland to whom Frederick William owed a degree of Allegiance face off against Sweden with whom he had attempted to forge strong relations as Prussia was bounced between sides eventually the poles struck a deal from the Polish King he obtained a very significant arrangement the Duchy of Prussia would be released from its obligations to the Polish crown it would in effect become an independent country the war ended in 1660 and the deal between Prussia and Poland was retained the Duchy of Prussia was now a sovereign country in 1675 the Scanian war broke out as a consequence of the franco-dutch war between of course France and the Netherlands Sweden had agreed with French to attack brandenburg-prussia if it supported the Dutch which it did Sweden invaded but at the Battle of fair Belene in June of that year the Brandenburg Prussian force defeated them it was a very minor battle but was a sign of increasing Prussian power the war ended in 1679 not amounting to much as the swedish began to reverse their losses through broaden berg prussia and their allied denmark norway with french assistance brandenburg gained some small territory but the war had been perhaps more important in that it helped establish the prestige of brandenburg-prussia the Duchy which had been kicked around not even a half century prior now commanded a large and disciplined military Frederick William now absolute ruler of Prussia with strengthen his domain in other ways as well he would emphasize trade and construct canals in the Edict of Potsdam he would offer Protestants expelled from places like France in opportunity to settle in brandenburg-prussia he would even try his hand at colonizing distant lands establishing the Brandenburger gold coast in Africa in 1682 he died in 1688 remembered as the man who saved brahmin berg prussia and laid before it a new destiny which would have been totally unexpected before his rule the throne went to his son Frederick the third Frederick to third his son and his grandson would continue in Frederick Williams footsteps each of them taking Prussia to a new level in their reins [Music] frederik the third became duke in an age when a smaller number of major powers were beginning to dominate european politics as opposed to the much more fragmented situation of past centuries he sought to secure a precious future in his environment in 1701 the most major of louis xiv the king of france's Waris began the war of Spanish Succession Frederick was prepared to enter the war on the Imperial side against France but first he asked something in exchange Frederick the third sought the title of King to elevate his and his domains status Frederick brought the question up with the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold apart from the king of the Germans and King of Bohemia a Holy Roman leader could not be king but a king of another country could be a leader of another Holy Roman territory in exchange for 8,000 troops Leopold allowed Frederick to elevate his Duchy to a kingdom this had worked with the Emperor however Frederick also had to avoid offending the polish recall of course he polish had ruled the western half of Prussia for centuries and their monarch claimed the title of king of prussia to avoid a potential dispute the title Frederick the third claimed was not King of Prussia but rather King in Prussia he was crowned in 1701 becoming a Frederick the first King Frederick the first reign was a mix of prosperity and harsh setbacks he is remembered as a patron of the arts and science who enhanced the power and prestige of Prussia however in 1708 in prussia itself an outbreak of plague killed around the third of the population though brandenburg fared much better he died in 1713 and was succeeded by his son Friedrich Wilhelm Frederick William the first Frederick William would be very different from his father in many ways taking little interest in the arts being frugal with his income selling many of his father's luxurious items and maintaining a strict Calvinist work ethic above all he is remembered for his contributions to the military which earn him the moniker the Sultan Kenny the soldier King Frederick William the first became King a time when the great northern war raged among Prussia's neighbors his father had considered entering the war but hadn't due to a lack of support for it in 1715 Frederick William intervened on the side of Russia briefly attacking his Swedes and gaining a small amount of territory in Swedish Pomerania the war ended in 1720 this ironically apart from the almost intervention in the war of Polar succession from 17 33 to 35 was the only war in which the slaughter King would participate and he had given only minimal participation he built Russia's army up making it one of the most prepared in Europe the focus in the military was so great that Prussian culture did frankly revolve around it with service in the military offering a great number of advantages and higher social status but he was frugal with it it stood by only in case of necessity Frederick William also did much to improve the economy and administration of his territories making his government very wealthy he was a very accomplished leader and by the end of his reign his prudence and effort allowed Prussia to have an advantage over its neighbors who suffered economically and militarily throughout the past several decades but to whom would he leave this well-oiled machine his son Frederick whom he viewed as a grave disappointment the soldier King was a smart and disciplined man but had a violent temper which he often took out on others around him including his son whom he frequently abused his son Frederick was not living up to his father's expectations despite being raised in a strict militaristic environment young Prince Frederick preferred to study things like music literature and philosophy he took an interest in France and French culture and philosophy his father however viewed these things as impractical distractions and hated the French their relationship was difficult at one point Frederick plan to flee to England he was caught however and the outraged King threatened to execute Frederick for treason the Holy Roman Emperor intervened however and persuaded Frederick William to let his son off but his close companion with whom he had fled and was possibly romantically involved was executed in front of Frederick in November of 1630 Frederick William the first died in 1640 he reconciled to a degree with his son before his death though is still no doubt was concerned that he might be leaving the kingdom in poor hands he couldn't have known however how far his son would go one day he would be known as their grocer the great [Music] frederick ii king in prussia came to be thrown in May of 1640 at the age of 28 within a year he was involved in his first war the Holy Roman Emperor Charles the sixth had died in October of that year his heir was Maria Theresa a woman this was an issue according to salic law and was disputed the first to dispute this was Frederick himself he would form an alliance with France and invade Austria who would ally with Britain in December of that year Frederick took them off guard by invading on the onset of winter and occupied the territory of Silesia a very wealthy territory south of brennenburg this was the beginning of the first Silesian war a sub conflict of the much larger war of Austrian succession in spring of 1741 the Austrians struck back Frederick met them at the Battle of mobitz this would be his first major command when the battle turned south he fled that was forces won the day in his absence Frederick would never make the humiliating mistake of fleeing again recalling later that mobitz had taught him better a peace treaty with Austria was signed in June of 1740 - but it would be brief and the second Silesian war erupted in 1740 for the Austrians with their sacks and allies met the Prussians at the Battle of Hope in Freiburg in June of 1745 here Frederick won a famous victory over them and followed his victories up with the battles of soar and castles Dorf these battles won him recognition as a military genius months later the Treaty of Dresden was signed which granted Frederick a province of silesia it was a remarkable victory but would it be the end of the story in such an age as this certainly not Prussia was perhaps the only country satisfied with the outcome of the war in 1756 war would break out again not merely between Prussia and Austria but their allies would swap teams as well Prussia would now be backed by Britain and Austria by France this was the Seven Years War the world war before the world wars the prussian theater of the conflict being known as the third Silesian war the war began when frederick invaded saxony to try to knock them out before the war picked up frederick initially saw success but the war would turn against him in 1757 following the Battle of choline which he lost to the Austrians Frederick was now in a predicament he had not succeeded as quickly as he had hoped and was facing encirclement by not only Austria but France Russia and their German allies with his only allies being Britain who did not participate directly on the continent apart from funding and a few of these smaller German states Frederick won a remarkable victory against the French and Austrians at rossbach in November of 1757 followed by another great victory at Luton against Austria a month later but it was not enough Maria Theresa was determined take back valuable Silesia battle after battle regardless of whether or not Russia won or lost the Prussians took losses which they could not afford as the war dragged on into these 1760s crushes situation was very precarious all it would take is for a battle to go seriously wrong and all could be lost despairing Frederick seemed to even consider suicide then in 1762 came a miracle the miracle of the House of Brandenburg as Frederick called it Elizabeth Empress of Russia died she was succeeded by Peter the third who was an avid admirer of Frederick Russia then suddenly made peace and withdrew from the war it was also in 1762 that France started to come to terms with the fact that they had lost the war to the British any treaty of Hubertus Berg in 1763 Prussia made peace its territory was restored to its pre-war borders Prussia had taken a heavy hit and was nearly destroyed but it had won a stunning victory and held on to Silesia Frederick the Great is often remembered as perhaps the greatest millet Harry tactician of the 18th century these wars contributed to his earning of the title to great but he was not merely a military man and this was not the end of his reign his passion for the Arts philosophy and other areas flourished he conversed with some of the most famous philosophers of his day such as Voltaire and Manu accont he worked to rebuild the Prussian economy and agriculture following the wars establishing trade with countries like the new United States of America and introducing the potato and turnip to his kingdom he was regarded as the model of an enlightened despot who worked towards the benefit of his people in 1772 Frederick hatched a plot with Austria and Russia to undermine Poland seeing an opportunity to finally unite Prussia with his territory in Berlin Berg in the first partition of Poland this was achieved as he annexed polish Prussia was becoming ruler of all of it he decided to call himself King of Prussia Prussia had now overcome both of the two nations which once dominated it but unlike Poland Austria remained a considerable threat this was the beginning of a period of competition between Prussia and Austria for influence over the rest of Germany called German dualism this rivalry would last for over a century Frederick died in 1786 he had no children and so the throne passed to his nephew who became Frederick William the second frederick william ii ended the line of prodigious Prussians he had little talent for statecraft or warfare and entrusted these areas to his subordinates three years into his reign chaos broke out in France the French Revolution as the Monarchs of Europe watched it spiral out of control Prussia along with the rest of Europe became quite concerned Frederick William and the Holy Roman Emperor leopold ii who was by the way the french queen marie antoinette's brother would declare their support for Louis's 16th in the declaration of pillnitz in 1792 the Prussians and Austrians marched to invade France in the War of the first coalition however the coalition faced defeat against the French Russia's effort and this war was minimal it now lacked the funds and organization to carry out a proper war and the king was much more interested in opportunities in Poland in 1793 and 95 the 2nd and 3rd partitions of Poland respectively occurred the latter of which brought Poland totally under the rule of Prussia Austria and Russia Frederik Willems second assigned the Peace of Basel with France in 1795 must disagree and of his allies he died in 1797 and was succeeded by his son Frederick William the 3rd who was to take things more seriously however he too would remain at peace with France in 1799 the revolution was proclaimed over when a man named Napoleon Bonaparte came to power in France he would unleash a new chapter of war and conquest on Europe which Prussia would not be able to ignore and the War of the third coalition from 1803 to 1806 Austria Russia and Britain joined forces against friends Prussia however remained on the sidelines even seizing Hanover from Britain in an agreement with Napoleon Russia and Austria marched together to meet Napoleon and were utterly crushed following the battle of Austerlitz in December of that year it was clear Napoleon had won the War of the third coalition was over in July of 1806 Napoleon formed the Confederation of the Rhine out of territory taken from the Holy Roman Empire in Germany it was a far more organized collection of puppet states that Napoleon dominated in response to this after a little over a thousand years the holy roman emperor francis ii dissolved the holy roman empire and made himself emperor of austria this made Frederick William the third essentially simply the King of Prussia only months later Frederick Lynn the 3rd feeling threatened and encouraged by his wife took action sparking the war of the fourth coalition with Russia and Britain as well as other nations like Saxony though not Austria on their side at the twin battles of Vienna and our state however the Prussians were crushed by Napoleon here the duke of brunswick who had commanded Prussian forces against the French since the Revolutionary Wars was killed the French then occupied Berlin on the 27th of October and inflicted a few more critical defeats on Prussia soon after still though Prussia held out with the hope of driving back Napoleon with Russian assistance following the indecisive Battle of Palau and months later the much more decisive Freedland in 1807 the Prussians and Russians were defeated the war of the fourth coalition and came to a close soon after Prussia suffered a huge setback in his subsequent treaty losing its acquired territory of Poland to the French puppet state of the Duchy of Warsaw as well as much of its territory to its West this was the height of Napoleon's power he was now an effect master of Europe with Prussia defeated and serving as a French satellite state future wars in Iberia as well as the failed trade blockade on Britain would over the years weaken Napoleon however when Russia's relations with France and neva broke down in 1812 Napoleon invaded Russia it failed miserably a huge chunk of his forces were lost in his campaign in March of 1813 the allies including Prussia saw their opportunity and mobilized for war in October of that year the coalition including Prussia under Gebhard von blücher met Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig this battle was the largest fought in European history until the first world war with half a million soldiers involved overall it ended in a great victory for the Allies following the battle Napoleon's Confederation of the Rhine was dissolved though the Holy Roman Empire would not be coming back at least officially in 1814 the Allies invaded France itself Napoleon was forced to surrender and abdicate he would later escape abdication and try to win his power back but at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18th 1815 he was defeated for good by a British force which received crucial reinforcements from Prussia led by von blücher Napoleon was in exiled to the island of st. Helena where he later died the end of the Napoleonic Wars marked the beginning of a new age not simply for Prussia not simply for Germany but all of Europe as the war ended the Congress of Vienna including representatives from Britain Austria in our bourbon France Russia and Prussia came together to settle affairs and lay out a new balance of power for Europe from the negotiations Prussia regained much of its lost territory as well as some new territories in central Germany and along the Rhine which doubled its population though much of Poland went to Russia the Congress also led deformation of the German Confederation a kind of halfway between the Holy Roman Empire and Confederation of the Rhine it included just 39 German states a number far reduced from the past number which included part of but not all of Prussia and Austria the Austrian Emperor served as its president however this Confederation of the Rhine though much simpler still did not function as an effective country and the union between the states was very loose what followed the Napoleonic Wars was a century long period of a relative peace and stability in Europe it would be bolstered by the success of the Industrial Ellucian which would make its way into Prussia however there would be some rupturing and much of the victorian-era rupturing would take place in Germany itself this was also an age when nationalism began to rise throughout Europe furthermore it was an age of political reform in which ideas spread that challenged the notions of absolute monarchies nationalism was something which depressions took an interest in for produced a new radical idea information of a German nation however these challenges to its absolute monarchy were not as well received Prussia Austria and Russia formed the holy Alliance to attempt to restrain the clamor for political reform agreeing to eight each other in the instance of rebellion as talk began to grow of a unification of the German lands an important question arose who would lead it Austria had been the traditional head of the German people's but Prussia had secured itself as a powerful competitor Frederick William the 3rd died in 1840 and was succeeded by his son Frederick William the fourth that year under him there would be greater movement toward this idea in 1848 the clamoring had built up to revolution not just in Germany but across Europe in what are remembered as the spring of Nations German liberals sought a united Germany flying a gold red and black flag as a symbol of their pan-german ascent while conservatives sought to maintain the old order this movement oversaw successful reforms such as the creation of the long talk the Prussian Parliament it even seemed to be the beginning of what looked like a German nation as the Frankfurt National Assembly formed in May of that year but again of what would this nation consist some favour the idea of gross glitch lond meaning large Germany including unification with the Austrian Empire others favored kleine Deutschland small Germany excluding Austria and it's non German domains either way they looked to Prussia to help create Germany but friedrich villa whom the four would not oblige he was initially supportive of the movement but refused a crowd of what would be Germany knowing that it would have a number of consequences by 18-49 the conservative factions were winning and the revolution including the Frankfurt Parliament dispersed however the concern of a war between Austria and Prussia over dominance remained very real as the idea of a Germany persisted in 1861 Frederick William the fourth was succeeded by his brother Vilhelm or William the first in 1862 a clever and talented politician named Otto von Bismarck was made minister president of Prussia to guide it through this complicated age Bismarck sought to expand Prussian influence in Germany but historians debate whether or not he initially planned to take it as far as he did in 1864 Denmark attempted to annex the territory of schleswig-holstein sparking war between them against Prussia and Austria which the German Allies won the conquered territory was divided between Prussia and Austria but administration over it was his subject of contention between the two powers it added to the high amount of tension already in place between them and would one day be an excuse for war it was in June of 1866 the austro-prussian war broke out a kind of German civil war a number of German states joined Prussia but Austria was joined by the more major German states the war would last only seven weeks being cited at the Battle of Kearney's greats which the Prussians one piece came quickly thereafter following this war the German Confederation was dissolved and was replaced with the Prussian dominated North German Confederation Prussia gained territory in his arrangement and for the first time was contiguous the tables had turned Prussia was now seemingly the dominant German nation southern Germany however still remained independent and aligned more with Austria France also was heavily concerned by the prospect of German unification in 1870 the advising tensions war would be declared remembered as the franco-prussian Bismark cleverly bent the facts to portray France as the aggressor and much of southern Germany feeling threatened by French imperialism allied with the north the war lasted only six months ending in January of 1871 resulting in a decisive Prussian victory of great importance slowly the German states still outside of the Confederation moved towards unification with Germany it was in January of 1871 that the German Empire was proclaimed a new nation was thus born is this then where our story ends where Prussia became Germany in a sense yes although it was not as if Prussia disappeared when Germany was united into an empire rather Prussia remained existing in a complicated relationship as a territory within Germany which dominated Germany and would remain an integral part of Germany as its own state until in 1947 as we have seen the Prussian story is an unusual one that is why it is so deserving of attention the Margraviate of Brandenburg and Duchy of Prussia it could have easily been footnotes of history instead they rose to become one of the greatest nations of Europe a kingdom which one must acknowledge in order to truly understand Europe and its history though the Kingdom of Prussia is gone its legacy is clearly alive it lives on in its effects on European and world history and remains most alive in the nation which it did the most to create Germany now before we wrap up I would like to make a quick announcement I'll talk more about it later but I've decided to start a second youtube channel nothing is happening to this one fire of learning will continue on indefinitely but I'm also creating a sister channel a science channel called Lucy Knox I have not uploaded a video there yet but I plan to do so sometime in June I would like to start by uploading two documentaries about my other passion astronomy so if that sounds interesting to you I invite you to come subscribe to it the link to it will be in the description I hope you enjoyed this video if so I invite you to come check out the rest of fire blurring especially my other videos on German and Prussian history and to subscribe to see more videos like this in the future you can help support the production of videos like this by donating to us on patreon the link to which can be found in the description I'd like to thank our current patrons listed here for their support we're also on Instagram Facebook and Twitter so come check us out there too danke for watching [Music] you

Channel: Fire of Learning

Views: 319,379

Rating: 4.9133539 out of 5

Keywords: Prussia, Brandenburg, Frederick the Great, Teutonic Order, Knights

Id: vBu6A0CcXdk

Length: 60min 5sec (3605 seconds)

Published: Fri May 08 2020