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) (TXT) Current Reading (TXT) Prussian Snippets (DIR) Documents