1.
German Confederation
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Most historians have judged the Confederation to have been weak and ineffective, as well as an obstacle to the creation of a German nation-state. It collapsed due to the rivalry between Prussia and Austria, warfare, the 1848 revolution, and the inability of the members to compromise. In 1848, revolutions by liberals and nationalists were an attempt to establish a unified German state. Talks between the German states failed in 1848, and the Confederation briefly dissolved, but was re-established shortly after and it decidedly fell apart only after the Prussian victory in the Seven Weeks War of 1866. This led to the creation of the North German Confederation under Prussian leadership in 1867, a number of South German states remained independent until they joined the North German Confederation, which was renamed the German Empire. The War of the Third Coalition lasted from about 1803 to 1806, following defeat at the Battle of Austerlitz by the French under Napoleon in December 1805, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II abdicated, and the Empire was dissolved on 6 August 1806. The resulting Treaty of Pressburg established the Confederation of the Rhine in July 1806, after the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt of October 1806 in the War of the Fourth Coalition, various other German states, including Saxony and Westphalia, also joined the Confederation. Only Austria, Prussia, Danish Holstein, Swedish Pomerania and the French-occupied Principality of Erfurt stayed outside the Confederation of the Rhine and these nations would later join in the War of the Sixth Coalition from 1812 to 1814. The German Confederation was created by the 9th Act of the Congress of Vienna on 8 June 1815 after being alluded to in Article 6 of the 1814 Treaty of Paris, ending the War of the Sixth Coalition. The Confederation was formally created by a treaty, the Final Act of the Ministerial Conference to Complete and Consolidate the Organization of the German Confederation. This treaty was not concluded and signed by the parties until 15 May 1820, States joined the German Confederation by becoming parties to the second treaty. The German Confederation ended as a result of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 between Austrian Empire and its allies on one side and the Kingdom of Prussia and its allies on the other. In the Prague peace treaty, on 23 August 1866, Austria had to accept that the Confederation was considered to be dissolved, the following day, the remaining member states confirmed the dissolution. The treaty allowed Prussia to create a new Bundesverhältnis in the North of Germany, the South German states were proposed to create a South German Confederation but this did not come into existence. Prussia and its allies created the North German Confederation in 1867, because of French intervention it had to exclude, besides Austria, the South German states Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt. During November 1870 the four states joined the North German Confederation by treaty. The North German Confederation Reichstag and Bundesrat accepted to rename the North German Confederation as the German Empire, the new constitution of the state, the Constitution of the German Confederation, introduced the new name and title on 1 January 1871. The Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia were the largest, Austria and Prussia each had one vote in the Federal Assembly
2.
North German Confederation
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The North German Confederation was a confederation of 22 previously independent states of northern Germany, with nearly 30 million inhabitants. It was the first modern German nation state and the basis for the later German Empire, after several unsuccessful proposals from several sides to reform the German Confederation, the North German major power Prussia left the German Confederation with some allies. It came to war between states on one hand and southern states led by Austria on the other. After a quick decision in the Austro-Prussian War of July 1866, Prussia, at first, it was a military alliance between independent states, the so-called August Alliance, but the states already had the intention to form a federation or confederation with a constitution. The North German Confederation is historically important for the economic and judicial unification of Germany, many of its laws were taken over by the German Empire, the North German Confederation continues as the German nation state which still exists today. On January 1,1871, the received a new constitution that gave it the name German Empire. In 1815, after the defeat of Napoleon, the German princes. The sovereignty remained with the individual German states, there were several attempts to create a modern nation state, most prominently in the Revolution of 1848. A major issue in the struggle was the rivalry between Austria, the principal power in Germany, and the ascending Prussia. The Austro-Prussian War of 1866 demonstrated the superiority of Prussia, led by its ingenious. The alliance had 15 members then, with 80 percent of the living in Prussia. A notable exclave of the North German Confederation was the Prussian territory of Hohenzollern in the south, hesse-Darmstadt was part of the new Confederation only with its northern part. A South German Confederation, as mentioned in the Peace of Prague, from the beginning the alliance was supposed to become a nation state with a federal constitution. On 15 December 1866, Bismarck presented a proposal to the representatives of the allied governments and their complaints did not seriously alter the proposal. On 7 February 1867, the proposal of the governments was ready. It was the not to impose the new constitution but to stipulate it together with a representation of the people. To this end a parliament was elected on 12 February and this Konstituierender Reichstag accepted the constitution, with relatively minor changes, on 16 April 1867. Then, the state parliaments adopted it, consequently, the first North German Reichstag was elected, the only one during the existence of the North German Confederation
3.
German Empire
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The German Empire was the historical German nation state that existed from the unification of Germany in 1871 to the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918, when Germany became a federal republic. The German Empire consisted of 26 constituent territories, with most being ruled by royal families and this included four kingdoms, six grand duchies, five duchies, seven principalities, three free Hanseatic cities, and one imperial territory. Although Prussia became one of kingdoms in the new realm, it contained most of its population and territory. Its influence also helped define modern German culture, after 1850, the states of Germany had rapidly become industrialized, with particular strengths in coal, iron, chemicals, and railways. In 1871, it had a population of 41 million people, and by 1913, a heavily rural collection of states in 1815, now united Germany became predominantly urban. During its 47 years of existence, the German Empire operated as an industrial, technological, Germany became a great power, boasting a rapidly growing rail network, the worlds strongest army, and a fast-growing industrial base. In less than a decade, its navy became second only to Britains Royal Navy, after the removal of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck by Wilhelm II, the Empire embarked on a bellicose new course that ultimately led to World War I. When the great crisis of 1914 arrived, the German Empire had two allies, Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, however, left the once the First World War started in August 1914. In the First World War, German plans to capture Paris quickly in autumn 1914 failed, the Allied naval blockade caused severe shortages of food. Germany was repeatedly forced to send troops to bolster Austria and Turkey on other fronts, however, Germany had great success on the Eastern Front, it occupied large Eastern territories following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. German declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1917 was designed to strangle the British, it failed, but the declaration—along with the Zimmermann Telegram—did bring the United States into the war. Meanwhile, German civilians and soldiers had become war-weary and radicalised by the Russian Revolution and this failed, and by October the armies were in retreat, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire had collapsed, Bulgaria had surrendered and the German people had lost faith in their political system. The Empire collapsed in the November 1918 Revolution as the Emperor and all the ruling monarchs abdicated, and a republic took over. The German Confederation had been created by an act of the Congress of Vienna on 8 June 1815 as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, German nationalism rapidly shifted from its liberal and democratic character in 1848, called Pan-Germanism, to Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarcks pragmatic Realpolitik. He envisioned a conservative, Prussian-dominated Germany, the war resulted in the Confederation being partially replaced by a North German Confederation in 1867, comprising the 22 states north of the Main. The new constitution and the title Emperor came into effect on 1 January 1871, during the Siege of Paris on 18 January 1871, William accepted to be proclaimed Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. The second German Constitution was adopted by the Reichstag on 14 April 1871 and proclaimed by the Emperor on 16 April, the political system remained the same. The empire had a parliament called the Reichstag, which was elected by universal male suffrage, however, the original constituencies drawn in 1871 were never redrawn to reflect the growth of urban areas
4.
Flag of Prussia
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The state of Prussia had its origins in the separate lands of the Margraviate of Brandenburg and of the Duchy of Prussia. The Margraviate of Brandenburg developed from the medieval Northern March of the Holy Roman Empire, the Duchy of Prussia originated in 1525 when Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach, a member of a cadet branch of the Hohenzollerns, secularized the eastern lands of the Teutonic Knights as a Polish fief. The Kingdom of Prussia formed when Elector Frederick III assumed the title of Frederick I, King in Prussia, on 18 January 1701. Hohenzollern monarchical rule of Prussia ceased in 1918 after the fall of the German Empire in the aftermath of World War I, the Allied Control Council decreed the formal abolition of the state of Prussia in 1947 following World War II. The Prussian national and merchant flag was originally a simple black-white-black flag issued on May 22,1818, but this was replaced on March 12,1823 with a new flag. The revised one was parted black, white, and black, showing in the white stripe the eagle with a blue orb bound in gold, on its breast were the intertwined initials FR for Fridericus Rex. The axis of the eagle is at 2/5 of the total length. The Prussian war flag, adopted November 28,1816, was originally swallow-tailed for one fifth of the total length, at two fifths it showed the Prussian eagle. In the canton the Iron Cross was placed, the Iron Cross was established in 1813 during the war against Napoleon I as a decoration for courageous common soldiers. It was renewed in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and in World War I and it also appeared in the canton of the war flag of the German Empire. The royal standard of Prussia showed the Iron Cross charged with the shield, on the blades of the cross is the motto Gott mit uns. Between the arms were Prussian eagles along the edges and a crown in carré with them. After the German Revolution of 1918–19, the Prussian state was slow to adapt its heraldry to republican forms, only July 11,1921 new arms were decreed by the Prussian prime minister. The gothic eagle made way for the more natural-looking flying one, on December 12,1921, the Ministry of State decreed that the Prussian flag was to be only black and white. The Germany national football team home dress has always been a white jersey and black shorts, Coat of arms of Germany Coat of arms of Prussia Flag of Buenos Aires List of German flags Historical Flags at Flags of the World
5.
Coat of arms of Prussia
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The state of Prussia developed from the State of the Teutonic Order. The original flag of the Teutonic Knights had been a cross on a white flag. Emperor Frederick II in 1229 granted them the right to use the black Eagle of the Holy Roman Empire and this Prussian Eagle remained the coats of arms of the successive Prussian states until 1947. On January 27,1701, King Frederick I changed his arms as prince-elector of Brandenburg, the older arms of the electors of Brandenburg depicted a red eagle on a white background. Henceforth, the Prussian eagle, now royally crowned and with FR on its breast, was placed in an escutcheon on the shield with 25 quarters instead of the electoral scepter, all the helmets made way for one royal crown. The wild men—figures from Germanic and Celtic mythology representing the Lord of the Beasts or Green Man— that held the arms of Prussia are probably taken from the arms of Pomerania or Denmark. A wild man and a woman have held the shield of the principality of Schwarzburg in Thuringia. Two wild men and a woman have been included in the seal of Bergen op Zoom since 1365. A decree from 11 February 1701 placed a crown on the Prussian escutcheon, the king ordained that the whole should be placed on a royal pavilion after the French and Danish examples. When William III, Prince of Orange and King of England, died on March 19,1702 and this was to support his claim as heir general, although the Frisian branch of the House of Orange-Nassau claimed it as well. Although Mecklenburg-Strelitz protested, Emperor Joseph I gave permission to Frederick in October 1712 and this design was twice officially altered but was not fundamentally changed since. The electoral scepter had its own shield under the electoral cap, around the shield, with 36 quarters, appeared the Order of the Black Eagle with a crowned helmet resting on top. The wild men held banners of Prussia and Brandenburg and behind the pavilion rose a Prussian banner after the example of the French Oriflamme, the motto Gott mit uns appeared on the pedestal. Frederick William I followed his father on the throne on February 25,1713, according to Ströhl he gave the eagle a scepter and orb. He made an arrangement with the Frisian Nassaus over the title to the Principality of Orange, besides the arms of Orange, he officially added Veere and Vlissingen on July 29,1732. The king also added East Frisia to his arms, claiming it in case the prince would die without heir, a fourth escutcheon appeared among the 36 quarters. Frederick II became king on May 31,1740 and he laid claim to the duchy of Silesia after the death of Emperor Charles VI and declared war on Charles daughter and heir, Maria Theresa of Austria, thereby starting the Silesian Wars. Frederick II was followed by his nephew, Frederick William II, Frederick William II inherited the Franconian cadet branches of the House of Hohenzollern in 1791
6.
Berlin
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Berlin is the capital and the largest city of Germany as well as one of its constituent 16 states. With a population of approximately 3.5 million, Berlin is the second most populous city proper, due to its location in the European Plain, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Around one-third of the area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers. Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world, following German reunification in 1990, Berlin once again became the capital of all-Germany. Berlin is a city of culture, politics, media. Its economy is based on high-tech firms and the sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, research facilities, media corporations. Berlin serves as a hub for air and rail traffic and has a highly complex public transportation network. The metropolis is a popular tourist destination, significant industries also include IT, pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering, clean tech, biotechnology, construction and electronics. Modern Berlin is home to world renowned universities, orchestras, museums and its urban setting has made it a sought-after location for international film productions. The city is known for its festivals, diverse architecture, nightlife, contemporary arts. Since 2000 Berlin has seen the emergence of a cosmopolitan entrepreneurial scene, the name Berlin has its roots in the language of West Slavic inhabitants of the area of todays Berlin, and may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl-. All German place names ending on -ow, -itz and -in, since the Ber- at the beginning sounds like the German word Bär, a bear appears in the coat of arms of the city. It is therefore a canting arm, the first written records of towns in the area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209, although these areas did not join Berlin until 1920, the central part of Berlin can be traced back to two towns. Cölln on the Fischerinsel is first mentioned in a 1237 document,1237 is considered the founding date of the city. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from the right on the two important trade routes Via Imperii and from Bruges to Novgorod. In 1307, they formed an alliance with a common external policy, in 1415 Frederick I became the elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which he ruled until 1440. In 1443 Frederick II Irontooth started the construction of a new palace in the twin city Berlin-Cölln
7.
Polish language
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Polish is a West Slavic language spoken primarily in Poland and is the native language of the Poles. It belongs to the Lechitic subgroup of the West Slavic languages, Polish is the official language of Poland, but it is also used throughout the world by Polish minorities in other countries. It is one of the languages of the European Union. Its written standard is the Polish alphabet, which has 9 additions to the letters of the basic Latin script, Polish is closely related to Kashubian, Silesian, Upper Sorbian, Lower Sorbian, Czech and Slovak. It is also the second most widely spoken Slavic language, after Russian, in history, Polish is known to be an important language, both diplomatically and academically in Central and Eastern Europe. Today, Polish is spoken by over 38.5 million people as their first language in Poland. It is also spoken as a language in western parts of Belarus and Ukraine, west and central Lithuania, as well as the northern parts of the Czech Republic. There are 55 million Polish language speakers around the world, Polish began to emerge as a distinct language around the 10th century, the process largely triggered by the establishment and development of the Polish state. With Christianity, Poland also adopted the Latin alphabet, which made it possible to write down Polish, the precursor to modern Polish is the Old Polish language. Ultimately, Polish is thought to descend from the unattested Proto-Slavic language, Poland is the most linguistically homogeneous European country, nearly 97% of Polands citizens declare Polish as their first language. Elsewhere, Poles constitute large minorities in Lithuania, Belarus, Polish is the most widely used minority language in Lithuanias Vilnius County and is found elsewhere in southeastern Lithuania. There are significant numbers of Polish speakers among Polish emigrants and their descendants in many other countries, in the United States, Polish Americans number more than 11 million but most of them cannot speak Polish fluently. The largest concentrations of Polish speakers reported in the census were found in three states, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey. Enough people in these areas speak Polish that PNC Financial Services offer services available in Polish at all of their machines in addition to English and Spanish. According to the 2011 census there are now over 500,000 people in England, in Canada, there is a significant Polish Canadian population, There are 242,885 speakers of Polish according to the 2006 census, with a particular concentration in Toronto and Montreal. The geographical distribution of the Polish language was affected by the territorial changes of Poland immediately after World War II. Poles settled in the Recovered Territories in the west and north and this tendency toward a homogeneity also stems from the vertically integrated nature of the authoritarian Polish Peoples Republic. The inhabitants of different regions of Poland still speak standard Polish somewhat differently, first-language speakers of Polish have no trouble understanding each other, and non-native speakers may have difficulty distinguishing regional variations
8.
Danish language
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There are also minor Danish-speaking communities in Norway, Sweden, Spain, the United States, Canada, Brazil and Argentina. Due to immigration and language shift in urban areas, around 15–20% of the population of Greenland speak Danish as their home language. Along with the other North Germanic languages, Danish is a descendant of Old Norse, until the 16th century, Danish was a continuum of dialects spoken from Schleswig to Scania with no standard variety or spelling conventions. With the Protestant Reformation and the introduction of printing, a language was developed which was based on the educated Copenhagen dialect. It spread through use in the system and administration though German. Today, traditional Danish dialects have all but disappeared, though there are variants of the standard language. The main differences in language are between generations, with youth language being particularly innovative, Danish has a very large vowel inventory comprising 27 phonemically distinctive vowels, and its prosody is characterized by the distinctive phenomenon stød, a kind of laryngeal phonation type. The grammar is moderately inflective with strong and weak conjugations and inflections, nouns and demonstrative pronouns distinguish common and neutral gender. As in English, Danish only has remnants of a case system, particularly in the pronouns. Its syntax is V2, with the verb always occupying the second slot in the sentence. Danish is a Germanic language of the North Germanic branch, other names for this group are the Nordic or Scandinavian languages. Along with Swedish, Danish descends from the Eastern dialects of the Old Norse language, Scandinavian languages are often considered a dialect continuum, where there are no sharp dividing lines between the different vernacular languages. Like Norwegian and Swedish, Danish was significantly influenced by Low German in the Middle Ages, Danish itself can be divided into three main dialect areas, West Danish, Insular Danish, and East Danish. Danish is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Swedish, both Swedes and Danes also understand Norwegian better than they understand each others languages. By the 8th century, the common Germanic language of Scandinavia, Proto-Norse, had some changes. This language was called the Danish tongue, or Norse language. Norse was written in the alphabet, first with the elder futhark. From the 7th century the common Norse language began to undergo changes that did not spread to all of Scandinavia, most of the changes separating East Norse from West Norse started as innovations in Denmark, that spread through Scania into Sweden and by maritime contact to southern Norway
9.
Frisian languages
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The Frisian languages are the closest living language group to the Anglic languages, the two groups make up the Anglo-Frisian languages group. However, modern English and Frisian are not mutually intelligible, nor are Frisian languages intelligible among themselves, due to indepedent linguistic innovations, the three Frisian languages have been heavily influenced by and bear similarities to Dutch, Low German and/or Danish, depending upon their location. There are three varieties of Frisian, West Frisian, Saterland Frisian, and North Frisian, West Frisian is strongly influenced by Dutch, and, similar to Dutch, is described as being between English and German. The other Frisian varieties, meanwhile, have influenced by German, Low German. The North Frisian language especially is further segmented into several strongly diverse dialects, stadsfries is not Frisian, but a Dutch dialect influenced by Frisian. Frisian is called Frysk in West Frisian, Fräisk in Saterland Frisian, and Frasch, Fresk, Freesk and this local language is now, in turn, being replaced by standard Dutch. An increasing number of native Dutch speakers in the province are learning Frisian as a second language, in the North Frisia region of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, there were 10,000 North Frisian speakers in the 1970s. Although many of live on the mainland, most are found on the islands, notably Sylt, Föhr, Amrum. The local corresponding North Frisian dialects are still in use, as a regional language in the Netherlands, Frisian is only spoken by a certain demographic, specifically rural, lower-class people in contrast with the Dutch speaking upper-class. Speakers who had Frisian as their first language often maintained the Frisian system of no homophony when speaking Frisian, speakers of the many dialects of Frisian may also be found in the United States and Canada. Saterland and North Frisian are officially recognised and protected as minority languages in Germany, ISO 639-1 code fy and ISO 639-2 code fry were assigned to Frisian, but that was changed in November 2005 to Western Frisian. According to the ISO639 Registration Authority the previous usage of code has been for Western Frisian, the new ISO639 code stq is used for the Saterland Frisian language, a variety of Eastern Frisian. The new ISO639 code frr is used for the North Frisian language variants spoken in parts of Schleswig-Holstein, the Ried fan de Fryske Beweging is an organization which works for the preservation of the Frisian language and culture in the Dutch province of Friesland. The Fryske Academy also plays a role, since its foundation in 1938, to conduct research on Frisian language, history. Recent attempts have allowed Frisian be used more in some of the domains of education, media. Nevertheless, Saterland Frisian and most dialects of North Frisian are seriously endangered, moreover, Frisian runs the risk of dissolving into Dutch, especially in Friesland, where both languages are used. In the Early Middle Ages the Frisian lands stretched from the area around Bruges, in what is now Belgium, to the river Weser, at that time, the Frisian language was spoken along the entire southern North Sea coast. Old Frisian, however, was similar to Old English
10.
Lower Sorbian language
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Lower Sorbian is a Slavic minority language spoken in eastern Germany in the historical province of Lower Lusatia, today part of Brandenburg. It is one of the two literary Sorbian languages, the other being Upper Sorbian, Lower Sorbian is spoken in and around the city of Cottbus in Brandenburg. Signs in this region are bilingual, and Cottbus has a Gymnasium where one language of instruction is Lower Sorbian. It is a endangered language. Most native speakers are in the oldest generation today, the phonology of Lower Sorbian has been greatly influenced by contact with German, especially in Cottbus and larger towns. For example, German-influenced pronunciation tends to have a voiced uvular fricative instead of the alveolar trill, in villages and rural areas German influence is less marked, and the pronunciation is more typically Slavic. /m, mʲ, p, pʲ, b, bʲ, w, wʲ/ are bilabial, whereas /f, /n, nʲ, l, r, rʲ/ are alveolar, whereas /t, d, t͡s, s, z/ are dental. /t͡ʂ, ʂ, ʐ/ are laminal retroflex in all of the Lower Sorbian–speaking area and this is unlike in standard Upper Sorbian, where these are palato-alveolar. /h/ is voiceless, unlike Upper Sorbian, where it is voiced and it is also very similar to the vowel inventory of Slovene. /i/ is retracted to after hard consonants, /e, o/ are diphthongized to in slow speech. The /e–ɛ/ and /o–ɔ/ distinctions are weakened or lost in unstressed syllables, article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Lower Sorbian, Wšykne luźe su lichotne roźone a jadnake po dostojnosći a pšawach. Woni maju rozym a wědobnosć a maju ze sobu w duchu bratšojstwa wobchadaś, Upper Sorbian language Dolnoserbski radio program Lower Sorbian Vocabulary List at slovnik. vancl. eu/dls at dolnoserbski. de at Korpus GENIE at dolnoserbski. de Lexikalische Übungen und Terminologie
11.
Kashubian language
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Kashubian or Cassubian is a language variety of the Lechitic group, of the Slavic languages. Although it is considered a language in its own right. In Poland, it has been an officially recognized ethnic-minority language since 2005, approximately 106,000 people use mainly Kashubian at home. It is the remnant of the Pomeranian language. It is close to standard Polish with influence from Low German, the Pomeranians were said to arrive before the Poles and certain tribes managed to maintain their language and traditions despite German and Polish settlements. It first diverged as its own language in the early 14th century, in the 19th century, Florian Ceynowa became Kashubians first known activist. He undertook tremendous efforts to awaken Kashubian self-identity through the establishment of Kashubian language, customs and he felt strongly that Poles were born brothers and that Kashubia was a separate nation. The Young Kashubian movement followed in 1912, led by author and doctor Aleksander Majkowski, the group contributed significantly to the development of the Kashubian literary language. The earliest printed documents in Kashubian date from the end of the 16th century, the modern orthography was first proposed in 1879. Many scholars and linguists debate whether Kashubian should be recognized as a Polish dialect or separate language, from the diachronic view it is a Lechitic West Slavic language but from the synchronic point of view it is a Polish dialect. Kashubian is closely related to Slovincian, while both of them are dialects of Pomeranian, many linguists, in Poland and elsewhere, consider it a divergent dialect of Polish. Dialectal diversity is so great within Kashubian that a speaker of southern Kashubian has considerable difficulty in understanding a speaker of the northernmost dialects, the spelling and grammar of Polish words written in Kashubian is highly unusual making it difficult to comprehend in written text also by native Polish speakers. Like Polish, Kashubian includes about 5% loanwords from German, unlike Polish, these are mostly from Low German and only occasionally from High German. Other sources of loanwords include the Baltic languages, Russian, due to soft pronunciation, the language is fairly similar to Belarusian. The number of speakers of Kashubian varies widely from source to source, in the 2011 census,106,000 people in Poland declared that they mainly use Kashubian at home. Of these only 10 percent consider Kashubian to be their mother tongue, all Kashubian speakers are also fluent in Polish. A number of schools in Poland use Kashubian as a teaching language and it is an official alternative language for local administration purposes in Gmina Sierakowice, Gmina Linia, Gmina Parchowo, Gmina Luzino and Gmina Żukowo in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. Most respondents say that Kashubian is used in speech among family members
12.
Protestantism
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Protestantism is a form of Christianity which originated with the Reformation, a movement against what its followers considered to be errors in the Roman Catholic Church. It is one of the three divisions of Christendom, together with Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy. The term derives from the letter of protestation from German Lutheran princes in 1529 against an edict of the Diet of Speyer condemning the teachings of Martin Luther as heretical. Although there were earlier breaks from or attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church—notably by Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, Protestants reject the notion of papal supremacy and deny the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, but disagree among themselves regarding the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The Five solae summarize the reformers basic differences in theological beliefs, in the 16th century, Lutheranism spread from Germany into Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Baltic states, and Iceland. Reformed churches were founded in Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Scotland, Switzerland and France by such reformers as John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, the political separation of the Church of England from Rome under King Henry VIII brought England and Wales into this broad Reformation movement. Protestants developed their own culture, which made major contributions in education, the humanities and sciences, the political and social order, the economy and the arts, some Protestant denominations do have a worldwide scope and distribution of membership, while others are confined to a single country. A majority of Protestants are members of a handful of families, Adventism, Anglicanism, Baptist churches, Reformed churches, Lutheranism, Methodism. Nondenominational, evangelical, charismatic, independent and other churches are on the rise, and constitute a significant part of Protestant Christianity. Six princes of the Holy Roman Empire and rulers of fourteen Imperial Free Cities, the edict reversed concessions made to the Lutherans with the approval of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V three years earlier. During the Reformation, the term was used outside of the German politics. The word evangelical, which refers to the gospel, was more widely used for those involved in the religious movement. Nowadays, this word is still preferred among some of the historical Protestant denominations in the Lutheran and Calvinist traditions in Europe, above all the term is used by Protestant bodies in the German-speaking area, such as the EKD. In continental Europe, an Evangelical is either a Lutheran or a Calvinist, the German word evangelisch means Protestant, and is different from the German evangelikal, which refers to churches shaped by Evangelicalism. The English word evangelical usually refers to Evangelical Protestant churches, and it traces its roots back to the Puritans in England, where Evangelicalism originated, and then was brought to the United States. Protestantism as a term is now used in contradistinction to the other major Christian traditions, i. e. Roman Catholicism. Initially, Protestant became a term to mean any adherent to the Reformation movement in Germany and was taken up by Lutherans. Even though Martin Luther himself insisted on Christian or Evangelical as the only acceptable names for individuals who professed Christ, French and Swiss Protestants preferred the word reformed, which became a popular, neutral and alternative name for Calvinists
13.
Lutheranism
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Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestant Christianity which identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German friar, ecclesiastical reformer and theologian. Luthers efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched the Protestant Reformation in the German-speaking territories of the Holy Roman Empire. Lutheranism advocates a doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone on the basis of Scripture alone and this is in contrast to the belief of the Catholic Church, defined at the Council of Trent, concerning authority coming from both the Scriptures and Tradition. In addition, Lutheranism accepts the teachings of the first seven ecumenical councils of the undivided Christian Church, unlike Calvinism, Lutherans retain many of the liturgical practices and sacramental teachings of the pre-Reformation Church, with a particular emphasis on the Eucharist, or Lords Supper. Lutheran theology differs from Reformed theology in Christology, the purpose of Gods Law, the grace, the concept of perseverance of the saints. Today, Lutheranism is one of the largest denominations of Protestantism, with approximately 80 million adherents, it constitutes the third most common Protestant denomination after historically Pentecostal denominations and Anglicanism. The Lutheran World Federation, the largest communion of Lutheran churches, Other Lutheran organizations include the International Lutheran Council and the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, as well as independent churches. The name Lutheran originated as a term used against Luther by German Scholastic theologian Dr. Johann Maier von Eck during the Leipzig Debate in July 1519. Eck and other Catholics followed the practice of naming a heresy after its leader. Martin Luther always disliked the term Lutheran, preferring the term Evangelical, which was derived from euangelion, the followers of John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, and other theologians linked to the Reformed tradition also began to use that term. To distinguish the two groups, others began to refer to the two groups as Evangelical Lutheran and Evangelical Reformed. As time passed by, the word Evangelical was dropped, Lutherans themselves began to use the term Lutheran in the middle of the 16th century, in order to distinguish themselves from other groups such as the Philippists and Calvinists. In 1597, theologians in Wittenberg defined the title Lutheran as referring to the true church, Lutheranism has its roots in the work of Martin Luther, who sought to reform the Western Church to what he considered a more biblical foundation. Lutheranism spread through all of Scandinavia during the 16th century, as the monarch of Denmark–Norway, through Baltic-German and Swedish rule, Lutheranism also spread into Estonia and Latvia. Since 1520, regular Lutheran services have been held in Copenhagen, under the reign of Frederick I, Denmark-Norway remained officially Catholic. Although Frederick initially pledged to persecute Lutherans, he adopted a policy of protecting Lutheran preachers and reformers. During Fredericks reign, Lutheranism made significant inroads in Denmark, at an open meeting in Copenhagen attended by the king in 1536, the people shouted, We will stand by the holy Gospel, and do not want such bishops anymore. Fredericks son Christian was openly Lutheran, which prevented his election to the throne upon his fathers death, however, following his victory in the civil war that followed, in 1537 he became Christian III and advanced the Reformation in Denmark-Norway
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Calvinism
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Calvinism is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice of John Calvin and other Reformation-era theologians. The term Calvinism can be misleading, because the tradition which it denotes has always been diverse. The movement was first called Calvinism by Lutherans who opposed it, early influential Reformed theologians include Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, Martin Bucer, William Farel, Heinrich Bullinger, Peter Martyr Vermigli, Theodore Beza, and John Knox. In the twentieth century, Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, B. B, Warfield, J. Gresham Machen, Karl Barth, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Cornelius Van Til, and Gordon Clark were influential. Contemporary Reformed theologians include J. I, sproul, Timothy J. Keller, John Piper, David Wells, and Michael Horton. Reformed churches may exercise several forms of polity, most are presbyterian or congregationalist. Calvinism is largely represented by Continental Reformed, Presbyterian, and Congregationalist traditions, the biggest Reformed association is the World Communion of Reformed Churches with more than 80 million members in 211 member denominations around the world. There are more conservative Reformed federations such as the World Reformed Fellowship, Calvinism is named after John Calvin. It was first used by a Lutheran theologian in 1552 and it was a common practice of the Catholic Church to name what they perceived to be heresy after its founder. Nevertheless, the term first came out of Lutheran circles, Calvin denounced the designation himself, They could attach us no greater insult than this word, Calvinism. It is not hard to guess where such a deadly hatred comes from that they hold against me, despite its negative connotation, this designation became increasingly popular in order to distinguish Calvinists from Lutherans and from newer Protestant branches that emerged later. Moreover, these churches claim to be—in accordance with John Calvins own words—renewed accordingly with the order of gospel. Since the Arminian controversy, the Reformed tradition—as a branch of Protestantism distinguished from Lutheranism—divided into two groups, Arminians and Calvinists. However, it is now rare to call Arminians a part of the Reformed tradition, some have also argued that Calvinism as a whole stresses the sovereignty or rule of God in all things including salvation. First-generation Reformed theologians include Huldrych Zwingli, Martin Bucer, Wolfgang Capito, John Oecolampadius, scripture was also viewed as a unified whole, which led to a covenantal theology of the sacraments of baptism and the Lords Supper as visible signs of the covenant of grace. Another Reformed distinctive present in these theologians was their denial of the presence of Christ in the Lords supper. Each of these also understood salvation to be by grace alone. Martin Luther and his successor Philipp Melanchthon were undoubtedly significant influences on these theologians, the doctrine of justification by faith alone was a direct inheritance from Luther
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Prussian Union of Churches
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Although not the first of its kind, the Prussian Union was the first to occur in a major German state. It became the biggest independent religious organisation in the German Empire and later Weimar Germany, the church underwent two schisms, due to changes in governments and their policies. After being the state church of Prussia in the 19th century, it suffered interference and oppression at several times in the 20th century. In the course of the Second World War, Church property was damaged or destroyed by strategic bombing. After the war, complete ecclesiastical provinces vanished following the flight, the two post-war periods saw major reforms from within the Church, strengthening the parishioners democratic participation. In the early 1950s the Church body was transformed into an umbrella, following the decline in number of parishioners due to the German demographic crisis and growing irreligion, the Church was subsumed into the Union of Evangelical Churches in 2003. The many changes in the Church throughout its history are reflected in its name changes. 20 November 1934 –1945, The Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union, thus, two church bodies–one Nazi-recognised and one gradually driven underground–each claimed to represent the true church. 1945–1953, The Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union partially cleansed its leading bodies from German Christians and appointed Nazi opponents, 1953–2003 Evangelical Church of the Union, an independent ecclesiastical umbrella among other recognised Protestant umbrellas and church bodies. 2004 The Evangelical Church of the Union merged in the Union of Evangelical Churches and their descendants made up the bulk of the Calvinists in Brandenburg. At issue over many decades was how to unite into one church, the king, a Reformed Christian, lived in a denominationally mixed marriage with the Lutheran Queen Louise, which is why they never partook of the Lords Supper together. A commission was formed in order to prepare this common agenda, Major reforms to the administration of Prussia were undertaken after the defeat by Napoléons army at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt. In 1808 the Reformed Friedrich Schleiermacher, pastor of Trinity Church, issued his ideas for a reform of the Protestant Churches. This differed from the old structure in that the new leadership administered the affairs of all faiths, Catholics, Jews, Lutherans, Mennonites, Moravians, and the Calvinists. In 1814 the Principality of Neuchâtel had been restituted to the Berlin-based Hohenzollern, in 1815 Frederick William III agreed that this French-speaking territory of his joined the Swiss Confederation as Canton of Neuchâtel. Furthermore, no Lutheran congregation existed in Neuchâtel, thus the Reformed Church of Neuchâtel Canton was not an object of Frederick Williams Union policy. In January 1817 the cult and public instruction section was hived off as the Prussian Ministry of the Spiritual, Educational and Medical Affairs, Karl vom Stein zum Altenstein was appointed as minister. The Reformed churches and the Lutheran church were administered by one department within the same ministry
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United church
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United and uniting churches are churches formed from the merger or other form of union of two or more different Protestant denominations. Historically, unions of Protestant churches were enforced by the state, usually in order to have a control over the religious sphere of its people. As modern Christian ecumenism progresses, unions between various Protestant traditions are becoming more and more common, resulting in a number of united. Some of the recent major examples are the United Protestant Church of France, as mainline Protestantism shrinks in Europe and North America due to the rise of secularism, Reformed and Lutheran denominations merge, often creating large nationwide denominations. The phenomenon is less common among evangelical, nondenominational and charismatic churches as new ones arise. Perhaps the oldest official united church is found in Germany, where the Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of Lutheran, United and Reformed churches, around the world, each united or uniting church comprises a different mix of predecessor Protestant denominations. Trends are visible, however, as most united and uniting churches have one or more predecessors with heritage in the Reformed tradition and many are members of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. In the 1950s and 1960s an ecumenical spirit emerged in many churches in the United States of America, a product of this movement was the Consultation on Church Union. COCU disbanded formally in 2002 but moved into the Churches Uniting in Christ movement, however, the ECCB has deeper roots in the Czech reformation, in the Utraquist Hussite Church and in the Unity of Brethren aka Moravian Church. France, United Protestant Church of France, formed in 2013 through the unification of the Reformed Church of France and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of France. Philippines, United Church of Christ in the Philippines Sweden, Evangelical Free Church in Sweden, the 2002 union of the Örebrö Mission, the Free Baptists in Sweden and the Holiness Union. United States, United Church of Christ, the 1957 union of the two previously united churches, Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church, United Methodist Church, the 1968 union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. Unitarian Universalist Association, the 1961 consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America
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Roman Catholic
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The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church or the Universal Church, is the largest Christian church, with more than 1.28 billion members worldwide. As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history, headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope, the churchs doctrines are summarised in the Nicene Creed and the Apostles Creed. Its central administration is located in Vatican City, enclaved within Rome, the Catholic Church is notable within Western Christianity for its sacred tradition and seven sacraments. It teaches that it is the one church founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are the successors of Christs apostles. The Catholic Church maintains that the doctrine on faith and morals that it declares as definitive is infallible. The Latin Church, the Eastern Catholic Churches, as well as such as mendicant orders and enclosed monastic orders. Among the sacraments, the one is the Eucharist, celebrated liturgically in the Mass. The church teaches that through consecration by a priest the sacrificial bread and wine become the body, the Catholic Church practises closed communion, with only baptised members in a state of grace ordinarily permitted to receive the Eucharist. The Virgin Mary is venerated in the Catholic Church as Queen of Heaven and is honoured in numerous Marian devotions. The Catholic Church has influenced Western philosophy, science, art and culture, Catholic spiritual teaching includes spreading the Gospel while Catholic social teaching emphasises support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of education and medical services in the world, from the late 20th century, the Catholic Church has been criticised for its doctrines on sexuality, its refusal to ordain women and its handling of sexual abuse cases. Catholic was first used to describe the church in the early 2nd century, the first known use of the phrase the catholic church occurred in the letter from Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans, written about 110 AD. In the Catechetical Discourses of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, the name Catholic Church was used to distinguish it from other groups that call themselves the church. The use of the adjective Roman to describe the Church as governed especially by the Bishop of Rome became more widespread after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and into the Early Middle Ages. Catholic Church is the name used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church follows an episcopal polity, led by bishops who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders who are given formal jurisdictions of governance within the church. Ultimately leading the entire Catholic Church is the Bishop of Rome, commonly called the pope, in parallel to the diocesan structure are a variety of religious institutes that function autonomously, often subject only to the authority of the pope, though sometimes subject to the local bishop. Most religious institutes only have male or female members but some have both, additionally, lay members aid many liturgical functions during worship services
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Judaism
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Judaism encompasses the religion, philosophy, culture and way of life of the Jewish people. Judaism is an ancient monotheistic Abrahamic religion, with the Torah as its text, and supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the Midrash. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the relationship that God established with the Children of Israel. With between 14.5 and 17.4 million adherents worldwide, Judaism is the tenth-largest religion in the world, Judaism includes a wide corpus of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. Modern branches of Judaism such as Humanistic Judaism may be nontheistic, today, the largest Jewish religious movements are Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism. Major sources of difference between groups are their approaches to Jewish law, the authority of the Rabbinic tradition. Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and Jewish law are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable, Conservative and Reform Judaism are more liberal, with Conservative Judaism generally promoting a more traditional interpretation of Judaisms requirements than Reform Judaism. A typical Reform position is that Jewish law should be viewed as a set of guidelines rather than as a set of restrictions and obligations whose observance is required of all Jews. Historically, special courts enforced Jewish law, today, these still exist. Authority on theological and legal matters is not vested in any one person or organization, the history of Judaism spans more than 3,000 years. Judaism has its roots as a religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Judaism is considered one of the oldest monotheistic religions, the Hebrews and Israelites were already referred to as Jews in later books of the Tanakh such as the Book of Esther, with the term Jews replacing the title Children of Israel. Judaisms texts, traditions and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity, Islam, many aspects of Judaism have also directly or indirectly influenced secular Western ethics and civil law. Jews are a group and include those born Jewish and converts to Judaism. In 2015, the world Jewish population was estimated at about 14.3 million, Judaism thus begins with ethical monotheism, the belief that God is one and is concerned with the actions of humankind. According to the Tanakh, God promised Abraham to make of his offspring a great nation, many generations later, he commanded the nation of Israel to love and worship only one God, that is, the Jewish nation is to reciprocate Gods concern for the world. He also commanded the Jewish people to one another, that is. These commandments are but two of a corpus of commandments and laws that constitute this covenant, which is the substance of Judaism
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Absolute monarchy
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Absolute monarchy, or despotic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which one ruler has supreme authority that is not restricted by any written laws, legislature, or customs. These are often, but not always, hereditary monarchies, in contrast, in constitutional monarchies, the head of states authority derives from and is legally bounded or restricted by a constitution or legislature. Some monarchies have weak or symbolic legislatures and other bodies that the monarch can alter or dissolve at will. Countries where a monarch still maintains absolute power are Brunei, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the individual emirates composing the United Arab Emirates, Swaziland, in Ancient Egypt, the Pharaoh wielded absolute power over the country and was considered a living god by his people. In ancient Mesopotamia, many rulers of Assyria, Babylonia and Sumer were absolute monarchs as well, in ancient and medieval India, rulers of the Maurya, Satahavana, Gupta and Chalukya Empires, as well as other major and minor empires, were considered absolute monarchs. In the Khmer Empire, the kings were called Devaraja and Chakravartin, in Kingdom of Siam, the kings were esestablished Somburanaya-sittiraj. Throughout Chinese history, many emperors and one empress wielded absolute power through the Mandate of Heaven, in pre-Columbian America, the Inca Empire was ruled by a Sapa Inca, who was considered the son of Inti, the sun god and absolute ruler over the people and nation. Throughout much of European history, the right of kings was the theological justification for absolute monarchy. Many European monarchs, such as those of Russia, claimed supreme autocratic power by right. James VI of Scotland and his son Charles I of Scotland and England tried to import this principle, there is a considerable variety of opinion by historians on the extent of absolutism among European monarchs. Some, such as Perry Anderson, argue that quite a few monarchs achieved levels of absolutist control over their states, a widely held story about Louis XIV of France is that he proclaimed Létat, cest moi. What Louis did say was, The interests of the state come first, when one gives these priority, one labors for ones own good. These advantages to the state redounds to ones glory, although often criticized for his extravagances, such as the Palace of Versailles, he reigned over France for a long period, and some historians consider him a successful absolute monarch. More recently, revisionist historians have questioned whether Louis reign should be considered absolute, the King of France concentrated in his person legislative, executive, and judicial powers. He was the judicial authority. He could condemn men to death without the right of appeal and it was both his duty to punish offenses and stop them from being committed. From his judicial authority followed his power both to make laws and to annul them and this law consequently authorized the king to abolish all other centers of power. Most important was the abolition of the Council of the Realm and his actions largely originated the militaristic streak of the Hohenzollern
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Constitutional monarchy
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A constitutional monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the sovereign exercises their authorities in accordance with a written or unwritten constitution. A constitutional monarchy may refer to a system in which the acts as a non-party political head of state under the constitution. Political scientist Vernon Bogdanor, paraphrasing Thomas Macaulay, has defined a constitutional monarch as a sovereign who reigns, in addition to acting as a visible symbol of national unity, a constitutional monarch may hold formal powers such as dissolving parliament or giving royal assent to legislation. Many constitutional monarchies still retain significant authorities or political influence however, such as through certain reserve powers, the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms are all constitutional monarchies in the Westminster tradition of constitutional governance. Three states – Malaysia, Cambodia and the Holy See – are elective monarchies, the oldest constitutional monarchy dating back to ancient times was that of the Hittites. These were scattered noble families that worked as representatives of their subjects in an adjutant or subaltern federal-type landscape, the most recent country to move from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy was Bhutan, between 2007 and 2008. At the same time, in Scotland the Convention of Estates enacted the Claim of Right Act 1689, although Queen Anne was the last monarch to veto an Act of Parliament when in 1707 she blocked the Scottish Militia Bill, Hanoverian monarchs continued to selectively dictate government policies. For instance George III constantly blocked Catholic Emancipation, eventually precipitating the resignation of William Pitt the Younger as Prime Minister in 1801, Queen Victoria was the last monarch to exercise real personal power but this diminished over the course of her reign. In 1839 she became the last sovereign to keep a Prime Minister in power against the will of Parliament when the Bedchamber crisis resulted in the retention of Lord Melbournes administration, today, the role of the British monarch is by convention effectively ceremonial. No person may accept significant public office without swearing an oath of allegiance to the Queen, with few exceptions, the monarch is bound by constitutional convention to act on the advice of the Government. Constitutional monarchy also occurred briefly in the years of the French Revolution. As originally conceived, a monarch was head of the executive branch and quite a powerful figure even though his or her power was limited by the constitution. In many cases the monarchs, while still at the top of the political and social hierarchy, were given the status of servants of the people to reflect the new. In the course of Frances July Monarchy, Louis-Philippe I was styled King of the French rather than King of France, following the Unification of Germany, Otto von Bismarck rejected the British model. However this model of constitutional monarchy was discredited and abolished following Germanys defeat in the First World War. Later, Fascist Italy could also be considered as a constitutional monarchy and this eventually discredited the Italian monarchy and led to its abolition in 1946. After the Second World War, surviving European monarchies almost invariably adopted some variant of the constitutional monarchy model originally developed in Britain, nowadays a parliamentary democracy that is a constitutional monarchy is considered to differ from one that is a republic only in detail rather than in substance. However, three important factors distinguish monarchies such as the United Kingdom from systems where greater power might otherwise rest with Parliament, other privileges may be nominal or ceremonial
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Frederick I of Prussia
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Frederick I, of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia in personal union. The latter function he upgraded to royalty, becoming the first King in Prussia, from 1707 he was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel. He was also the grandfather of Frederick the Great. His maternal cousin was King William III of England, upon the death of his father on 29 April 1688, Frederick became Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia. Right after ascending the throne Frederick founded a new city southerly adjacent to Dorotheenstadt and named it after himself, Frederick was noted for his opposition to France, in contrast to his father who had sought an alliance with Louis XIV. Frederick took Brandenburg into the League of Augsburg against France and in 1689 led military forces into the field as part of the allied coalition and that year an army under his command besieged and captured Bonn. Despite this opposition to France he was fond of French culture, the Hohenzollern state was then known as Brandenburg-Prussia. The familys main possessions were the Margraviate of Brandenburg within the Holy Roman Empire, although he was the Margrave and Prince-elector of Brandenburg and the Duke of Prussia, Frederick desired the more prestigious title of king. However, according to Germanic law at that time, no kingdoms could exist within the Holy Roman Empire, Frederick persuaded Leopold I, Archduke of Austria and Holy Roman Emperor, to allow Prussia to be elevated to a kingdom. This agreement was given in exchange for an alliance against King Louis XIV in the War of the Spanish Succession. Frederick argued that Prussia had never been part of the Holy Roman Empire, therefore, he said, there was no legal or political barrier to letting him rule it as a kingdom. Frederick was aided in the negotiations by Charles Ancillon, Frederick crowned himself on 18 January 1701 in Königsberg. Therefore, out of deference to the historic ties to the Polish crown. His royalty was, in any case, limited to Prussia, in other words, while he was a king in Prussia, he was still only an elector under the suzerainty of the Holy Roman Emperor in Brandenburg. Legally, the Hohenzollern state was still a personal union between Brandenburg and Prussia and his grandson, Frederick the Great, was the first Prussian king to formally style himself King of Prussia. Frederick was a patron of the arts and learning, Frederick also appointed Jacob Paul von Gundling as Professor of History and Law at the Berlin Knights Academy in 1705, and as historian at the Higher Heralds Office in 1706. Frederick was married three times, first to Elizabeth Henrietta of Hesse-Kassel, with whom he had one child, Louise Dorothea, born 1680, then to Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, with whom he had Frederick August Frederick William I, born in 1688, who succeeded him. In 1708, he married Sophia Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who survived him but had no children by him, Frederick died in Berlin in 1713 and is entombed in the Berliner Dom
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Wilhelm II, German Emperor
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Wilhelm II or William II was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918. He was the eldest grandchild of the British Queen Victoria and related to many monarchs and his leading generals, Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, dictated policy during the First World War with little regard for the civilian government. An ineffective war-time leader, he lost the support of the army, abdicated in November 1918, and fled to exile in the Netherlands. Wilhelm was born on 27 January 1859 at the Crown Princes Palace, Berlin to Prince Frederick William of Prussia and his wife, Victoria, Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of Britains Queen Victoria. At the time of his birth, his great-uncle Frederick William IV was king of Prussia, a traumatic breech birth left him with a withered left arm due to Erbs palsy, which he tried with some success to conceal. His left arm was about 6 inches shorter than his right arm, historians have suggested that this disability affected his emotional development. In 1863, Wilhelm was taken to England to be present at the wedding of his Uncle Bertie, William attended the ceremony in a Highland costume, complete with a small toy dirk. During the ceremony the four-year-old became restless and his eighteen-year-old uncle Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, charged with keeping an eye on him, told him to be quiet, but Wilhelm drew his dirk and threatened Alfred. When Alfred attempted to subdue him by force, Wilhelm bit him on the leg and his grandmother, Queen Victoria, missed seeing the fracas, to her Wilhelm remained a clever, dear, good little child, the great favourite of my beloved Vicky. His mother, Vicky, was obsessed with his damaged arm and she blamed herself for the childs handicap and insisted that he become a good rider. The thought that he, as heir to the throne, should not be able to ride was intolerable to her, riding lessons began when Wilhelm was eight and were a matter of endurance for Wilhelm. Over and over, the prince was set on his horse. He fell off time after time but despite his tears was set on its back again, after weeks of this he finally got it right and was able to maintain his balance. Wilhelm, from six years of age, was tutored and heavily influenced by the 39-year-old teacher Georg Hinzpeter, Hinzpeter, he later wrote, was really a good fellow. Whether he was the tutor for me, I dare not decide. The torments inflicted on me, in this riding, must be attributed to my mother. As a teenager he was educated at Kassel at the Friedrichsgymnasium, in January 1877, Wilhelm finished high school and on his eighteenth birthday received as a present from his grandmother, Queen Victoria, the Order of the Garter. After Kassel he spent four terms at the University of Bonn, studying law and he became a member of the exclusive Corps Borussia Bonn
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Adolf Heinrich von Arnim-Boitzenburg
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Graf Adolf Heinrich von Arnim-Boitzenburg was a German statesman. He served as the first Minister President of Prussia for ten days during the Revolution of 1848 and his parents divorced, when he was three years old. Having finished his studies in Berlin and Göttingen in 1825, he joined the Prussian Guards Uhlans regiment as One-year volunteer, in 1830 he was appointed Landrat official in the Uckermark district and in 1833 he became Vice-president of the Pomeranian Stralsund government region. One year later he assumed the position of President in the Aix-la-Chapelle region, from 1838 in Merseburg. In 1840 he became governor of the Grand Duchy of Posen, in 1842 Arnim was called back to Berlin, to be appointed Prussian State Minister of the Interior. Nevertheless, he resigned in 1845, after his plans to draft a Prussian Constitution were aborted by King Frederick William IV, when the March Revolution broke out in 1848, his services were again in demand. He belonged to the newly established Prussian House of Representatives from 1849, Arnim is known to this day for his remarks as Prussian Interior Minister during the Vormärz era concerning Heinrich Heines poem The Silesian Weavers. The verses were published in the Vorwärts, weekly newspaper after a 1844 riot in the Province of Silesia, which later also inspired the drama The Weavers by Gerhart Hauptmann. In a report to King Frederick William IV he described Heines poetry as an address to the poor amongst the populace, held in an inflammatory tone and filled with criminal utterances. Subsequently, the Royal Prussian Kammergericht banned the poem, which in 1846 led to a sentence for a person who had dared to publicly recite it. Arnim died on 8 January 1868 at his Boitzenburg estate
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Prince Maximilian of Baden
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Maximilian Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm Margrave of Baden, also known as Max von Baden, was a German prince and politician. He was heir to the Grand Duchy of Baden and in October and November 1918 briefly served as Chancellor of the German Empire and he was named after his maternal grandfather, Maximilian de Beauharnais, and bore a resemblance to his cousin, Emperor Napoleon III. Max received an education at a Gymnasium secondary school and studied law. In 1900, he married Princess Marie Louise of Hanover at Gmunden, upon the order of Queen Victoria, Prince Max was brought to Darmstadt in the Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine as a suitor for Victorias granddaughter, Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt. Alix was the daughter of Victorias late daughter, Princess Alice and she was in love with Nicholas II, the future Tsar of Russia. After finishing his studies, he trained as an officer of the Prussian Army, following the death of his uncle Grand Duke Frederick I of Baden in 1907, he became heir to the grand-ducal throne of his cousin Frederick II, whose marriage remained childless. He also became president of the Erste Badische Kammer, in 1911, Max applied for a military discharge with the rank of a Generalmajor. Upon the outbreak of World War I in 1914, he served as a staff officer at the XIV Corps of the German Army as the representative of the Grand Duke. Shortly afterwards, however, he retired from his position as he was dissatisfied with his role in the military and was suffering ill health. In 1916, he became president of the German-American support union for prisoners-of-war within the YMCA world alliance. Due to his liberal stance he came into conflict with the policies of the Oberste Heeresleitung supreme command under Paul von Hindenburg and he openly spoke against the resumption of the unrestricted submarine warfare in 1917, which provoked the declaration of war by the United States Congress on 6 April. Hahn maintained close links with Secretary of State Wilhelm Solf and several Reichstag deputies like Eduard David, David pushed for Max to be appointed Chancellor in July 1917, after the fall of Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg. Max then put forward for the position in early September 1918, pointing out his links to the social democrats. Hertling, after consulting Vice-Chancellor Friedrich von Payer, suggested Prince Max of Baden as his successor to the Emperor. However, it took the support of Haußmann, Oberst Hans von Haeften and Ludendorff himself, to have Wilhelm II appoint Max as Chancellor of Germany. Max was to head a new government based on the majority parties of the Reichstag, when Max arrived in Berlin on 1 October he had no idea that he would be asked to approach the Allies about an armistice. Max was horrified and fought against the plan, moreover, he also admitted openly that he was no politician and that he did not think additional steps towards parliamentarisation and democratisation feasible as long as the war continued. Consequently, he did not favour a liberal reform of the constitution, however, Emperor Wilhelm II convinced him to take the post and appointed him on 3 October 1918
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Landtag of Prussia
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After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–19 the Landtag diet continued as the parliament of the Free State of Prussia between 1921 and 1933. The Prussian National Assembly however was dismissed by royal decree of 5 December 1848, both houses and the King of Prussia had the right to introduce bills. The assembly raised a blistering protest and over the following years Bismarcks cabinet had to govern without a government budget passed by the legislature. In September 1866 the prime minister, at a peak of his power after the Battle of Königgrätz, the balloting led to the split-off of the National Liberal Party which became a loyal supporter of Bismarcks policies. During the German Revolution of 1918–19 the new Prussian government of Social Democrats, a constitutional convention was elected on 26 January 1919, after the introduction of equal franchise for all men and women. After the failed Kapp Putsch of 1920, the confirmed the first cabinet of Minister-president Otto Braun. The Preußischer Landtag was re-established as the parliament of the Free State of Prussia in 1921, the provinces were represented in the Prussian State Council, which succeeded the former Herrenhaus as a kind of upper house. The Cologne mayor Konrad Adenauer served as its president until 1933, a legislative period lasted for no longer than four years. The parliament could be dissolved early by joint resolution of the minister and the presidents of the Landtag. In 1931 just such a referendum took place on the initiative of the Stahlhelm veterans association with the support of the Nazi Party, Landtag elections took place on 20 February 1921, on 7 December 1924, on 20 May 1928 on 24 April 1932 and on 5 March 1933. In 1899, the House of Representatives moved into a building on Prinz-Albrecht-Straße No,5, close to Potsdamer Platz and situated opposite to the Martin Gropius Bau. During the German Revolution of 1918–19 the Reichsrätekongress held its assemblies here from 16 to 20 December 1918, on 1 January 1919, the Communist Party of Germany was founded here. The seat of the Prussian House of Lords on Leipziger Straße was inaugurated in 1904, both buildings were built back-to-back according to plans designed by Friedrich Schulze, they intercommunicate via a common restaurant wing. Upon the Nazi Machtergreifung, the Herrenhaus building served as an annex of the neighbouring Ministry of Aviation, after World War II it housed several departments of the German Academy of Sciences and since 29 September 2000 is the seat of the German Bundesrat. Philo Fine Arts, Dresden 2001, ISBN 3-364-00378-5 Tabelle zur Geschichte des Preußischen Landtags Informationen zum Freistaat Preußen
26.
Prussian House of Lords
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The Prussian House of Lords in Berlin was the upper house of the Preußischer Landtag, the parliament of Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with the house, the House of Representatives, it formed the Prussian bicameral legislature. A member of the House of Lords was known as a pair, the House consisted of hereditary peers, life peers appointed by the King of Prussia, peers by virtue of position, representatives of cities and universities, etc. The majority of members were nobles, although the House also had commoners as members, life members, Holders of the four great court appointments of the kingdom—these were the state steward, the chancellor, the lord marshal, and the lord burgrave. Members entrusted by the king—these were both nobles and commoners, and included select generals and admirals, senior government officials, business leaders, Members called by presentation—these were primarily holders of noble estates, the university representatives, and the lord mayors of cities given the right of presentation. According to the 1920 constitution of the Free State of Prussia it was replaced by the Staatsrat of representatives delegated by the Landtag assemblies of the Provinces, the Cologne mayor Konrad Adenauer served as president of the state council from 1921 until the Nazi Machtergreifung in 1933. Since 1856 the House of Lords met at a Baroque city palace on Leipziger Straße No,3, near Leipziger Platz, formerly owned by the merchant Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky and seat of the Royal Porcelain Factory from 1763. It had been acquired by Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy, father of Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, in summer 1826, young Felix Mendelssohn wrote his A Midsummer Nights Dream ouverture, which premiered at his fathers house. After the Prussian state had purchased the building in 1856, it served for the meetings of the Reichstag of the North German Federation from 1867 to 1870. No.3 and 4 buildings were demolished in 1898 to make space for a new building for the House of Lords, the Neo-Renaissance Herrenhaus building, designed by the architect Friedrich Schulze, was completed in 1904. Schulze had had built the adjacent Abgeordnetenhaus on Prinz-Albrecht-Straße from 1892 to 1898. Both structures were connected by a functional wing in the rear. Since 1993, the Abgeordnetenhaus building is the seat of the Berlin state parliament, seat of the Prussian state council from 1921 to 1933, the former Herrenhaus building from 1933 served for Hermann Görings Preußenhaus foundation. Heavily damaged by Allied bombing and the Battle of Berlin, the building was restored after the war, since 2000, it is again the site of the parliamentary sessions of the Federal Council of Germany. One of the characters in Fyodor Dostoevskys Crime and Punishment references the Prussian Upper House when talking about the characters sister. List of Presidents of the Prussian State Council Members of the Prussian House of Lords The Bundesrat building Preußisches Herrenhaus
27.
Prussian House of Representatives
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The Prussian House of Representatives was, until 1918, the second chamber of the Prussian Landtag, the other chamber being the Prussian House of Lords. It was elected according to the franchise, and had been established by the Prussian constitution of 5 December 1848. The name House of Representatives was introduced in 1855, from 1849 the election of representatives within the Kingdom of Prussia was performed according to the three-class franchise system. In the primary election, those with the right to vote went to the ballot and, several attempts to reform the voting procedure, which heavily favoured the Conservatives, were rebuffed by the House of Lords. The electoral law, which was one of the most progressive in Europe at the time it was introduced, the House of Representatives itself decided to abolish it in 1918, but hat became redundant by the German Revolution of 1918–1919, which founded a republic. To stand for election as a representative, one had to be over 30, the legislative period was at first three years, but, as for the Reichstag, it was changed to 5 years in 1888. The House was, however, dissolved by the king several times. From 1849 to 1918, there were 22 legislative periods and its size was first fixed at 350 seats, which changed to 352 with the incorporation of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Hohenzollern-Hechingen in 1849. Following annexations after the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, the number of changed to 432 after the election of 1867. In 1876, another seat for the Duchy of Lauenburg was added, in 1906, ten seats were added, bringing the number to 443 for the elections of 1908. The members of the House received monetary compensation for their work, therefore, many Reichstag members also sat in the House of Representatives. In 1903,110 members of the Reichstag were likewise members of the Prussian House, after 1906, the number of dual office-holders sank significantly, to only 45 in 1913. From 1862, there was a liberal majority in the House. In the Prussian constitutional crisis of 1859–66, however, the Liberals were defeated by chancellor Otto von Bismarck, after the war of 1866, the National Liberals split from the Liberals, and the latter never regained their former strength. A protest, by its vice-president Felix Porsch, on 24 November 1918 was the last sign of life of the House of Representatives
28.
New Imperialism
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New Imperialism or Neo-imperialism was a period of colonial expansion by European powers, the United States, and the Empire of Japan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The period is distinguished by a pursuit of overseas territorial acquisitions. At the time, states focused on building their empires with new advances and developments, making their territory bigger through conquest. During the era of New Imperialism, the Western powers conquered almost all of Africa, the new wave of imperialism reflected ongoing rivalries among the great powers, the economic desire for new resources and markets, and a civilizing mission ethos. Many of the colonies established during this era gained independence during the era of decolonization that followed World War II, the qualifier new is used to differentiate between imperialism which generally refers to the first wave of European colonization between the 15th and early 19th centuries. In the first wave of colonization, European powers conquered and colonized the Americas and later established outposts in Africa, the American Revolution and the collapse of the Spanish Empire in Latin America around 1820 ended the first era of European imperialism. Especially in Great Britain these revolutions helped show the deficiencies of mercantilism, in 1846, the Corn Laws were repealed and manufacturers gained, as the regulations enforced by the Corn Laws had slowed their businesses. With the repeal in place, the manufacturers were able to trade more freely. Thus, Britain began to adopt the concept of free trade, the establishment of nation-states in Germany and Italy resolved territorial issues that had kept potential rivals embroiled in internal affairs at the heart of Europe, to Britains advantage. The years from 1871 to 1914 would be marked by an unstable peace. The imposition of rule in terms of effective occupation necessitated routine recourse to armed force against indigenous states and peoples. One of the goals of the conference was to reach agreements over trade, navigation, however, of all of the 15 nations in attendance of the Berlin Conference, none of the countries represented were African. The main dominating powers of the conference were France, Germany, Great Britain and they remapped Africa without considering the cultural and linguistic borders that were already established. At the end of the conference, Africa was divided into 50 different colonies, the attendants established who was in control of each of these newly divided colonies. They also planned, noncommittally, to end the trade in Africa. In Britain, the age of new imperialism marked a time for significant economic changes, because the country was the first to industrialize, Britain was technologically ahead of many other countries throughout the majority of the nineteenth century. However, by the end of the century, other countries such as Germany, the United States, Russia. After several decades of monopoly, the country was battling to maintain a dominant economic position while other became more involved in international markets
29.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
30.
Coronations in Europe
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Note, this article is one of a set, describing coronations around the world. For general information related to all coronations, please see the umbrella article Coronation, coronations in Europe were previously held in the monarchies of Europe. The United Kingdom is the monarchy in Europe that still practices coronation. All other countries have become republics or replaced the coronation with an inauguration ceremony, King Zog I, self-proclaimed monarch of Albania, was ritually crowned on 1 September 1928. His coronation attire included rose-colored breeches, gold spurs, and a gold crown weighing seven pounds ten ounces, Europes only Muslim king swore a required constitutional oath on the Bible and the Quran, symbolizing his desire to unify his country. Zog was forced into exile by Italian invaders in 1939, Emperors of Austria were never crowned, as a coronation was not viewed as being necessary to legitimize their rule in that country. However, they were crowned in some kingdoms within the Austrian Empire, after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, the Emperors of Austria were only crowned as King of Hungary, Franz-Joseph I in 1867 and Charles I in 1916. A kingdom from 1806–1918, Bavaria possessed its own set of crown jewels, however, there was no coronation ceremony, and the king never wore the crown in public. Rather, it was placed on a cushion at his feet, the Bavarian monarchy was abolished in 1918. Belgium has no crown, the formal installation requires only a solemn oath on the constitution in parliament. Lahaut was found dead a week later, during the enthronement of Albert II, legislator Jean-Pierre Van Rossem cried Leve de republiek, Vive la république européenne, Vive Lahaut. Van Rossem was also shouted down by the others, but did not suffer the fate as Lahaut. Vratislaus II of Bohemia was the first crowned ruler of Bohemia, during the Middle Ages, it was held that enthronement would make a person Duke of Bohemia and that only coronation would make a person King of Bohemia. St. Vitus Cathedral was the coronation church, monarchs of Bohemia were crowned with the Crown of Saint Wenceslas and invested with royal insignia, among which a cap or mitre and a lance were specific for Bohemian coronations. Maria Theresa, the female monarch of Bohemia, was crowned king in order to emphasize that she was the monarch. The last King of Bohemia to be crowned as such was Emperor Ferdinand of Austria, the Abbess of the St. Georges Abbey had the privilege to crown the wife of the King of Bohemia. In 1791, the right to crown the Queen of Bohemia was transferred to the Abbess of the Damenstift, the first crowned ruler of Bosnia was Tvrtko I. His coronation, held on 26 October 1377, created the Kingdom of Bosnia, Tvrtko Is coronation served as an example to subsequent such rites
31.
Congress of Vienna
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The objective of the Congress was to provide a long-term peace plan for Europe by settling critical issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The goal was not simply to restore old boundaries but to resize the main powers so they could balance each other off, the leaders were conservatives with little use for republicanism or revolution, both of which threatened to upset the status quo in Europe. France lost all its recent conquests, while Prussia, Austria and Russia made major territorial gains, Prussia added smaller German states in the west, Swedish Pomerania and 60% of the Kingdom of Saxony, Austria gained Venice and much of northern Italy. The new Kingdom of the Netherlands had been created just months before, the immediate background was Napoleonic Frances defeat and surrender in May 1814, which brought an end to twenty-five years of nearly continuous war. Negotiations continued despite the outbreak of fighting triggered by Napoleons dramatic return from exile, the Congresss Final Act was signed nine days before his final defeat at Waterloo on 18 June 1815. However, others praise it for having created relatively long-term stable, the Congress of Vienna settlement, despite later changes, formed the framework for European international politics until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. The Treaty of Chaumont in 1814 had reaffirmed decisions that had made already. The Treaty of Chaumont became the cornerstone of the European Alliance which formed the balance of power for decades, other partial settlements had already occurred at the Treaty of Paris between France and the Sixth Coalition, and the Treaty of Kiel which covered issues raised regarding Scandinavia. The Treaty of Paris had determined that a general congress should be held in Vienna, the opening was scheduled for July 1814. The Four Great Powers had previously formed the core of the Sixth Coalition, as the Congresss sessions were in Vienna, Emperor Francis was kept closely informed. Great Britain was represented first by its Foreign Secretary, Viscount Castlereagh, then by the Duke of Wellington, in the last weeks it was headed by the Earl of Clancarty, after Wellington left to face Napoleon during the Hundred Days. Tsar Alexander I controlled the Russian delegation which was led by the foreign minister. The tsar had two goals, to gain control of Poland and to promote the peaceful coexistence of European nations. He succeeded in forming the Holy Alliance, based on monarchism and anti-secularism, Prussia was represented by Prince Karl August von Hardenberg, the Chancellor, and the diplomat and scholar Wilhelm von Humboldt. King Frederick William III of Prussia was also in Vienna, playing his role behind the scenes, France, the fifth power, was represented by its foreign minister, Talleyrand as well as the Minister Plenipotentiary the Duke of Dalberg. Talleyrand had already negotiated the Treaty of Paris for Louis XVIII of France, Sweden – Count Carl Löwenhielm Denmark – Count Niels Rosenkrantz, foreign minister. King Frederick VI was also present in Vienna, the Netherlands – Earl of Clancarty, the British Ambassador at the Dutch court, and Baron Hans von Gagern Switzerland – Every canton had its own delegation. Charles Pictet de Rochemont from Geneva played a prominent role, mecklenburg-Schwerin – Leopold von Plessen Virtually every state in Europe had a delegation in Vienna – more than 200 states and princely houses were represented at the Congress
32.
Unification of Germany
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The unification of Germany into a politically and administratively integrated nation state officially occurred on 18 January 1871, in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles in France. Princes of the German states gathered there to proclaim Wilhelm I of Prussia as German Emperor after the French capitulation in the Franco-Prussian War. The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, which had included more than 500 independent states, was dissolved when Emperor Francis II abdicated during the War of the Third Coalition. Economically, the creation of the Prussian Zollverein in 1818, and its subsequent expansion to other states of the German Confederation. Emerging modes of transportation facilitated business and recreational travel, leading to contact, the model of diplomatic spheres of influence resulting from the Congress of Vienna in 1814–15 after the Napoleonic Wars endorsed Austrian dominance in Central Europe. The negotiators at Vienna took no account of Prussias growing strength within and among the German states and this German dualism presented two solutions to the problem of unification, Kleindeutsche Lösung, the small Germany solution, or Großdeutsche Lösung, the greater Germany solution. Reaction to Danish and French nationalism provided foci for expressions of German unity, military successes—especially those of Prussia—in three regional wars generated enthusiasm and pride that politicians could harness to promote unification. This experience echoed the memory of mutual accomplishment in the Napoleonic Wars, by establishing a Germany without Austria, the political and administrative unification in 1871 at least temporarily solved the problem of dualism. 1797, The French First Republic annexed the Left Bank of the Rhine as a result of the War of the First Coalition,1802, Previous annexations by France confirmed following its victory in the War of the Second Coalition. 1804, Francis I of Austria declared the new Austrian Empire as a reaction to Napoleon Bonapartes proclamation of the First French Empire in 1804. 1806, As a result of the War of the Third Coalition, Napoleon I annexed some territories East of the Rhine,1807, Prussia lost one half of its territory following the War of the Fourth Coalition. 1815, After the defeat of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna reinstated the Germanic states into the German Confederation under the leadership of the Austrian Empire,1834, The Prussian-led custom union evolved into the Zollverein that included almost all Confederation states except the Austrian Empire. 1848, Revolts across the German Confederation, such as in Berlin, Dresden and Frankfurt, in the meantime, the Frankfurt Parliament was set up in 1848 and attempted to proclaim a united Germany, but this was refused by William IV. The question of a united Germany under the Kleindeutsch solution or the so-called Großdeutsch began to surface,1864, The Danish-Prussian War started as Prussia protested against Danish incorporation of Schleswig into the Kingdom of Denmark. The Austrian Empire was deliberately drawn into war by Otto von Bismarck. The Austro-Prussian victory led to Schleswig, the part, being governed by Prussia and Holstein. 1866, Bismarck accused the Austrian Empire of stirring up troubles in Prussian-held Schleswig, Prussian troops drove into Austrian-held Holstein and took control of the entire state of Schleswig-Holstein. Austria declared war on Prussia and, after fighting the Austro-Prussian War, was swiftly defeated, Napoleon III declared war against Prussia
33.
Abdication
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Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. The word abdication derives from the Latin abdicatio meaning to disown or renounce, in its broadest sense abdication is the act of renouncing and resigning from any formal office, but it is applied especially to the supreme office of state. In Roman law the term was applied to the disowning of a family member. Today the term applies to monarchs, or to those who have been formally crowned. An elected or appointed official is said to resign rather than to abdicate, a notable exception is the voluntary relinquishing of the office of Bishop of Rome by the Pope, called Papal resignation or Papal renunciation. Among the most notable abdications of antiquity are those of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the Dictator, in 79 BC, Emperor Diocletian in AD305, perhaps the most notable abdication in recent history is that of King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom and the Dominions. In 1936 Edward abdicated to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson, over the objections of the British establishment, the governments of the Commonwealth, the Royal Family and it was the first time in history that the British or English crown was surrendered entirely voluntarily. Richard II of England, for example, was forced to abdicate after power was seized by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, the Scottish parliament pronounced a decree of forfeiture and deposition. In Scotland, Mary, Queen of Scots, was forced to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son, to give legal effect to the abdication of King Edward VIII, His Majestys Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 was passed. In Medieval Japan abdication was used often, and in fact occurred more often than death on the throne. A tradition developed that an emperor should accede to the relatively young. Thus, many Japanese emperors have acceded as children, some only 6 or 8 years old, several emperors abdicated while still in their teens. These traditions show in Japanese folklore, theater, literature and other forms of culture, over half of Japanese empresses abdicated once a suitable male descendant was considered to be old enough to rule. Since the Meiji Restoration and the subsequent reorganization of imperial succession, no emperor has abdicated, there is also no provision for abdication in the Imperial Household Law, the Meiji Constitution, or the current 1947 Constitution of Japan. On February 27,1946, the emperors youngest brother, Prince Mikasa, even stood up in the council and indirectly urged the emperor to step down. General Douglas MacArthur insisted that Emperor Hirohito retain the throne, MacArthur saw the emperor as a symbol of the continuity and cohesion of the Japanese people. However, senior officials within the Imperial Household Agency have denied there is any official plan for the monarch to abdicate. A potential abdication by the Emperor would require an amendment to the Imperial Household Act, on 8 August 2016 the Emperor gave a rare televised address, where he emphasized his advanced age and declining health, this address is interpreted as an implication of his intention to abdicate
34.
Treaty of Versailles
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The Treaty of Versailles was the most important of the peace treaties that brought World War I to an end. The Treaty ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers and it was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of World War I signed separate treaties, although the armistice, signed on 11 November 1918, ended the actual fighting, it took six months of Allied negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty. The treaty was registered by the Secretariat of the League of Nations on 21 October 1919 and this article, Article 231, later became known as the War Guilt clause. The treaty forced Germany to disarm, make substantial territorial concessions, in 1921 the total cost of these reparations was assessed at 132 billion marks. On the other hand, prominent figures on the Allied side such as French Marshal Ferdinand Foch criticized the treaty for treating Germany too leniently, although it is often referred to as the Versailles Conference, only the actual signing of the treaty took place at the historic palace. Most of the negotiations were in Paris, with the Big Four meetings taking place generally at the Quai dOrsay, the First World War was fought across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Countries beyond the war zones were also affected by the disruption of trade, finance. In 1917, two revolutions occurred within the Russian Empire, which led to the collapse of the Imperial Government, the American war aim was to detach the war from nationalistic disputes and ambitions after the Bolshevik disclosure of secret treaties between the Allies. The existence of these treaties tended to discredit Allied claims that Germany was the power with aggressive ambitions. On 8 January 1918, United States President Woodrow Wilson issued a statement that became known as the Fourteen Points and this speech outlined a policy of free trade, open agreements, democracy and self-determination. After the Central Powers launched Operation Faustschlag on the Eastern Front and this treaty ended the war between Russia and the Central powers and annexed 1,300,000 square miles of territory and 62 million people. During the autumn of 1918, the Central Powers began to collapse, desertion rates within the German army began to increase, and civilian strikes drastically reduced war production. On the Western Front, the Allied forces launched the Hundred Days Offensive, sailors of the Imperial German Navy at Kiel mutinied, which prompted uprisings in Germany, which became known as the German Revolution. The German government tried to obtain a settlement based on the Fourteen Points. Following negotiations, the Allied powers and Germany signed an armistice, the terms of the armistice called for an immediate evacuation of German troops from occupied Belgium, France, and Luxembourg within fifteen days. In addition, it established that Allied forces would occupy the Rhineland, in late 1918, Allied troops entered Germany and began the occupation. Both the German Empire and Great Britain were dependent on imports of food and raw materials, primarily from the Americas, the Blockade of Germany was a naval operation conducted by the Allied Powers to stop the supply of raw materials and foodstuffs reaching the Central Powers
35.
German gold mark
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The Goldmark was the currency used in the German Empire from 1873 to 1914. The Papiermark refers to the German currency from 4 August 1914 when the link between the Mark and gold was abandoned. Before unification, the different German states issued a variety of different currencies, though most were linked to the Vereinsthaler, a silver coin containing 16⅔ grams of pure silver. Although the Mark was based on rather than silver, a fixed exchange rate between the Vereinsthaler and the Mark of 3 Mark =1 Vereinsthaler was used for the conversion. Southern Germany had used the Gulden as the unit of account. Bremen had used a gold based Thaler which was converted directly to the Mark at a rate of 1 gold Thaler =3.32 Mark, Hamburg had used its own Mark prior to 1873. This was replaced by the Goldmark at a rate of 1 Hamburg Mark =1.2 Goldmark, from 1 January 1876 onwards, the Mark became the only legal tender. The name Goldmark was created later to distinguish it from the Papiermark which suffered a loss of value through hyperinflation following World War I. The goldmark was on a standard with 2790 Mark equal to 1 kilogram of pure gold. From 1900 to 1933, the United States adhered to a standard as well. The goldmark therefore had a value of approximately U. S. $0.25, the monetary hegemon of the time when the goldmark was in use, however, was the Pound Sterling, with £1 being valued at 20.43 goldmarks. The actual total payout from 1920 to 1931 was 20 billion German goldmarks, most of that money came from loans from New York bankers. Following the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, payments of reparations were officially abandoned, the interest on those debts was paid off on 3 October 2010, the 20th anniversary of German reunification. Occasionally Commemorative coins were minted, in cases the obverse. Many of the states issued coins in very small numbers. Also, in all states coinage became very limited after the First World War began. Well preserved examples of such low mintage coins can be rare, the Principality of Lippe was the only state not to issue any gold coins in this period. 1 Pfennig 2 Pfennig 5 Pfennig 10 Pfennig 20 Pfennig 25 Pfennig Silver coins were minted in.900 fineness to a standard of 5 grams silver per Mark, production of 2 and 5 Mark coins ceased in 1915 while 1 Mark coins continued to be issued until 1916
36.
German Papiermark
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The name Papiermark is applied to the German currency from 4 August 1914 when the link between the Goldmark and gold was abandoned, due to the outbreak of World War I. In particular, the name is used for the banknotes issued during the hyperinflation in Germany of 1922, from 1914, the value of the Mark fell. The rate of inflation rose following the end of World War I, the currency was stabilized in November 1923 after the announcement of the creation of the Rentenmark, although the Rentenmark did not come into circulation until 1924. When it did, it replaced the Papiermark at the rate of 1 trillion Papiermark =1 Rentenmark, later in 1924, the Rentenmark was replaced by the Reichsmark. In addition to the issues of the government, emergency issues of both tokens and paper money, known as Kriegsgeld and Notgeld, were produced by local authorities, the Papiermark was also used in the Free City of Danzig until replaced by the Danzig Gulden in late 1923. Several coins and emergency issues in papiermark were issued by the free city, during the war, cheaper metals were introduced for coins, including aluminium, zinc and iron, although silver ½ Mark pieces continued in production until 1919. Aluminium 1 Pfennig were produced until 1918 and the 2 Pfennig until 1916, whilst iron 5 Pfennig, both iron and zinc 10 Pfennig and aluminium 50 Pfennig coins were issued until 1922. Aluminium 3 Mark were issued in 1922 and 1923, and aluminium 200 and 500 Mark were issued in 1923, the quality of many of these coins varied from decent to poor. During this period, many provinces and cities also had their own corresponding coin and note issues and this came about often due to a shortage of exchangeable tender in one region or another during the war and hyperinflation periods. Some of the most memorable of these to be issued during this period came from Westfalen and featured the highest face value denominations on a coin ever, in 1914, the State Loan Office began issuing paper money known as Darlehnskassenscheine. These circulated alongside the issues of the Reichsbank, most were 1- and 2-Mark notes but there were also 5-, 20-, 50- and 100-Mark notes. The victor nations in World War I decided to assess Germany for their costs of conducting the war against Germany, with no means of paying in gold or currency backed by reserves, Germany ran the presses, causing the value of the Mark to collapse. Many Germans literally carted wheelbarrows of cash to pay for groceries, between 1914 and the end of 1923 the German papiermark’s rate of exchange against the U. S. dollar plummeted from 4.2 mark/dollar to 4.2 trillion mark/dollar. The price of one gold mark in German paper currency at the end of 1918 was two paper mark, but by the end of 1919 a gold mark cost 10 paper mark. This inflation worsened between 1920 and 1922, and the cost of a gold rose from 15 to 1,282 paper mark. In 1923 the value of the mark had its worst decline. By July, the cost of a mark had risen to 101,112 paper mark. On 30 Nov 1923 it cost 1 trillion paper mark to buy a gold mark
37.
Holy Roman Empire
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The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806. On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne as Emperor, reviving the title in Western Europe, more than three centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The title was revived in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor, fashioning himself as the successor of Charlemagne, some historians refer to the coronation of Charlemagne as the origin of the empire, while others prefer the coronation of Otto I as its beginning. Scholars generally concur, however, in relating an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, the office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties. Emperor Francis II dissolved the empire on 6 August 1806, after the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine by Napoleon, before 1157, the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire. In a decree following the 1512 Diet of Cologne, the name was changed to Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, by the end of the 18th century, the term Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation had fallen out of official use. As Roman power in Gaul declined during the 5th century, local Germanic tribes assumed control, by the middle of the 8th century, however, the Merovingians had been reduced to figureheads, and the Carolingians, led by Charles Martel, had become the de facto rulers. In 751, Martel’s son Pepin became King of the Franks, the Carolingians would maintain a close alliance with the Papacy. In 768 Pepin’s son Charlemagne became King of the Franks and began an expansion of the realm. He eventually incorporated the territories of present-day France, Germany, northern Italy, on Christmas Day of 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor, restoring the title in the west for the first time in over three centuries. After the death of Charles the Fat in 888, however, the Carolingian Empire broke apart, according to Regino of Prüm, the parts of the realm spewed forth kinglets, and each part elected a kinglet from its own bowels. After the death of Charles the Fat, those crowned emperor by the pope controlled only territories in Italy, the last such emperor was Berengar I of Italy, who died in 924. Around 900, autonomous stem duchies reemerged in East Francia, on his deathbed, Conrad yielded the crown to his main rival, Henry the Fowler of Saxony, who was elected king at the Diet of Fritzlar in 919. Henry reached a truce with the raiding Magyars, and in 933 he won a first victory against them in the Battle of Riade, Henry died in 936, but his descendants, the Liudolfing dynasty, would continue to rule the Eastern kingdom for roughly a century. Upon Henry the Fowlers death, Otto, his son and designated successor, was elected King in Aachen in 936 and he overcame a series of revolts from an elder brother and from several dukes. After that, the managed to control the appointment of dukes. In 951, Otto came to the aid of Adelaide, the queen of Italy, defeating her enemies, marrying her. In 955, Otto won a victory over the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld
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Duchy of Prussia
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The Duchy of Prussia or Ducal Prussia was a duchy in eastern Prussia established during the Protestant Reformation in 1525. It was the first Lutheran duchy with a dominant German-speaking population, as well as Polish, in old texts and in Latin, the term Prutenia refers alike to Ducal Prussia, its western neighbor Royal Prussia, and their common predecessor, Teutonic Prussia. The adjectival form of the name was Prutenic, in 1525 during the Protestant Reformation, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, Albert, secularized the orders Prussian territory, becoming Albert, Duke of Prussia. His duchy, which had its capital in Königsberg, was established as fief of the Crown of Poland and it was inherited by the Hohenzollern prince-electors of Brandenburg in 1618, this personal union is referred to as Brandenburg-Prussia. Frederick William, the Great Elector of Brandenburg, achieved full sovereignty over the territory in the 1657 Treaty of Wehlau, the Duchy of Prussia was elevated to the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. In a deal brokered by Luther, Ducal Prussia became the first Protestant state. When Albert returned to Königsberg, he declared his conversion. On 10 December 1525, at their session in Königsberg, the Prussian estates established the Lutheran Church in Ducal Prussia by deciding the Church Order. By the end of Alberts rule, the offices of Großkomtur and Ordensmarschall had deliberately been left vacant, some of the knights converted to Lutheranism in order to retain their property and then married into the Prussian nobility, while others returned to the Holy Roman Empire and remained Catholic. On 1 March 1526 Albert married Princess Dorothea, daughter of King Frederick I of Denmark, Albert was greatly aided by his elder brother George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, who had already earlier established the Protestant religion in his territories of Franconia and Upper Silesia. Albert also found himself reliant on support from his Jagiellonian uncle Sigismund I of Catholic Poland, as the Holy Roman Empire, the Teutonic Order had only superficially carried out its mission to Christianize the native rural population and had erected few churches within the states territory. There was little longing for Roman Catholicism, Bishop George of Polentz had forbidden the widespread forms of pagan worship in 1524, and repeated the ban in 1540. Already on 18 January 1524 Bishop George had ordered to use native languages at baptisms. There was little resistance to the new creed, although the fact that the Teutonic Knights had brought Catholicism and Protestantism made the transition easier. The Church Order of 1525 provided for visitations of the parishioners and pastors, because Ducal Prussia was ostensibly a Lutheran land, authorities travelled throughout the duchy ensuring that Lutheran teachings were being followed and imposing penalties on pagans and dissidents. The rural population of native descent was only thoroughly Christianised starting with the Reformation in Prussia, a peasant rebellion broke out in Sambia in 1525. The combination of taxation by the nobility, the furor of the Protestant Reformation, the relatively well-to-do rebel leaders, including a miller from Kaimen and an innkeeper from Schaaken in Prussia, were supported by sympathizers in Königsberg. The rebels demanded the elimination of taxes by the nobility
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Brandenburg-Prussia
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Brandenburg-Prussia is the historiographic denomination for the Early Modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Another consequence of the intermarriage was the incorporation of the lower Rhenish principalities of Cleves, Mark, the Thirty Years War was especially devastating. The Elector changed sides three times, and as a result Protestant and Catholic armies swept the land back and forth, killing, burning, seizing men, upwards of half the population was killed or dislocated. Berlin and the major cities were in ruins, and recovery took decades. By the Peace of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years War in 1648, Brandenburg gained Minden and Halberstadt, also the succession in Farther Pomerania and the Duchy of Magdeburg. With the Treaty of Bromberg, concluded during the Second Northern War, the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye expanded Brandenburgian Pomerania to the lower Oder. The second half of the 17th century laid the basis for Prussia to become one of the players in European politics later on. Brandenburg-Prussia also established a navy and German colonies in the Brandenburger Gold Coast, Frederick William also started to centralize Brandenburg-Prussias administration and reduce the influence of the estates. In 1701, Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg, succeeded in elevating his status to King in Prussia, from 1701 onward, the Hohenzollern domains were referred to as the Kingdom of Prussia, or simply Prussia. Legally, the union between Brandenburg and Prussia continued until the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. However, by time the emperors overlordship over the empire had become a legal fiction. Hence, after 1701, Brandenburg was de facto treated as part of the Prussian kingdom, the Margraviate of Brandenburg had been the seat of the main branch of the Hohenzollerns, who were prince-electors in the Holy Roman Empire, since 1415. In 1525, by the Treaty of Krakow, the Duchy of Prussia was created through partial secularization of the State of the Teutonic Order. It was a vassal of the Kingdom of Poland and was governed by Duke Albert of Prussia, on behalf of her mother Elisabeth of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollern, Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg became Alberts second wife in 1550, and bore him his successor Albert Frederick. In 1563, the Brandenburgian branch of the Hohenzollern was granted the right of succession by the Polish crown, Albert Frederick became duke of Prussia after Alberts death in 1568. His mother died in the year, and thereafter he showed signs of mental disorder. Because of the illness, Prussia was governed by Alberts nephew George Frederick of Hohenzollern-Ansbach-Jägersdorf. In 1573, Albert Frederick married Marie Eleonore of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, with whom he had several daughters, in 1594, Albert Fredericks then 14-year-old daughter Anna married the son of Joachim Frederick of Hohenzollern-Brandenburg, John Sigismund
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Province of Brandenburg
Province of East Prussia
Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg
Grand Duchy of the Lower Rhine
Province of Pomerania
Grand Duchy of Posen (autonomous, outside of German Confederation)
Province of Saxony
Province of Silesia
Province of West Prussia
Province of Westphalia
States of the North German Confederation (1867–71)
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